Any MDs entering law school this fall? Forum

[gocats999]

Having gone through a premed major myself, I will say that it isn't something you can half-ass. You're competing with gunners who are doped up on ritalin, so you have to really enjoy the material (similar to law school I suppose, in that respect). That being said, the IQs of attorneys and physicians are, on average, indistinguishable. This pissing contest of whether law students could have been medical students is silly. It's a different career path.

+1..

I was premed until junior year when i decided to switch. Not trying to be a jackass, but I'll argue that my 3.88 taking 40+ hours of premed stuff is a hell of a better accomplishment than a 4.0 for someone who was thinking law school the whole time..

hopefully adcomms agree lol

[MD/JD2B]

i received my degree in history and took the very basic pre-reqs. for medical school. Smartest decision I ever made; turned me into a reader and broadened the world of this small town Ohioan.

I've done admissions for Stanford and UCSF; it's fun being on the interview end, but some applicants who are brilliant on paper have a hard time person to person. Actually, studies show that the interviewing process statistically does not guarantee a "better incoming class". One dean of admissions of a law school told me that after I asked him why law schools (mostly) do not interview and I did a quick search and found a few studies that confirm that. Another reason, from my perspective, is medical school committee work--including admissions is important as you climb the academic ladder in medicine and may not be such a factor in law, where fewer people stay in academics than in medicine

[Knock]

This is a really interesting thread. If you don't mind, do you want to share your reasons for the career switch? Maybe PM me if you don't want to share publicly. I just am curious, I hear the medical field glorified mostly, and don't really hear about the downsides (besides hard to get into and hard + long hours, which, at least the latter part, is similar to law schools), so i'd like to hear a realistic view.

[MD/JD2B]

My reasons vary; if you check my other postings, I've gone into some detail why I'm adding law to medicine. For example, I'm interested in medical intellectual property, working with expert witnesses (having been one myself), and also elderly care law. Vastly different areas but I hope to find my niche.

[CanadianWolf]

I hope that you keep us updated on your progress through the first year of law school. Sometimes a switch like this can be quite difficult for those not accustomed to the type of reading & writing required in law school (as I suspect that medical journals & medical research are quite different than law casebooks & legal writing).
I enjoyed reading your personal statement for UC-Hastings that you shared on this website.

[MD/JD2B]

Thank you; medical texts and case books do differ but the application of rules to real life situations is similar. Learning pathophysiology does not the diagnosis make. One difference, law school will smell better,I hope....

[CanadianWolf]

It will be interesting to see which side gets you--medical malpractice defense or plaintiff's work.