I cant decide on which Medical field of study

[Hmac]

My degree is in Biochem, but I really don't remember a whole lot. Though biochem was a breese in medical school. My inorganic chemistry was rough, but very managable.

I didn't take biochemistry in college, but I did find it to be pretty straightforward in medical school. I suspect the difference is that in medical school, no one was gunning for grades in order to get into medical school. The competition from all the premed nerds and therefore the grading curve for all the chemistry courses in college was brutal.

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[Texas42]

I still have my biochem, org chem, and gen chem textbook. . you know, just in case I want to re-learn all that I forgot.

[WillBrink]

I didn't take biochemistry in college, but I did find it to be pretty straightforward in medical school. I suspect the difference is that in medical school, no one was gunning for grades in order to get into medical school. The competition from all the premed nerds and therefore the grading curve for all the chemistry courses in college was brutal.

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They were major gunning for grades in my huge lecture class and probably 90& of them applying to Ivy League med schools. My study partner was accepted into Harvard Med and got 100 on all tests in the class. Talk about f-ing up the grade curve. He was a smart SOB I tell you, but couldn't tie his own shoes half the time. Me, I was not gunning, but surviving and was thrilled with a B+ for the course.

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

This is good to know thanks guys. Worst part is the ****ing cheaters, I notice everything! Its a direct result of INSPECTIONS, and looking for stuff that wants to hurt you overseas.

I bet I have seen 5 people in my organic class alone using there cell phones to cheat.

[Hmac]

The proff made it clear that as far as he was concerned bio chem was designed to "separate the wheat from the chaff" and if you couldn't get past it you had no business going to med school, which was where most were going after the finished their pre med sciences.

Relatively few medical schools require college biochemistry for admission, but 2 years of chemistry (inorganic and organic) have been standard requirements for decades. And for almost the entire history of modern premedical education, Organic Chemistry has been the stumbling block...the course where professors feel obliged to separate out the wheat from the chaff, and probably the science course that medical school admissions committees look at grades most closely in order to evaluate an applicant for admission.

[fdny2pa]

If you look at my SN I am advising PA school. I'm former USMC/FDNY now a PA working in Internal Medicine on Long Island NY. I think its an awesome career choice. Message me if there are any questions I can answer for you

[Shoulderthinggoesup]

Inorganic was a real PITA. I personally found Organic Chem to be a lot of fun though! Puzzles!

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

If you look at my SN I am advising PA school. I'm former USMC/FDNY now a PA working in Internal Medicine on Long Island NY. I think its an awesome career choice. Message me if there are any questions I can answer for you

That's kind of you, if you lived a little closer it would be great to head to work with you for a day. I wont say I haven't considered it, just haven't explored it as in depth. You do need a bachelors first right?

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Inorganic was a real PITA. I personally found Organic Chem to be a lot of fun though! Puzzles!

I agree its a great glass, I love learning how everything is connected. The only issue for me with all these classes seams to be every time I learn about some new disease I think i have it..

[Shoulderthinggoesup]

lol, your gonna have an aneurysm when you get into clinical medicine classes.....

In all seriousness though, PA is a great route (though I am biased, as I am in PA school @ duke right now). You get to practice medicine without giving up a decade of your life to do so and get pretty decent pay to boot. The school itself is absolutely insane, but we seem to be making it through. I am stalling on studying for my ortho exam right at this second in fact. Really nothing as far as concepts is as hard as Chem in PA school, but the load of information is similar to taking 3-4 four week summer science classes every month. Tests on 1200 slides with 2-3 days to study kind of crap.

For MOST programs you need a bachelors as the programs are master's degrees, though there are a couple of Bachelor's programs left out there and like 2-3 certificate programs. However, these are going by the wayside and being phased out. Some states and many jobs now require a masters to even practice. What are your grades like? What prior medical experience do you have? Most PA schools are very big on having some real life experience. Competition is stiff to get in, and just getting stiffer.

If you want to get a good idea where you stand and learn how to better improve your application go to http://www.physicianassistantforum.com/forums/forum.php and hang out a bit. I would be glad to help you out however I can, so feel free to PM me.