Hey all! This is my first ever post on this forum and I'm not completely sure if this is where I should be posting this, but I need some serious advice from current med students. I am in a serious dilemma and asking my parents and a couple of doctors for advice hasn't helped me make a decision.
I am a 21 year old living in SoCal. I attended a community college where I was doing well too (3.7 GPA and honors) but because of my indecisiveness on what I want to do in life, I took a break and started working. I live with my parents and My dad's also does the same work that i do (he's in a better position though) and together we make about $225,000 a year. My life right now is really comfortable, I'm doing really well where I work, and I have luxuries ( i drive an R8) I never did while I was going to school. Now for some reason medicine always calls me back! I'm not truly truly happy because I know I'm not going to be a doctor if I stay in the field I'm in now. But then I also don't know if I would love becoming a doctor or I just love the idea of it. I hear how people would never recommend anyone to go to med school or how crazy the loans are. I was an EMT for about 3 months and I've shadowed an orthopedic surgeon as well and, for now, it all looked amazing!! If I leave this job, most of my luxuries will go with it since my dad can't do it all by himself. That means I'll be back on a budget, no cars, no fancy home, etc.. While my parents are totally okay with it, I'm not sure if I'm ready to go back to a somewhat miser lifestyle (my dad makes about $175,000 by himself)
Without further rambling, my main questions are:
- will my sacrifice be worth it
- is finishing med school more rewarding than the materialistic things
-how do you know if becoming a doctor is something you should do
-do you feel you've wasted your twenties studying all day and are stuck with a huge loan as well
For me, money isn't what makes me want to go to med school obviously. I just love the fact that you're working every day improving the quality of people's lives, the knowledge that you have about the entire body, and to a certain extent, the prestige that goes along with it, but those questions above are always lingering in my head that make me decide against it
Sorry for the long rant but I really hope you guys can help me and give me some insight.
I am a 21 year old living in SoCal. I attended a community college where I was doing well too (3.7 GPA and honors) but because of my indecisiveness on what I want to do in life, I took a break and started working. I live with my parents and My dad's also does the same work that i do (he's in a better position though) and together we make about $225,000 a year. My life right now is really comfortable, I'm doing really well where I work, and I have luxuries ( i drive an R8) I never did while I was going to school. Now for some reason medicine always calls me back! I'm not truly truly happy because I know I'm not going to be a doctor if I stay in the field I'm in now. But then I also don't know if I would love becoming a doctor or I just love the idea of it. I hear how people would never recommend anyone to go to med school or how crazy the loans are. I was an EMT for about 3 months and I've shadowed an orthopedic surgeon as well and, for now, it all looked amazing!! If I leave this job, most of my luxuries will go with it since my dad can't do it all by himself. That means I'll be back on a budget, no cars, no fancy home, etc.. While my parents are totally okay with it, I'm not sure if I'm ready to go back to a somewhat miser lifestyle (my dad makes about $175,000 by himself)
Without further rambling, my main questions are:
- will my sacrifice be worth it
- is finishing med school more rewarding than the materialistic things
-how do you know if becoming a doctor is something you should do
-do you feel you've wasted your twenties studying all day and are stuck with a huge loan as well
For me, money isn't what makes me want to go to med school obviously. I just love the fact that you're working every day improving the quality of people's lives, the knowledge that you have about the entire body, and to a certain extent, the prestige that goes along with it, but those questions above are always lingering in my head that make me decide against it
Sorry for the long rant but I really hope you guys can help me and give me some insight.