Any Biologists/Chemists here? (That means you Doctors/dentists/pharmacists) - Page 4

Sweden! Karolinska Institute or Sahlgrenska Academy, or Umeå University in the spring of 2012. Also applying for veterinary medicine and several medical schools, though I will most likely only get into dentistry. I find all three equally interesting but I really only have a sure bet at getting into dentistry!

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We pay no tuition at all.. State loans us money for rent, food and other expenses which will easily be paid back in a few years time as a dentist (we're talking about tops 80k USD for five years of studying).

Do some research in college (like 2 years or more), once u graduate with a BS, u could land a $70K job (not easy, but doable)

That would be exceedingly rare. That's well above the average for an MS, close to average PhD starting salary.

i wanted to make this thread b/c i was interested in how many people there were in the medical field on SF. im a 2nd year medical student. semester is almost over and im about to take my step 1. my take: my undergrad was not as cut throat as an earlier poster described. i had heard horror stories like that too but i never saw any of that. i went to gwu for what its worth. i like medical school and i like the challenge that comes with it. i did lots of shadowing starting in high school and continuing throughout college in all different medical fields so i kind of knew what i was getting into as far as med school goes. i would recommend the same to anyone considering medicine. i also did research and decided that getting a phd is not for me. i had to go to med school. btw, i also agree that pbl style learning is awful.

I'm so glad that my med school has absolutely no pbl.

what kind of debt are you med guys looking at?

I'm not receiving any financial aid, so I'm going to be north of $200K.

It certainly stokes the fires in regards to studying for the Step 1 exam.

Off-setting that to an extent - ortho residents at my program are getting offers for general orthopod positions starting at $500K/year, more after a fellowship.

It's sort of a wash in my eyes - lots of debt and delayed entry into the workforce vs. high income.

I'm a second-year med student. Just got back from studying. Only 12 hours today, though!

Short version of what's below: yesterday was my birthday and my gift to myself was a set of ear plugs. Sounds exciting? Read on...

IMO, the best personality traits for succeeding in med school are competitiveness, tenacity and a fair measure of masochism (sit through 6hrs of lectures, then hammer notes into your head for another 6 - or until your eyes hurt - then repeat day-in, day-out without completely losing it requires one to take at least some pleasure in this sort of thing!).

These traits, along with average intelligence, will probably get you to where you want to be in medicine (I hope - at least for my sake). Sounds like a med student will succeed pretty much anywhere, right? I don't think so. I picked med school because I hate uncertainty. I'm terrible at motivating myself and I lack all initiative. How about $200k in loans for motivation? That'll make you put your ass in gear real fast!

Provided you put in the necessary hours, medicine offers the guarantee of an intellectually, morally, and financially rewarding career. A railroad track to success. How's that for motivation? Works for me. Yes, there do exist many options. But they are all relatively low-risk. You'll never be forced to starve with an MD (or DO).

If I had to do it all over again, I'd change two things: take more science classes in undergrad and get better grades in them. I took the basic required pre-med classes, got As and some Bs and indulged my interest in humanities with a bunch of GPA-padding BS classes. Totally not worth it. I didn't get in anywhere on the first try because I didn't play their game. Med schools put your application through the sieve of science grades and MCAT score; based on these factors they decide whether to offer you an interview or not. Having friends on the admission committee doesn't hurt either...

Despite being in the nadir of my social life during the prime of my youth, I'm excited about the future. In the end, if you work hard enough - if you're able to force yourself to work hard enough - things will work out. At least that's the thought that helps me sleep at night.

We all went to the same University of California school. Naturally, I sold out and went to work for industry, but the girl who studied all the time got into UCSF (which I understand is a very good medical school to go to) and the guy who had the breakdown was never quite the same, but got into Johns Hopkins nonetheless.

im applying to med schools this summer. fun!

Good luck with Orthopedics! I'm almost 4 years outta school (BSE) and did one year in Pharmacy school and hated it. I'm a senior engineer at a large Ortho Implant Manufacturer currently probably going to do a MBA when I get to five years outta school.

The thing with medicine is that unless you specialize in a high paying specialty (like ortho) you make the same as a mid-career engineer (same age as you when you graduate by then) except you have huge debt.

Who do you work for? I know a few reps with Stryker and Smith & Nephews - they get in the OR a lot and seem to make a decent living. It would be a pretty cool job for as engineer.

I'm in Warsaw, IN lol... Being a rep isn't a piece of cake, it's about running logistics between your firm and the surgeon and you are always subject to the whims of the surgeon. There is an oppertunity to make alot of money but it's quite challenging.

I know of reps that have had breakdowns... etc It's also pretty competitive to get in to the rep game unless you are already in the field. Many people try to get in, the learning curve is steep and missteps can have legal as well as medical consequences. Also alot of rep wash out, I have been tempted by a few distributors but reality always reels in.

I am surprised that alot of those reps are engineers, most reps I know weren't those conversely most management level at distributorships are engineers.

I work in food science. There is a lot of variation in career tracks, compensation is good and no shortage of work with some experience under your belt. Not the sexiest career, but solid and overlooked.

His account is pretty accurate. Pre-meds can make undergrad science classes unbearable. People should genuinelly include it in their list of pro's and con's when deciding if medical school is the right path for them, because you will see and hear from these people all the time.