Am I kidding myself?
Started by Kiiragi
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If you are not the studious type, learn to be. You're definitely not going to get through med school, or even undergrad with grades it takes to become a doctor without learning some reliable study skills. Lazy does not cut it.
It definitely sounds like you are making this decision based on monetary earnings only. Which is, nonetheless, a bad thing.
If you ask many people on this site, you'll find that it is just not WORTH going through all the trouble of a med applicant, when you know it's not for you. The money does not relinquish the fact that the career path isn't for you. You probably won't be able to find the ambition to drive yourself through the entire process, if you are not genuinely interested.
Now with this said, if you still want to be a doctor, then by all means start your path. But make sure you do some physician shadowing and volunteering and the sorts, so you can have a better idea if it's for you.
In my opinion, you should go do what you love and are good at. Creative Arts, ect.
Best of luck!
It definitely sounds like you are making this decision based on monetary earnings only. Which is, nonetheless, a bad thing.
If you ask many people on this site, you'll find that it is just not WORTH going through all the trouble of a med applicant, when you know it's not for you. The money does not relinquish the fact that the career path isn't for you. You probably won't be able to find the ambition to drive yourself through the entire process, if you are not genuinely interested.
Now with this said, if you still want to be a doctor, then by all means start your path. But make sure you do some physician shadowing and volunteering and the sorts, so you can have a better idea if it's for you.
In my opinion, you should go do what you love and are good at. Creative Arts, ect.
Best of luck!
You sound a lot like I did early in high school. I originally wanted to go computer science, but my older brother did that, and all the stuff he was doing looked kinda uninteresting for me, so I was stuck without a goal. What helped me the most was that I went to an awesome career fair where we sat with different professionals around small tables and listened to them talk about what they did. If you're lucky you'll find people who are passionate about what they do, and that might interest you. That's how I became interested in dentistry, and now I'm going to dental school next fall. I kept looking into it, and I got more and more inspired, and I finally had a goal again.
One thing that is for certain, even if you do like the money, you will hate being a doctor and going into work every day after 10 years if you don't have the passion for it. If you know you want to go some health profession, consider the entire range, and they might interest you more than being a Physician. Go shadow an MD or a DO, a dentist, and a Pharmacist - those are the three most people think about when they think health, and see if you could see yourself not doing what they do, but ENJOY doing what they do. Shadowing is a lot easier than it sounds, especially for dentists. Most dentists would be more than happy to let you hang around their office for a day or so and watch them - they were in your case once. Just give your dentist a call and ask, worst they can say is no. I'm sure you could also call a hospital or a private practice for the other two.
Again, you really shouldn't go health if you're just in it for the money, because the money isn't worth the stress and frustration you get if you're not passionate about it.
Good luck, don't stress, and keep on keeping on!
One thing that is for certain, even if you do like the money, you will hate being a doctor and going into work every day after 10 years if you don't have the passion for it. If you know you want to go some health profession, consider the entire range, and they might interest you more than being a Physician. Go shadow an MD or a DO, a dentist, and a Pharmacist - those are the three most people think about when they think health, and see if you could see yourself not doing what they do, but ENJOY doing what they do. Shadowing is a lot easier than it sounds, especially for dentists. Most dentists would be more than happy to let you hang around their office for a day or so and watch them - they were in your case once. Just give your dentist a call and ask, worst they can say is no. I'm sure you could also call a hospital or a private practice for the other two.
Again, you really shouldn't go health if you're just in it for the money, because the money isn't worth the stress and frustration you get if you're not passionate about it.
Good luck, don't stress, and keep on keeping on!
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^ Agreed. You are going to have to bust your butt if you want to get into a good medical school. High school doesn't matter. I'm doing the CC route to. I screwed up like you did. Life happens. I'm glad for you that you have changed your attitude.
its also a matter of why you want to be a doctor, if you just want to earn the big bucks your picking the wrong profession, go into Law, or Business, Biomedical engineering.
For the first few years out of residency you might be earning a lot of money, but you are also paying off your $200,000 loans for college and med school. I know for a fact that if I make it into medical school, I will pay more for one year of medical school then the cost of my entire undergraduate education.
So my advice, go with what makes you happy
For the first few years out of residency you might be earning a lot of money, but you are also paying off your $200,000 loans for college and med school. I know for a fact that if I make it into medical school, I will pay more for one year of medical school then the cost of my entire undergraduate education.
So my advice, go with what makes you happy
You don't have to decide on a career path as a senior in high school, believe it or not. In college, you will receive a more concrete understanding of your preferences as they pertain to the spectrum of careers. For instance, you'll have opportunities to shadow physicians in their precise element, which will give you an idea of whether or not such a line of work is something you'd really want to do.
Can a person practice medicine without loving it? Of course, but I imagine that would be a miserable existence. It's not a job where you can slog through the workday in anticipation of life outside of it. With its long hours and high degree of responsibility, you have to derive some level of satisfaction from its practice (other than monetary compensation) in order for it to be worthwhile.
Can a person practice medicine without loving it? Of course, but I imagine that would be a miserable existence. It's not a job where you can slog through the workday in anticipation of life outside of it. With its long hours and high degree of responsibility, you have to derive some level of satisfaction from its practice (other than monetary compensation) in order for it to be worthwhile.
let's not bring House M.D into this... LOL
the show is not even close to an accurate representation of the medical world.
but that's why it's a show.
the show is not even close to an accurate representation of the medical world.
but that's why it's a show.
😀 Very good point.
OP, definitely shadow a physician and get a feel for what the environment is really like. And also realize salaries are not necessarily constants (especially with all this CHANGE going around 😉) and should never be the basis of any decision.
Stability is very important, but the media is a growing little industry, and you should seriously rethink your decision if money is the only factor preventing you from pursuing this path. But hey, you have three years to decide! Just start off being a pre-med and see where your loyalties lie from there.
I agree, start taking the prereqs and you will decide very quickly how bad you want to be a physician.
