Searching for... College Veterans' Wisdom.

[chasingAJ]

Does a surgical tech pay better than an RN? It only takes 2 years to get that done. I don't know the details but I have a friend who's an RN and her company (a hospital) paid for her to finish her B.S. and she's working toward the Nurse Practitioner. They have almost as many rights/responsibilities as doctors (assuming that the economics of it are causing the set backs, this could be a way around that). I applaud you for wanting to be a doctor but you should know that there are plenty of back up plans that will keep you afloat along the way.

I get burned out on college about weekly... but I just keep going. Now that I'm close to graduating I'm freaking out... I have to live in the REAL world? With a ... JOB?!

 

[kyuuei]

^ I'm just the opposite, I want to be done with this school stuff and STAY in the real world!!

THe nurse thing has been an option I've been weighing, there's still a lot of routes for me to go down. A bachelor's degree looks absolutely daunting to me right now, even if it is only 2 more years as a reality. I feel like I truly am taking a step back into square one with it. Plus, it's hella more expensive than community college. Same classes offered, but at increased rates. AND, those money-grubbing assholes all insist that only so many hours can transfer to their college because they want you to spend a fortune to pay for shit you won't touch.

I don't need a fancy college, I just want one that gives me an education. The problem is, those are all fancy.

 

[Usehername]

I have a cousin that just got accepted for this fall, a friend that just got accepted for this fall, and several that keep getting rejected despite near-perfect GPAs, great MCAT scores, and great volunteering. One of my surgeon aunts said she heard co-workers talking about how local schools are ranking extra-curriculars on a five point scale, and that a girl who
+volunteered at a homeless shelter in her local downtown
+started an HIV/AIDS awareness program in sub-Saharan Africa
+had ridiculous hours of hospital volunteer work
only scored 3/5 on the "extra-curricular" portion.

Like Q said, it's about your numbers meeting the cutoffs (get your numbers any way you can) and then it's about the extras. Don't invest your time somewhere if it won't show on your application four years from now. Also, if you take less than maximum course-load, you better have a damn good reason for why you weren't doing that, because then they presume you don't have the ability to keep up with the rigor of med school.

(And FWIW, my biochem prof said his little sister won the gold medal for highest GPA in her medical school, and they were talking about biochemistry after... he makes a comment about basic biochemistry, and she pauses, and goes, "oh yeah... ATP, right?" Biochem/organic is not even close to necessary for succeeding in medical school, they're just weeder classes.)

Also, my STJ uncle is an anaesthsiologist, and from what I can tell, it's definitely an STJ environment. He says it's 95% dull boredom and 5% panic of "better follow perfect procedure in the less than 60 secs I have to keep this patient alive"

 

[nightning]

Hey Kyuuei,

As you probably know already, I'm in pharmacology... which is sort of one of the stepping stone BSc majors people pick to head into med school. Although you don't need to be in any specific program to get it as long as you've completed the pre-req courses. I'm in Canada though and haven't looked at schools in the state, so the course requirements are likely slightly different... but not by much.

You need the following

1st year Biology, Chemistry, English (2 terms each)
Calculus I, II, III (1st year + multivariable)
Intro Organic Chem
Intro Biochem

That's the basics... It's also a good idea to take intro courses on human physiology and microbiology because 1st year med will be a "review" of all of that compacted together.

Oh and you also need a minimum of 90 credits (aka have completed courses for 3rd year standing before entering med school)

If you look at websites for the individual schools, they'll tell you exactly what you need.

Volunteering is important. Varied type of volunteering + the hours.

Even more important is your interview. Your grades etc is only the first screen to weed out 2/3rd of the field. After that it's strictly based on your performance at that hour or so long interview... Funny enough, nobody really knows how they did on it. Some schools here in Canada use standardized questions... but I've heard most schools in the state don't. So you just "chat". The final outcome seems like the luck of a draw.

MCAT... way back I've taken the paper version which was a horrendous 7(?) hour ordeal... but now it's electronic so it's been cut down to 4(?) hours?

They'll be testing you on Verbal (reading comprehension), Bio (for the most part basic high school Biology class knowledge on cells and human body plus some basic chemistry) and Physical Science (just basic high school physics). Of course there's the essay writing portion. Don't get fancy with your writing... stick to the 5 paragraph format.

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Anesthesiology

That's a specialty where you can enter AFTER getting your MD for family practice. Entrance into specialities are tough... But it's a 5-year residency program. The hardest part is the month long examination period at the end of it all. The most difficult is the verbal defense section where the panel will grill you with questions to the point where you answer "I don't know" to stuff or ramble off some incorrect answers. I've heard places in the states (of which Texas is one), working anesthesiologist don't need to be "board certified" but only "board eligible"...

My supervisor is an anesthesiologist... actually the research group I'm under is focused on anesthesia and analgesia...

Agree with Usehername's assessment. There's a lot of monitoring and observing patients, routine work to get a patient ready for surgery, monitor vitals during surgery and handling recovery/pain management afterwards. Stuff starts flying when the patient experiences problems (e.g. massive bleeding, plunge in blood pressure, adverse drug reactions etc)