Just curious...

[profstudent]

How many of you non-science postbacs are children of physicians?

I met with a postbac advisor from my state university a few weeks ago and she made the comment that a large number of her postbacs every year are children of physicians. She said it’s an interesting phenomenon where students in college deny their inclinations to go into the field and try to create their own paths only to realize later that they wanted to become a physician all along. Any thoughts?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[DRTOBE1]

How many of you non-science postbacs are children of physicians?

I met with a postbac advisor from my state university a few weeks ago and she made the comment that a large number of her postbacs every year are children of physicians. She said it’s an interesting phenomenon where students in college deny their inclinations to go into the field and try to create their own paths only to realize later that they wanted to become a physician all along. Any thoughts?

I am. My father is a physician (internal medicine) I never thought of it like that. I still question whether I truly will enoy being a doctor. Right now I am in the second year of a post bacc program. I flip flip between whether I will pursue and MD or PhD. I work in the medical field already and patient care is extremely taxing ( both mentally and physically).
So to go off topic, but as a child I ALWAYS wanted to be a doctor like my dad. I loved science growing up. As an underdgrad I decided not to become a doctor but stay in the medical field. I went on to get a masters degree in a medical related field.

 

[Law2Doc]

How many of you non-science postbacs are children of physicians?

I met with a postbac advisor from my state university a few weeks ago and she made the comment that a large number of her postbacs every year are children of physicians. She said it’s an interesting phenomenon where students in college deny their inclinations to go into the field and try to create their own paths only to realize later that they wanted to become a physician all along. Any thoughts?

I can think of other reasons why that statistic might be true other than such individuals "denying their inclinations" or merely following their parents paths. Some people are not science people and/or don't have mature study habits right out of college, which may cause med school to be put onto the back burner until such things change - not a case of denial, but realism about med school. In other cases, people who do decide to go to a postbac or med school might need family help for tuition, and thus you'd need family who have decent incomes, and physicians compose a significant percentage of the wealthier individuals in this country. So the statistics of a substantial number of people doing the postbac having parents being physicians might be true but the motivation your advisor subscribed to these people really might not be.