Wow, well the bump sure did the trick on getting some more thoughts from everyone.
First off, I'd like to thank everyone who provided comments and suggestions. Even though a few of them come off at first blush as a bit negative, I understand that you are just trying to be realistic in letting me know obstacles I will need to overcome and I appreciate that.
However, one thing that seems to strike me as odd is the emphasis put on having an extremely good reason for going from law to medicine, almost as if a law degree is a hindrance and not an asset. For me, this just does not compute. You learn skills in law school that you will not learn anywhere else, and while not all are applicable to medicine, many are. Now don't misunderstand, I completely get the whole dedication to medicine and "if you quit law why won't you quit medicine too" type question, but I still see the degree as an advantage and not a disadvantage.
Perhaps my perception of the degree and the move from law to medicine is this way because to me, the real question is not why medicine but why law. For that to make sense, please indulge me to elaborate on my background a bit more and how it came about that I went to law school anyway. I understand that most of you may not read all this but if you do, I appreciate any further comments and advice you have. If you want to skip the entertaining story of my background, but still want to answer the pertinent questions, please skip to the bottom for my questions. Again, sorry so long, but you know the old saying, if I had more time it would be shorter.
When I look back and think about why I went to law school, the reasons I come up with are utterly pathetic as they all boil down to three weaknesses that I most definitely had at that time but which I have endeavored to correct: ignorance, immaturity and impatience. Ever since I was in middle school I wanted to go to medical school and become a doctor. I grew up in a small rural town, in fact, one of those towns were if you received the NHSC scholarship you would be sent there! I know because the father of one of my childhood friends was a doctor and was there for that very reason. My mother is a teacher and my father a mechanic. I went to a high school where most people graduated and then became a laborer of some sort. Yes, some went on to college, but many became mechanics, farmers, work for various utility companies etc. Thus, the people I relied on at school and at home for support and advice on attaining my goal of going to medical school didn't understand that it took more than good grades. I aced the SAT and made all A's and thought that I was well on my way.
So I went to college and tried to follow a similar pattern. I quickly learned I would at least have to study a bit to get A's. So a couple semesters of not doing so hot and then it was all A's again. I went to a smaller private school, and even though we had a pre-med emphasis program and advisors, I was never really told of the importance of having clinical experience. There was a student in my class who worked as an EMT throughout school, but it never clicked with me that this might be something I should be doing. I thought good grades and a competitive MCAT would be all that I needed to get in. So time passes and I take the MCAT, do OK, a 31, which was at least competitive at the schools where I was applying. Applied to UNC, Wake and ECU. Interviewed at all three, rejected at UNC and ECU and eventually wait-listed and accepted at Wake. But that is getting ahead of the story. UNC said you don't have enough experience. For ECU, well, that was a blunder on my part for not knowing about the school before going in to my interview. For example, in my main interview I was told that my grades and MCAT were above their average and he didn't see any reason why I would not get in. (I did have some very slight volunteer exp, but it was nothing to write home about, but I did have
something) He then asked me what kind of doctor I wanted to be. I told him a surgeon, specifically cardiothoracic. Well, that was the nail in the coffin as he immediately said, oh well we only really accept primary care candidates so you probably not going to get in. Well, I didnt. At Wake I was waitlisted, and thus I was left unsure at graduation of whether I would be in school in August or be looking for a job.
In comes immaturity and impatience. Mistake #1: I decided, well, I could probably do something else and be just as happy. Ill make a lot of money being a lawyer, I can do patent law and it will be related to science. Ill be fine. So I took the LSAT, killed it and then thought about where to attend. I was being contacted by some top 20 and a couple top 10 schools due to the LSAT, however, they all thought I was applying for the following year. Mistake #2: Impatience got the better of me. I thought, I dont want to wait a year, what I am going to do? So I went to my alma mater and they let me in to the class even though it started in just a few weeks (took the June LSAT). Meanwhile, I know in the back of my mind that this is not what I should be doing, but the three Is had control and I didnt want life to be left up in the air waiting for Wake so I enrolled in law school. Incidentally, the only person who questioned this was my sister as she is currently in law school and it is her dream, and thus I suppose she could tell that this was not where my passion should be leading me. I should have listened to her, but everyone else thought it was great. My mom was thrilled as she never wanted me to be a doctor anyway (blood and all that, shes very
.well, squeamish but more than that)
Well, during orientation, wham Wake says youre in
Mistake #3: I decided well Ive already enrolled here, made my deposit, living with my college buddies, why not stay. So I stayed
and knew everyday it was the WRONG decision. I thought about quitting every semester and applying to medical school, but in the end that would have looked worse than anything else most likely.
So I graduate, take and pass the bar and start working. And, no, Ill never, ever give hating my job as a reason for going to medical school. I just said that in my first post and its not really even accurate. There are days my jobs is great. As I am not in litigation, I do have more flexibility than other attorneys. I from time to time see great ideas. Even today I had a new client who I am really excited about. But in the end, I know I will never be a
great lawyer. To be great at something, you must have a passion for it. You must be able to take the good with the bad but have something deep inside driving you to keep going, because even though you have terrible days and red tape seems to be all around you, you still love it and have a pssion for what you are doing. I dont have a passion for law; I never have and never will. Parts are interesting, but even for most of law school I was bored. The only class I perked up for was Law and Medicine. I aced the class and received the Law and Medicine Scholar Award which is a fancy way of saying I booked the course. Whoopee.
Although going to law school was a mistake, and I always have the pang of regret for not going to Wake as soon as I heard I was in, if I could do it all over, Id probably do it again anyway. Why you ask? Because there were lessons I needed to learn, and unfortunately for me, I have always been the type of person who has to learn the hard way. Well three years gone and lots of $$ in student loans, Ive learned my lessons. I dont want to make the same mistake twice. And although I have to live with making it, that doesnt mean I have to live as an attorney for the rest of my life and that for to me, my dream of being a doctor is a matter of WHEN, not if.
Ive been aching to head back towards that dream, but the impatience in me still fights to take me over. I even applied to and was accepted to a JHU MS in Biotechnology program but in the end realized I was only doing it because I could start NOW, not because it was what I wanted.
Theres a quote I once heard, and though I cannot remember it word for word, the gist is that in the end people always do what they intended to do the whole time, no matter what they said or did in between. Well, I always intended to go to medical school and become a doctor and somehow I will.
So, all of that mess out of the way, what I really need help on is deciding is it worth it to try and apply this year or not. The way I see it, the three main things everyone is pointing out are (1) Good MCAT (2) Good PS and (3) Clinical experience. Well lets assume I study my butt off and that (1) is not a problem and that with a bit of effort and some tips from people here on SDN, (2) is a really good PS. So that leaves (3). If I begin volunteering within the next week or so, that would mean that roughly around the time schools receive my application I would have been doing it for about 5 months. By the time I would hopefully have interviews, this could be anywhere 7 on up to 11 or 12 months depending on when the interview took place. In addition to this, my wife has a very good friend of hers up in Northern VA who is a pediatrician and I am 100% sure she would let me shadow whenever I wanted. Her husband is also a doctor, a surgeon, and hed likely let me hang around a bit as well. So, ultimate question, with good MCAT, the grades I have, a strong PS and somewhere in the 5-11 month range of volunteering and interspersed shadowing, will I be a strong candidate? Or is it better to wait a year or more. If I the consensus is I should wait, I will. Ive already waited this long, I can wait longer. Impatience wont get me this time
