Medical School

[ballmouse]

I'm surprised no one has said, "I like blood."

 

[Macallan9]



For those taking the MCAT in the years to come; the format will be changing. Testing time will increase by like 2 hrs and the essay portion will be scrapped because "no one really cares about it." Additional questions will be added to to other sections, which is nice because I'm a very good test taker, but a little deficient in writing. I won't be taking it until another 2 years, but it's nice to know ahead of time what I'm getting myself into.

Writing section was worthless anyway. No schools even looked at that unless you got like a M. I guess extending the MCAT would be making it more like Step 1.

Thanks guys. All enlightening responses. I love biology too and am, at this point, interested in going to med school for 3 reasons.
1) I've always been curious about how our bodies work and how resilient they are. It blows my mind how something so minuscule, like a gene, can have a tremendous affect on life and its processes.
2) I decided there's really nothing else I'm interested in that I could see myself doing in the future. It took me a while to get my thoughts together, but I feel I'm making a solid choice.
3) As H_S mentioned, I too want to have a significant impact at what I do. Life's too interesting to be wasted making noob decisions.

Nothing wrong with your reasons, but I'd suggest you come up with a more personal and/or interesting reason (even if a little embellished) for your interviews. Yours are somewhat cliche and will induce eye rolling.

 

[mr.orange]



Writing section was worthless anyway. No schools even looked at that unless you got like a M. I guess extending the MCAT would be making it more like Step 1.

That's exactly what I was told. Another thing; the exam will make a full transition from paper to computer.

Nothing wrong with your reasons, but I'd suggest you come up with a more personal and/or interesting reason (even if a little embellished) for your interviews. Yours are somewhat cliche and will induce eye rolling.

I don't want to seem trite :/

Good thing I have time to refine my reasons. Any suggestions on how to make a solid personal statement, besides the ones offered?

 

[mr.orange]



I'm surprised no one has said, "I like blood."

I don't have a problem with blood. I get a little queasy when I see a torn off arm, or something.

 

[facebookdigg123]



That's exactly what I was told. Another thing; the exam will make a full transition from paper to computer.

the mcat has been computer based for a while already. no paper involved

 

[darnelled]

Getting in was hard, but the hardest part of medical school for me was the first semester. I moved 6 hours away from everyone I knew and suddenly was just an average student compared to my classmates. I had very little free time as I learned what I had to do to make good grades that first few months.

Thankfully, I made some great friends there and the following 3.5 years were much more enjoyable and easier. Once I got into the rotations, it was great besides the hazing mentality of our surgery rotation.

Residency was tough at times, but I chose a program where the residents seemed happy in a city I loved. Finally being able to moonlight was nice too.

Now I work as a medical director for a clinic and we have PA students who will rotate through. I do my best to teach them all I can about how to survive as they get through training and the coming job expectations. I couldn't be much happier in my choice of profession.

 

[Omar1223]

^^^^what specialty?

 

[darnelled]



^^^^what specialty?

I"m board-certified in general, child/adolescent psychiatry.

I have a bit better perspective on my choice now that I've been out of residency for 11 years. My local surgeon and OB-Gyn friends are now paying around $120k/year in malpractice insurance (11 years of working too) with no history of lawsuits, work 80-100 hours a week and can barely take a week off. They like their jobs too, but many are trying to change job responsibilities to get better quality of life even if it means a major pay cut.

Pick something you like and leaves you a decent life. Money means nothing if you can't enjoy it.

 

[indesertum]

do you pay much malpractice? and if you're the medical director of a clinic do you work long hours too?

i wouldnt mind working 80 100 hour weeks with no life outside the hospital to speak of, but not if that's the way it was going to be rest of my life.

 

[norcaltransplant]



do you pay much malpractice? and if you're the medical director of a clinic do you work long hours too?

I assume no and no.

Psych malpractice is comparatively cheap in the US. IM is around 30-40k in New York. General Sx is more. Florida has some of the worst malpractice rates. Texas is probably the most doctor friendly (low malpractice, no state income tax), large population state in the US.

 

[indesertum]

what's the rates like for psychiatry? it doesn't come up on a quick google search (asks for emails and stuff)

no state income tax?

dang


what idea i've been toying around with is applying to nhsc and then spending a few years in bumfuck illinois or the freezing alaskan wilderness or something, earning above average pay, working out, cooking, and reading.

 

[darnelled]



do you pay much malpractice? and if you're the medical director of a clinic do you work long hours too?
i wouldnt mind working 80 100 hour weeks with no life outside the hospital to speak of, but not if that's the way it was going to be rest of my life.

I work 40hr/ week now after stopping all hospital and ER work. I only get called 1-2 times per year since most of the call is done by the doc running the psyc units.
Malpractice started at about $900/year for me and goes up about $1k per year (mine is $9k with 11 years of working after residency/fellowship and no lawsuits yet).

Most general psyc doc should average $170-200k right out of training and you could add at least $10k for each subspecialty added on. If you do weekend call for a psyc unit you could add $1k-3k per weekend. The more years of experience and added responsibilities you take on also should raise pay.

Here a simplified explanation of how docs are paid- your "hourly rate" of pay for office visits is mostly determined by your specialty from insurance payers. The more training you have done, the more your hourly rate is. Those that perform procedures also get paid based on the procedure= ex. LASIK, colonoscopy, removal of skin cancers, all surgeries, etc.
The more hours you work and procedures you perform, the more you can make.

 

[whodini]



I assume no and no.
Psych malpractice is comparatively cheap in the US. IM is around 30-40k in New York. General Sx is more. Florida has some of the worst malpractice rates. Texas is probably the most doctor friendly (low malpractice, no state income tax), large population state in the US.

Do you know of any sites that compare average rates by state/specialty?

 

[bringusingoodale]

^^^^what specialty?

I"m board-certified in general, child/adolescent psychiatry.

I have a bit better perspective on my choice now that I've been out of residency for 11 years. My local surgeon and OB-Gyn friends are now paying around $120k/year in malpractice insurance (11 years of working too) with no history of lawsuits, work 80-100 hours a week and can barely take a week off. They like their jobs too, but many are trying to change job responsibilities to get better quality of life even if it means a major pay cut.

Pick something you like and leaves you a decent life. Money means nothing if you can't enjoy it.

See, I hear this often. People warning anyone who is considering a career as a physician to realize it's not like on t.v. etc...

But, isn't it that people choose to work the long hour careers? Is there no option for a relatively lighter workload? Surely there are doctors content to make 65,000 dollars a year in some lesser position somewhere, working typical hours?

 

[whodini]



See, I hear this often. People warning anyone who is considering a career as a physician to realize it's not like on t.v. etc...
But, isn't it that people choose to work the long hour careers? Is there no option for a relatively lighter workload? Surely there are doctors content to make 65,000 dollars a year in some lesser position somewhere, working typical hours?

Different specialties have different workloads, not just in a hospital but especially when you get into private practice. So yeah, you could be a GP or FP with a fairly "meager" salary compared to other specialties but with far more desirable hours. There are actually some websites, if you're curious, that give a break down of pay and hours based on specialty during residency and post. The differences can be drastic.

Found this tonight: