Current med student, want to switch to law Forum

[krads153]

Just my opinion, albeit I don't practice medicine.

Should have just stopped there.

Are you the nurse? Why aren't you going to med school instead?

I was an OR nurse for 8 years and also a private first assist/nurse for 2 of them. I intended on joining the Navy and using the STA-21 program to go to medical school. Without getting too into it, I had a personal experience with a JAG attorney that got me looking more into law, and I eventually decided I would go in that direction instead, JAG or otherwise.

ETA: if I had already started medical school, I wouldn't have switched paths.

Ok, fair enough. Although I will say that switching paths even after becoming a doctor/lawyer isn't that rare and plenty of people do it. Half of the people in my family who were doctors now do something else entirely. As for law, I'm a few years out of law school and a few of my classmates have already quit the law and a ton of attrition (although still a minority percent) out of biglaw/law is by choice. I just think it's a waste of time to spend 10 years of your life on something if you aren't 100% committed to it. And another reason why I think most people who go to professional school probably shouldn't have gone in the first place (they just get stuck in it because they already put so much time in, owe debt, etc., which is why they stick it out). If you're a rich kid (and there are many, many rich kids in both medicine and law), then whatever. If you're not, then it's a big commitment.

But yes, if OP isn't going into deep debt for med school, it's worth sticking it out until rotations at least.

[PoopyPants]

Ok, fair enough. Although I will say that switching paths even after becoming a doctor/lawyer isn't that rare and plenty of people do it. Half of the people in my family who were doctors now do something else entirely. As for law, I'm a few years out of law school and a few of my classmates have already quit the law and a ton of attrition (although still a minority percent) out of biglaw/law is by choice. I just think it's a waste of time to spend 10 years of your life on something if you aren't 100% committed to it. And another reason why I think most people who go to professional school probably shouldn't have gone in the first place (they just get stuck in it because they already put so much time in, owe debt, etc., which is why they stick it out). If you're a rich kid (and there are many, many rich kids in both medicine and law), then whatever. If you're not, then it's a big commitment.

But yes, if OP isn't going into deep debt for med school, it's worth sticking it out until rotations at least.

Yeah, I generally agree. But the main argument was against OP's reasoning for switching and the fact that he's bored with medicine after one year of law school. Rote memorization of biochem and anatomy is boring. But that's not medicine.

[juzam_djinn]

No one came anywhere near to claiming that med school was not a grind. Nor was anyone claiming that law school did not provide "interesting" stuff to "think about." but thanks for correcting these misconceptions that no one was actually operating under, though.

"law school itself is not intellectually challenging"

yeah...i'd say you're done

[Cogburn87]

No one came anywhere near to claiming that med school was not a grind. Nor was anyone claiming that law school did not provide "interesting" stuff to "think about." but thanks for correcting these misconceptions that no one was actually operating under, though.

"law school itself is not intellectually challenging"

yeah...i'd say you're done

Whether you find some of the material interesting is different than whether it's challenging, you mongoloid.

Furthermore, he's picking a career, not picking a way to spend three years while going into massive amounts of debt. His focus should be on whether the practice of law is intellectually challenging (it's not).

[juzam_djinn]

there's a difference but it's very slight, you're definitely reaching little buddy

besides, i didn't write anything to suggest he should go into law, just responding to the sentiment that there was no intellectual challenge to it. in the end, it's what you make of it. it's not as conceptually difficult as engineering but you can make law school pretty interesting and challenging if you want to. It's not worth 3 years of incurring debt and foregoing income, but that's not to say there's zero intellectual challenge to it.

[krads153]

there's a difference but it's very slight, you're definitely reaching little buddy

besides, i didn't write anything to suggest he should go into law, just responding to the sentiment that there was no intellectual challenge to it. in the end, it's what you make of it. it's not as conceptually difficult as engineering but you can make law school pretty interesting and challenging if you want to. It's not worth 3 years of incurring debt and foregoing income, but that's not to say there's zero intellectual challenge to it.

I don't know why we're talking about engineering, but engineering undergrad is >>>> law and med school in terms of intellectual challenge. Same goes with any hard science (theoretical math, physics, etc.).

Law school is probably more intellectually challenging than med school, but I admit that I thought more in my hard science classes in undergrad than I did in law school.

[juzam_djinn]

i brought it up out of nowhere but it's widely accepted as an example of something at the far end of the spectrum in terms of academic rigor (i.e. It's not rocket science, but...)

i wouldn't say law school is more intellectually challenging than med school, just diff. Med school requires more hard work and ability to memorize. Some law students just don't have that ability. On the flip side, law school probably requires more "live" thinking. In a way, it's similar to UG eng exams where you get 1 or 2 problems on your final and you can get partial credit if you write down your work and show you were thinking correctly

[krads153]

i brought it up out of nowhere but it's widely accepted as an example of something at the far end of the spectrum in terms of academic rigor (i.e. It's not rocket science, but...)

i wouldn't say law school is more intellectually challenging than med school, just diff. Med school requires more hard work and ability to memorize. Some law students just don't have that ability. On the flip side, law school probably requires more "live" thinking. In a way, it's similar to UG eng exams where you get 1 or 2 problems on your final and you can get partial credit if you write down your work and show you were thinking correctly

Yeah, in undergrad sometimes we'd get "cheat sheets" in hard science classes (like one page of formulas or whatever you want to write), because none of those formulas would actually help. You'd be presented with some scenario and have to think your way through problems to get credit. And most credit was showing your work - not the answer itself. I guess law is sort of like that - since most exams, if not all, are open notes/book. On most of these exams, the average was 30-35% right.

I just think there's more difficult concepts to grasp in the hard sciences than in law or medicine.

I think everyone who has passed the bar has the ability to memorize though. Those of us who took the NY or CA bar exams know just how much crap there was to memorize. I don't like memorizing, but it wasn't "hard".

[abl]

Law school certainly can be intellectually stimulating and challenging, although from the posts here, it seems like it doesn't have to be. I went to HYS and found it both stimulating and challenging. My sense is that most of my classmates (but definitely not all) would agree.

I also think the practice of law can be both stimulating and challenging. I can only speak for the positions that I've had, and they have mostly been both stimulating and challenging (with biglaw at the "least interesting / challenging" end--but still not awful, at least in my practice group/firm). To some extent, how interesting or challenging you find something is going to depend on you -- on your interests, your commitment, etc. I find much of my work to be challenging in large part because of what I put into it: writing a passable motion is far less interesting or challenging than writing (/trying to write) an excellent motion.

This is not to say that you will love law school and law if you go to HYS. Many people don't--law has one of the highest rates of depression of any career, and I'm sure that's due in large part to the nature of legal jobs. But I do think it's important to recognize that things are not universally as awful at either law school or in the practice of law as the general tenor of TLS typically implies.

[juzam_djinn]

Law school certainly can be intellectually stimulating and challenging, although from the posts here, it seems like it doesn't have to be. I went to HYS and found it both stimulating and challenging. My sense is that most of my classmates (but definitely not all) would agree.

I also think the practice of law can be both stimulating and challenging. I can only speak for the positions that I've had, and they have mostly been both stimulating and challenging (with biglaw at the "least interesting / challenging" end--but still not awful, at least in my practice group/firm). To some extent, how interesting or challenging you find something is going to depend on you -- on your interests, your commitment, etc. I find much of my work to be challenging in large part because of what I put into it: writing a passable motion is far less interesting or challenging than writing (/trying to write) an excellent motion.

This is not to say that you will love law school and law if you go to HYS. Many people don't--law has one of the highest rates of depression of any career, and I'm sure that's due in large part to the nature of legal jobs. But I do think it's important to recognize that things are not universally as awful at either law school or in the practice of law as the general tenor of TLS typically implies.

hear hear

also, you don't even have to be at HYS for it to be stimulating and challenging. You alluded to it in your post, but it's totally what you make of it, regardless of which school you're at. If you push yourself to think through the issues extremely thoroughly, you can make it challenging. I'm sure if you have the time and/or need to perfect a motion or brief, you can also expend a ton of brainpower to do that as well.

[emkay625]

I don't really care about appeasing my parents--I'm bored with med and want something more intellectually challenging (I'm assuming law will provide this challenge but I also acknowledge that my knowledge is limited about the field, so I could be completely wrong).

Law school will not be more intellectually challenging than med school. Do not switch for this reason if it's your only reason.