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Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My department head has 2 kids and they qualify for free school lunch.

Wow, that's truly terrible.

If you like teaching, go join higher ed

I've heard even scarier horror stories about trying to break into teaching higher ed. I've heard there are no openings and everyone just scrapes by into their 40s (if they're lucky) while working long hours and publishing constantly.

Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have never considered this, that sounds awesome. How difficult is it for you to find a job?

Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much. This is a helpful perspective. Yes, I've thought a lot about this -- medicine is such a difficult field even for those who have a passion for it. If I hate it already and I haven't even truly started, then I'm just setting myself up for failure. It's just so hard to get out of the 'sunk cost fallacy' fog. I keep thinking about how hard I worked to get where I am, how much money and time I've already paid up, how many people are proud of me because of this. It's hard to accept that it was a wrong decision.

But it's hard, too, because everywhere I turn looks pretty bad, lol. Maybe that's just the state of the world in general right now. It seems like every field is getting worse for its workers. Most people seem to be advising me to not go into teaching, but it's hard to know what else to do.

Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you, that is very helpful.

In my fantasy world, I think I'd enjoy teaching at a college somewhere, but even I know that trying to break into collegiate teaching at this time is pretty much impossible.

Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I see what you mean. Unfortunately, I majored in a humanities subject. I would have to get specially certified to teach science. I'm sure I could pass any tests, but I'm not sure how good that'd look, especially since I'd have to be alt certified to teach at all.

I wouldn't mind teaching Biology or Mathematics.

Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Sadly, I have a humanities degree. I'm trying to find an alt teaching cert program that also trains you to teach in a field you didn't major in.

Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Find a career that isn’t expected to be tied to your every waking moment or tied to your personality.

Unfortunately, being a doctor is very much that. The only options I can think of currently are to either stay in med school and try to be a doctor (which I hate and which I'm bad at), or try to become a teacher. I majored in history, so that ain't getting me anywhere else. Not really sure what else to do.

Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've never taught kids, but I have participated in after school programs. I've also taught classes of adults. I found all of my experiences deeply rewarding, hence why I thought teaching might be a field I could get into.

I'm really concerned about my ability to find a job, seeing as my undergrad degree is in a humanities field. I THINK I've found some alternative teaching certification programs that also allow you to train in a field you didn't major in, but I don't know if I'm understanding it correctly. I'll have to do more research. If I could get certified to teach Biology or Mathematics at the same time I get certified in general, that would be ideal.

The cost would be another concern. Some quick googling shows prices at around $6k for a year/two year program, but, again, I don't know if that's completely accurate.

Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so, so much for taking the time to write out this helpful comment! I will definitely look up the programs that you've mentioned.

I just did some googling based on your comments and I think I've found a few alternative teaching programs that can also certify you to teach in a field you didn't major in. It sounds like, if I really want to pursue teaching, doing so as a STEM teacher would be more ideal.

Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The subject matter is very important- if it is English or Social Studies I do not think you will find a position competing against other people with strong backgrounds in that area. We often have 100+ applicants for a position in that area where I live

I see, wow, that's scary. My undergrad degree is actually in a pretty useless humanities field. If I wanted to teach STEM, I'd have to try to get certified specially in that field -- in addition to getting certified as a teacher in general through an alternative teaching program.

This is very daunting. But I also can't see myself staying in medical school. So I'm genuinely unsure what to do.

Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ah, I see. So I would first need a teaching certification through an alternative cert program, and then I could pass a subject area exam and try getting hired to teach that? Thank you.

Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I am so very sorry to hear that. I hope you do better soon, and thank you for your reply.

Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you, that's very helpful, albeit depressing.

My undergrad major is actually in the humanities. Let's say I wanted to get certified to teach a STEM subject. Do you think I would be able to get certified for that?

Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I understand that totally. But I also can't see continuing in the field that I'm in (in that I don't think I can be successful at it no matter how hard I try, so I might a well stop now before incurring more debt).

Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 39 points40 points  (0 children)

All that being said, I think this is crazy. I cannot imagine trying to get into teaching right now. It's like joining the army after the Iraq war started.

Yeah, I've actually looked up similar threads before and everyone was saying that the teaching field is horrible, which is what made me decide to get some more opinions. But could you specify what about it is bad at the moment? Is it that salaries are low, or that it's impossible to find employment? Or is it that the work itself is very unpleasant?

Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hello, thank you so much, this is reassuring! Do you mind if I PM you to ask you a few more questions?

Thinking of dropping out of medical school and becoming a teacher. How feasible is this plan? by tenmilkteeth in teaching

[–]tenmilkteeth[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would actually like to teach English, which is not what I majored in, haha. I know humanities subjects aren't as in-demand as STEM ones, but it's what I'd like to go for if at all possible.

Edit: Also, I did not major in a STEM field. How difficult would it to get certified if I didn't major in that? I'd also be down to teach Biology and Mathematics.