Comparing Careers in Teaching and Medicine

[mmmmd]

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I think these two career paths are very similar. Medicine demands more training and time spent working (and pays more), has a more diverse selection of subfields, and exposes you to interesting social situations in which you are expected to lead. Teaching gives you periods of downtime (to enrich your life...potentially) and also has considerable diversity in terms of the population of students you teach, the curriculum you teach them, and the geographic setting (there are far more schools to choose from than hospitals).

I feel like these are both careers where the demand is high, the drive to help people is a main motivating factor, and you are expected to lead people in the right direction. Both require you to be an expert. Both demand clear communication and understanding of those you serve.

I definitely have the drive and motivation to become a doctor. I am planning on emergency medicine because I want to use diagnostic skills to make critical decisions in time sensitive situations, while also being a reliable and compassionate provider of care in less critical scenarios. I thrive on dealing with stress and want to challenge myself.

But I am toying with the idea of taking a few years off after college and teaching rather than going right into medical school. I think I would be best equipped to teach while the struggles of learning chemistry (which is probably what I'd want to teach... high school chemistry) and other subjects are still fresh in my mind, while making tough medical calls accurately might be more of a function of how much time I have spent studying and being involved in medicine. So maybe starting medicine later, after I've had a chance to teach a little bit (if that's still what I want to do...😱) wouldn't be so bad for my medical career.

My mom's a doctor and she's told me numerous times that if she could go back, she would become a teacher... that's probably driving this whole conundrum. I guess a question of mine is: Would teaching close any doors for me, assuming I am a good teacher?

Anyone else have similar thoughts cross their mind?

 

[wololololololo]

There's more to teaching than just classroom-style lecturing. Physicians in academic centers also take part in teaching residents and medical students in a clinical setting. I shadowed an academic physician and I really enjoyed that style of teaching over traditional methods: smaller group of people, mentor/mentee relationship, students you teach are generally highly motivated.

You could take some time off and do Teach for America to gauge your interest. Plenty of schools allow deferments for TFA and it looks good on applications

 

[tantacles]

I think these two career paths are very similar. Medicine demands more training and time spent working (and pays more), has a more diverse selection of subfields, and exposes you to interesting social situations in which you are expected to lead. Teaching gives you periods of downtime (to enrich your life...potentially) and also has considerable diversity in terms of the population of students you teach, the curriculum you teach them, and the geographic setting (there are far more schools to choose from than hospitals).

I feel like these are both careers where the demand is high, the drive to help people is a main motivating factor, and you are expected to lead people in the right direction. Both require you to be an expert. Both demand clear communication and understanding of those you serve.

I definitely have the drive and motivation to become a doctor. I am planning on emergency medicine because I want to use diagnostic skills to make critical decisions in time sensitive situations, while also being a reliable and compassionate provider of care in less critical scenarios. I thrive on dealing with stress and want to challenge myself.

But I am toying with the idea of taking a few years off after college and teaching rather than going right into medical school. I think I would be best equipped to teach while the struggles of learning chemistry (which is probably what I'd want to teach... high school chemistry) and other subjects are still fresh in my mind, while making tough medical calls accurately might be more of a function of how much time I have spent studying and being involved in medicine. So maybe starting medicine later, after I've had a chance to teach a little bit (if that's still what I want to do...😱) wouldn't be so bad for my medical career.

My mom's a doctor and she's told me numerous times that if she could go back, she would become a teacher... that's probably driving this whole conundrum. I guess a question of mine is: Would teaching close any doors for me, assuming I am a good teacher?

Anyone else have similar thoughts cross their mind?

I can't speak for all medical schools, but when I interviewed at several, they made remarks that there is a lot of overlap between teaching and medicine. Remember that in medical school, residency, and practice you're always teaching someone else, whether it be a less experienced medical student, another resident, or a patient (patients require education to make informed decisions).

So to answer your primary question, no, teaching will not close doors for you. Teaching in the right setting could actually open some doors for you. Doing TFA, something that many medical students have done in the past, is looked upon highly, and the experience of teachers, in my experience, seems to be valued by admissions committees.

 

[Political]

I know that in many medical schools you can get a masters in education and teaching alongside an MD or DO degree; Just putting that out there

 

[thlaxer]

Agree with the above posters. Medical schools seem to really like people who have had meaningful teaching experiences. So if anything, teaching for a few years will open more doors for you come application time. I personally wouldn't delay medical school for a few years to teach though, but that's just me. Good luck with your decision OP 🙂.

 

[johnisles2011]

One of the things I think is coolest about going into medicine is that you are ALWAYS both a teacher and a student. I may be idealizing this a little, but as you climb up to being an attending, you're always learning... but even once you're a big smart attending, you can still learn new procedures and equipment and etc. At the same time, you're always teaching people below you, whether it's a first year teaching a premed or an attending with a resident.

I just like the idea of a lifelong pursuit of learning and teaching.

 

[searun]

I do not think that there is a high demand for teachers at the university level. You have very little control over where you will live, you are at the mercy of a very poor job market for ph.d's. It is very difficult to find university teaching positions in attractive places.

It is much easier to control your life as a physician in terms of mobility.

Public school teachers have little respect or compensation and are the whipping boys and girls of politicians. Doctors have it much better.

 

[mjk2011]

I took time off after graduating and joined an alternate certification program to teaching - similar to TFA, but it is actually one of the Teaching Fellows programs started by Michelle Rhee. You only have a one year commitment with Teaching Fellows and you get certified after the first year of teaching full-time while taking some certification courses. I am teaching a second year at an inner city public high school while going through the application process and the experience has given me interesting things to talk about at my interviews. I think if you're going to take time off and you are genuinely interested in teaching, you should definitely try it. A lot of people do it to pad their resume and then it's not really worth it because it's a really tough job, considering the types of schools in which you would most likely be placed.

 

[To be MD]

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[Signifier]

Currently a middle school teacher, and let me tell you - it is a profoundly uninteresting job. That's me, though. It is not my thing. I am eagerly awaiting MS1 (even though I am sure many parts of becoming and being a physician will be boring and/or infuriating).

That said, being a teacher will close no doors for you. Even if it ends up boring you to death, it will teach you a lot about yourself. And as others have said, it will most likely "look good" for med school, but please do not go into any classroom on earth with that in mind.

 

[capn jazz]

I took 3 years off to teach English abroad. While different from teaching in America, teaching is still teaching. I love my job more than anything, and I don't regret taking the time to explore teaching at all. You'll be a doctor forever. And teaching is so integral to being a physician that I'm positive being a teacher will be a positive influence.

I don't think any school will look down on it, so if you want to do it, go for it.