oh my god....All I'm saying is if there are 2 people:
1. Applicant with his **** together, ready for the challenge, confident, certain, and initiated.
2. Applicant without his **** together, not sure, doubtful, uncertain, and anxiety.
Why not give the seat to person #1? and person #2 wait a year to figure it out.
Because it's not that cut and dry. Nobody knows exactly what med school is going to be like for them until they are actually experiencing it. Maybe the person that was riddled with doubt and fear will find that med school was the best decision they've ever made, and maybe the person that was 'confident, certain, and initiated' will find that they would rather be in a cubicle.
OP, I've been torn over whether or not to go to med school for the past year and a half. I've finally come to the point where I feel like I'm making the right decision by starting DO school this summer. I feel like no other career will be able to offer the same level of respect, gratification, variety, financial security, flexibility, etc.. as a career as as physician. I also feel that, given the fact that I actually enjoyed studying for the MCAT, the endless series of hurdles (didactic grades, boards, landing a residency) will be a good outlet for my competitiveness.
Since your biggest fear is the financial aspect, below is a recent post I saw that helped put things into perspective for me...
(These are not my words. I don't have the poster's name, but someone might be able to recognize and attribute it to someone)
"""Here's my take (strictly financial)... and this is coming from a non-trad who's been out of school for nearly 7 years.
There are very few six figure jobs. I've had friends go to law school. I've had friends go to business school. I've had friends go to other professional schools. Very few of them are currently making six figures. The ones that are, are working in consulting or something of that sort, working long hours doing boring stuff, living the rat race every day. Personally, I spent two years at a huge corporation, standard 9-5 gig, but absolutely hated my life, so took the plunge and started my own business. I consider myself extremely fortunate and unique in that it worked out for me. Most just seem to be sucking it up and sticking it out making their 60-80k a year, to sit in a box, with the hopes of getting that big promotion.
Sure, you could go into business become a VP, CFO, etc. and make mega-bucks. But you know what? Any big corporation is filled with thousands of other people with MBA's, etc. all shooting for the same thing. And guess what? Not everyone is making it to the mega-buck level. Odds are you're going to be a regular, corporate clone your entire life, taking home your 2.5-5% yearly raise. Oh, and economy goes into the ****ter again? Forget about that raise. Things aren't going so hot at your company? Layoffs are coming. Want to actually have a shot to travel, and get away from the grind of your daily life? Better find a way to squeeze it into your 2 weeks a year.
The fact of the matter is, landing a six figure job just isn't that easy these days...let alone a 200, 250, 300k+ job. These are all easily obtainable (at least the 200-250) by going to medical school. In addition...the skills you're learning as a doctor are easily transferable to other parts of the world. Like to travel? Go work in a foreign country for a couple of years. Only want to work part time, but still clear 100k a year? Docs can do it...but do you think that fortune 500 or BigLaw firm is going to be cool with you only coming in 6 months a year? Until some of you guys have been in that dreadful corporate environment, you'll never know how miserable it truly is...I was completely oblivious as a grad until I saw firsthand how soul-crushing it really is.
For me, being a doctor means getting out of the rat race. It means financial security. It means job security. It means the ability to travel freely and live a more meaningful and interesting life.
But hey, if you want to go sit in a box for 40 years, slaving away, taking your 2 week vacations to grandma's house, making some rich dinguses even richer...more power to you.""""
