I just wanted to get advice on the following situation: I am currently a pharmacy student finishing up my 1st yr. Although I like pharmacy, I have always seen myself as a physician, not a pharmacist. I don't have anything against pharmacy, but I want more clinical contact with patients, as opposed to counseling. In addition to this, I find courses such as anatomy, physiology, etc...more interesting than Kinetics and the like. I was premed all the way through undergrad and suddenly changed to pharmacy b/c of a few reasons. First, I thought that maybe I could not handle med. school, which I now know I can. Second, I had just got married and really did not want to strain our relationship, esp. as newly weds. Although my wife tells me to do what makes me happy, I know she dreads the possibility of not seeing much of me during med school. Is it really true that med students have to sacrifice their family for school? or can they balance both? Also, I really can't afford to waste anymore years thinking about this since I'm not getting any younger. Finally, I don't have the energy (nor finances) to do both pharmacy and med. It has to be one or the other. So, what do you guys think? stick w/pharmacy and get over myself or switch?
Advice
- Thread starter VCU07
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go to med school man
it doenst take time from ur family, its hard, but im sure so is pharm school. u can alwasy make time for whatever u feel is important.
finances? loans can help that, u gonna get so much financiall aid in med school where u and ur wife can live comfortably until u graduate.
u think the transition will be hard, but med school isnt bad at all, atleast not yet for me (im almost finished w first year)
later
omar
it doenst take time from ur family, its hard, but im sure so is pharm school. u can alwasy make time for whatever u feel is important.
finances? loans can help that, u gonna get so much financiall aid in med school where u and ur wife can live comfortably until u graduate.
u think the transition will be hard, but med school isnt bad at all, atleast not yet for me (im almost finished w first year)
later
omar
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Would you rather spend the rest of your life thinking "what if I had ..."?
Sounds like you already have your mind made up but are just afraid to commit to your decision. Honestly, your wife wouldn't be happy with a miserable husband, and you're not really doing her a favor by choosing to stick with a career that you obviously are not happy with. Yeah, med school is hard. But like anything, it's really what you make of it. There are lots of medical students with wives, families, etc.... In some ways, those students actually perform better because they are better at multi-tasking and organizing their schedule in a more efficient manner. If you know you have to be home by a certain time, you don't waste time horsing around and socializing as much. There's also usually a lot of drama and gossip in any class and by being married, you avoid most of that. You probably will also have a few years on many of your classmates, which will give you the maturity edge.
I would just make sure that you are choosing medicine for the right reasons. Pharmacists make a good living, and they have a very nice lifestyle. However, if you want the additional responsibility of caring for more aspects of the patient, then perhaps medicine is the way to go. If you're just looking for a career with more "clinical interactions", you can always go to PA school or choose another field. (just playing the devil's advocate - you'll probably be asked a lot of questions about your motivation during med school interviews.... so you should have some well-thought- out answers.)
Anyways, like I said, I think you already know what you want to do. AND, once you start having children (maybe you already have some??), you'll have even more to think about. You might as well go to med school while you are relatively young and have the option to do so. Good luck!
Tell us what you decided after you make the decision either way - you really have nothing to lose...
Sounds like you already have your mind made up but are just afraid to commit to your decision. Honestly, your wife wouldn't be happy with a miserable husband, and you're not really doing her a favor by choosing to stick with a career that you obviously are not happy with. Yeah, med school is hard. But like anything, it's really what you make of it. There are lots of medical students with wives, families, etc.... In some ways, those students actually perform better because they are better at multi-tasking and organizing their schedule in a more efficient manner. If you know you have to be home by a certain time, you don't waste time horsing around and socializing as much. There's also usually a lot of drama and gossip in any class and by being married, you avoid most of that. You probably will also have a few years on many of your classmates, which will give you the maturity edge.
I would just make sure that you are choosing medicine for the right reasons. Pharmacists make a good living, and they have a very nice lifestyle. However, if you want the additional responsibility of caring for more aspects of the patient, then perhaps medicine is the way to go. If you're just looking for a career with more "clinical interactions", you can always go to PA school or choose another field. (just playing the devil's advocate - you'll probably be asked a lot of questions about your motivation during med school interviews.... so you should have some well-thought- out answers.)
Anyways, like I said, I think you already know what you want to do. AND, once you start having children (maybe you already have some??), you'll have even more to think about. You might as well go to med school while you are relatively young and have the option to do so. Good luck!
Tell us what you decided after you make the decision either way - you really have nothing to lose...- Joined
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I was in a similar situation. I was a premed all the way in college, then went into teaching. Mostly, it was because I had just met the woman I would end up marrying and didn't want to risk losing her.... but I was also affraid I might not be able to hack it in med school.
Truth is, med school isn't much harder or time consuming than college. You will have absolutely no life as a third year, but the rest is not too bad as long as you are disciplined about getting your work done. Being busy can put a strain on a relationship, but I often feel like my wife was my secret weapon. That one is hard to explain.... but I think married folks will understand what I'm getting at.
I love teaching, but medicine is my passion. My wife also encouraged me to follow my dreams.... and I have absolutely no regrets. There's a lot of teaching to be done in medicine and I look forward to it.... similarly, I think your pharmacy background will give you certain advantages.
Follow your heart. Best of luck.
Truth is, med school isn't much harder or time consuming than college. You will have absolutely no life as a third year, but the rest is not too bad as long as you are disciplined about getting your work done. Being busy can put a strain on a relationship, but I often feel like my wife was my secret weapon. That one is hard to explain.... but I think married folks will understand what I'm getting at.
I love teaching, but medicine is my passion. My wife also encouraged me to follow my dreams.... and I have absolutely no regrets. There's a lot of teaching to be done in medicine and I look forward to it.... similarly, I think your pharmacy background will give you certain advantages.
Follow your heart. Best of luck.
