Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tennenbaum]

I plan on moving to Korea in the next year to teach English. In a few years I would like to start/finish pre-med requirements. So, year of Chem, O-Chem, Physics all with labs. Is that possible to do in the Seoul area and at night? I see that it says Korea University teaches 40% of their classes in English, but I thought some people on here might have some advice or suggest other schools I might consider or say no you are an idiot.

Thanks

[amo_jh]

I'm guessing you have a degree in non-science field and planning to apply after finishing the required science classes? Even if those science classes are taught in Korea in English, you need to make sure they're recognized by whatever med school you are planning to apply to. Do you have a solid 3.7+ GPA? If not, It may be better to go back as to your school and enroll in a science program. Or maybe take grad studies to improve your GPA. MCAT would be hard to write if you just take one or two chem and bio classes in Korea.

[tennenbaum]

Yes, exactly. You are right, I would want to be sure that they are accepted by American medical schools. My undergrad GPA is definitely above 3.7 and I already have a grad degree with a 3.7+ GPA (a J.D. so another non-science degree), so the GPA portion is not that critical. I could definitely take those classes at home, but I would like to live abroad for a while before I commit myself to so much more school. I am a pretty good test taker, but I agree that those classes may not be enough to prepare me for the MCAT which is why I would do some test prep as well. I appreciate your advice, but I am more wondering if anyone can shed any light on the availability of Pre-Med classes in English in Korea. But I understand that as far as my categories go you may be saying that I am in the "you are an idiot" category for wanting to take the classes in Korea. Fair enough.

Thanks.

[D.D.]

I would say Korean classes would not be legit enough to apply for med school.

On another note if you are so bright why not apply to something other than becoming a drug pusher. I guess the world needs surgeons and things like that but the med system as it is encourages people not to take responsibilty for their health.

You are really entering a sickness system instead of a healthcare system and drugs pushing is basically what a GP does.

[tennenbaum]

I figured that might be the case, but I figured that there had to be some Koreans that had taken pre-med classes in Korea which U.S. medical schools found acceptable. But perhaps not. I never said I was so bright, just that I test well. I plan on being a burn surgeon, not really a specialty that calls for a lot of drug pushing. Thanks for the advice though.

[amo_jh]

I am certainly not saying you are an idiot. And I would like to say that you have a pretty good chance at becoming a doctor. I've known quite a few non-gyopo Koreans that went to med schools in the States, but don't know anyone that went directly from a Korean university. They all took their sciences at American schools. Why don't you just call your med school and ask? They'll give you a definite answer. You could even consider taking online courses.

[tennenbaum]

I didn't think you were saying I was an idiot, that was just the category from my initial post that your advice seemed to fit (jokingly). I agree, it probably is best to stay in the U.S. and take the classes. I was just hoping I could live in another country and do something totally different (teach English) while taking classes. I would definitely take the classes online, but the fact that all of them require labs makes online classes impossible (perhaps I am wrong on that, I assume that requiring labs means you have to go do hands on experiments etc.). I am not far enough along to have chosen a med school yet, but I have spoken to some administrators that said they do accept the classes from schools abroad. But without some information on a class it is hard to give them any information for them to give an honest opinion. So that is why I wanted to know if that was an option in Korea so I could find some information on classes and then have an actual class to show the person I am asking so they can judge whether it would work. But, so far it seems like it may be too difficult to find the classes in Korea and it probably is best just to take the classes in the U.S.. I was just hoping I could live/work in a different country while I prepare to go to med school. Thanks for the advice though, I appreciate it.

[skeeterses]

OP, a quicker way into the medical profession might be to take some nursing classes back in the states and do some volunteer work in a hospital. That way, you'll at least have a chance to see what you're getting into before taking out astronomical student loans for medical school. I know you're a pretty smart person but a lot of people like myself have gotten burned by the Higher Education system in America.

But putting my anti-college rant aside, as much as you want to help people, the truth about Medicine is that it's a lot of blood, guts, and sorrow.

A while back, I saw a few blogs commenting about the sorry state of American law schools. Many Americans, lured by the promise of big bucks, have flocked to law schools and upon getting their Bar memberships, either find themselves with huge student loan debts and low paying jobs, or practicing law under the most stressful conditions with 60 hour workweeks. After all, lawyers are fighting for other people's money.

[mises]

[tennenbaum]

Thanks guys. I don't have to worry too incredibly much about student loans as I have the GI Bill to pay for a large portion of it. I have volunteered at hospitals for a few years and occasionally shadowed doctors for the same amount of time, so I am pretty sure it is what I want to do. What you say about law schools is pretty accurate, and I am sure that goes for medical school as well, but I am past the point of decision making. I am going to medical school. It will be about 3 or so years until I start (as I would guess that is about how long it will take to do all the pre-req's while working), so I have time to ruminate on that decision I suppose. But I will continue to volunteer and shadow doctors to be sure. I may also have the Army pay for medical school and be an Army doctor for a while. But, irrespective, I hear what you guys are saying and it seems that Korea may not be the place to do the pre-requisites. But I will look at Yonsei just in case. Thanks for the advice guys.

[kpmth00]

I am in the process of going to Korea to teach for a year, but I also thought about taking some pre-med courses in Korea, if I could. I have the same reason as you do, or similar, at the least: wanting to experience abroad life before committing to many years of schooling.

In any case, if you could give an update as you go through with this search, I would greatly appreciate it.

BTW, at the very least, I would like to fulfill the pre-med pre-requisites that aren't looked upon with restrictions. These would be the math pre-requisite courses like pre-calc and calc (i avoided math like the plague). I am hoping those classes would transfer over to med school or even a post-bacc program. What do you think?

[bucheon bum]

[tennenbaum]

@ bucheon bum Yes, I will be 30 later this year. Finished the first 4 (order 2,3,1,4) at 27 and have been working for a few years. Thanks for the compliment ("quite the life you are leading"), sometimes it doesn't seem that way, but I guess when I look at the things I have done there have been some unique experiences. Maybe some would say I have no direction, but I don't mind how things have gone.

@kmpth00

The math classes should transfer just fine. I took Calc 1,2,3 and Linear Algebra online (I think most med schools only require 1 and 2). You said you avoid math. If it is because you aren't very good at it I would take it at a bricks and mortar school. Some of the advanced concepts were kind of hard to learn by myself just from reading the book, so having a professor to go over examples and ask questions of would have been nice. To be honest, I learned a lot from youtube videos where people would go over multiple examples. The midterm and final were proctored (had to take them at a public library). I did them online because my work hours were so extreme. I will try to update this if I find anything of note, but so far it seems that it would be difficult to take these classes in Korea. If there wasn't a lab requirement for them it would be easy, but I am not sure how consistently I could find classes to take that would fit with a teacher's schedule. I will keep looking though as it would be ideal for me to be able to live abroad and prepare for med school.

[kpmth00]

^ That's good to hear. Do you know at which universities in Korea I could take math classes in English?

Who knows, maybe we will be taking classes together by chance, lol.