What would you do?

I've come to a road in my life whether I want to go to Med School or Graduate School. I am weighing up majors, one is obviously easier than the other. If I choose med school, I would obviously select the other one. Here is a few situations that I am weighing up and I would like to hear others peoples opinions on the subject matter.

2 Majors- Cell Biology and Neuroscience (Harder Obv) or Biological Sciences

http://biology.rutgers.edu/Synopses09F/default.htm

Those are the classes I would have to take towards the major. The UG classes are the basics, Bio I & II (labs too), Chem through Orgo Chem and maybe an Inorganic the new thing in Med Schooling, English, Calc(1 year), Physics (1 year).

Pros and Cons(Mostly Cons)

Med School

-Cost (Most are 40g and up)
-Location
-Is it really worth it now in this economy?
-Can I do it mentally(I tend be soft around elders and dying patients)
-Job Opportunities
-Not so flexible on degree change but more learning skills

vs

Graduate School

-Much Cheaper Cost although its another 6 years rather than four
-Location is more close
-Job Opportunities
-More Flexible with degree
-Not in-depth as Med School

as far as med school, youll need to be absolutely sure its what you want to do. speaking from my brothers experiences, its something you have to wholely commit yourself to. if you dont, you wont make it because its not just something you can do casually while persuing other interests.

youll spend your entire undergraduate career trying to check the boxes (honors programs, thesis, internships, volunteer work, studying your ass off to max your GPA for cometitiveness, MCAT, etc) to even get a shot at med school. many dont make it the first time around, and so use that opportunity to go to grad school. this is what one of my buddies did, and then he got accepted on his second try the next year, with a year of grad school in some biological field under his belt.

then once youre accepted, its a gruelling 4 years, only to be followed by more tough years of residency.

from a purely financial perspective, med school wins hands down. your education will cost 6 figures, sure, but once your residency is over youll be able to pay that off in a few years. and doctors are in as big a demand now as ever. in fact, doctors have pretty much always been in demand, and will probably always be in demand, so job opportunities abound.

grad school is much more of a toss up from this point of view, really depends on your specific field, and your timing. your thinking has actually mixed med/grad school up, as far as the soft economy and its effects on the job market. and although it is cheaper, you will not make as much money, and in the long run it is not as good of an investment. but grad school, although tough, is not necessarily the mind job that med school is, although it can be (again depends on field and school).

but money should not be the motivation behind your life's choices, because you will not be happy if thats the only reason you decide to do something. now if you do something that your passionate about, and you happen to be able to make a nice living doing it, well then thats what everyone wants.

here is an interesting article i was just reading the other day on the subject of financial pay off and post graduate education:

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/what-is-a-masters-degree-worth/

it's pretty early to be making a decision like this already, i think. It's also a decision you don't have to make yet. Start with the pre-med process that way you provide yourself to have both options by the time you get a couple years closer to an undergrad degree. Pre-med isn't a major anyway, it's a set of extra classes you'd take. The major you're interested in fits for both Med school and a graduate degree. Don't narrow your options until you have a better idea.

I definately agree with JM on the money. It should not factor in your decision (there's financial aid, loans, scholarships, all of which you can get if you know how to work the system). I wouldn't consider the state of the economy with your decision either. stick with whatever your passions are and make it work for you AND if you can't find a job (in the future) just go back to school :-)

Legionnaire wrote:

as far as med school, youll need to be absolutely sure its what you want to do. speaking from my brothers experiences, its something you have to wholely commit yourself to. if you dont, you wont make it because its not just something you can do casually while persuing other interests.

Agreed.

Quote :

youll spend your entire undergraduate career trying to check the boxes (honors programs, thesis, internships, volunteer work, studying your ass off to max your GPA for cometitiveness, MCAT, etc) to even get a shot at med school. many dont make it the first time around, and so use that opportunity to go to grad school. this is what one of my buddies did, and then he got accepted on his second try the next year, with a year of grad school in some biological field under his belt.

Yeah, some of the demands being met nowadays for med school are rather rigorous but I understand why they do that too. I plan to Shadow a few and maybe do some EMT work. That is essentially a minor in trauma med/emergency medicine. That is going to introduce me into the work, that will probably be a deciding factor. I'm not scared of blood but somethings you might see are horrendous. It is what keeps you cool, is what makes you a good doctor.

Quote :

then once youre accepted, its a gruelling 4 years, only to be followed by more tough years of residency.

from a purely financial perspective, med school wins hands down. your education will cost 6 figures, sure, but once your residency is over youll be able to pay that off in a few years. and doctors are in as big a demand now as ever. in fact, doctors have pretty much always been in demand, and will probably always be in demand, so job opportunities abound.

Yeah and those residency years can be longer or shorter depending what you specifically are doing. I believe neurosurgery for example is another 4 years on top on the minimum 2 years. The Medicine field is always will be in demand, people get sick and someone needs to heal them.

Quote :

grad school is much more of a toss up from this point of view, really depends on your specific field, and your timing. your thinking has actually mixed med/grad school up, as far as the soft economy and its effects on the job market. and although it is cheaper, you will not make as much money, and in the long run it is not as good of an investment. but grad school, although tough, is not necessarily the mind job that med school is, although it can be (again depends on field and school).

but money should not be the motivation behind your life's choices, because you will not be happy if thats the only reason you decide to do something. now if you do something that your passionate about, and you happen to be able to make a nice living doing it, well then thats what everyone wants.

here is an interesting article i was just reading the other day on the subject of financial pay off and post graduate education:

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/what-is-a-masters-degree-worth/

I liked that article a lot and many would agree with them. The Bachelors is on its way out. I'd say currently in our generation (non-baby boomers) its equivalent to the High School. Comparing to the Baby boomers it is a probably an Associates. I'm going to apply to both Grad/Med school, granted most people who do apply for med school and don't get in (higher GPA) usually get some grant from their accepted Grad school. Either way, my degree will basically never stop at some time, which I do not mind either. Like with Graduate school, once you get your PhD. in the desired subject you are the upper echelon in that subject matter(hopefully). Once that is over, you can go back and get another degree to furthermore enhance that degree. Whereas the MD, its a one shot deal and your education is at the peak. Most MD's do not go back to school. If they do, its either for new pharmacology reasons or learning something brand new that has been ever taught. I could care less about the money, don't get me wrong but at my house I live in like a prison cell. My room used to be a bathroom and when I was born they switched it to a bed room. So I could live in a small rancher and make 40k and be happy. I am passionate about the physiology of the human body. Anyone knows me can see that, I get defensive when people make outlandish claims by magazines with no scientific backing or the more so famous "my friend told me, so he is correct" claims.

Auctoris wrote:

it's pretty early to be making a decision like this already, i think. It's also a decision you don't have to make yet. Start with the pre-med process that way you provide yourself to have both options by the time you get a couple years closer to an undergrad degree. Pre-med isn't a major anyway, it's a set of extra classes you'd take. The major you're interested in fits for both Med school and a graduate degree. Don't narrow your options until you have a better idea.

Yeah, it is I agree. I have one more semester before I declare my major. Either major will lead me to a Grad/Med degree. I'm going to talk to our HPO (Health Professions Office) and hear what they have to say. The only class either degree does not have is Inorganic chemistry. Which is stupid, inorganic chem serves no purpose in the medicine field besides chelation materials but we gotta take it now.

Quote :

I definately agree with JM on the money. It should not factor in your decision (there's financial aid, loans, scholarships, all of which you can get if you know how to work the system). I wouldn't consider the state of the economy with your decision either. stick with whatever your passions are and make it work for you AND if you can't find a job (in the future) just go back to school :-)

I believe what influences me a lot with money is my parents. They consistently see money as the beacon of knowledge for some reason. They drive in my head, if you don't make money than you'll be a failure. Thus being said, their idea of money is ~70k yearly w/o OT. As I stated above with JM, it is my passion, like psychology, its a never ending field with a plethora of knowledge. Both our fields will not stop growing until the end of time.

I've decided while I'm at Rutgers to do some work as an EMT(need to get certified which isn't that hard since I'm a human bio major). I also plan to attend and help set up a few things with special olympics and other various events.