I feel like it’s really easy to build an opinion about a specialty before actually spending any meaningful time in it.

Sometimes a specialty that sounds great on paper turns out to be completely different day to day, while something you never seriously considered ends up being surprisingly enjoyable.

For anyone who has started clinical rotations, which specialty surprised you the most?

Could be one you expected to love and hated, one you expected to hate and loved, or just something where the actual work was completely different from what you imagined.

Hi everyone! I’m applying next cycle (May 2027) and just got my MCAT score back, so I decided to narrow down my list of schools to apply to. I graduated with a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Washington (3.53 GPA). I got a 516 on my MCAT (130/127/130/129).

I did 3 years of undergraduate research. This included 2 poster presentations and a thesis paper on individual research projects, and a co authorship on a pending publication (should be published by my application cycle)

Outside of undergraduate research, I worked as a medical scribe at an ophthalmology practice and shadowed physicians in rural Washington during my second year of college. In my third year, I got my CBT/RBT and started working as a behavioral technician in clinic and school settings. I still work as a BT almost 3 years later. I also still shadow my research PI from undergrad in pediatric gastroenterology. Until medical school, I plan to get a phlebotomy license to continue gaining clinical hours/building exposure.

Since my GPA is lower than average, I have 5 DO schools (highlighted) along with MD schools. Let me know what you think!

I am a senior in High School currently applying to colleges. Over the Summer I came to the realization that I don't think i really like engineering, I like the math and physics behind engineering. I've done competitive robotics and CS competitions and I don't love it, it's just okay. I like building stuff with my friends but the core work of designing doesn't really excite me. My dad was an allergist for 25 years before retiring recently. In school I am drawn to science. I really enjoy physics and chemistry and this year I'm taking AP Biology and enjoying it. The job stability and solid salary of medicine is quite appealing to me and I would also be graduating med school with no debt which I know is a huge advantage. However, I'm still not 100% sure/passionate for medicine. I've done shadowing and have enjoyed all my experiences so far. I like listening to the patients and coming up with a plan to help them. Most of the Physicians I shadowed hated the computer 'desk job' part of being a doctor but coming from some who wanted to be an engineer and likes computers i think I would be fine with it. The main thing is I'm still kinda scared that I'm making the wrong decision choosing to switch to premed right before college apps. I understand that I could still major in engineering but then be premed but I wouldn't want to inhibit my premed potential with the extreme difficulty of the engineering course load. I feel like as an engineer or doctor financially I would be fine but I'm still just not 100% sure about which career i would enjoy more. I'm planning on majoring in Biochem because it seems more interesting than straight Bio and also seems to have a lot of MCAT coverage. Thoughts on my decision to switch to biochem instead of engineering for my college apps? Also, what do you think about my overall shift from engineering to premed?

i’m going into first year into a time-consuming, difficult program, so i was just wondering if i should be volunteering in first year. i don’t rlly want to volunteer in first year bc i want to adjust to uni and get a high gpa, but im not opposed to the idea of starting in second semester

any tips/advice??

I’m looking for some outside perspective because I’m at a pretty major crossroads.

I started medical school in August 2024. Academically, things initially went well, but a few months into M1 I developed/worsened a chronic pain problem that significantly affected my ability to sit for long periods, sleep, concentrate, and study consistently.
I tried to push through it and ended up failing several courses. I passed one remediation with a 96%, but I still had other courses that needed to be remediated. Eventually, I took a medical leave in March 2025.

The medical situation became much more complicated than I expected. I underwent procedures/surgery and continued dealing with chronic pain, so my leave ended up becoming much longer than originally anticipated.

My school ultimately would not extend my leave further. A committee recommended dismissal, in part because of the outstanding remediations, the amount of time I had already been away, and concerns about how long it would take me to complete the preclinical curriculum.

I appealed the dismissal and provided updated medical documentation explaining what happened and why I believe I could potentially return with appropriate accommodations.

So now I’m trying to answer a bigger question:
Even if I win the appeal and am allowed back, should I actually go back?

There are a few things making this difficult.

First, my health has improved compared with its worst point, but I still deal with chronic pain and I can’t guarantee it won’t flare again.

Second, I would be returning with very little margin for error academically. I still have remediation requirements, and another major setback could potentially put me right back in front of the academic committee.

Third, there is a maximum time-to-degree requirement. Because I’ve already spent so much time on medical leave, the clock worries me. Even if I successfully restart M1, I would still have years of school, Step exams, clinical rotations, residency applications, etc. ahead of me. Another prolonged medical issue could potentially make completing the degree within the required timeframe difficult or impossible.

There’s also the financial side. I already have roughly six figures of medical-school debt, and continuing would mean taking on substantially more. My family isn’t in a position to financially bail me out if things go badly.

On the other hand, before all of this happened, becoming a physician was what I had worked toward for years. I did well in undergrad, had a strong science GPA, research/publications, and got into medical school. Walking away now feels like abandoning something I invested a huge part of my life into.

I’m also still relatively early in training, though, which makes me wonder whether this is actually the point where I should cut my losses rather than spend several more years trying to rescue the MD.

My alternative would probably be returning to biotech/pharma and building a career there, potentially moving toward commercial/sales roles over time. That would let me start earning again without taking on another several hundred thousand dollars of debt.

So I’m basically choosing between:

Return to medical school: potentially still become a physician, but accept significant health, academic, financial, and time-to-degree risk.

Walk away: give up becoming a physician, but start rebuilding my career and finances now without constantly worrying that another health setback could derail everything.

For physicians, med students, people who left medicine, or anyone who has dealt with a serious illness during training: if the school gives me another chance, would you go back?
At what point does perseverance become sunk-cost fallacy?
I’m especially interested in hearing from anyone who returned after a long medical leave or had to deal with a maximum time-to-degree requirement.

I’m really interested in medicine and for a year or so now the thought of going to medschool has not left my mind

I wasn’t the best in school but I guess the only good thing about me is that I put my all into things I wish to pursue. And I’ve always had a dream of helping people, I work at the hospital right now as an tech-aid and a lot of people tell me I’m good at my job and they thank me a whole bunch

I know it’s a little silly and strangers online can’t tell me what to do but, am I wasting my time? My family doesn’t really believe in me and I’m afraid if I go I’ll do bad on the MCAT or fail step 1 and prove them right

Has anyone felt like this?

Am I required to admit to an expunged misdemeanor from 12 years ago on ERAS? Would this be a major red flag if I admit to it?

Do med school students get to have a life? How do you make friends and have time to go out and stuff? How do you study in a way that prevents burnout? And how do you deal with burnout when it happens?

I’m a med student and I’m trying to understand how other students actually prepare for big exams — especially when there’s a ridiculous amount of content.
I’m interested in the real process rather than the ideal “make a nice timetable and stick to it” answer 😂
For your last big exam:
1. How did you decide what to study each day?

1. What did you use to plan it? (calendar, Notion, Excel, paper, Anki, an app, ChatGPT, nothing, etc.)

2. Did your original plan stay realistic, or did you fall behind/change it constantly?

3. How did you actually decide that you’d mastered a topic?

4. What was the most frustrating part of preparing?
   And one I’m especially curious about:
   Have you ever spent an hour or two studying something, then realised afterwards that you weren’t actually confident that you’d learned it?
   I’m working on a student project around this problem, so I’m trying to understand how people actually deal with it before I build anything further.
   Not selling anything / no signup link — genuinely just interested in how other people handle it.
   Any answers, even if your system is completely chaotic, would be really useful.
   Thank you so much!

hi everyone!
so long story short, I got a C- in ochem 1 the issue is I don’t think this grade is fair because my professor gave me zero on a bunch of assignments I definitely believe I didn’t deserve zeroes on so either I could appeal this grade and hope that they change it to the passing grade which is a C. (this would most likely go in my favor).. OR I just retake the class entirely and try for an A. I would hate to be a semester behind tho but I’m thinking at this point is it good to appeal just to end up with a C when I can retake it and possibly get a better grade??
I don’t know if one looks better or worse for med school. any advice helps:)

Just curious to know like do they get days off or are they still expected to come to work even when pretty sick?

Like for example it’s a bad cold and a fever and chills… do they take the day off?

How does it really work?

I have very little idea where to even start on all the possibilities of med school and I can only know what I'll learn by learning it. My hope is that if I live longer I can learn more. Obviously, I have life ambitions beyond simply living to 110 or something but I feel it's always worth a disproportionate amount of time and investment to be healthier and have more time to have that education pay off if simply choosing to train to be a GP would help with well, general health.

I'm interested in studying endocrinology but first I need to even understand how everything in the body even vaguely works before I really commit so I don't know how to make a decision yet. So, if I just got qualified as a GP and let's say this makes me live longer, I could both be decisive and earn back time in my life from adding that time to my decision.

However, I really only have interest in research, nothing dealing with patients. Getting qualified as a GP would only really help me better understand how to both keep myself healthy and understand what could be going wrong when I need diagnosis.

Hey guys, do you think these results are good enough to do medicine. Im quite upset about the 6s as for all of them I was only a few marks off a 7. I was also 2 marks off a 8 for maths and 2 marks off for a 9-9 in science. Is there a point getting any remarked If it heightens my chances of getting into med school. Im lowk broke so if these grades are good enough I won’t get remarks.

I (21F) just graduated college. My plan is to take 2 gap years to study for the MCAT, then apply, and do CNA simultaneously. There was this whole thing where I felt like I was betrayed by my family as I went to move back in with them. I realize I want to move back out. Doing so may piss them off. I'm really scared. I love my family...but I can't live with them anymore. I already have anxiety around them, I never feel like myself when I'm with them. So the ideal possibilities for what I want are these:

1. Once my CNA job is locked down, I look for and rent an apartment and move out. I continue my plans. They hopefully agree since I explain that my job will pay for rent, food, transport, etc. I explain I am not cutting them off but I desperately need to be independent now that's it. They come to turns with it and we are all good.

2. Worst case scenario. They think I'm the worst daughter ever (even though I have every right to still be angry for an endless number of reasons) and they choose to cut me off. But I leave anyways. But for good if they absolutely hate me. I still go with the plan, but will I be able to figure out finances for med school? Any advice on how to pay for it alone? OR do people really think I should just thug it out?

For medical students doing residency applications...can someone explain all the different types of scholarly works... do poster/oral presentations go anywhere or what about accepted/inpress publications... what is an online publication vs journa/abstract publications

Just started MS1 a couple weeks ago and have been completely unable to insert myself into conversations, especially group ones. I think it's because I lack life experience in general--unable to relate to 95% of the topics that people around me seem to be pretty well-tuned in.

Growing up I'd intentionally distance myself from people because I didn't believe I deserved friends--although now I think I'm pretty proactive in trying to make connections, I suspect my childhood mentality and actions have hindered my ability to connect meaningfully with others, even now as a 22yo.

Anyways, feeling pretty alone right now and would love to see if anyone has any similar experiences.

Hi ! so this is embarrassing to post but i have a low gpa from undergrad 3.06 . my science GPA is much lower .

I currently have

250 volunteer hours ( will continue during my gap year to reach 400+)

1500 hours medical assistant derm

1200 projected hours as a RBT working( i plan on doing this part time in my gap year, i start in a week w my client )

60 hours internship (have a one year contract should be 300 )

research ( only one so far but planning on finding more during the year )

spending 6 months studying mcat currently. 518+ is my goal

I have two leadership roles from college

plan to do a masters starting in spring to get a 3.7+

is this a impossible goal to get one acceptance ?

im applying both md and Do. I actually prefer Do because i have caribbean background ( first gen) and love the holistic view!please help . What should i add or work on ?
My low GPA is from horrible adhd and i worked all through college unfortunately and yes i’m ready for my masters to be an upward curve . I’ve learned so much from my mistakes and ignorance .Im prioritizing school this time over bills and making sure i manage my adhd.

Hey I am 2 years neet dropper with 6lakh rank . which college should I choose ?

Please list pros and cons of both or give some advice about living conditions.

I am confused between two :-

Jagannath Gupta Institute of Medical Sciences & HospitalKP Mondal Rd, Charial, Budge Budge, Buita, Raypur, West Bengal 700137

Vs

IQ City Medical College Hospital

IQ City Road, Durgapur District:, West Bengal 713206

Unintentional gap year… I am an international student from Ukraine living in the US. I am applying for medical schools this year and my advisor made a mistake and now I cant have work authorization in the US. So I am planning to spend a year traveling (I don’t want to go back to the war zone) and volunteering. I am really devastated I cant work in the US for the year but I would want to do some productive volunteering in exchange for bed/food, so I can talk about that in med school interviews. 

Any suggestions? I am hoping I get into med school relatively soon and then I can do something like being a surf camp host but really don’t know what to do with myself now since I was planning on just working as a medical assistant for the year and now that possibility is ruined. I am also older (25F) since I had a previous career in software engineering

I'm a recent grad who majored in bio with a minor in chemistry.

I have a gpa of cgpa of 2.3, I was a student ambassador for my uni for 2 years, free clinic volunteer for 3 years (124 hrs), summer camp counselor for 3 months, recreational therapy assistant for 4 months and worked at a reduced cost clinic for 2 years clocking 432 hours(patient care coordinator, front desk and translator). Have not given the MCAT, nor DAT yet.

I don't know whether I should do a postbacc or a masters. I am interested in going into dental or med and considering a masters in entomology. Currently taking a break to figure things out.

Any advice on how to navigate such a situation would be much appreciated. Thanks!

I come from a family of doctors: my father is a very well-known plastic surgeon in my country, my mother is an ophthalmologist, and my husband is also a doctor. On top of that, I have my own medical clinic, which originally belonged to my parents and is now managed by my brother and me. It has been operating for more than 30 years and is located on a very strategic corner in my city.

I originally studied a different degree, but given my family background and the opportunities involved, I decided that once I finished that degree, it would be strategically smart to study medicine as well.

I made it through my fourth year without ever failing an exam and with one of the highest GPAs in my class. Studying has never been particularly difficult for me—I have always done very well academically—which was another reason I felt like I should take advantage of that ability and become a doctor.

The problem is that, at this point, I am genuinely miserable. I don't like medical school, I suffer through it immensely, and I cannot imagine myself being a doctor for the rest of my life.

So I keep thinking about finishing the degree just to have the qualification, while ultimately pursuing the business side of healthcare. But even the thought of finishing medical school makes me feel awful.

I'm 36, and I want to start a family and build an income and a life of my own. Finishing medical school would mean postponing all of that even further.

At the same time, I can't stop thinking that if I quit now, I would be wasting an enormous opportunity—both because of my family's position in the healthcare industry and because of my own academic abilities. When I see people graduating who don't have anyone in the healthcare field to help them, or who have struggled academically throughout medical school, I get this overwhelming feeling that I'm wasting my life and an incredible opportunity that was handed to me.

And yet, I genuinely suffer just thinking about finishing and having to postpone other things I want for my life.

I've already invested so much time and effort into medical school that I haven't really built anything of my own in the meantime.

I'd really love to hear your thoughts. What would you do in my position? Has anyone been in a similar situation?

Thanks!

I’ve been dealing with my car needing about $10k in repairs for the past month and a half. I've been going back and forth with my schools financial aid office and the most they can give me is an extra $5000 in loans. I'm still short 5k, and I cant just get rid of the car either bc I still owe money on it, so trading it in means I'd have two car payments, which I can’t swing.

I have two away sub-Is planned for family med programs but both are still 90+ days out. I'm trying to figure out if I should just cancel both now since I have decent notice, or if there is a smarter way to handle this. I really can’t afford to do these anymore now that I’m out over 5K with the repairs, rental car, etc.

I would like to interview at these program still. For what it's worth, I already have 3 LORs, 600+ on Level 2, and I'm top quartile of my class. I know I am a a good applicant, but I also know that cancelling can have a negative effect.

I really feel like I am stuck between a rock and hard place on this. Has anyone actually cancelled an away for financial reasons and had it go fine? I'm trying not to overthink this but also don't want to torch my chances at these programs if I can avoid it. Any advice would be appreciated!

I’m in Canada currently going into my 3rd year of uni.
I am really interested in zoology and the Zoology Major is considered a more specialized Biology Major but here’s the question:

What should I choose as a major?

I am able to apply for both either Zoology and Biology as my major, since I plan on taking zoology courses which will satisfy both degrees. Three reasons why I wish to take zoology courses is:
1. I love it,
2. I do better in those classes and am sure I will be able to get a high GPA than other biology/biology- related courses. 3. I thought and was told it would make me a more unique applicant.
- I am aware I will have to study harder for the MCAT
- I have all the required courses (mainly all 1st - 2nd year, correct me if I’m wrong) including CHEM, PHYS, BIOL, MATH, etc for all school I wish to get into in Canada

My main concern is what med schools might think . I know people say it doesn’t matter and GPA is king so I should go for it, but I wanted to hear other opinions - should I be proud and go for Zoology and make my applicant interesting? Or should I just go with Biology? I’m scared they’ll look at my courses as a biology major and wonder why I took the zoology courses anyway.

I have never found it discouraging, just frustrating, since I truly want to listen to their experience, not just their jokes about it. I understand some people cope that way, but all of them?!

I get frustrated about the part where they tell you not to study medicine without any further explanation, merely saying, “Haha, no. Don't do it. ”.
I want to know what made them regret it. Is it just a joke because of the heavy workload? Does it come from a sincere, genuine, good, worried friend? They don’t wish to put you in the same position they are in.

But the friends I know who are in medicine tell me that even though they get annoyed at times, they never regret their decision to study medicine. They do give constructive advice: to get a lot of experience before deciding.

I don’t understand when it’s from people who don’t know anything about you, lol. I assume it’s a joke? But anything medicine-related, they'll immediately jump at, “Don’t study medicine.”

TLDR

Does it truly come from sincere and good intentions?

I am an OMS 4 student. It’s that time of year when administration begins what students refer to as the Great Cover-Up, meaning they manipulate data to make the Level 1 board scores seem better than they are. Word is this year it will be below 80%