Doubt During Gap Year

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MattNice543

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Recently I graduated from college, and I'm enjoying this time off during the gap year. Throughout the past 3.5 years, I had my career set on hopefully starting med school in the fall of 2016. I decided to delay my decision on taking the MCAT in the next few months so I could focus on my last semester at school and put my full effort into studying during the time off. Now, I've enjoyed my time off, but I'm having second thoughts about pursuing such a long, enduring path. I, along with some of you reading this, may agree about the sacrifices that will be made onto our personal lives, such as getting married, having a family, or simply enjoying the wonders of life. I just want to know if there are others out there who feel the same and/or does anyone have some advice? Thanks.

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I think a lot of people feel that way. I think those are valid reasons and many have reconsidered medicine because of them.

My desire to enter the field of medicine and serve others supersedes everything else. I don't think I've ever wanted anything as bad as I wanted to become a doctor.

Becoming a doctor certainly involves sacrifice. I personally was able to tell myself that everything will fall into place along the way. Perhaps I'll meet someone during medical school or residency who understands the difficult lifestyle medicine entails. The person who understands and is willing to stay could certainly be a keeper! I will start a family once I'm settled. And there will always be time for travel during vacations.

I used to be super attached to the idea of staying in my home state and I used to be highly disinclined to the idea of leaving my state but I realized medical school admissions is a crapshoot and I would have to be okay with going wherever I get in. Same thing with residency. I've come to terms with all of this.

All I know is that I have one goal in mind and regarding all other factors, I simply believe that they'll fall into place along the way.

I know many may not share the same view as me and that's totally understandable. You have to decide what's most important to you, I suppose.
 
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I was in a similar position to you for a while, but I think what the deciding factor for me was that I couldn't imagine any other career being as satisfying. The work that doctors do is pretty amazing, fascinating stuff, and you have a unique privilege, being the confidante for perfect strangers. You also can feel like you are doing something positive. So yes, you do sacrifice a fair amount in medical school and residency, which should not be overlooked at all.

If you still have more doubt than certainty, you should wait on applying until the time is right for you, because once you get in, it's hard to get out, both in terms of emotional and financial investment.

However, just think long and hard whether you would be satisfied doing any other job. I know that I personally wouldn't be as satisfied in most other positions, from being a lawyer to especially being an office worker in corporate america. I think medicine presents a career where doctors habitually say that they love their job. How often can you say that about most other jobs.

Oh and just saying, there are many medical students/ residents who do get married, it just isn't with as much free time.

Plus, medicine eventually offers part time work, more so than other professions. This means that after paying off loans, you could theoretically have a much better work life balance than most, although you shouldn't go into medicine with that as your initial plan. (Residency would be very hard otherwise)
 
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