Medic School to Med School

[CANDawg]

I read a lot of posts about going from medic to RN, or medic to PA, but is it common for medics to go actual medical school for their MD's?

It's a long way out, but I've always thought of that as an option once I've completed medic school and grown comfortable in that role. Not to mention that I think having medic training and the experience would go a long way to strengthening your skills as an MD, especially in say, the ER.

Is it common? And for the people who have done it, do they find going through EMS to be beneficial, or would they have rather just jumped into med school at the beginning?

 

[Tigger]

I'm sure it can help one be a better MD, but I don't see any value in going to medic school to later go to medical school. Just go straight to med school, you'll learn everything you need to be a capable practitioner in school. Considering the time and financial implications of medical school, it seems to me that the earlier you start medical school the better off you'll be. Plus in the end medic school is primarily skill based and focuses more on what to do than why to do something.

 

[bstone]

Several of us here are either in med school or medical residents.

 

[JPINFV]

I think EMS can be helpful (albeit not in the admissions game more than any other experience). However, in large part due to the length of time of schooling, I wouldn't delay medical school to get full time experience in EMS. One of the reasons why medical school and residency is so long is that you are prepared when you leave to practice in your specialty, not just prepared to begin getting experience.

 

[medicsb]

I take step 1 in 3 days, which means I'm between 2nd year and 3rd year. (3rd year for my school will start at the beginning of July.)

I didn't seriously consider pursuing medical school until the end of medic training. I ended up working fulltime for a year and then going back to school. It was nice to have multiple per-diem jobs during college, which allowed me to work 12 hours a week while in class and then pick up fulltime hours during breaks. I probably could have worked more hours while school was in session, but my GPA would definitely have suffered.

If you are serious about becoming a doctor, then pursue it. I wouldn't recommend getting your medic and then going after it. It's a long road, especially if you don't have a bachelors degree. (On the up side, there is something like 20 new medical schools in the works, so in a few years, the competition will likely not be as fierce as it has been in the past.)

 

[CrackerBDingus]

I started in EMS to supplement experience and my resume for med school. Granted, I have 3 years until I finish my undergrad studies and pre-med. For me, this is a leg up on the competition because I will still be doing other extracurriculars such as research and volunteering until then.

However, notice I'm only a basic. It would be a waste of time for me to get a medic first. It costs more more now and won't be helping in the long run either.

 

[JPINFV]

(On the up side, there is something like 20 new medical schools in the works, so in a few years, the competition will likely not be as fierce as it has been in the past.)

Too bad residency spots aren't keeping up with the pace of new medical schools.

Side note: I've got USMLE Step 1 on the 12th and COMLEX on the 18th

 

[medicsb]

I started in EMS to supplement experience and my resume for med school. Granted, I have 3 years until I finish my undergrad studies and pre-med. For me, this is a leg up on the competition because I will still be doing other extracurriculars such as research and volunteering until then.

However, notice I'm only a basic. It would be a waste of time for me to get a medic first. It costs more more now and won't be helping in the long run either.

Research and volunteering are dime-a-dozen these days and EMT-B is pretty common. Unless you really do something with it, no one will really care. I probably don't have to tell you, but generally, none of that will help you if your GPA and/or MCAT is too low.

(I personally abhor the fact that research has become an unwritten requirement for med school. From what I can tell, 95% of what people do is a waste of time. Playing with mice in some lab is what you do if you want to a PhD, not an MD/DO. wdl;kgalsdfkhg; afklhg /Rant)

 

[silver]

I started in EMS to supplement experience and my resume for med school. Granted, I have 3 years until I finish my undergrad studies and pre-med. For me, this is a leg up on the competition because I will still be doing other extracurriculars such as research and volunteering until then.

However, notice I'm only a basic. It would be a waste of time for me to get a medic first. It costs more more now and won't be helping in the long run either.

Just to let you know. It really isn't a leg up. I and many others that I know currently applying this cycle are EMTs, have ridiculous amounts of volunteering experience, and have published research. Admission committee members have seen all of it. As such, find something unique in what you are doing.

edit: medicsb beat me.

 

[medicsb]

Too bad residency spots aren't keeping up with the pace of new medical schools.

Side note: I've got USMLE Step 1 on the 12th and COMLEX on the 18th

Yeah, I actually started typing about residency and the whole crap-chute that will be in a few years, but I don't want to bum anyone out too much this early in the game.

Good luck on the exams!

 

[JPINFV]

Yeah, I actually started typing about residency and the whole crap-chute that will be in a few years, but I don't want to bum anyone out too much this early in the game.

Good luck on the exams!

Thanks.. Good luck on Step 1.


In regards to residencies, I don't think it's a huge problem for US grads (MD or DO) yet, but in 2-3 years I'd hate to be someone at an off shore program. They're going to be the first to be squeezed out.

 

[CrackerBDingus]

Research and volunteering are dime-a-dozen these days and EMT-B is pretty common. Unless you really do something with it, no one will really care. I probably don't have to tell you, but generally, none of that will help you if your GPA and/or MCAT is too low.

(I personally abhor the fact that research has become an unwritten requirement for med school. From what I can tell, 95% of what people do is a waste of time. Playing with mice in some lab is what you do if you want to a PhD, not an MD/DO. wdl;kgalsdfkhg; afklhg /Rant)

Each one of those things listed is a dime a dozen yes. But when you look at the huge amount of medical school applicants many do not have any work experience in medicine, have never seen anyone die or bloodied or in a condition science has taught them. Combine all the things you have done and you stand out from a fresh college graduate who only did research. Not to mention, we're constantly surrounded by people like us who are a minority of med school applicants.

I agree with the research thing, stupid and useless. And I'm likely researching things no one will ever use or care about, especially not me.

 

[JPINFV]

Each one of those things listed is a dime a dozen yes. But when you look at the huge amount of medical school applicants many do not have any work experience in medicine, have never seen anyone die or bloodied or in a condition science has taught them.

You're assuming that admission committees care if applicants have seen patients "die or bloodied or in a condition science has taught them." I don't think that's a valid assumption.

 

[CANDawg]

You're assuming that admission committees care if applicants have seen patients "die or bloodied or in a condition science has taught them." I don't think that's a valid assumption.

I read an article about a first year resident who got pulled into a room by a nurse to work a code. The guy blanked, and nearly ended up frying the guy's liver with the paddles. It was the nurses who stopped him and actually took over once they realized he had no idea what he was doing.

I can't imagine how experience in EMS wouldn't have some type of impact on the admission decision. Book smart is not the same as smart.

 

[JPINFV]

I can't imagine how experience in EMS wouldn't have some type of impact on the admission decision. Book smart is not the same as smart.

Primarily because they don't expect anyone to have any medical knowledge before starting and because the depth and breadth of knowledge taught in medical school far outstrips any EMS programs.

While I generally loath to link to Student Doctor Network because the pre-allo forums needs to be nuked from orbit, the EMS forum is generally helpful and I agree with the assessments some of the EM physicians have posted in it.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=5994783&postcount=3

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=556556

Especially read the second post on the last link.

 

[medicsb]

I think it depends one what you did with your EMT or medic. I didn't do any research. The volunteering I did was as an EMT, before I had known anything about the med school application process. When I finally applied to medical school, I had been in EMS 7 years (5 as a medic). I think it helped my app., I talked about in my personal statement and secondary apps and it came up in interviews (to be sure it was just one of my selling points, not central to my marketing strategy).

Anyhow, the problem with the EMT-B, is quite a few pre-meds get it to pad their resume and most of them seem to do some volunteering here and there or spend time in a collegiate EMS. My default perception of a pre-med EMT-B is someone who just tended to drunk college students or was go-for on an ambulance. I don't think it does anything for your app. in and of itself. Now, if you had some significant, prolonged, and consistent involvement, i would be more interested.

Anyhow, as you'll see, the whole process is about selling yourself. You'll have to point things out yourself and make them sound interesting and explain why they would make you a good medical student and doctor.

Anyhow, I need to get back to what I originally got on the computer to do - more practice questions!

Hope I wasn't too redundant...

 

[CrackerBDingus]

EMT shouldn't be a central point on any med school app. As said before it is to pad a resume. You want to be well rounded but specific. The main girth behind my method is that I am a pyschology major. My ultimate goal is neurology and hopefully neurosurgery. It is two tiered because it breaks the trend of bio or chem major but caters toward a specific field of medicine while the generalized medicine is helped a tiny bit by the EMT experience.

That's one small part of my overall "sales pitch" but a crucial one that should help me in specific circumstances.

 

[EpiEMS]

As somebody who knows quite a few pre-meds (but, despite the exhortations of many folks, would never be one), I can say this with surety: they don't usually know what they're getting in to. A couple hundred hours of EMS would be good for lots of them. Better than research, surely.

 

[JPINFV]

As somebody who knows quite a few pre-meds (but, despite the exhortations of many folks, would never be one), I can say this with surety: they don't usually know what they're getting in to. A couple hundred hours of EMS would be good for lots of them. Better than research, surely.

All other things being equal, research is going to win out against being an EMT when it comes to the application game.

 

[Tigger]

EMT shouldn't be a central point on any med school app. As said before it is to pad a resume. You want to be well rounded but specific. The main girth behind my method is that I am a pyschology major. My ultimate goal is neurology and hopefully neurosurgery. It is two tiered because it breaks the trend of bio or chem major but caters toward a specific field of medicine while the generalized medicine is helped a tiny bit by the EMT experience.

That's one small part of my overall "sales pitch" but a crucial one that should help me in specific circumstances.

Honestly I'm starting to wonder whether EMT even "pads" one's med school app. I think we can all agree that if you do nothing with it, it will do nothing for you since so many applicants take the class just to try and pad their own applications. Now everyone realizes its worthless alone so they volunteer or work for their college (admirable and I also do this) but I doubt any admissions committee makes a distinction between volunteering and actually working in EMS.

I'm not planning on being a doctor but I am planning on an actual healthcare degree in the future and I'll be damned if I waste time in EMS to make myself a better applicant. I'm staying involved in EMS for the next few years because it provides specific career opportunities that I would like to pursue at this point in my life and I think it's contributing in a positive manner to my life. Plus with no med school there is less worry about starting school "too late" given the shorter length of programs.