Changed Mind?...or Cold Feet

[FSUMED]

Well, I am in my junior year here at FSU. I am taking the MCAT in april, so I have been studying for that. I have finished all the pre-reqs. I have awesome grades...~3.7 overall(not sure about science). I have got some good solid ECA's and am planning on getting more. And I relatively sure that, while my science scores on the MCAT suck now, that they will come up with practice and work this semester...so you ask why the post?
Well, I know I should feel awesome about the fact that I have a good shot at actually getting in to a medical school, and now I am not sure if it is really what I want. I have done a lot of soul searching and trying to figure out what it is that I want to do. I know I want to help people, with there health, I am just not sure how. I am and exercise science major and right now the prospects for jobs are great if I get a graduate degree, and I would still be helping people. I am just confused. Funny how life works, you bust your ass to reach a goal and you are almost there, but then you decide that it wasn't what you thought it was. It is kinda like how when you have a crush, if you dont get it over with and ask the person out, very often as time goes by you start to realize all the things you wouldn't have liked about them until you eventually decide you were better off. Has anybody else had these feelings at the last minute? How did it end up? What about finding out you are actually accepted to medical school only to decide that you really dont want to do it? I have more or less decided that I am going to continue with MCAT prep and take it in April. After that I just don't know. <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[UCLA2000]

Have you done any volunteer work in hospitals? Go get your EMT certification and put in some time to make sure that this is what you want to do for the rest of your life.

 

[johnM]

This doesn't seem that unusual really, especially for people who think that they wanted to be doctors their "whole lives," not because they actually knew what a doctor does and wanted to do that, but because it's so difficult (almost impossible!) to get there. It's like you actually seek out the hardest path. My pre-med advisor is actually like this... he made becoming a doc his goal because he thought that if he could do it, then he should do it. He actually got in to several great schools, and dropped out during the first semester! He just realized that even though he could do it, he didn't want to. There's nothing wrong with having doubts, we all have them (just don't admit it to an admissions committee). But for your own good, it's best to decide for sure before you actually start med school. I agree with UCLA2000 that you should look in to working as an EMT and really think about whether you want to do it. If necessary, take time off after college, it is definitely worth it to clear up your doubts.

 

[tBw]

I'm paraphrasing as I don't have the book infront of me and it's been 6 or so years since I read it - but in Melvin Konners book he quotes a friend as saying (when the author decides he won't go to med school) "Just because you don't go today, doesn't mean you won't ever go"

It's important to be sure of medicine as it does require a lot of sacrifices and a lot of your time, not just through school, but afterwards when you are in the work-force. Of course it's normal to have some doubts. I would suspect everyone on this board would admit to occasionally wondering if this whole process is worth it (and if they don't I wonder about their sanity...). However, you sound like you have very real reservations. Getting more experience in medical work is one way to be more sure, as some people have suggested. However, I would suggest getting some experience of some OTHER areas of work you are interested in too. Don't compare the reality of medicine to the fantasy of something else as it's not a reasonable comparison. Even if this means taking a year or two to work in another field, if you seriously think that it is something you might like to do - DO IT! After all, it is a lot easier to do that way round, than to get through med school, have debts and then decide. Even if at the end of the day you decide medicine is right for you I would say, speaking from personal experience, you never regret fulfilling more than one dream! A bit of time exploring another area is not going to rule med school out for you and could make you a very interesting/different med school applicant in the long run....

good luck, whatever you decide

onwis

 

[racergirl]

Originally posted by oldernotwiser:
• Even if at the end of the day you decide medicine is right for you I would say, speaking from personal experience, you never regret fulfilling more than one dream!


•••

I couldn't have said it better!! What a great post.

 

[FSUMED]

Thanks for the input so far. I am planning on getting some more medically related experience, although what I have dont has been very fulfilling. I am trying to get a job at the hospital as a nurse's aid this summer. I think that will be the deciding factor. If by the end of the summer, I am not sure, I will not apply. I still THINK this is what I want. And my heart says it is just jitters, but I DO NOT want to spend the rest of my life wondering if something else is our there.

 

[A. Caveman]

you don't need to go work as a nurse's aid. that might turn you off. if i did that, and based my decision to enter medicine from that experience i might run like hell from medicine. you won't do the same things as a doctor, and you'll know so much more..it's a totally different outlook, and the things you do are different also.

basically, if you've been in a hospital and it looks cool, you'll like medicine.
if you like watching shows like ER or surgery on the discovery channel, then you'll like medicine.
you just have to have an idea that you'll enjoy it...nobody enters something and THEN decide whether or not they like it...so none of us really knows if we'll like being doctors (notice i didn't say 'like medicine'..being in medicine and being a doctor can be pretty different experiences). Still, we have this feeling that we're following.

now if you don't have this feeling, then maybe you won't like it. maybe you need to do somethign else.

 

[lemarck_2000]

Originally posted by johnM:
•This doesn't seem that unusual really, especially for people who think that they wanted to be doctors their "whole lives," not because they actually knew what a doctor does and wanted to do that, but because it's so difficult (almost impossible!) to get there. It's like you actually seek out the hardest path. My pre-med advisor is actually like this... he made becoming a doc his goal because he thought that if he could do it, then he should do it. He actually got in to several great schools, and dropped out during the first semester! He just realized that even though he could do it, he didn't want to. There's nothing wrong with having doubts, we all have them (just don't admit it to an admissions committee). But for your own good, it's best to decide for sure before you actually start med school. I agree with UCLA2000 that you should look in to working as an EMT and really think about whether you want to do it. If necessary, take time off after college, it is definitely worth it to clear up your doubts.•••


Medicine is not the hardest path. It is ONE of the more challenging career paths. People that say that it is the hardest, just don't know what other fields are like. I know physicians who can't do math beyond calculus. They certainly could not get a bachelor's in engineering, physics, or math.

Shadowing several physicians may also be a great way to experience medicine. If the attending is an instructor, than you can have an idea of what it is like for the residents and the med students.

 

[vyc]

i agree with most of what's already been said...
i'd like to also support the suggestion of taking a year off to explore medicine some more.

this is what i think about when i have doubts and trust me, once in a while, it happens...
not only about whether it's the right profession for me but also if i can actually physically, emotionally, mentally DO it.

but i like the IDEA of medicine. and i realize that the idea of medicine and the possibilities of what a person can do with an M.D. degree are very different from what may actually happen but this is all i need to keep me going in this direction...

in the end, we're all pretty much taking a leap of faith by going into this bc we won't really know EXACTLY what we're in for until we're already there... i've heard med students say it took them until third year of med school for them to FULLY realize that they had made the right decision, etc.

so don't feel rushed or that you have be 100% sure this is what you want to do.

 

[Darwin]

I like what JohnM wrote about people choosing medicine not because they know what it is about, but rather because it is so difficult. It is an interesting topic...the mindset of those who enter medicine.

I was speaking with a physician who recently graduated from UCLA and is now in her second year of residency. She told me that in the first week of class the school asked the students to fill out an anonymous survey. One of the questions read "Why did you decide to pursue medicine". The responses were read back to the class at a later date...she said that it was amazing the significant number of people who replied "for the intellectual challenge".

 

[lemarck_2000]

I hope it is more than intellectual challenge. You can get intellectually challenged in other fields too. Besides medicine I consider neuropsychological research to be intellectually challenging.

 

[latebloomer2]

I took a year off after college to explore other options, and I don't regret it one bit. Life is a journey, not a race.

 

[Darwin]

Hey Lemarck 2000 - I couldn't agree with you more. But to play devils' advocate...

Take an individual who places high regard on empathy...a very sociable person who intends to help others in whichever path they choose in life. This person is at the gateway of making a career decision and can easily choose any path in life. Your crystal ball tells you that this person will make an excellent physician.

Now I ask you. Is this persons' decision to pursue medicine for the sole reason of the "intellectual challenge" not good enough? If not, what other reasons does he/she need? Just curious.

 

[lemarck_2000]

Originally posted by Darwin:
•Hey Lemarck 2000 - I couldn't agree with you more. But to play devils' advocate...

Take an individual who places high regard on empathy...a very sociable person who intends to help others in whichever path they choose in life. This person is at the gateway of making a career decision and can easily choose any path in life. Your crystal ball tells you that this person will make an excellent physician.

Now I ask you. Is this persons' decision to pursue medicine for the sole reason of the "intellectual challenge" not good enough? If not, what other reasons does he/she need? Just curious.•••

This person would make an awesome physician! I thought you meant ONLY intellectual challenge. That is why I was saying there are other fields for intellectual challenge.

 

[Darwin]

Yeah...after re-reading my first post I totally see how that could have come across. I agree with you again. Take care.