What's the difference between receiveing a masters and going to med school when majoring in biology?

Question

I'm a student pursuing becoming a pediatrician, and a bio major. I'm the first to go to college in my family, so i'm not very sure about the differences in which paths I should take in order to fulfill that goal. After receiving my B.A degree, I'm still confused on what the pros and cons are, and the differences between going to grad school and receiving a master's and going straight into med school...

Answer 1

First I would learn more about the process of becoming an MD or DO and about the medical school experience. Getting into med school (in the US) is about three things: your GPA, your MCAT score, and IF based upon the first two, how your med school interview goes. Having a masters may have little to do with getting into med school and might not have any effect one way or the other.

I went to grad school and now I teach at a university, but I attended an academic medical center that was among other things a school of medicine. Also, my wife has worked at the med school for almost 30 years directly with the students.

Unfortunately, school counselors and college advisors often either don't know or give poor advise to health professions students. If your goal is to be a doctor and you have the grades and can make a decent score on the MCAT - by all means try the medical school route. Be aware of a few things:
1. Don't expect to hold a job, even part-time for 4 - years. You either have relatives that help you pay for school and life expenses, or you take out loans. There are few scholarships for med school.
2. Apply to all the schools in your state, you increase your chances of getting accepted.
3. Plan on moving again for your residency (4-6 years more). You have little say in where you'll do your residency, by the way, if you are in the top half of your class you might get one of your top three choices.

By all means TALK to recent graduates, preferably those in the midst of a residency. Many schools allow pre-meds to meet with current students. Contact the student affairs office at the med school near you. They will give you the best picture.
Best wishes.

Answer 2

Welcome to the dorky bio club!

A M.S in Biology (you'll probably pick a specializaiton like Cell and Molec) will prepare you really to go on to do a PhD. This educational path will really prepare you to either become a professor or a researcher or both. That being said, most people that know they'd like to remain in academia will do from a BS degree into an accelerated 5yr PhD program.

Going to med school from college will provide with an M.D. This is the only educational path by which to become a physician. During this path, you can also complete a PhD (in many schools) if you wish to do more of the research aspect of medicine instead of the patient aspect at any point, or if you have a passion about one specialization e.g. pediatric pathology.

The trick will be deciding whether you want to study medicine or practice it.

Good Luck.

Answer 3

You should really discuss this with an adviser at your college. I didn't know what was involved with becoming a doctor when I went to college either (biology). I wasn't sure I wanted to be a doctor, but I didn't know enough to take the right steps to do so. I later got a masters degree in exercise science, and 10 years later a master's as I became a physician assistant. If you KNOW you want to be a doctor, then go straight to medical school. If you're not sure, a counselor can explain what fields there are in health care. You could work in many different aspects of health care to experience what doctors and other health care providers do, and then go back to school, but if you know you want to be an M.D., don't hesitate going to school. Physician assistant schools require a set number of hours working with patients in some type of setting (usually 1000 with a bachelor's, 2000 without), and is an alternative you can consider if you don't go to med school now but later decide you want to treat people medically.

Answer 4

I think you're asking if getting your masters will help you beome a doctor...and the answer is both yes and no, but mostly no. Read on...
Once you get into med school, your other degrees matter a lot less. A medical doctor's a doctor, whether they have a BA, MS, or no degree at all....they have MD after their name and that's all that matters. So, while going to grad school will probably strengthen your application to med school, it isn't really necessary and probably won't help you at all in getting through med school or finding a job after you become a doctor. Just apply to med school now. If you don't get in, try graduate school, and apply again. If you still don't get in....then research other career options and maybe focus on getting your PhD and becoming a researcher (or another career path entirely!). Grad school is a good way to strengthen your application, but most people who get into med school just have undergrad degrees, so it's not necessary.

Answer 5

Well ... how do I put this nicely...congrats on bein the first in ur fam to go to college... but if you are already a bio major in college and you dont understand the difference between a masters and pursuing an MD, well... maybe you should think about law school instead...Anyways, an MD would give you the ability to practice medicine (or to sell out and work for Pfizer or something)...ya know, like your dream of being a pediatrician? A masters in bio would most likely lead you towards a research oriented career or maybe one in teaching. Masters= 2 years. MD= 4 yrs + residency + quarter mil in debt, but if you love it, you love it. I wouldnt dream of doing anything else.... well except maybe smacking a few HMO CEOs in the face. Good luck.

Answer 6

Some people seek a Masters Degree (MS) in Biology in the hopes it will strengthen their application. But Biology, even at the Masters level, is not medical school. A Masters in Biology probably **would** help, but it's not even necessary to have a BA to get into med school. You just have to get accepted. Ex; what if Daddy owns the Medical school, and the applicant has been helping out in the clinics and studying medicine by themselves since they were 10? That'll do it.

Answer 7

First, a Biology degree is open to a lot more fields than most people here are giving it credit for. It is widely sought after to become a teacher as well as all the other things mentioned. It is also a wonderful program to finish prior to going to Med school. A master's is great but not needed to enter Med school. If you truly want to be a doctor you need to get some ties with the med school you want to get in. There are many people interviewed for the positions in med school and few chosen as the class space is limited in virtually every med school in the country. What will get you in....good grades in school up to the time to go to med school. Good attendance and reputation at prior schools. Reference from one or more successful prior students especially if one or more of the people on the interview team remember them and like them. Dress neat, but not too professionally, be nice, ask intelligent questions, and keep eye contact without coming off as cocky or arrogant. Research the college you wish to attend and know statistics on their success rates and numbers of graduating doctors and honestly anything else you can find out about the school. Doctor's are impressed and more likely to choose you when they see you've done your homework and like anyone else, they have ego's. Big ones. If you can quote some of their successes and let them know you want to make a difference just like they have, you'll have them eating out of your hand. They have hard decisions to make and if they are smart they will pick the best interviews with the best information available to them at the time of the interviews. This means it's all up to you to give them a portfolio that is more impressive and more rememberable than the one Joe Blow took in before you got there or all the ones going in after you. Be sure to shake their hands if possible before you leave and as in a job interview make sure to get your name out to them. The person holding your information knows your name but the other 4 or 5 might just see a face with no name if you don't emphasize it. Leave the room with a very polite thank you and goodbye as entrance and exit are remembered usually more than interviews unless you really do well or really screw up badly. I've taught classes on interview skills for quite sometime so I know what I'm talking about. Once you get accepted remember, work, work, work.

Answer 8

If you want to become a doctor then just go straight to med school. Grad school is for the people who want to study more in depth on a specific subject and have a thesis, i.e. The relationships of Northern Fur Seals during the breeding months between August and November.

Answer 9

Do you want to become a scientist/researcher or a doctor?

If the answer is scientist, do a masters in biology.

If the answer is doctor, go directly to med school.

Answer 10

one let's you be a doctor and the other a biologist. difference, about 150k a year