Choosing the direction of my dreams

[BellaJournista]

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Just to introduce myself....

I am a 21 year old Junior pursuing a Public Health BS. I am scheduled to graduate in Spring 2008. Pursuing this degree has left me feeling empty, I don't enjoy it.

I've been running away from the idea of Med school for a while ever since I failed Calculus and got a C+ in Chemistry my 2nd year in college. I've been running away because I don't feel like I can handle the pre-requisites. But, Its a matter of the strength of my confidence. I was able to take my Calculus course over again and got a B. My roommate is pre-med, and her courses are so interesting. Way more interesting than what Im doing in Public Health now.

I feel that becoming a DO is what I need in my life. It is a long time comittment that I feel is right for me.

The advice that I am looking for is, how did you know that going to OM school was right for you? How did you know which school to go to? Im planning on going to a Post-Bacc program.

I think im ready to grow up and pursue this dream, but I need some help, so guidance.

Please help?!

 

[BellaJournista]

Just to introduce myself....

I am a 21 year old Junior pursuing a Public Health BS. I am scheduled to graduate in Spring 2008. Pursuing this degree has left me feeling empty, I don't enjoy it.

I've been running away from the idea of Med school for a while ever since I failed Calculus and got a C+ in Chemistry my 2nd year in college. I've been running away because I don't feel like I can handle the pre-requisites. But, Its a matter of the strength of my confidence. I was able to take my Calculus course over again and got a B. My roommate is pre-med, and her courses are so interesting. Way more interesting than what Im doing in Public Health now.

I feel that becoming a DO is what I need in my life. It is a long time comittment that I feel is right for me.

The advice that I am looking for is, how did you know that going to OM school was right for you? How did you know which school to go to? Im planning on going to a Post-Bacc program.

I think im ready to grow up and pursue this dream, but I need some help, so guidance.

Please help?!

 

[Dr JPH]

Just to introduce myself....

I am a 21 year old Junior pursuing a Public Health BS. I am scheduled to graduate in Spring 2008. Pursuing this degree has left me feeling empty, I don't enjoy it.

I've been running away from the idea of Med school for a while ever since I failed Calculus and got a C+ in Chemistry my 2nd year in college. I've been running away because I don't feel like I can handle the pre-requisites. But, Its a matter of the strength of my confidence. I was able to take my Calculus course over again and got a B. My roommate is pre-med, and her courses are so interesting. Way more interesting than what Im doing in Public Health now.

I feel that becoming a DO is what I need in my life. It is a long time comittment that I feel is right for me.

The advice that I am looking for is, how did you know that going to OM school was right for you? How did you know which school to go to? Im planning on going to a Post-Bacc program.

I think im ready to grow up and pursue this dream, but I need some help, so guidance.

Please help?!

First of all know that you will not have to use much calculus in medical school...I don't think...wait, I cant remember.

Anyway...how did I know it was right for me? It sorta hit me one day. I was in college contemplating why I wanted to be a PA or a Pharmacist or a Teacher...and someone said "why dont you want to be a doctor?" I told myself it was because I didnt want to go through all the years of school...and then I realized how ridiculous that sounded.

Chosing a school for me was easy. I was lucky enough to be in a city with plenty of DOs and one of the largest & oldest DO schools in the country...this part does take some research though.

Post Bacc programs are a great way to bolster science courses, get some confidence and familiarize yourself with a school. Good luck.

 

[fanty]

Hey, I know how you feel about this. I actually have some similar feelings.

I am a 20 year old junior at my university, and I'm going for a B.S. degree in Biology. I have always--and only--been interested in biology...the human anatomy and composition, but I've run away from my childhood fantasies of becoming a doctor. Personally, I felt that I couldn't do well as one. There are such amazing people out there that would drown me out completely. That's how I always felt, but there is no better feeling than when you are accomplishing something as amazing as helping another person, am I right?

The question I posed to myself is, "Why can't I put an effort into becoming someone as amazing as a physician?" My bad timing is in the fact that it's takin' me a long time to become determined, and now I'm behind (I need lab experience, outside of classes, and patient contact). Well, that's discouraging. However, if I don't put in an effort how will I feel later? I don't do well with the 'shoulda-coulda-woulda's'.

With my personality, I like to work with others sourounding me. Also, I love to be in charge of everything. With my experience, I find that if you want things to go well, you need to be able to go over/accomplish everything that needs to be done. This is like the saying, "If you want something done right, you must do it yourself." Like I said, however, I love others' contact in the process. A DO can accomplish this. Yes, they do specialize in certain areas, but what I know of a DO, they are the 'Do all' physicians. How could I run away from this?

Not that any of the above reasons would go well in an essay, but this is how my feelings stemmed. Besides that, though, there are two possible universities in my state of Virginia that I'm shooting for. My reasons for choosing them? Well, to put it plainly--they will be nearer my family in-state rather than the out-of-state universities. Also, as long as I'm a good student, I believe that what's most important will be residency and fellowship training. What really counts is what you do.😉

 

[MaximusD]

First of all know that you will not have to use much calculus in medical school...I don't think...wait, I cant remember.

Anyway...how did I know it was right for me? It sorta hit me one day. I was in college contemplating why I wanted to be a PA or a Pharmacist or a Teacher...and someone said "why dont you want to be a doctor?" I told myself it was because I didnt want to go through all the years of school...and then I realized how ridiculous that sounded.

Chosing a school for me was easy. I was lucky enough to be in a city with plenty of DOs and one of the largest & oldest DO schools in the country...this part does take some research though.

Post Bacc programs are a great way to bolster science courses, get some confidence and familiarize yourself with a school. Good luck.

Yeah I was scared of this route for the samem reasons as you... length of schooling, rigor of residency... but in the final analysis, i have known for as long as i can remember that i wanted to be a doctor...

 

[Sailing Girl]

you didn't mention any exposure to the clinical setting via work, shadowing, or volunteering.....make sure you do that before deciding that being a doctor will be more fulfilling than working in public health. You may already have that experience, but if you haven't, the exposure will help you know. In my opinion, getting a degree is never as fulfilling as actually doing the hands on work. You may love public health but you just don't know it yet.

I have a masters in health admn., and knew I wanted to be on the clinical side vs. the administrative side when I went on a few medical mission trips. The doctors on the trip were helping people in ways that I could never help. Actually working in health admn. was more fulfilling than getting the degree. But now I know that actually being a doctor will be more fulfilling than being a hospital administrator.

I didn't look to see how old you are, but there is more time than you think. I felt like i had to have everything figured out when I was 22 years old. 12 years later, I realize that there was really no reason to rush and put so much pressure on myself to have all the decisions made. Everything just worked itself out. Likewise, your life will work itself out as well.