Is it realistic to aspire to become a doctor...

[ngvepforever2]

It's realistic, all you have to do is not give up and keep going at it.

Originally posted by Doboji

First of all... you can make ALOT of money in the computers field... but it's really all about how far you want to push yourself, and how high you're able to rise.

I'm a perfect example, my wife-to-be is a doctor. She's a pediatrician... and she's thinking of specializing in Pediatric Gastro-enterology. I'm a Systems Engineer, working with Storage solutions right now...

I'm 27, and so is she...

She JUST graduated med school last year, and is in the first year of her residency program. WHICH IS BLOODY MURDER. She absolutely hates it, she works ridiculous hours.. this morning she went to work at 6:30AM, and I don't expect her back until around noonish tommorow. She makes 40K a year, and has about 140K in debt.

I just got a BS in MIS, and spent 6 1/2 years screwing around in college. I'm working for a great company, and I absolutely love it.... love it so much that if I won the lottery today, I probably wouldn't quit my job. Today I didnt even go to work, I sat at home and did a couple conference calls with my customers, and spent the rest of the day driving my car around for the heck of it. I make 120K(after bonuses and incentives), I have stock options, and great benefits, and have about 50K in debt.

In the future my fiancee has the potential to make a nice solid amount of money.... after she finishes 2 years of residency, and 3 years of fellowship, she would probably make starting like 175k. I have very little doubt that with some ambition on my part, and an MBA I can certainly make or beat that number in 5 years. In the long run I think she will outpace me.... but at that point... I really don't care.

You tell me.... which career path sounds better? My fiancee loves loves loves medicine... so to her it's worth the pain and suffering to do what she loves to do.

Cliff notes: Do what you love...

-Max

hope I'll get to be as lucky as you one day, :beer: for you...

Regards

ng

 

[SampSon]

Yeah, I might as well try to become really, really rich. I feel like if I major in something else, I'm setting my standards low or something. I have the power to decide my fate right now. If it's still possible for me to become a doctor, then I will pour my heart into achieving that goal.

You'll learn that there is way more to life than money. Setting your sights on a particular job strictly because of the money is basically a sure-fire way to become an unhappy wealthy person. Reality is that you will probably never be really, really rich in your lifetime. The rest of life will happen when you're trying to achieve wealth and steal your attention from money.

If you still want to go to med school then expect to be in school for many years to come, then you will have well over 100K in school debt and your first real job as a MD most likely won't be much higher than 40K while you work upwards of 20 hours a day. Then when you get into your mid 30s you will start to bring in real money.

Going to be a doctor is by no means an easy way into being wealthy. Just like any other profession on the planet you are going to have to work your ass off continuously and for the better part of your life. So there is no easy way out of working unless you have a rich family. So think about what you really want and don't expect to figure out the rest of your life, because you simply cannot at your age, or just about any other age for that matter.

 

[CanOWorms]

You'll probably be getting a lower than expected GPA if you're majoring in something like EE. You should try to find out if med schools factor in your undergraduate major when they look at your GPA.

 

[AG73]

go for medicine if and only if you love it. Otherwise it's a waste of time. I think you can get in from a mediocre school, provided that you get at least a 3.5 GPA and do well on your MCATs and have good letters, etc. You can do it if you want it badly enough, though keep in mind that if you're in it only for the money, you can make more with less years of training doing something other than medicine. if you don't love it, you'll be suffering through all of it. If you do love it, it may be the most rewarding thing you could do.

 

[Circle O Willis]

Originally posted by: SampSon

Yeah, I might as well try to become really, really rich. I feel like if I major in something else, I'm setting my standards low or something. I have the power to decide my fate right now. If it's still possible for me to become a doctor, then I will pour my heart into achieving that goal.

You'll learn that there is way more to life than money. Setting your sights on a particular job strictly because of the money is basically a sure-fire way to become an unhappy wealthy person. Reality is that you will probably never be really, really rich in your lifetime. The rest of life will happen when you're trying to achieve wealth and steal your attention from money.

If you still want to go to med school then expect to be in school for many years to come, then you will have well over 100K in school debt and your first real job as a MD most likely won't be much higher than 40K while you work upwards of 20 hours a day. Then when you get into your mid 30s you will start to bring in real money.

Going to be a doctor is by no means an easy way into being wealthy. Just like any other profession on the planet you are going to have to work your ass off continuously and for the better part of your life. So there is no easy way out of working unless you have a rich family. So think about what you really want and don't expect to figure out the rest of your life, because you simply cannot at your age, or just about any other age for that matter.

Agree. Take it from someone in med school right now, i don't see how anyone can do it without really enjoying medicine. the countless hours of memorizing books of info (only to realize you'll forget most of it and have to re-memorize it for later tests) is already bad enough. but to someone who doesn't enjoy it, it'd be a living hell.

 

[SportSC4]

go volunteer at a hospital. if you don't like it, then you saved yourself a lot of time.

anyways, credits transfer, gpa doesn't. you can still do EE/CE program if you'd like. the only requirement is that you do good in it and do good in the pre-med requirements (and MCAT). i know art and spanish majors who have done very good in their major, did very good in their pre-med classes, did very good on the MCAT, and are in very good medical schools now. it's harder to get into med-school with a bio/chem degree... there are sooo many of us (I'm a bio major) with that degree who have also done pre-med classes that apply. We all compete with each other.

Now EE/CE degree AND pre-med classes... that is difficult.

 

[maziwanka]

im not sure how much faith you should put into some of the opinions offered in this thread. however, it is nice to see all the pieces of advice youre getting...

unfortunately, im not really sure how to advise you; it feels as if you can just stay where you are but work your ass off. make sure your grades in all your future semesters are well above the 2.2 you scored in your first semester. a lot will depend on your mcats too...

(basically, i dont agree with the dropping out of school, going to another school to start fresh, transfering to a more reputable school, then applying to med school)

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Residency isnt as bad as people make it out to be...my pops did his residency over when he came to the US...in psychiatry...and he said he was Ok with it. But he's very focused and doesnt really look at it as 'work'

any this is his first year practicing and he's making loot...like 250+

 

[notfred]

It'sonly one semester. It won't affect your GPA that much. 2.2 * 15 units, + 4.0 * 105 units would give you a 3.78GPA at the end of college. That's pretty damn good.

 

[alkemyst]

Well first GPA is not the deciding factor. I had a pretty crappy GPA (in the 3.x's, with 2.x it may be tough...highschool really is not a factor).

However, in the critical items: Chemistry (general/organic), Biology/Zoology, etc I made at least B+ and mostly A's.

Plus my teachers loved me in respect to although I was sort of a lazy student, I took time out to tutor others during labs and in class. I was even barred from answering questions in certain classes the Professor introduced (usually answered with my face in my arms sleeping at my desk ).

Medical schools were interested, but knowing a lot of doc's I knew it wasn't for me. I am sort of really laid back and like my free time. Being a doctor is a dedication (I was also looking into becoming a vet) that I was not ready to make. I did get accepted to Pharm schools when I decided that was more up my alley a semister prior to my AA degree. I destroyed the PCAT's. Long story short, Pharmacy was boring to me...glorified pill counter down here. The store management doesn't want advice given due to law suits, and you have at least two techs usually pulling the drugs. Nothing to do but sign off.

Sometimes I wish I could be driven by the paycheck.

If you are going Medicine...you need to be able to understand how people work first, an ability to learn second and third the willingness to put EVERYTHING in your career before ANYTHING else. Unless you choose to either go lesser doctor jobs (still good money and can be easily a 9-5 job, but not really stimulating) or just a hack that works on bringing in money and nothing on repeat business.

Å

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: gamepad
So should I even bother trying? If I start taking classes pertainent to med school and not get accepted, wouldn't that be a major waste of time/money?

EE/CE is more realistic for me?

WHOA!

Pick something first you WANT to do then go for it.

I tested engineering, pharmacy, veternary medicine, computer / programming development, financial/mortgage banking prior to moving forward.

I withdrew from my Biology/Zoology/Chemistry program with only a semester left to get anyone of those degrees (Bachelor), my curriculum was tight, I had about 20% more hours into the program than needed but it gave me a very broad background. I took both options when offered each time (like Botany for 6 credits vs Zoology for 6 credits).

Sometimes I wish I did pick up one of those degrees just to have it.

You don't want to go through life picking a major because it's just out there.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: EatSpam
If you're going to do pre-med, I'd just drop out of this crappy college and forget the whole experience. Start fresh at a new school, retake classes, and never ever mention the crappy college again. Don't mention classes you've taken when signing up for colleges, nothing. You want to lose that GPA.

If you can't get into a decent college based on your high school grades and ACT alone, go to the Junior College. Sign up for either a Transfer degree for Science or a Biology degree. Get your 2 year degree and get that 4.0 GPA. Then transfer into a good school. If you have a 4.0 GPA in a science major, you'll get accepted to a good school, no problem.

Pre-med is a ton of work and you absolutely have to get really good grades. If you don't know the material, you won't pass your boards, get into medical school, or do anything else and you will just be wasting your time. Forget partying, working, sleeping, or having fun. If you date, your girlfriend must be totally understanding of your need to study 18+ hours per day, every single day.

Its tough, but would you want your doctor to not know his profession?

I can agree with some of this, but I also, plus I know some that can get by with little study in the medical sciences (yes you have had to been developing those skills since you were much younger...like having a 2000+ page pathology book when you are a teenager)...my BIGGEST failure to my GPA was homework. For every 100%+ test I took, I blew them with a zero for homework. However, test scores do matter a lot. Even on my college tests (SAT/ACT) I smoked the science and math parts and screwed up the lengthy english/composition ones. Yet I had english teachers that would provide me letters that I was an excellent writer (do not try to hack at my online postings...I do them all stream of consciousness and while busy doing other things ).

However, for most medicine is a tough road.

 

[rocadelpunk]

I'm pretty sure you'd be aboslutely miserable in EE or CE unless you love math/science and know that you 100% want to be an engineer.

 

[mercanucaribe]

SMART people make 2.2s in EE/CE. If you couldn't be bothered to make Bs your freshman year, you have a snowball's chance in hell.

 

[magomago]

Make sure you really like EE and CE. Talking to my friends CE is a lot of circuit board layout and writing firmware...EE depends since you can focus on solid state optioelectronics (i think that is the term lol) or wireless or other stuff; I don't beleive the starting 57K though, that is if you are lucky. What you will learn is going to be on a more fundamental level. They aren't going to sit there teaching you about the latest 7900GT or anything like that. So don't expect the knowledge to DIRECTLY correlate to building PC parts.

But I'll tell you right now that unless you REALLLLY like Engineering...don't do it. Me and my Engineering friends study 4x as much as other students and have a LOT of less free time. Granted, its engineering so expecting a super high GPA isn't going to happen due to the clear cut difference between engineering and non engineering classes. Just to give an idea on the "difficulty" of the classes, I like to take random sociology classes and its almost ridiculous how the people complain about how little they have to read (When the teacher even goes and tells them to look at SPECIFIC PAGES), or how "hard" these tests are when the questions a professor will ask are obvious...they will sit and complain how difficult the class is when in reality it isn't hard. But REALLY make sure engineering is what you want to.
And I want to emphasize I am not warning you on the difficulty of engineering. I don't think it is that inherently difficult...but what gets people 90% of the time is that engineering requires a lot of persistence and unless you are willing to persevere then you should pause before you jump into it. Interestingly enough, most PhDs have told met hat the difference between a Masters and a PhD really comes down to perseverence as well.

Just make sure you like engineering...because you don't want to spend two years of your life realizing that it isn't for you...when those two years you could have had a lot more free time to develop a hobby and do stuff and relax and hang with friends but instead you sat there hammering at something you really didn't enjoy

Also...people don't emphasize the grades as much in engineering with good reason; but sometimes that leads to absolute carelessness. What I have learned is that a nice breakpoint for a person is a 3.3. If you get that 3.3 then you are pretty competitive with most places for jobs and the second tier gradschools. If you want top tier grad schools you REALLLY need a 3.5. If you have UNDER a 3.0 then that is where the focus on on experience comes in more; its actually important regardless of your GPA but when your GPA is low you definitely need something to supplement that GPA.

And ironically it matters WHERE you go to school. So many times I have been rejected for internships because "Our company only recruits from our target campuses" despite the fact that my school ranks in the top 50 in the nation and my GPA isn't bad. That is when it becomes frustrating because people of lesser talent will get a job due to the fact that a company has many alumni for a particular school so the company just continously recruits from that school. That is when you need to break past that...you just need to be a better candidate overall.

In summary...Engineering is awsome and if I had a choice the only change would be maybe a slightly different engineering degree But make SURE you love it (and might it add it is really cool to be able to think of designs conceptually and how you would set them up...rather than always think "Gee i wonder how i did that") and don't fall into the trap that you can be an underpreformer in engineering and still land a good job.

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
SMART people make 2.2s in EE/CE. If you couldn't be bothered to make Bs your freshman year, you have a snowball's chance in hell.

I would disagree with a 2.2 That is saying you get usually C to C+s with an occaisonally B- in your classes. Even if your class is full of geniouses, so as long as you learn your material decently I don't see how you can't get straight B. I'm not an EE/CE specifically but in my major, as well as my friends, if you get a C it is because you really didn't try and put in that time.
If you actually try and put an effort to learn you should be able to net Bs.

But yeah I agree with the fact that if you get a 2.2 your first semester and are contemplating a switch to engineering then you better hope that you slacked, or didn't really try. If you actually tried and got a 2.2 you should rethink not only engineering, but also a better means to study