Re: What if you don't want to treat patients?

Hi there,
There are no limits on what you can study for pre-med in preparation for
medical school. Most medical schools are going in the opposite direction of
what you have posted and are looking for people who can communicate with
patients. Almost every applicant to medical school can master the coursework
that is offered in medicine but the art of treating patients is something
that is very difficult to learn and practice.

If you don't want to treat patients, a Ph.D in Biochemistry, Anatomy,
Neuroscience or any of the Biomedical disciplines would be keep you away
from patients. I don't think you would have to worry about "lowering your
academic standards"  to pursue a graduate degree. In fact, a Ph.D from
Berkeley is supposed to be one of the highest academic attainments that one
may achieve. (Much higher than any medical degree).

If you are looking at attending medical school strictly for what you
perceive as a "sure ticket" to a high income, I am afraid that you are going
to be very disappointed with medicine. A better choice would be Ph.D then JD
where you could practice patent law.

nbmd


"ifignow" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> "aegon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> > You CAN always enter ancillary fields such as pure research,
> > administration, procedurally-intensive profefssions, etc., but, if
> > this is your goal from the outset, then there are far easier routes
> > than getting an MD.
>
> Ok, could you give me some examples of these "ancillary fields"?
>
> To give you some background, I've already put in a decade in the IT field.
> I'm bored of computers and ready to move on to some other science.  I'm
> taking college courses to improve my qualifications for grad school.
> Pre-meds at my school (Berkeley) take dumbed-down versions of math and
> science courses "for biology majors", so they can spend the rest of their
> time volunteering at hospitals, running canned food drives, or other
drivel.
> From my engineer's point of view, the health care field has a peculiar
value
> system by which they make a big deal out of this humanitarian stuff at the
> expense of academic achievement.  I (like most engineers) value
intellectual
> achievement and money.  I'd like to get into a new scientific field
without
> having to lower my academic standards or pretending to be some squishy
> humanitarian from the red-ribbon crowd.
>
>
>
>