Are you applying for the right reasons?

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HealthE

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I just realized I am applying for the wrong reasons. Although, I care about patients. I think I was more applying because that is what is expected of me. I come from a background where the people I grew up with. Everyone is a doctor. So, I thought I had to become one. I think it was more me keeping up with people then me actually wanting to be a doctor. Quarter life crisis in effect. I think I am going to work for a couple of years and revisit this idea later.

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Absolutely worst possible reason to apply. Medicine is a calling, like being a priest or a fireman. Good thing you're realizing this now.


I just realized I am applying for the wrong reasons. Although, I care about patients. I think I was more applying because that is what is expected of me. I come from a background where the people I grew up with. Everyone is a doctor.
 
I don't think there is a right or wrong reason. And I don't know if I believe it is a calling.

Spend ten years working as a paramedic or nurse in the field or in a busy ED in an urban location. Get a chance to be assaulted, threatened, and forced to play the game of modern medicine. Watch your tax dollars hard at work with EMTALA. Take a look at what the ever looming threat of litigation makes the physician order and do just to CYA and keep his/her house and food on the table. Don't forget to add in the frequent flyers and those suffering from hypopercocetepenia. And woe to you that does not bow down to mighty Press-Gainey.

You want to see your belief that humanity is good and decent. That people are kind, generous, and all around okay. Go spend a few hours in an ED. That is ground zero. The patients upstairs on the floor, they came through the ED a lot of the time. Hang out in the ED. That is the place to get a real sense of what you'll be dealing with in medicine. It is just a business now. Keep the customer happy. Keep the scores up. Don't let them wait and don't miss anything.

If you still want to do medicine after some extended time in an ED, then maybe it is a calling.
 
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I think I am going to work for a couple of years and revisit this idea later.

Honestly, I don't know your situation/perspective, but I think you would be doing yourself a genuine disservice by not applying ASAP. If there is any inkling of you that wants to go into medicine, then fight for it! Go for it now! From the moment you start med school to the moment you get your first "real" paycheck is - at minimum - a 7 year journey (med school + residency).

Honestly? Becoming a doctor is not some idealistic job. No such job exists. The sooner you realize that everyone's job - in some aspect - sucks, the sooner you will begin to narrow down your career choices. Medicine isn't a calling. It's a job. If you can see yourself doing it till retirement, then do it. If not, then pack up your bags and pick something else. Quit wasting your time. If you're trying to get into medicine you have 7+ years ahead of you. If you're trying to get a 6-figure salary in another profession, you have X+ years ahead of you with absolutely no reassurance that things will work out for you. Pick your poison. Best advice I could give you is pick something now and don't look back!

I don't 100% agree with this TED talk, but there are a lot of good points that you might connect with:
http://www.ted.com/talks/meg_jay_why_30_is_not_the_new_20.html
 
I need to find the fight in me. I used to have it. Not sure where it went.
 
I just realized I am applying for the wrong reasons. Although, I care about patients. I think I was more applying because that is what is expected of me. I come from a background where the people I grew up with. Everyone is a doctor. So, I thought I had to become one. I think it was more me keeping up with people then me actually wanting to be a doctor. Quarter life crisis in effect. I think I am going to work for a couple of years and revisit this idea later.

I don't necessarily think there are right and wrong reasons to go into medicine, but if anything truly qualified as a wrong reason this would be it! Good on you for being mature enough to step back and re-evaluate.

Survivor DO
 
I don't necessarily think there are right and wrong reasons to go into medicine, but if anything truly qualified as a wrong reason this would be it! Good on you for being mature enough to step back and re-evaluate.

Survivor DO

I'll second this.

I like med school, for the most part. But it can be miserable. I can't even imagine how much worse it would be learning about 1 alpha-hydroxylase or fibroblast growth factor 23 if I didn't really want to be here.
 
I'll second this.

I like med school, for the most part. But it can be miserable. I can't even imagine how much worse it would be learning about 1 alpha-hydroxylase or fibroblast growth factor 23 if I didn't really want to be here.

You just had to go whipping out the 1 alpha-hydroxylase, didn't you?

Very well, I'll see your 1 alpha-hydroxylase and raise you a 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase!
 
I just realized I am applying for the wrong reasons. Although, I care about patients. I think I was more applying because that is what is expected of me. I come from a background where the people I grew up with. Everyone is a doctor. So, I thought I had to become one. I think it was more me keeping up with people then me actually wanting to be a doctor. Quarter life crisis in effect. I think I am going to work for a couple of years and revisit this idea later.

I'm impressed with your maturity. So many people have this romantic idea of pursuing medicine. I commend you for seeing beyond the black and white and deciding to give yourself time to determine if your reasons for pursuing medicine are the right ones.
 
You just had to go whipping out the 1 alpha-hydroxylase, didn't you?

Very well, I'll see your 1 alpha-hydroxylase and raise you a 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase!

My brain is so fried I got nothing except...

x9ap27.jpg
 
Yeah. 2 weeks left for me. Endo Repro Gastro =(. Summer's almost here

Got you beat there... Only 1 week left! :) Only thing separating me from some actual free time is the kidney (hence my earlier references!). So close I can almost taste it. Good luck bro!

Also... OP, sorry for the hijack!
 
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Awww, basic science students are so cute when they toss out terminology no one else cares about. lol

Anyways, OP I think you are in a unique position to be surrounded by physicians. You should get their perspective. Understand how THEY see where medicine is going. And see if it is worth probably the most intense endeavor you will ever go thru which is unrelenting for at least 7 years.

My friends who are doctors, my cousin who is an ED doc who travelled the non-trad path (he was 30 when he started med school and is now 42) all dissuaded me from doing this. All of their negatives had absolutely NO BEARING on my motives for being a physician. However, if you get your physician-family perspective and they dissuade you, LET THEM.

You never know how badly you want something unless you are challenged and can resist any impulse to 2nd guess yourself...being FULLY committed and convinced you want it. You should be able to get unique experiences as far as shadowing and volunteering if you have physicians in your family. And it is best for you to get a realistic view and experience. Get those experiences.
 
Don't judge, I only care about them for 1 more week :)

CKD/ESRD. Patho. Step 1. <--These all say, although you don't want to care, you should keep it up in your skull jelly for awhile. :p

Enjoy your break in a week tho!!! Do fun relaxing stuff!
 
Just wanted to say how much more mature and intelligent the thought that went into this thread as compared to 99.9% of the posts on here. If it doesn't fit, and OP can tell the *right now* it doesn't fit him/her, then infinite pain can be avoided by being pragmatic instead of the pedantic crap you see on display so much around these and other parts. Smart play, OP. When you figure it out, the path is still very much open to you. But God forbid you get 3 or 4 years into it and figure out that it just ain't worth it.
 
Awww, basic science students are so cute when they toss out terminology no one else cares about. lol

Anyways, OP I think you are in a unique position to be surrounded by physicians. You should get their perspective. Understand how THEY see where medicine is going. And see if it is worth probably the most intense endeavor you will ever go thru which is unrelenting for at least 7 years.

My friends who are doctors, my cousin who is an ED doc who travelled the non-trad path (he was 30 when he started med school and is now 42) all dissuaded me from doing this. All of their negatives had absolutely NO BEARING on my motives for being a physician. However, if you get your physician-family perspective and they dissuade you, LET THEM.

You never know how badly you want something unless you are challenged and can resist any impulse to 2nd guess yourself...being FULLY committed and convinced you want it. You should be able to get unique experiences as far as shadowing and volunteering if you have physicians in your family. And it is best for you to get a realistic view and experience. Get those experiences.


I work with physicians all the time. Have friends that are physicians. Not as exciting as I thought it would be. It is interesting and important work. However, I need to take a step back. I went to competitive schools all my life. I feel like I should be going into Medicine because I know so many people at Yale, Hopkins, Duke Med and etc. It is almost like a way of keeping up with people. Getting residencies in Radiology and Derm. Then, I look at my life and think what am I doing. I can do that too. However, it might not be a good fit for me.
 
I work with physicians all the time. Have friends that are physicians. Not as exciting as I thought it would be. It is interesting and important work. However, I need to take a step back. I went to competitive schools all my life. I feel like I should be going into Medicine because I know so many people at Yale, Hopkins, Duke Med and etc. It is almost like a way of keeping up with people. Getting residencies in Radiology and Derm. Then, I look at my life and think what am I doing. I can do that too. However, it might not be a good fit for me.

I think you are making the right decision to take a step back and reevaluate where you want to go, you sound like where I was 10 years ago.

I ended up taking a few years off after graduation before coming back to the premed path and worked outside of my field of study/country, stayed away from family and friends from high school and undergrad, which helped me reach a decision that I am comfortable saying is mine.
 
I want to be a Molecular Pathologist. I am still finishing my undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology, and I've only worked one summer-long internship in a clinical setting; how do I know that I want to pursue a career in medicine, let alone be "bold" enough to confidently declare my choice of specialty? No one in my family is a doctor, and I have very few friends who desire to use their minds at all, forget about a path in medicine. I am also very broke, and I know I will be struggling through medical school very much the way I am struggling now: if I even get accepted. My 3.0 GPA is no good, as there are loads of environmental stressors which have taken their tolls on my ability to focus on exams and sleep properly. (Let me add that I don't find school stressing, although my own lackluster performance certainly digs into me). There appears to be no reward in sight, yet I still cling on. However, when I take the MCAT in August, I'm going to be damn well prepared for it, because I want it badly. And when I start my last semester in September, I'm still going to answer to my responsibilities, despite everything happening around me. Just like I did with this semester. And the one before that, etc. And if I finish UG with a lousy 3.0, I'm still applying to medical schools, and if I get rejected, I'm going to earn a Master's Degree either at the university I attend now (where my academic advisor told me my GPA is not an adequate reflection of my capability) or at a SMP. Eventually, I will get accepted. I am willing to make the sacrifices necessary to do what I love; to accomplish in medicine and in life; to accept, analyze, and overcome every challenge that the medical field will pose; to dedicate my life to learning daily, and to work alongside dedicated colleagues with similar goals and work ethics (although they may not feel as intensely as I do at times, lol); to know that every day that I might be blessed enough to walk into a hospital, or a lab, or an office, and deliver a potential solution to patients who depend on me; to contribute to effective disease control; to teach; to again learn more; maybe even inspire...
I may seem idealistic, but I'm sure I won't always work with the perfect colleague, or the most grateful patient, and I KNOW ****ty days await... that's life. Just remember to keep working as hard as you do, in all areas of your life, and you'll figure out what you want to do with it.
 
Just wanted to say how much more mature and intelligent the thought that went into this thread as compared to 99.9% of the posts on here. If it doesn't fit, and OP can tell the *right now* it doesn't fit him/her, then infinite pain can be avoided by being pragmatic instead of the pedantic crap you see on display so much around these and other parts. Smart play, OP. When you figure it out, the path is still very much open to you. But God forbid you get 3 or 4 years into it and figure out that it just ain't worth it.

Definitely one of the more thoughtful threads. Maybe there needs to be a cooling off period (Brady Act for Med School?) before you're allowed to apply. It's easy to keep going through the motions and apply without ever really thinking about what you're getting yourself into.
 
Definitely one of the more thoughtful threads. Maybe there needs to be a cooling off period (Brady Act for Med School?) before you're allowed to apply. It's easy to keep going through the motions and apply without ever really thinking about what you're getting yourself into.

It seems, to me, like it would be good for the "norm" to be taking 2 years off before going back to med school. It would give people a little taste of the real world before deciding that medicine is what they really want. And with 2 years, you'd have to go pretty much a whole year before even applying.
I think it also tells med schools a lot more about the applicants. What you do during college says a lot less about who you truly are than what you do after, IMO.
 
Definitely one of the more thoughtful threads. Maybe there needs to be a cooling off period (Brady Act for Med School?) before you're allowed to apply. It's easy to keep going through the motions and apply without ever really thinking about what you're getting yourself into.

Agree wholheartedly.
 
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