accepted to med school, but having some serious doubts

[diegos]

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i think the answer may or may not be obvious to some, but i thought i'd put it up here anyway.

i've miraculously been accepted to do an MD/MPH (in one of my top schools, in fact) but in the past two months i've started to question whether medicine is it for me. in the past two years since graduating, i've come to realize that though i have the discipline and intelligence and interest to do medicine, i may be happier committing myself solely to a career that involves more creative and analytical thinking-- something along the lines of creative writing and narrative filmmaking, which i've been doing throughout college as a hobby. in the past, i always told myself i could pursue both medicine/storytelling simultaneously, and find my niche later on, but i'm starting to realize that instead of the synergy that i imagine would occur, i would only end up years later being a mediocre 'jack of all trades.'

i'm torn between the impulsive, frustrated side of me which says to defer med school for a year to pursue these other interests, VERSUS the more conservative, and potentially wiser side of me that says to go to med school while gradually expanding these two creative interests (and simultaneously, draw from experiences in medicine to be a better storyteller, which is one of the primary reasons why i wanted to do medicine in the first place). a lot of what has influenced me greatly as a storyteller has come from listening and talking to patients, and from the sociopolitical/economic conflicts i've explored, through my endeavors in medicine and public health. so you can see how i am reluctant to let go of what i see is a realm where i can draw a lot of rich life experiences, as an 'artist.'

either option is very risky, and at the moment i don't have enough courage or conviction to choose one over the other. furthermore, i've talked to my parents about this and they are not being very helpful (in fact, they're very upset, and want me to forget about my 'side' interests completely and just focus on medicine-- which i think would be dishonest to myself and ultimately be self-destructive).

i'd appreciate any advice.

 

[exptherainbow]

This is a very personal decision that I don't think any of us can make for you here.

Medicine is a huge commitment, you will be giving up a lot of your free time and will probably (especially during your third year) experience a frustrating lack of time to pursue other interests. It's hard work, emotionally draining, and you shouldn't subject yourself to it unless you really do want it.

That being said, I have been very successful at pursuing my artistic endeavors during medical school, but I made the choice study to less and thus score lower in my didactic courses in order to do it (we have a pass/fail system, so there's really not much consequence other than a slight blow to my ego). But I may be somewhat of the exception to the norm.

 

[tehdude]

In the words of Hoover, "If there is anything at all that you'd rather do in life, do not go into medicine."

 

[crock1255]

I fully agree with the below. Though medical shows there is always consulting for medical shows, even writing. But that is a long, long, long way away. I think if you don't take the year, you'll always question whether you should have. ONE more year - especially when you compare it to medical school - is peanuts. It is a long path. Great for some, but if you have doubts, they'll only increase when you're spending 14 hrs studying the minutiae of G-Proteins.

In the words of Hoover, "If there is anything at all that you'd rather do in life, do not go into medicine."

 

[CatFactorial]

I'd stick with the md for now. You can quit later if not for you, but it's a very good opportunity.

 

[Serotonergic]

I'd stick with the md for now. You can quit later if not for you, but it's a very good opportunity.

Medical school is insanely expensive. Each semester of medical school will cost him tens of thousands of dollars. You can't just quit that debt.

I don't know what exactly you can do, but obviously it would be much to your benefit to soul search and commit to either other interests or to medicine. Med school is a hellish, torturous experience for even those who go into it full-heartedly. If you go into med school half-heartedly, you will likely be especially miserable. Or maybe you'll get in, do amazing, and love it.

 

[adaptation1]

As a fellow artist who thrives on creativity and spontaneity--I write haikus on notepad, and when i get really ambitious, post them on anonymous forums--I say go to medical school, if not just for semester. You've been accepted but you haven't even taken a single class yet. There is no basis for any decision you make, really; your doubts for or against medicine won't be informed. At least give yourself the benefit of checking it out before you make any decisions.

 

[WellWornLad]

Medicine is not the space to spread your creative wings. Take a year off.

 

[FutureMDSurgeon]

In the words of Hoover, "If there is anything at all that you'd rather do in life, do not go into medicine."

That guy is really amusing. Read his blog Med School Hell . There's some pretty funny **** in there.

 

[patel2]

i think the answer may or may not be obvious to some, but i thought i'd put it up here anyway.

i've miraculously been accepted to do an MD/MPH (in one of my top schools, in fact) but in the past two months i've started to question whether medicine is it for me. in the past two years since graduating, i've come to realize that though i have the discipline and intelligence and interest to do medicine, i may be happier committing myself solely to a career that involves more creative and analytical thinking-- something along the lines of creative writing and narrative filmmaking, which i've been doing throughout college as a hobby. in the past, i always told myself i could pursue both medicine/storytelling simultaneously, and find my niche later on, but i'm starting to realize that instead of the synergy that i imagine would occur, i would only end up years later being a mediocre 'jack of all trades.'

i'm torn between the impulsive, frustrated side of me which says to defer med school for a year to pursue these other interests, VERSUS the more conservative, and potentially wiser side of me that says to go to med school while gradually expanding these two creative interests (and simultaneously, draw from experiences in medicine to be a better storyteller, which is one of the primary reasons why i wanted to do medicine in the first place). a lot of what has influenced me greatly as a storyteller has come from listening and talking to patients, and from the sociopolitical/economic conflicts i've explored, through my endeavors in medicine and public health. so you can see how i am reluctant to let go of what i see is a realm where i can draw a lot of rich life experiences, as an 'artist.'

either option is very risky, and at the moment i don't have enough courage or conviction to choose one over the other. furthermore, i've talked to my parents about this and they are not being very helpful (in fact, they're very upset, and want me to forget about my 'side' interests completely and just focus on medicine-- which i think would be dishonest to myself and ultimately be self-destructive).

i'd appreciate any advice.

 

[streudels]

.

 

[diegos]

hence why i posted this on allopathic.

thanks everyone for the input. i keep bouncing back and forth between the two options and it looks like the best thing to do would be to defer for a year. although i may completely change my mind the next day. :/ this sucks.

 

[Democritus]

OP, the safest way to go is into medicine. Hell, you could end up having an unrelated job anyways and be nearly as up to your neck in work-muck as medicine with 1/4 the pay. I'm sure it's easier to gain recognition and publications with an MD beside your name as well.

I'm in the same boat. I'm passionate about medicine, but I'm also extremely passionate about literature and creative writing. We will see.

 

[mrjohndaniels]

If you were a successful applicant to med school, you had to spend years of work taking the courses, studying for the MCAT, and acquiring the clinical and volunteer experiences you needed to get in. It is likely that you did not make the decision to apply lightly. On the other hand, it sounds like these other interests of yours are more recently developed and as you mentioned "impulsive."

This is YOUR decision, and you should make it freely. However, I would caution you against making an impulsive decision not to go to med school when you likely had thought it out very well in advance. There are many things people in med school can do besides school and medicine. I know someone who published a history book while this individual was a med student. You should also remember that medicine offers a variety of career paths and some will enable you to pursue other interests because they are less demanding with respect to your time (things like dermatology, pathology, radiology, ophthalmology). I think it would be prudent to go to med school at this point, but again, those are my thoughts based on my own values. It's really important that you make your own choice on this.

 

[da8s0859q]

hence why i posted this on allopathic.

thanks everyone for the input. i keep bouncing back and forth between the two options and it looks like the best thing to do would be to defer for a year. although i may completely change my mind the next day. :/ this sucks.

Ignore him -- his posts are always trash.

I will say that medicine gave me and lots of other people cold feet, and that if you like both enough, medicine might allow you some time to dabble in your other big interests. Have cake, eat too. That's part of why I chose to go for this.

 

[ACSurgeon]

So I'm 1 week from graduation (already done with all my requirements, steps, etc) and I can tell you that it's a long, hard road ahead. Despite not having any major set backs or failures during this process, it's still a lot of stress. I would encourage anyone with an interest to pursue it. However, I would caution anyone with REAL doubts from proceeding with it.

It sounds like there is little down to taking a year off and figuring out if you really want to be a doctor or not. You don't have to make a final decision now, you can take the year, see what it's like to pursue your other interests, and reassess your goals. Becoming a doctor will give you credibility and open many doors in almost every field (writing, industry, etc), but as others have mentioned, that would be at least 7 years from the day you start school.

i think the answer may or may not be obvious to some, but i thought i'd put it up here anyway.

i've miraculously been accepted to do an MD/MPH (in one of my top schools, in fact) but in the past two months i've started to question whether medicine is it for me. in the past two years since graduating, i've come to realize that though i have the discipline and intelligence and interest to do medicine, i may be happier committing myself solely to a career that involves more creative and analytical thinking-- something along the lines of creative writing and narrative filmmaking, which i've been doing throughout college as a hobby. in the past, i always told myself i could pursue both medicine/storytelling simultaneously, and find my niche later on, but i'm starting to realize that instead of the synergy that i imagine would occur, i would only end up years later being a mediocre 'jack of all trades.'

i'm torn between the impulsive, frustrated side of me which says to defer med school for a year to pursue these other interests, VERSUS the more conservative, and potentially wiser side of me that says to go to med school while gradually expanding these two creative interests (and simultaneously, draw from experiences in medicine to be a better storyteller, which is one of the primary reasons why i wanted to do medicine in the first place). a lot of what has influenced me greatly as a storyteller has come from listening and talking to patients, and from the sociopolitical/economic conflicts i've explored, through my endeavors in medicine and public health. so you can see how i am reluctant to let go of what i see is a realm where i can draw a lot of rich life experiences, as an 'artist.'

either option is very risky, and at the moment i don't have enough courage or conviction to choose one over the other. furthermore, i've talked to my parents about this and they are not being very helpful (in fact, they're very upset, and want me to forget about my 'side' interests completely and just focus on medicine-- which i think would be dishonest to myself and ultimately be self-destructive).

i'd appreciate any advice.

 

[Fleur de Me]

OK- as a person who took several years off before doing med school (and pursuing my other dreams/interests), by the time I started medical school, I felt like I'd done all of the other things in my life that I really wanted to do. I was as ready as I could be to completely devote myself to medicine.

That doesn't mean I wasn't nervous thinking about my future or the massive amounts of debt I was about to incur to do something I knew would be hard, but I just felt like it was the right time.

I really believe you need to have some sense of internal readiness- and if you're not feeling it, defer! You (and the med school) want to be sure this is where you want to be. There've been a few kids to leave my class, and I'm sure they would have rather not wasted the 50K or whatever.

Good luck!

 

[tco]

Medical school is insanely expensive. Each semester of medical school will cost him tens of thousands of dollars. You can't just quit that debt.

I don't know what exactly you can do, but obviously it would be much to your benefit to soul search and commit to either other interests or to medicine. Med school is a hellish, torturous experience for even those who go into it full-heartedly. If you go into med school half-heartedly, you will likely be especially miserable. Or maybe you'll get in, do amazing, and love it.

It's not insanely expensive if they're MD/PhD...

 

[Kate6058]

As someone who has similar interests, completed an undergrad degree in film, then worked in the industry for a few years before going to medical school, I hope I can offer you some advice. It doesn't sound so much like you are saying you are worried you won't like medicine but that you are worried about losing that other half of your life. I think there are other things you have to consider. Listen to the people here who tell you there is time in medical school to keep up with your outside interests. Sure, you have to be willing to make school your priority for the next few years, but that doesn't mean you can't have outside interests. In fact, if you don't, you'll feel like crap pretty quickly. Don't think just because you become a physician you have to be one of those people whose life is completely consumed by medicine, and don't feel bad about wanting a life to go along with your job. You can choose a field where you can clock out of your shift and go home, free to enjoy other pursuits, but you might have to settle for being less than a world-renowned expert in a top research field or something of that sort.

Choosing a more creative career is risky, as well. There is a lot of pure luck involved in becoming successful and financially stable in the industry; you could conceivably work hard for years and not get very far ahead. Additionally, at some point you will need funding for the projects you want to do, if you want to do your own work. Don't let money be your deciding factor, but you have to be realistic when considering how you'll support yourself for the rest of your life. On a physician's income, you would likely be able to keep a storytelling career of some sort afloat. And it sounds like an MD/MPH program would give you access to more of the content you are interested in producing.

So, my point is that I don't think you should rule out medicine because you think it will prevent you from being able to pursue your other interests. Again, if you have doubts about practicing medicine... that's a whole other thing to consider. If you need to defer a year to do more soul-searching, that's okay. But I think you could have a really interesting life if you dare to follow both paths.

 

[MJB]

I'd get the MD to make a living, and use your creative interests as a hobby or something to move into.

You can do anything you want with a Medical Degree.

I'd probably have to take the "sure thing" of medicine. I say this as a 34 yo about to finish Med School. I assume you are under 25, so even if you get into medicine and absolutely DETEST it, you could be out by 35 pretty easily if you play your cards right.

Time goes a HELL of a lot faster than you think it will...and 4 years of MS goes really, really fast.

I can think of no other "job" that once accepted into, you put in 7 years of work and be pretty much guaranteed at least 150K (often times more).

I have to imagine creative writing jobs that pay 150K are fairly rare, but I honestly don't know.

 

[Perrotfish]

i think the answer may or may not be obvious to some, but i thought i'd put it up here anyway.

i've miraculously been accepted to do an MD/MPH (in one of my top schools, in fact) but in the past two months i've started to question whether medicine is it for me. in the past two years since graduating, i've come to realize that though i have the discipline and intelligence and interest to do medicine, i may be happier committing myself solely to a career that involves more creative and analytical thinking-- something along the lines of creative writing and narrative filmmaking, which i've been doing throughout college as a hobby. in the past, i always told myself i could pursue both medicine/storytelling simultaneously, and find my niche later on, but i'm starting to realize that instead of the synergy that i imagine would occur, i would only end up years later being a mediocre 'jack of all trades.'

i'm torn between the impulsive, frustrated side of me which says to defer med school for a year to pursue these other interests, VERSUS the more conservative, and potentially wiser side of me that says to go to med school while gradually expanding these two creative interests (and simultaneously, draw from experiences in medicine to be a better storyteller, which is one of the primary reasons why i wanted to do medicine in the first place). a lot of what has influenced me greatly as a storyteller has come from listening and talking to patients, and from the sociopolitical/economic conflicts i've explored, through my endeavors in medicine and public health. so you can see how i am reluctant to let go of what i see is a realm where i can draw a lot of rich life experiences, as an 'artist.'

either option is very risky, and at the moment i don't have enough courage or conviction to choose one over the other. furthermore, i've talked to my parents about this and they are not being very helpful (in fact, they're very upset, and want me to forget about my 'side' interests completely and just focus on medicine-- which i think would be dishonest to myself and ultimately be self-destructive).

i'd appreciate any advice.

On the one hand I don't see medicine as a clear route to anything other than a medical career, at least until residency is over. I know that there are many physicians who manage to do all kinds of dream job while financin their endevors with medicine, but most of them are attendings. I have had classmates that have written novels and one that produced an independent film while in medical school, but I honestly don't know that everyone could balance that with the academic pressure of medical school. However when someone says that their alternative plan is "creative writing and narrative filmmaking", well... let's just say I sympathize with your parents. It like hearing someone say that they sold their house to invest in lottery tickets. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, and I honestly don't know much about the realities of the creative world, but having watched many of my recent college graduate friends scramble for any white collar job anywhere I just can't imagine that creative anything is an easy career to break into.

Anyway, key questions in my mind:

1) Do you like medicine? What made you want to apply to medical school in the first place?

2) Do you have a plan for what you'd actually if doyou got a deferment? Are you planning to write a novel? Or a screenplay? Or make an independent film? Or will you take classes? Or start applying for industry jobs in CA?

3) Do you know if your school would actually allow you to defer, or would you be sacrificing your acceptance to make this plan work?

4) What are your stats? (i.e., how lucky were you to get in?). someone with a 4.0 and a 42 might have more lattitude to come back to medicine later than someone who got in with more equivocal numbers.

5) Do you think that taking a year off would give you the information to make a more informed decision about your chances in the creative world? I mean what the actual working side of the creative world feels like, your employability, etc. I feel like if your plan is just to take some classes and do an independent film on your own time and budget all you'll discover is what you already know: doing creative things with no deadlines or bosses is more fun than real work.

6) Have you ever shared any of your work, and if so how was it recieved?

7) Just to check that the medical school option is viable: was your acceptance at an American school? Meaning not the Caribbean?

Anyway, personally I did get cold feet prior to starting medical school. I got talked down by my family, and I'm glad that I'm here, now. And I'm saying that while I'm on Ob/Gyn Night float.

 

[da8s0859q]

However when someone says that their alternative plan is "creative writing and narrative filmmaking", well... let's just say I sympathize with your parents. It like hearing someone say that they sold their house to invest in lottery tickets.

so true.

OP, when I said medicine lets you do other things also, I say that because my other thing involves music -- which isn't much different in terms of being consistently lucrative/secure as creative writing and narrative filmmaking. I just feel like unless you're a superstar in the 99th percentile of what you're doing, some things might be better suited as serious hobbies / interests on the side / etc., especially when you have a sincere desire to go into -- and ability to handle -- medicine.

Just gotta differentiate between "cold feet" and well-founded doubt.

 

[VoiceofReason]

if you decide against medicine, you'll regret it for the rest of your life

if, on the other hand, you do go into medicine... you'll likely regret that too

 

[mvenus929]

3) Do you know if your school would actually allow you to defer, or would you be sacrificing your acceptance to make this plan work?

I want to second and third this. Seriously, many schools won't allow you to defer a year without a really good reason. I doubt Creative Writing will really fly as a solid reason for them.

You can still write and expand your interests in medical school. In fact, we had to do a project for anatomy in which we reflected on our experience with the cadavers. Because I write, I wrote a story about my cadaver, and I've just submitted it to a literary journal here on campus for publication (they accept works from all over the states). It's small, and I wouldn't get paid for it, but it gets my name out there and opens a few doors. Or at least windows. There are also internships through... the AMA, I think, to be involved in filmmaking (not fiction, more like the specials you see on TLC, but all the same...).

If creative writing or filmmaking or whatever is your passion, you will find some way to make it work in medical school. But you're taking a huge risk by giving up a medical school acceptance to pursue a career in a field that is notoriously difficult to get into. If you haven't broken in yet, I suggest you keep with medicine. There are, after all, physicians who mostly write for a living, but most writers require a day job to survive.