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Hi everyone,

I am new here so hello to you all. I graduated 2 years ago and have always been contemplating law school for some time now; however, before I embark on this path, I wanted to explain my situation. I volunteered/worked at my local university hospital for 5 months, and I loved the exposure. I did surgical rounds/discharges, helped patients, facilitated nurse/patient tasks, and the like. I don't want to sound cliche, but I really felt resourceful and good about myself when I was going to work. Prior to this, I worked at a bank for a bit, and I deplored it. A constant corporate environment/field was felt when I was there, and I told myself I have to do something I enjoy doing; that is, being involved in a service-minded field. And so despite coming from a liberal arts background with my BA, I went ahead and applied to a post-baccalaureate (postbac) program for medicine, a good one too, and got in. It's essentially a program to complete all the natural sciences in a little over a year so that you can fulfill the pre-med requirements for med school. I decided medicine is my calling.

Now here's the short of it: I am looking at the ends of a profession (not the means), and I was hoping I could get further clarity here. Is law practice vastly different than law school? Is "BigLaw" what people paint it to be: mind-numbing, meaningless duties whereby the nature of the work involved is exceedingly strenuous/boring (i.e., pinciting, drafting, et cetera)? I like the law and would enjoy studying it; however, I would assume law practice is a very mechanical approach to a job and you aren't given much leverage in what you do.

I am just inquiring on this subject to see if the rumors are true (or partially true) and if you think medical practice allows for more flexibility/growth as well as humanitarian motives. Again, I like the law, strictly speaking, but if I do law, I would want to be in the highest echelon of this field (ostensibly BigLaw), and enjoy the nature of the work. I always hear horror stories/atrocious hours/no work + life balance issues with those who are in BigLaw and if this is the case, then I absolutely do not welcome the opportunity to practice law.

So, if anyone here has graduated law school, worked in BigLaw, and can edify me on what one could expect in this role, versus that of the medical profession (which I know obviously has its own sacrifices and commitments), and can tell me just how different law practice is than law study, I'd be real appreciative. Thank you in advance.

I don't really understand your dilemma. In your post you said verbatim: "I decided medicine is my calling."

How did you even transition into thinking about law? You have experience in a hospital environment and loved it. I apologize if I come off as crass, but your post is leaving me confused.

If you spend about 5 minutes reading these forums, you will quickly decide law is not for you.
They are filled with nothing but the horror stories that you mentioned. TLS is a really depressing place. See the post a few threads down where some kid wants to kill himself after failing a class.
From the stories gathered in TLS, biglaw hours are hard, people going into law for humanitarian reasons wind up selling out because they need money to pay back debt and they can never get any satisfying humanitarian work, plus you said medicine is your calling.

No one who can actually get into medical school would go to law school.

Congrats on the Post-Bac, those are very hard to get into, I have a close friend who went the link route from Goucher-->Pitt Med and never looked back, she was a lib arts major at her small college.

It seems like medicine is your choice here, best of luck and kudos for getting some real hands on experience before deciding.

The Insider wrote:Hi everyone,
I am new here so hello to you all. I graduated 2 years ago and have always been contemplating law school for some time now; however, before I embark on this path, I wanted to explain my situation. I volunteered/worked at my local university hospital for 5 months, and I loved the exposure. I did surgical rounds/discharges, helped patients, facilitated nurse/patient tasks, and the like. I don't want to sound cliche, but I really felt resourceful and good about myself when I was going to work.

Congrats on finding something you enjoy doing, I can't wait to hear how you must have equally loved a corporate environment to be deciding between the

Prior to this, I worked at a bank for a bit, and I deplored it.

Oh..

Now here's the short of it: I am looking at the ends of a profession (not the means), and I was hoping I could get further clarity here.

Does ends here mean firmly insulated in the upper-middle class or helping people?

Is law practice vastly different than law school? Is "BigLaw" what people paint it to be: mind-numbing, meaningless duties whereby the nature of the work involved is exceedingly strenuous/boring (i.e., pinciting, drafting, et cetera)? I like the law and would enjoy studying it; however, I would assume law practice is a very mechanical approach to a job and you aren't given much leverage in what you do.

I want you to do me a favor: read the way you wrote this question. Just look at the way you've phrased it. Three paragraphs highlighting actual or perceived detriments to the practice of law and one brief sentence about how there are "sacrifices and commitments" too. When you ask a loaded question like this, you presupposed the answer and just wanted the blessing of random internet people. Congrats on the post-bac; that should be a good opportunity to explore the material and it's great that you spent more than a summer working in a hospital.

Renzo wrote:No one who can actually get into medical school would go to law school.

] Yeah, but the grass is always greener. Everyone here paints med school and being a doctor like it's sunshine and rainbows, but that's because people here enjoy having a masturbatory pity party for themselves. Doctors have many of the same problems that attorneys do, except for securing full employment, which is why those other problems get glossed over by many people. "Who care about the 'sacrifices and commitments,' they make so much money," exclaims the striver middle class parent.

Sorry, but it really irks me when people compare medicine and law. People act as if the two fields are homologues and they're so different that I don't know if it's a worthwhile comparison.

...

Renzo wrote:No one who can actually get into medical school would go to law school.

One of the biggest myths in the world is that it is incredibly hard to get into med school and that everyone who gets in is crazy smart. In reality, the thing with science is that to get good grades you have to put in a relatively large amount of time compared to other majors. Many college students are not willing to this so what you end up with is a lot of lazy 2.8-3.0 students applying to med schools because they are "pre-med". Fact of the matter is that cell bio, genetics, organic chem and the like dont really require some amazing intellectual capacity as much as they do just brute time/work. A 3.5+, research position with a prof, and decent MCAT score and you have a decent enough chance of getting into med school (top med schools are a whole diff ball game of course, those guys are incredible).

Source: was on the pre-med(non-science major) path before scoring 175+ on the LSAT.

rundoxierun wrote:Fact of the matter is that cell bio, genetics, organic chem and the like dont really require some amazing intellectual capacity as much as they do just brute time/work.

this is 100% true. my bro pulled awesome grades in bio but dude literally is in library 24/7, carries flash cards around with him at all times, etc.

Sorry, but it really irks me when people compare medicine and law. People act as if the two fields are homologues and they're so different that I don't know if it's a worthwhile comparison.

TITCR.
I was on the pre-med track at one point, but after speaking to a lot of physicians, and witnessing directly what it really means to be a doctor I realized it wasn't for me. After some time out of college I sort of got to know myself a bit better and realized where my passions/interests really lie and those are what have lead me law.
In short, the person who can be happy in medicine would not typically be happy in law, and vice versa.

.

go to medical school for the love of god

rundoxierun wrote:

Renzo wrote:No one who can actually get into medical school would go to law school.

One of the biggest myths in the world is that it is incredibly hard to get into med school and that everyone who gets in is crazy smart. In reality, the thing with science is that to get good grades you have to put in a relatively large amount of time compared to other majors. Many college students are not willing to this so what you end up with is a lot of lazy 2.8-3.0 students applying to med schools because they are "pre-med". Fact of the matter is that cell bio, genetics, organic chem and the like dont really require some amazing intellectual capacity as much as they do just brute time/work. A 3.5+, research position with a prof, and decent MCAT score and you have a decent enough chance of getting into med school (top med schools are a whole diff ball game of course, those guys are incredible).

Source: was on the pre-med(non-science major) path before scoring 175+ on the LSAT.

Oh, I don't think for a second that everyone who gets into med school is crazy smart. I think that law school is a last refuge for people who can't or won't do anything else. You actually have to know stuff to get into medical school (which means planning far ahead enough to learn it). Similarly, you actually have to have done something with your life to get into a halfway decent B-school. And if you neither know anything nor have accomplished anything, there's law school.

Renzo wrote: I think that law school is a last refuge for people who can't or won't do anything else.

That's what upsets me about law school. Especially with all the bad press that's come out (which is totally deserved for the most part), people assume that I'm going to law school because I didn't know what else to do with my life or because I'm an amoral money-grubbing whore. But hey, I'm fine with losing lay prestige if it means that 150/2.9 kids will stop throwing themselves into the Sallie Mae meatgrinder.

Medicine for a sure thing.

Law for.. well, just read the boards.

Before ITE t14 beat law school for short range salary, and for quality of work (who the fuck wants to work on people's bodies all day). While t14 grads are doing their time in big law making 160K+, med grads are doing an extra year, then doing 3-6 years of underpaid work with similar if not worse hours.

However, in the long term they have very stable decently high salary ranges, while lawyers get kicked out of big law and have to find other work.

There are some cases where law school is better, but they are few and risky.

rundoxierun wrote:

Renzo wrote:No one who can actually get into medical school would go to law school.

One of the biggest myths in the world is that it is incredibly hard to get into med school and that everyone who gets in is crazy smart. In reality, the thing with science is that to get good grades you have to put in a relatively large amount of time compared to other majors. Many college students are not willing to this so what you end up with is a lot of lazy 2.8-3.0 students applying to med schools because they are "pre-med". Fact of the matter is that cell bio, genetics, organic chem and the like dont really require some amazing intellectual capacity as much as they do just brute time/work. A 3.5+, research position with a prof, and decent MCAT score and you have a decent enough chance of getting into med school (top med schools are a whole diff ball game of course, those guys are incredible).

Source: was on the pre-med(non-science major) path before scoring 175+ on the LSAT.

There is NOTHING in the 1L curriculum that even moderately approaches the complexity of even General Chemistry. Let alone the conceptual difficulty of the later pre med classes like Cell biology, Organic Chemistry, or Physics. The reason law school is "hard" isn't because of the material. It's because of the forced curve. In fact, I think that one of the reasons law schools instituted the idea of a forced curve (if you noticed no other discipline does it) is partially due to that fact. Torts is down right simplistic. If law schools cut out the forced curve people's GPAs would skyrocket. They don't even have forced curves in many of these premed classes, and yet people still routinely get crap grades in them. Science teachers often "curve up" so that entire classes don't fail.

TCR? Physician Assistant.

The Insider wrote: I decided medicine is my calling.

Anesthesiologist Assistant.

An old roommate of mine is almost done with that degree and will get $10k signing bonus (snatched up from school; more jobs than applicants) and can look forward to about $70-80k to start. I think his degree takes 2 or 3 years max.

BruceWayne wrote:

rundoxierun wrote:

Renzo wrote:No one who can actually get into medical school would go to law school.

One of the biggest myths in the world is that it is incredibly hard to get into med school and that everyone who gets in is crazy smart. In reality, the thing with science is that to get good grades you have to put in a relatively large amount of time compared to other majors. Many college students are not willing to this so what you end up with is a lot of lazy 2.8-3.0 students applying to med schools because they are "pre-med". Fact of the matter is that cell bio, genetics, organic chem and the like dont really require some amazing intellectual capacity as much as they do just brute time/work. A 3.5+, research position with a prof, and decent MCAT score and you have a decent enough chance of getting into med school (top med schools are a whole diff ball game of course, those guys are incredible).

Source: was on the pre-med(non-science major) path before scoring 175+ on the LSAT.

There is NOTHING in the 1L curriculum that even moderately approaches the complexity of even General Chemistry. Let alone the conceptual difficulty of the later pre med classes like Cell biology, Organic Chemistry, or Physics. The reason law school is "hard" isn't because of the material. It's because of the forced curve. In fact, I think that one of the reasons law schools instituted the idea of a forced curve (if you noticed no other discipline does it) is partially due to that fact. Torts is down right simplistic. If law schools cut out the forced curve people's GPAs would skyrocket. They don't even have forced curves in many of these premed classes, and yet people still routinely get crap grades in them. Science teachers often "curve up" so that entire classes don't fail.

Med school is a lot of memorization. Engineering school is harder than med school conceptually, but engineers don't memorize jack shit. Different people are better at memorization than application and vise versa. The reason med students bitch nonstop about Orgo and Physics is because they are the two classes that require application, instead of merely regurgitation.

Med students don't do much more than basic mathematics.

For people who are great at memorizing med school is probably easier than law school. However, there are people at law school who memorize every detail about every case, yet when they sit there are try to apply it to new situations they don't do well.

They are just two different kinds of intelligences -- Analysis and rote memorization.

BruceWayne wrote:The reason law school is "hard" isn't because of the material. It's because of the forced curve. . . . Torts is down right simplistic.

^Described my torts experience

But seriously OP - Med.

ResolutePear wrote:Medicine for a sure thing.

Law for.. well, just read the boards.

TBF, I considered the post-bac thing years ago and this board is optimistic and encouraging compared to the rants on studentdoctor.net. Maybe under Obama they've changed their tune, but somehow I doubt it.

TUP wrote:

ResolutePear wrote:Medicine for a sure thing.

Law for.. well, just read the boards.

TBF, I considered the post-bac thing years ago and this board is optimistic and encouraging compared to the rants on studentdoctor.net. Maybe under Obama they've changed their tune, but somehow I doubt it.

Their problem is getting paid less. TLS' problem is finding gainful employment.

ResolutePear wrote:

TUP wrote:

ResolutePear wrote:Medicine for a sure thing.

Law for.. well, just read the boards.

TBF, I considered the post-bac thing years ago and this board is optimistic and encouraging compared to the rants on studentdoctor.net. Maybe under Obama they've changed their tune, but somehow I doubt it.

Their problem is getting paid less. TLS' problem is finding gainful employment.

The lack of scholarships and resulting guarantee of extreme debt didn't help. Spending almost a decade trying to become a specialist only to bomb the step 1 and end up in primary care with insane debt also seemed to be a problem.

TUP wrote:

ResolutePear wrote:

TUP wrote:

ResolutePear wrote:Medicine for a sure thing.

Law for.. well, just read the boards.

TBF, I considered the post-bac thing years ago and this board is optimistic and encouraging compared to the rants on studentdoctor.net. Maybe under Obama they've changed their tune, but somehow I doubt it.

Their problem is getting paid less. TLS' problem is finding gainful employment.

The lack of scholarships and resulting guarantee of extreme debt didn't help. Spending almost a decade trying to become a specialist only to bomb the step 1 and end up in primary care with insane debt also seemed to be a problem.

PCP really isn't that bad at the end of the day. In fact, PCP is in demand(giggity).