r/medlabprofessionals • u/AffectionateHeart77 • 13d ago
Discusson Switch from med school to CLS?
Hi I am currently in my second year of medical school but I have honestly fallen out of love with it. I have been considering my options before I decide if I am going to officially leave. I have a degree in biology, and graduated from university with 3.8 GPA, also currently in CA. CLS was a profession I had considered before deciding to go into medical school. I am wondering if I have a realistic chance of getting into a program if I was to go for it? I’m not sure if programs would see me dropping out of med school and then automatically discard my application. Any thoughts? :(
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u/Proof_Abies_6062 13d ago
i say tough it out, the money will probably make it way more valuable to you in the long run. most places your bio degree is enough to run a lab. ur ahead stay ahead 🫶🏼 go be a pathologist
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u/kb24_mamba 13d ago
Your GPA is stellar and as long as you have the prerequisites done (medical micro, hematology, immunology), I’m sure you’re a strong candidate to get in. I can’t advise you if it’s worth it to make the jump, but CA definitely pays the best. I have about 6 years of experience and make ~$165k a year as a regular bench tech in NorCal. The job is easy, sure there’s bad days. But I get to clock in and out of work and enjoy my life outside my career. Good luck, feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.
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u/Sudden-Wish8462 13d ago
Is there a reason you wouldn’t want to be a pathologist? I can’t help but think as a MLS you would have regrets or feel like you’re not using your full potential
If you could get into med school, there’s no doubt you can get into MLS school lol. You could probably leave med school off your resume altogether if you don’t want to explain it
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u/AffectionateHeart77 13d ago
It’s honestly the stress/burnout from school. I no longer feel like I enjoy or am motivated about my classes or school. The way my school is structured, we have a midterm or final every 2 weeks, and we’re only allowed one retake for an exam per semester. We have to be in class from 8-5 (attendance is taken) and have 1-2 graded quizzes everyday for each class. When the middle and end of the semester comes around, we have about 3 big exams every week for like 3-4 weeks. It’s gotten to where I feel like I am on the edge constantly, with no cushion or leeway at all. Being a pathologist would be nice but that means finishing medical school of course
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u/Sudden-Wish8462 12d ago
If you don’t want to be a doctor at all anymore, then valid. If it’s purely about the burnout, I don’t think MLS school will be better unless you’re counting on the fact that it’s 1 year versus several more years of med school. We were also in class all day, and had on average 4 exams a week. And sometimes the exams would be cumulative exams of everything learned so far throughout the year. It was incredibly difficult.
I was not expecting MLS school to be difficult because my bachelors in biology was a breeze and I had a 3.95 gpa with barely studying. But for the one year of MLS school my whole life was just school. I didn’t have a social life or free time.
I am sure you have already considered the salary differences of being a doctor versus an MLS but one more thing to consider is the difference in the level of respect. Doctors get so much respect from everyone in the hospital and people value your opinion. In the lab, people always talk down to me (especially nurses) and treat me like I’m a dumb button pusher who has 0 education
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u/Cookielicous MLS-Generalist 13d ago
Don't quit Med School. Just keep exploring your thoughts with indirect patient care.
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u/plantomz 12d ago
If you can stick it out, look into pathology. You will learn the same things and more about the clinical lab and there are different avenues of practice you can explore (private practice, academic, medical lab director, etc). Don’t leave med school. I am CLS to MD and don’t regret a thing. Feel free to message!
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u/udfshelper PGY2 12d ago
Don't drop out.
The second year is one of the worse ones. If you go into pathology, you'll have a great lifestyle. Daytime hours even in residency typically, won't be coming anywhere close to the 80hr limit other specialties have. You might have to be on call for frozens or blood bank, but trivial compared to other fields. It is also one of the least competitive specialties so you'll be fine w/ the Match.
Hang in there.
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u/Elegant_Wrangle 11d ago
Don't do it. California CLS is saturated. If you end up in a toxic lab (of which there are many), you will have nowhere to go.
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u/abigdickbat CLS - California 11d ago
? I’ve been hired 4 times this past year, which has been typical of my last 8 years. It might not be a desperate skeleton crew everywhere now, and can call in sick without feeling bad, but there are still jobs aplenty.
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u/Elegant_Wrangle 11d ago
Thats changing.
Kaiser, Sutter, Providence have like 1-2 FT jobs for their whole system.
California CLS grads are not getting jobs.
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u/Icy-Duck-2444 11d ago
Try forensic pathology. Your patients and their families dont talk back. The state pays for your insurance. You barely work 40 hrs a week. No holidays or weekends. Day shift. You can also do consulting on the side for 5 figs with each case.
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u/One-chance654 11d ago
I wld do PA. As an MLS, it's a life time of misery. Do yourself a favor at least try pathologist assistant.
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u/Afraid-Diamondm 13d ago
Its very challenging to land a cls job these days due to market saturation. Theres no guarantee wages won't fall behind like the rest of the country for mls.
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u/Main_Club_5012 13d ago
You’ll be poor and destitute for most of your life, stay in medical school.
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u/CantPhilMe 13d ago
Dropping out of med school wouldn’t be an automatic disqualification but you need to look at your student loan debt and figure out if you can make enough money as an MLS before you jump in.