day 2 post breakout-diagnosis so far

[dr1989]

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(deep breath)

after my venting out yesterday and going home and sleeping for a good 10 hours i woke up this morning feeling 100x better than before. with that, i took a 45 min jog around the park and just sort of reflected on my life in general/school life.

problem: i want to be a doctor.-but reality wise, can i do it?

reality check: there is a reason why doctors are the most respected people out of the entire career industry. because it takes a hell of a while and the commitment and education to be one. you really have to be passionate and persistent in your goal of being an MD. (and for those of you well on your way-i salute you👍)

with the academic field being so competitive-will i really be up to par (im no quitter-but why waste all those years if you cant even make it to med school-ive seen it happen before my very eyes)

conflict with life-im a girl, and i do have dreams of starting a family and being a hands on mom. can i really do that if im an md? even if im a family physician, ill be working from 8 to 6 (if im lucky) and what that leave me for my family. (my friend was in the same position, and realized that she wanted to be a soccer mom in the true sense and is now a physical therapist😀)

so with all of this in mind, (and no that one calculus test did not scare me off) im considering maybe something different-although in the medical field.
i do love medicine, it intrigue me, but med school is the grand daddy of em all, so with the lifestyle i want, family time, not many lengthy years w/residency, ive narrowed it down to:

-pharmacy (i like medicine, and its def worth the 4+ years, and the school im going to has great hookups for the graduates with the powerhouse Amgen which is like 10 min away from my house)
-physical therapy (i love my own and i think he is awesome and yes-i know they are not 'real' doctors! 😉
-PA (ill be a doc without being the "doctor")
-maybe RN

^as you can see, these are relatively less stressful compared to MDs, and i'll be able to work before im 30 and still be able to focus on starting a family when the time is right

-i think for all the pre-meds, you have to have the drive to be willing to learn on a long term basis, and i have realized that academia long term is not for me (like my mom says, being a doctor, you never stop learning)

so once again thanks for reading my post! (i should start a blog!😀)
and please voice your opinion! it really matters to me! (esp since y'all are amazing geniuses!!)

thanks!
dr1989🙂

 

[binko]

I've heard pharmacy is very family-friendly.

I want to do OB/GYN and also have a family someday; my husband will probably be a stay-at-home dad or work from home when our kids are young (he has an internet-based business he can run from home).

 

[MilkmanAl]

Being a pharmacist at a retail store can be unbelievably cushy. 40 hrs a week of relatively little - but steady so as not to be too boring - work for 6 figures? Yes, please.

 

[MidnightSun32]

I think it is great that you are deciding what to do for you and not making a decision based on anyone's opinion. Whatever you choose to do, I'm sure you will be very happy!

 

[vin5cent0]

I'm in the same boat as you. There is nothing else I can imagine myself doing in life, but it is very conflicting. There are many things I want to do in life, and medical school would certainly postpone them quite a bit (10+ years).

I will say this, though. If you're considering things like pharmacy in place of becoming an MD, your heart isn't in it. Sounds like you just want the salary of a doctor. Being a pharmacist is NOTHING like being an MD, so at that point all you're really thinking about is the 90k starting salary of a pharmacist. There's no quicker way to having a sad life than picking a career you don't have your heart in.

 

[tdittyx2x3]

Haha did you mean "day 2 post breakdown"? Thought you were having blemish problems for a minute there 😛

 

[WannaBePreMed]

Haha did you mean "day 2 post breakdown"? Thought you were having blemish problems for a minute there 😛

LOL I thought the same thing, "breakout". I was thinking, "You can get medical advice from sdn, they're about to close this thread".

 

[atomi]

-

 

[dr1989]

I'm in the same boat as you. There is nothing else I can imagine myself doing in life, but it is very conflicting. There are many things I want to do in life, and medical school would certainly postpone them quite a bit (10+ years).

I will say this, though. If you're considering things like pharmacy in place of becoming an MD, your heart isn't in it. Sounds like you just want the salary of a doctor. Being a pharmacist is NOTHING like being an MD, so at that point all you're really thinking about is the 90k starting salary of a pharmacist. There's no quicker way to having a sad life than picking a career you don't have your heart in.

wow-you just read my mind. i was just gonna say i am NOT in it for the money (although the pay is good) but my fear is that it will get boring extremly fast. and i like challenges.)

how about optometry? anyone know if that is family friendly?

and thanks for the advice you guys. i like to know i have some support.🙂

 

[135892]

Whatever you choose to do, I'm sure you will be very happy!

How do you know that?

 

[halekulani]

solution: go to medical school, graduate, finish residency and do medicine part-time.

 

[MidnightSun32]

How do you know that?

I don't... it's just being positive. and only she would know what would make her ultimately happy.

 

[135892]

I don't... it's just being positive. and only she would know what would make her ultimately happy.

Haha, well, if she knew what would make her happy, she wouldn't have made this thread, would she?

But yeah, I wouldn't go into medicine unless you're 100% committed to putting in all the work that is neccssary. And, sure, you could eventually practice part-time, but would that be worth (to you) the 8 years, the $150,000 debt, and the opportunity cost you incur, among the other sacrifices you will inevitably have to make? I don't think you can, or should, make this sort of decision overnight, but hopefully you'll gradually start to realize what the best decision is for you. Best of luck 🙂

 

[flip26]

Look into optometry...very lucrative.

 

[dr1989]

Haha, well, if she knew what would make her happy, she wouldn't have made this thread, would she?

But yeah, I wouldn't go into medicine unless you're 100% committed to putting in all the work that is neccssary. And, sure, you could eventually practice part-time, but would that be worth (to you) the 8 years, the $150,000 debt, and the opportunity cost you incur, among the other sacrifices you will inevitably have to make? I don't think you can, or should, make this sort of decision overnight, but hopefully you'll gradually start to realize what the best decision is for you. Best of luck 🙂

thank you 😀

well for now im gonna focus on getting that bs in bio and then we'll see from then on. maybe pharmacy-i dont know. but i know it will be something in the health field

 

[cbrons]

Being a pharmacist at a retail store can be unbelievably cushy. 40 hrs a week of relatively little - but steady so as not to be too boring - work for 6 figures? Yes, please.

worst job in the world, though. the people you have to deal with... wow... you'll be wishing the sign-on bonus came with a handle of jack and an economy size bottle of alprazolam

 

[JaggerPlate]

Look into optometry...very lucrative.

Whoooaaa ... no it is not. Horribly saturated, and salaries really aren't that great. Below 100k in a lot of cases. Check out the OD forums. You'd be better off doing something like podiatry, PA-C, or Pharm.

 

[flip26]

Whoooaaa ... no it is not. Horribly saturated, and salaries really aren't that great. Below 100k in a lot of cases. Check out the OD forums. You'd be better off doing something like podiatry, PA-C, or Pharm.

For the limited extra schooling (compared to medicine), it is a good route to high pay, and a good field for the entrepreneurial types who want to own their business.

 

[cuKIMber]

worst job in the world, though. the people you have to deal with... wow... you'll be wishing the sign-on bonus came with a handle of jack and an economy size bottle of alprazolam

I would have to dissagree. I have veen a pharmacy tech for about 3 years now. Some customers can be pricks, especially when it comes to their insurance that that dont understand. I see and work with a lot more people who make me smile then people who truly piss me off 🙂

 

[TMP-SMX]

I would have to dissagree. I have veen a pharmacy tech for about 3 years now. Some customers can be pricks, especially when it comes to their insurance that that dont understand. I see and work with a lot more people who make me smile then people who truly piss me off 🙂

That's no different from medicine. Some patients are good patients and others are a pain in the ass. Though I know in pharmacy many people view them as the person who just hands out the pills and not much else. When something goes wrong (with insurance) is often the only time a person converses with a pharmacist. (Though some people do actually call the pharmacy with drug questions or talk to them in person it is not that common).

 

[cbrons]

I would have to dissagree. I have veen a pharmacy tech for about 3 years now. Some customers can be pricks, especially when it comes to their insurance that that dont understand. I see and work with a lot more people who make me smile then people who truly piss me off 🙂

good for you, ghandi

 

[JaggerPlate]

For the limited extra schooling (compared to medicine), it is a good route to high pay, and a good field for the entrepreneurial types who want to own their business.

It's still 3 years post college, and anyone with business sense isn't going to open a stereotypical business in a very over saturated market. Chances are that even if you do open your own practice - which you have a better shot doing with a more unique specialty, ie medicine - you're still not going to see big profits. I'm really not trying to argue, but just check out the OD boards if you don't believe me.

 

[pathophys17]

I just wanted to say that I think it's great you're weighing your options and seriously thinking through the choice of going for the MD. I've met a few med students who are really unhappy because medicine is nothing like what they thought it'd be, and in my opinion there are a lot of premeds applying (that I know in real life; not on here, from my experience) who just kind of said one day that they think they'd like to be a doctor but don't want it enough and aren't even interested enough in the field. So they don't truly understand the long, arduous road to becoming a doctor and either won't get in because they don't have the passion, or will get in but will end up unhappy and frustrated with their daily lives.