Choosing medicine??....

[bostonpmed]

I am still an undergrad and lately I have really been contemplating my choice to pursue medicine and go to medical school. I feel like maybe I just want to pursue medicine because I have always been intensely driven and wanted the best of everything, so naturally I assumed being a doctor as my calling. My GPA and MCAT scores are both high, so I hope I would be able to get in somewhere although, lately I have been questioning if I really want to spend 4+ years working twoards being a doctor and racking up all of that debt. Before I knew my MCAT scores all I could worry about was if I was going to do well, now I am just trying to decide to continue pursuing medicine.

Does anyone else question pursuing their dream of becoming a doctor?

Does anyone else feel that maybe a small part of them wants to enter medical school just because that is what you should "do" or some sort of a natural progression?

(I must add that no one in my family is a physician, and both my parents never even attended college so it has nothing to do with family or outside pressure, more like the self made pressure I put on myself)

And don't get me wrong, I love science.
Any comments would be helpful

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[SupergreenMnM]

Well, personally I would say that a love of science, being driven, and wanting the best of everything has nothing at all to do with interest in human medicine. Is there any particular reason you thought being a doctor was your "calling" ?

 

[alicias108]

Well..speak to some actual physicians..see what they say.

A friend of mine who is a cards doctor told me once.."Don't go into this expecting it to make you a God. It won't. It's just a job like any other. You go in there, do it and go home. Nothing prestigious about it in the end." He's been practicing medicine for probably 15 plus years. If you think "it will give you the best of everything"..I think you're doing it for the wrong reasons..because "getting the best of everything" isn't a guarantee with any career. And if that is your goal, you could reasonably attain this goal with any career if driven enough. I don't know.

Medicine is my goal because of a life experience I had when I was 19. I was given a crash course into the field by having a critically ill child who ultimately died. It was the catalyst for my wanting to be a physician. I do it because I want to. I'm kind of in the same boat you are. My parents never attended college. I got pregnant when I was 19, grieving my daugther when I was 20.

I've questioned it alot, particularly when I don't understand a concept in a class or when I get a grade that isn't as good as the other students. I wonder if I'm intelligent enough or what have you. But..I keep plugging along..doing whatever I have to do.

I had a friend who was kind of like you. She did really well on the MCAT and had a high GPA..but in the end..she decided to get a Masters. She wanted a family and a life. She just did it because it sounded hard. In the end, it was never what she wanted really.

Alicia

 

[Law2Doc]

lately I have been questioning if I really want to spend 4+ years working twoards being a doctor and racking up all of that debt.

Don't think of it as 4+ years. Think of it as 7+years. Because the long houred, low paying residency training is a big part of it.

 

[omegaxx]

I am still an undergrad and lately I have really been contemplating my choice to pursue medicine and go to medical school. I feel like maybe I just want to pursue medicine because I have always been intensely driven and wanted the best of everything, so naturally I assumed being a doctor as my calling. My GPA and MCAT scores are both high, so I hope I would be able to get in somewhere although, lately I have been questioning if I really want to spend 4+ years working twoards being a doctor and racking up all of that debt. Before I knew my MCAT scores all I could worry about was if I was going to do well, now I am just trying to decide to continue pursuing medicine.

Does anyone else question pursuing their dream of becoming a doctor?

Does anyone else feel that maybe a small part of them wants to enter medical school just because that is what you should "do" or some sort of a natural progression?

(I must add that no one in my family is a physician, and both my parents never even attended college so it has nothing to do with family or outside pressure, more like the self made pressure I put on myself)

And don't get me wrong, I love science.
Any comments would be helpful

You can probably try some shadowing at this point, just to see how much you like it. If you absolutely love everything you've seen there and can't wait at the opportunity to be able to jump into a patient's case, you should just go for it. That's my $0.02.

 

[bostonpmed]

Well, personally I would say that a love of science, being driven, and wanting the best of everything has nothing at all to do with interest in human medicine. Is there any particular reason you thought being a doctor was your "calling" ?

Well, my wanting to be a doctor stems from the fact that I was very sick when I was younger. I had a brain tumor and the diagnosis to my parents initially was not good. Although, I underwent surgery, had it removed and had a long but great recovery and have been alright ever since (besides the MRI's every six months or so), and my doctors and surgeons were amazing. I still speak to them to this day and the hospital found a way to help my humble parents pay for the very expensive neuro-surgery. My doctors were caring and helpful and from that moment on I knew I wanted to do that, to really help people and to be a doctor.

(I dont mean for this to sound all whiny or like there was one life-changing moment in my life because in reality it was all the time I spent in the hospital and my realationships with my doctors since then that helped me make my deicsion)

I guess sometimes I just question if I have what it takes....

 

[bostonpmed]

I have also shadowed.. ALOT and I still really want to be a doctor but, I think my problem has to do with lack of confidence in my ability to be a doctor... ehk.

 

[alicias108]

bostonpmed,

I question if I have it too. I think we all do. Would you want a physician that never questioned themselves and who always thought they were right to attend to you? No. I think it's a part of being human..to question A.) Our own ability, and B.) Our own motivations. I think you're being too hard on yourself because you're second guessing. Think it out. Shadow..get some clinical experience. Then decide.

Alicia

 

[bostonpmed]

bostonpmed,

I question if I have it too. I think we all do. Would you want a physician that never questioned themselves and who always thought they were right to attend to you? No. I think it's a part of being human..to question A.) Our own ability, and B.) Our own motivations. I think you're being too hard on yourself because you're second guessing. Think it out. Shadow..get some clinical experience. Then decide.

Alicia

Thanks, that makes sense
I think I just need to chill

 

[bostonpmed]

bostonpmed,

I question if I have it too. I think we all do. Would you want a physician that never questioned themselves and who always thought they were right to attend to you? No. I think it's a part of being human..to question A.) Our own ability, and B.) Our own motivations. I think you're being too hard on yourself because you're second guessing. Think it out. Shadow..get some clinical experience. Then decide.

Alicia

Thanks, that makes sense
I think I just need to chill

 

[bostonpmed]

bostonpmed,

I question if I have it too. I think we all do. Would you want a physician that never questioned themselves and who always thought they were right to attend to you? No. I think it's a part of being human..to question A.) Our own ability, and B.) Our own motivations. I think you're being too hard on yourself because you're second guessing. Think it out. Shadow..get some clinical experience. Then decide.

Alicia

Thanks, that makes sense
I think I just need to chill

 

[AnEyeLikeMars]

bostonpmed,

I question if I have it too. I think we all do. Would you want a physician that never questioned themselves and who always thought they were right to attend to you? No. I think it's a part of being human..to question A.) Our own ability, and B.) Our own motivations. I think you're being too hard on yourself because you're second guessing. Think it out. Shadow..get some clinical experience. Then decide.

Alicia

I agree. I've recently been questioning myself and my abilities. For instance, can I really be responsible for someone's life/livelihood? One thing that helped me was reminding myself that I haven't even started the process of becoming a doctor yet. I'm starting medical school in August...right now I'm nothing, no more a doctor than any average joe. I'm going to medical school to learn how to be a doctor. If I was where I needed to be already, I wouldn't need to go to med school.

It's normal to doubt yourself. I think the best thing you can do is try to learn as much as you can about your own desires/motivations. If you're really motivated to become a doctor, I have no doubt that you can find a niche in medicine in which you'll be successful.