Parental Pressure?

[orgohacks]

Hey SDN. I'm an online tutor. Awhile ago I was tutoring this girl in organic chemistry through Skype and she was struggling with the material and was really nervous. When our hour was over, the camera suddenly turned and there was her FATHER, who had been sitting next to her the whole time, and wanted to talk to me about the next session. Just curious - what kind of pressure do you get from your parents as a pre-med and how does it affect you?

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[OCDOCDOCD]

None. My parents were actually somewhat against me applying to medical school when I told them about my plans.

 

[Js01051]

Hey SDN. I'm an online tutor. Awhile ago I was tutoring this girl in organic chemistry through Skype and she was struggling with the material and was really nervous. When our hour was over, the camera suddenly turned and there was her FATHER, who had been sitting next to her the whole time, and wanted to talk to me about the next session. Just curious - what kind of pressure do you get from your parents as a pre-med and how does it affect you?

I honestly do not have any pressure at all. All my parents care about is that I have a good job so that I can support myself in the future.

 

[Lucky Louie]

That sounds kinda scary. Even when I call certain places, like my bank and my insurance company, I get a recording advising me that "this phone is being recorded." That's how your experience sounded. Like someone, who don't know, is listening and judging you. Did you ask him why he did that? If you tutor again, you should explain you'd like to know if he's in the room or listening.

 

[chillaxbro]

I felt no pressure at first
But after telling everyone I know that I want to be a doctor, it's a little scary to fail

 

[La Presse]

No pressure until everyone in "our community" started aiming for med school.

 

[Anicetus]

I notice a trend that the overly "helicopter" parents usually don't have anything else to do with their time other than research SDN/collegeconfidential and control every second of their kid's life.

 

[Ansar]

No pressure. Just always suggesting medicine in case I don't find a calling elsewhere (like my brother who is totally in love with pure math, and is a boss as it).

 

[Ismet]

Lol that's awkward!

No one in my family is in medicine, and my parents were always supportive of whatever my siblings and I wanted to do (my sibs have very different careers). Plus I was always very goal-oriented and self-sufficient, so my parents never hovered or pressured me to do anything.

 

[WingsFan]

My parents wanted me to be an engineer. Then I told them I wanted to become a doctor, so they suggested I get a PhD instead. Not sure that I understand how that makes sense to them, but it certainly isn't pressure to go into medicine.

 

[deleted407021]

For the longest time my dad wanted me to be a nurse, citing that male nurses are in high demand. Doctors are in higher demand and they are the authority on health and biomedical progress. I don't want to offend anyone, and I don't think I will but, I feel like getting into human health and not being a doctor would, to me, be like becoming a biologist and not completing my PhD. He was also under the impression that "doctors go to college for like 12 years." They support me fully, though, and that's great.

 

[CyberMaxx]

I felt no pressure at first
But after telling everyone I know that I want to be a doctor, it's a little scary to fail

This for sure. I actually waited until after I took the MCAT to tell my parents because I wanted to be certain that there was actually a chance. It turns out moms don't like to be kept in the dark about these sorts of things...

 

[kyamh]

I had a bit of a rebellious streak throughout my journey. I had a lot of pressure to be a pre-med when I first entered college (parents took away support and I took out loans when I said I didn't want that). Eventually, three years later, they made peace with my life path and I started to think seriously about medical school. I took a few years post-college to figure things out (and am really glad I did) and came down solidly on the side of medicine. At this point, I can't remember ever imagining another future for myself.

 

[deleted407021]

I had a bit of a rebellious streak throughout my journey. I had a lot of pressure to be a pre-med when I first entered college (parents took away support and I took out loans when I said I didn't want that). Eventually, three years later, they made peace with my life path and I started to think seriously about medical school. I took a few years post-college to figure things out (and am really glad I did) and came down solidly on the side of medicine. At this point, I can't remember ever imagining another future for myself.

Yep. As far as I'm concerned it's what I'm going to do. No questions.

 

[Chillbo Baggins]

My parents don't pressure me, but I feel some pressure to make sure I don't let them down, lol. I'm super competitive.

 

[Escape_Goat]

None. My parents were actually somewhat against me applying to medical school when I told them about my plans.

Yea, my parents laughed when I told them I was going to be a doctor.

 

[astronautmd]

My parents don't pressure me, but my whole family is expecting a lot from me. I don't want to let them down.

 

[orgohacks]

That sounds kinda scary. Even when I call certain places, like my bank and my insurance company, I get a recording advising me that "this phone is being recorded." That's how your experience sounded. Like someone, who don't know, is listening and judging you. Did you ask him why he did that? If you tutor again, you should explain you'd like to know if he's in the room or listening.

I didn't ask - he would have said something like, "I want my daughter to be successful". I wasn't concerned about having him watch my session, it was just weird. I felt really bad for the girl - he would go over each of her exams in detail and ask me how she could do better on the next one. I got the sense that she wished she could be studying something else.

 

[StephanieZ]

No pressure here. My mom tried for awhile to convince me to go into nursing, but once it became clear that I was in this thing for the long-haul, they became completely supportive. Like others said, my parents just wanted me to have a good career that I could support myself with.

They know next to nothing about higher education, let alone the medical school path, so they never tried to oversee or control any of my premed activities or goals. They just trusted me to do what needed to be done, but it's always been that way. Even in elementary school, I didn't get a lot of hand-holding or oversight. It's honestly no wonder so many kids today are so stunted.

 

[1nvictus]

Initially I was pre-med because my parents pressured me into doing it.

I was prepared to quit over the summer because I realized that I need to choose my future based on what I desire, not from parental expectations.

They accepted this.

I came back to pre-med because I realized I can't imagine myself in another field, as well as, well, let's say I saw things. Ultimately I'm doing this on my own accord, not because my parents dream of it.