hey everyone!
I'm planning to accept medical radiation sci and become an ultrasound tech in case I don't make it to med school. However,
1. what courses should I have for 1st and 2nd year so that I can be prepared for both?
2. does it require A LOT of physics? In lv 1, I see only one course related to it (Introduction to Physics for Medical Radiation Sciences), but what about other levels?
3. Is the physics more math based or theory based?
4. How hard is first year physics compared to high school physics?
5. After 1st year of medical radiation, is it easy to switch back to life sci?
6. are the other courses also physics based or biology based?
7. What are some professional/ graduate school I can get into after to increase my salary?

8. If I choose to accept life sci instead, what courses should I take so that I can go into pharmacy? Can I still go into pharmacy if I have a medical radiation degree?

lol, lots of questions
thanks beforehand!

Originally Posted by Joyceyblank

hey everyone!
I'm planning to accept medical radiation sci and become an ultrasound tech in case I don't make it to med school. However,
1. what courses should I have for 1st and 2nd year so that I can be prepared for both?
2. does it require A LOT of physics? In lv 1, I see only one course related to it (Introduction to Physics for Medical Radiation Sciences), but what about other levels?
3. Is the physics more math based or theory based?
4. How hard is first year physics compared to high school physics?
5. After 1st year of medical radiation, is it easy to switch back to life sci?
6. are the other courses also physics based or biology based?
7. What are some professional/ graduate school I can get into after to increase my salary?

8. If I choose to accept life sci instead, what courses should I take so that I can go into pharmacy? Can I still go into pharmacy if I have a medical radiation degree?

lol, lots of questions
thanks beforehand!

1. http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /CALEN...nt/pg1479.html Med Rad Stuff
For Med School in Canada you don't really need too many courses, just do your research on each medical school as they have different requirements. If you want to apply to the states, it requires a lot more courses.

8. Pharmacy is a professional school, you don't need a degree to be accepted. You just have to meet all the course requirements and you should do your research on what they are. Each school has different requirements.

I can't answer the other questions as I'm not in Med Rad Sci.

Hi!
Med Rad is a great program- but if you're determined to get into medical school, Med Rad isn't the way to go. The courses are highly specific and you'll be missing out on some courses that you need for your MCATs and Med school (ex. Chem, Physics, Bio...Med Rad's take one Bio course in first year but nothing else). You can go into Med Rad and incorporate these courses as electives if you want, but you'll be adding hard courses onto an already very challenging and heavy workload so it's not generally recommended.

1-First year Med Rads take some general 1st year Life Sci courses (2 Kin's, 1 Bio, Math for Life Sci) but in second semester you start to take specialized Med Rad courses.

2-Level I physics is a lot like Grade 12 Physics and 1st year Life Sci physics...based on my opinion it's not that hard. For Ultrasound, you take 2 additional physics courses, 1 in second year and the other in third year.

3- The Ultrasound physics is a lot more theory based- there's a LOT of understanding and making connections. There IS math involved but the majority of the focus is on the theory.

4- Answered above Basically like taking Grade 12 Physics and instead of rushing through a lot of units in one semester, you take on certain units like Electricity and Magnetism, Radiation (stuff that's related to Medical Radiation) and expand on them...so it's a little more relaxed.

5-I honesty can't answer that question because I don't know! Sorry :S I do however know that if you try to transfer from Life Sci into Med Rad it's very hard. It's a lot harder than trying to get in from high school because Med Rad is very exclusive when it comes to enrollment (there's only about 120 students a year so they accept the high school kids before they accept transfers)

6-From second year onwards, for Ultrasound, they courses are neither Physics nor Bio related. Like I said, you have the two Physics courses. Otherwise, Ultrasound is VERY heavy on anatomy. In second year alone you have 4 anatomy/pathology courses. First year anatomy is very simple and basic compared to these courses but it does provide a background so make sure you pay attention

7- There are very limited post-grad options for Ultrasound students in Canada. The field is more advanced in other countries like Australia where they have Master's programs (people are trying to bring these to Canada so maybe by the time you graduate you'll have this option? ). However you can get these degrees by distance education if you really wanted to.

8- I can't answer this question either :(

Good luck!

Thank you so much for the detailed answers!
Maybe I should choose to go with life sci afterall since med school is really where I want to go
I'm just scared that in case I don't make it, what professional schools are there available for me?
(not graduate school, which I heard is for research?)

Originally Posted by Joyceyblank

Thank you so much for the detailed answers!
Maybe I should choose to go with life sci afterall since med school is really where I want to go
I'm just scared that in case I don't make it, what professional schools are there available for me?
(not graduate school, which I heard is for research?)

There are a variety of professional schools:
Medical School
Optometry
Dentistry
Law
Nursing
Pharmacy
Architecture
Chiropractic

Originally Posted by Joyceyblank

hey everyone!
I'm planning to accept medical radiation sci and become an ultrasound tech in case I don't make it to med school. However,
1. what courses should I have for 1st and 2nd year so that I can be prepared for both?
2. does it require A LOT of physics? In lv 1, I see only one course related to it (Introduction to Physics for Medical Radiation Sciences), but what about other levels?
3. Is the physics more math based or theory based?
4. How hard is first year physics compared to high school physics?
5. After 1st year of medical radiation, is it easy to switch back to life sci?
6. are the other courses also physics based or biology based?
7. What are some professional/ graduate school I can get into after to increase my salary?

8. If I choose to accept life sci instead, what courses should I take so that I can go into pharmacy? Can I still go into pharmacy if I have a medical radiation degree?

lol, lots of questions
thanks beforehand!

1. 1st year, you get 2 electives, where you are given an opportunity to shadow life sci courses like psych 1x03, chem 1a03 etc etc but unfortunately this program is more specialized and doesn't give you many opportunities to complete all of the courses required to get into medical school. Keep in mind that people still find some way by completing the required med school courses through summer school etc.

2. Level 1 physics is basic and pretty much regurgitates high school concepts with some introductory physics specifically related to med rad sci program. It considers all 3 specializations so you'll be introduced to concepts such as x-rays, how they work, film density, ultrasound etc etc etc
If you are interested in looking at Level II courses for all 3 specializations, visit: http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /calen...nt/pg1479.html

3. Since I've only completed Introductory physics for now, I'll probably say it is slightly more math based in first half of the course, with the second half focusing more on theory based concepts as well as some mathematical calculations since the seccond half is where more new concepts are introduced

4. Answered in 2.

5. Level II is where Med Rad Sci gets very specialized and courses become specific to medical radiation science only. I'm not sure on whether you could switch back or not but I'm pretty sure that you will NOT have any prerequisites required to enter any level ii,iii,iv life sci programs. this means that you'll need to start from the beginning, Life Sciences Level I.

6. Med Rad in Level I was primarily based on concepts of human anatomy, physiology and pathology, along with concepts in professional practice. Take a look at http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /calen...nt/pg1479.html and read the descriptions of all the Level I, II, III, IV courses for each specialization.

7. Not too sure if they are meant to increase your salary but there are certainly many certification programs that can be done for example you can do a MRI certification, which will then be included in your list of qualifications etc. Also for rad therapy, there is a masters program in U of T that I believe was introduced 1-2 years ago so make sure you check that out. I'm afraid I cannot elaborate on professional opportunities for ultrasound.

Hope this will help you in choosing between med rad/life sci.

Good luck!

EDIT: I noticed I skipped #8 lol.

This is directly taken from: http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /futur...radiation.html

"Other opportunities include future advancement in management, clinical teaching, education and applications and sales specialties with commercial companies providing medical imaging equipment and services. Graduates may continue their education and pursue post-diploma or graduate studies in other advanced practice areas such as magnetic resonance imaging or cardiac ultrasonography."

Many professional schools require a bachelors degree. Some do require specific courses that you need to have in order to be considered for admission.

Ex. http://www.pharmacy.uwaterlo o.ca/f...c-requirements (Waterloo's school of pharmacy).. as you can see there are certain courses that you need to have in order to be considered for admission.

In my honest opinion, Med Rad Sci is the program where you completely need to be sure this is what you want to do in future. There are very limited opportunities to pursue anything else but medradsci during school and even after graduation.