Do you tell your personal doctors of your plans?

[deleted74029]

Through my college years I've been to many doctors and never told them I was pre-med. Do you guys tell your docs of this?

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[Pedsbro]

Through my college years I've been to many doctors and never told them I was pre-med. Do you guys tell your docs of this?

Yes. Sometimes they offer some token advice, sometimes they make jokes like "I'm sorry", or "Why the hell would you do that?", and sometimes they didn't care. Are you saying we might get better care from them if they know???

 

[deleted74029]

Are you saying we might get better care from them if they know???

No, I did have have a resident ask me what I was in college for and I told him, we had a good talk about it and he just told me not to stress out about getting admitted. Didn't have any effect on my care, and who would expect it to?

 

[neuro1617]

Through my college years I've been to many doctors and never told them I was pre-med. Do you guys tell your docs of this?

Yes just because they've asked. One gave me some advice, one asked if I'd encountered organic chem yet, and one told me to get out while I still have time.

Also a resident, while I was shadowing, told me to seriously reconsider my choice because I'd end up like him (working long hours for little $, not able to go to his friends' weddings b/c/o work, his friends have nice cars & jobs while he doesn't yet, etc). He also told me to read House of God and see if I still wanted to be a doctor. The med students gave me some pretty helpful advice.

 

[MichiganEMTInt]

I always end up talking about this with my IM doc when I go to my physical exams. He graduated from a school I just applied to. I typically talk about it with residents/attendings I shadow as well just to see if they have any advice or something.

 

[Dorise04]

I talked to my primary physican about my plans. She is really nice and let me shadow her and she even talked to a surgeon who let me shadow him. She is very realistic about her experinces. She gives me real raw details about the stress and the good times that make it worth while. I love to go see her b/c she is very understanding. The clinic that i go to see she is well respected and liked and I can see why...

 

[Concordia]

I actually avoided telling anybody that I was "pre-med". I didn't want to add any stress to the process by having extra people ask how it's going or give advice. But that's just me.

 

[FSAP]

My mother tells everybody before I even get a chance.

 

[FutureIHSDoc]

My mother tells everybody before I even get a chance.

ditto.

 

[bioteach]

I was never really "pre-med" because back in undergrad I took all of the prereqs because I wanted to to go grad school. Once I decided to apply to med school I didn't tell any docs except my primary care doc, whom I shadowed. Now that I have been accepted somewhere it usually comes up when I go see a new doc. Its interesting hearing all of their perspectives on school, the profession.

 

[bcat85]

My PCP was actually somewhat helpful. He kind of gave me some advice on the application process and some things I may consider doing to help my chances.

 

[SoupWithAFork]

I've been told by separate docs on two separate occasions to get out while I can and enjoy my life...

 

[futuredrcrawfor]

I have been a patient of my primary care physician for over 6 years now (so since HS) she has known the whole time- she let me shadow her throughout undergrad, always gives me advice, and wrote me a letter or recommendation. She knows me really well since I have to go in every 3 months for check-ups on a chronic disease.

Other doctors I will sometimes tell- usually it comes up when they come into the room and I am reading organic chem, bio, etc.

 

[Sondra]

I told my personal physician once I was accepted. I worked in a hospital for years during undergrad. A lot of the doctors that I worked with knew that I was applying, and they were supportive. I didn't have any negative experiences with letting physicians know my plans.

 

[Somethingmore]

I'm going to avoid telling my family doctor right now until I get into medical school... IF I get into medical school. The notion of telling him that I'm a pre-med, and then a few years down the road telling him that I've changed my plans because of bull**** reasons bothers me. So I'll just avoid this possibility altogether.

 

[HaveHope]

I told my gynecologist and then she took me to lunch! It was awesome and she got me even more excited (I'm in the application process right now). We are also working on a day where I can shadow!