Dragging myself kicking and screaming towards medical school

[flatearth22]

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Wow, seriously bro? Comparing SDN to Stormfront just because we don't agree with you?

not SDN....just the pre-allo boards. obviously its not a racist place...the point is that there is no room for dissent here without getting spammed by pre-allo's numerous crusaders. saying that elite schools have more competition and GPA means more there than at a no name school is the same as going on stormfront and saying that white people aren't the superior race.

try going against any core dogma of these boards and see where it takes you....

 

[Ladoctora44]

No offense, but if you don't want to be a doctor then PLEASE don't. Save your future potential patients some grief and neglect. This is a profession that you must be dedicated to. No one can make you do anything you don't want to do. You are grown, so live your life. You might have to lose some financial backing from your parents, but you will make your way eventually. That's the American Dream.

* But the good thing about the American Dream is that you can just... go to sleep. And try it all again the next night.*

 

[mauberley]

not SDN....just the pre-allo boards. obviously its not a racist place...the point is that there is no room for dissent here without getting spammed by pre-allo's numerous crusaders. saying that elite schools have more competition and GPA means more there than at a no name school is the same as going on stormfront and saying that white people aren't the superior race.

try going against any core dogma of these boards and see where it takes you....

If you can reasonably back up your argument without pulling **** out of your ass, you're fine.

The problem that has arisen, at least for me, is the statement that your advice is the only valid advice and every other poster advising the OP to not pursue medicine is motivated solely by competition. I have no problem with your advice in this thread, but to discount others' for some incorrectly ascribed motive is, well, stupid.

 

[Wolfman89]

not SDN....just the pre-allo boards. obviously its not a racist place...the point is that there is no room for dissent here without getting spammed by pre-allo's numerous crusaders. saying that elite schools have more competition and GPA means more there than at a no name school is the same as going on stormfront and saying that white people aren't the superior race.

try going against any core dogma of these boards and see where it takes you....

Plenty of posters disagree with each other, but they have reasonable arguments to back up their beliefs.

 

[flatearth22]

If you can reasonably back up your argument without pulling **** out of your ass, you're fine.

The problem that has arisen, at least for me, is the statement that your advice is the only valid advice and every other poster advising the OP to not pursue medicine is motivated solely by competition. I have no problem with your advice in this thread, but to discount others' for some incorrectly ascribed motive is, well, stupid.

😕

when did I ever discount others advice on this thread? also I never made that bolded claim...some other poster who quoted me did. I don't agree with that at all. I just think that medicine is a great profession and you don't absolutely have to be head over heels in love with it to join. If OP was truly against medicine she wouldn't have begun to take the pre-reqs and she would have stopped the MCAT tutoring, etc.

There IS a lot you can do with an MD that isn't just practicing medicine....it's a very versatile degree. and a lot of doctors who do practice only work part time and focus on other things (family, hobbies, travel, etc.)....nothing wrong with that either.

 

[mauberley]

😕

when did I ever discount others advice on this thread? also I never made that bolded claim...some other poster who quoted me did. I don't agree with that at all. I just think that medicine is a great profession and you don't absolutely have to be head over heels in love with it to join. If OP was truly against medicine she wouldn't have begun to take the pre-reqs and she would have stopped the MCAT tutoring, etc.

There IS a lot you can do with an MD that isn't just practicing medicine....it's a very versatile degree. and a lot of doctors who do practice only work part time and focus on other things (family, hobbies, travel, etc.)....nothing wrong with that either.

I know you didn't. However, your response quoted his, and made it appear as if you agreed with him. For your part, I do take issue with your view that pre-allo is dogmatic and disagreements are not allowed, but that is not relevant to this thread.

 

[flatearth22]

I know you didn't. However, your response quoted his, and made it appear as if you agreed with him.

well....it was the only post i could quote . i agreed with the first part of his statement but not the last...sorry if it came across that way.

 

[MrBird]

not SDN....just the pre-allo boards. obviously its not a racist place...the point is that there is no room for dissent here without getting spammed by pre-allo's numerous crusaders. saying that elite schools have more competition and GPA means more there than at a no name school is the same as going on stormfront and saying that white people aren't the superior race.

try going against any core dogma of these boards and see where it takes you....

But.... you're wrong.

 

[Journey2become]

I read the full version. OP if you are truly looking for a good reason not to pursue medicine (because that's what I got from your post...kind of like 'medicine is a great option but I don't want to go through even the first few step, let alone do it for the rest of my life'), read the COUNTLESS post from students that absolutely wanted to go into medicine at first, but now want to drop out because they hate it! These post make even the most zealous pre-med take a second to ponder if they want to go on or not - most do...but I think it would have you running for the hills (even faster than you already are).

I agree with one of the poster that said you need a plan C, and if you can fit your plan C in the path of pursuing plan A all the better. You can then sit you parents down, tell them you will hate medicine, (if they object to much you can let them know that medical schools are now happy to take older non-trads and they can apply after taking the pre-recs), then lay out your NEW plan, with your NEW back-up plan. Pursue your interest, but be realistic about the job market. A good plan C might be university professor...there you can read other peoples work and tell them what you think.

 

[lowgpa013]

I am probably not in a position that should be give out advice but here is what i read from one of the threads:

At the end of the day it like my old man told me "Dont say what you want to be, say what you do for the next 40 yrs." Do you like calling yourself a surgeon, or can you really see yourself doing the job of a surgeon for the next 40years?

I pretty much thinking about that everyday when I think should I get into medicine or not?

 

[MrBird]

I read the full version. OP if you are truly looking for a good reason not to pursue medicine (because that's what I got from your post...kind of like 'medicine is a great option but I don't want to go through even the first few step, let alone do it for the rest of my life'), read the COUNTLESS post from students that absolutely wanted to go into medicine at first, but now want to drop out because they hate it! These post make even the most zealous pre-med take a second to ponder if they want to go on or not - most do...but I think it would have you running for the hills (even faster than you already are).

I agree with one of the poster that said you need a plan C, and if you can fit your plan C in the path of pursuing plan A all the better. You can then sit you parents down, tell them you will hate medicine, (if they object to much you can let them know that medical schools are now happy to take older non-trads and they can apply after taking the pre-recs), then lay out your NEW plan, with your NEW back-up plan. Pursue your interest, but be realistic about the job market. A good plan C might be university professor...there you can read other peoples work and tell them what you think.

That may be a terrible idea depending on which state you want to work in. There are way too many PhDs and way too few teaching positions available for them at universities, ESPECIALLY in the fine arts.

 

[StoicJosher]

Like every other sane person in this forum replied, I would say that if you hate it don't do it. To add to it, I know exactly what you are going through. I am applying to MD/PhD programs this year and whenever I am with my family, I see my parents talking to my younger brother who just graduated from high school about getting into MD/PhD and I have heard the exact same words you mentioned from my parents' mouth. The only thing you can do is stop right now. You need to sit them down and tell them outright that you don't want to do it. And I will warn you right now, they are going to not like it, they are going to throw these comments your way every time they see you for maybe 3-6 months. But whatever you do, don't wait. It is just an MCAT crash course now.. you don't want to wait till they get a second mortgage and hand you a check to pay tuition.

Finally, over time, they are gonna understand. But that being said, I have to warn you - Snooki and that other person from the Jersey Shore had New York Times Bestsellers.. So you know what America reads!!

 

[LizzyM]

Jobs in the humanities are few these days. Many PhDs are stringing together adjunct positions at several institutions and working out of the trunks of their cars to make a "living", it you can call it that. The younger writers I know (30s-40s) are teaching junior high English and publishing novels and short story collections with varying degrees of success.

There are some writers who have become doctors (Perri Klass who had a column in the NYTimes while still in med school), and some doctors become writers (Pauline Chen, Richard Selzer, Sherwin Nuland to name a few). A few write novels,(Klass as many to her credit as well as magazine articles and other columns in the popular press as well are in the medical literature) more often they write short essays,(Chen and Selzer) and non-fiction to appeal to a wide audience. (e.g. Nuland's "How We Die")

It requires discipline, an early bedtime and writing before dawn. Chen, Selzer and Nuland are all surgeons. Klass is a pediatric infectious disease specialist.

Neal Baer studied film before attending Harvard Med School & becoming a pediatrician and a screenwriter for ER, and a producer of Law & Order SVU.

It is hard to get into medical school & if your heart is not in it, you may not get past the interview stage. If that's the case, you will need a plan B (almost 60% of applicants don't get in). If you'd like to be a professional novelist or an essayist, you are likely to need something that will pay the bills because your art will not.

I don't have any particular advice but I do feel your pain.

 

[mvenus929]

Ever heard of this guy?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton

You'd probably try and talk him out of med school as well, huh?

It's not a matter of being able to write and go to medical school. I can rattle off lots of people who are both practicing physicians and writers. I would like to be among their ranks one day.

But the OP really, really doesn't want to go to medical school. It's hard enough if your heart is really in it. It's going to be a thousand times more difficult if your heart is not. If after really looking at the profession, the OP still finds it wanting, there's not much that can be done to entice him/her.

Honestly, the only advice that really seemed like someone actually thought about the situation and looked out for the OP's best interests was the advice given by flatearth. Everyone else just got really giddy that there would be one less person to compete with and spammed him to not apply.

I have absolutely no interest in whether or not one more person applies or doesn't apply, because none of the pre-meds are my competition now. There was a post a few months back about someone torn between being a writer and being a physician... in which case, flatearth's comment would have applied. This situation is different.

 

[Geekchick921]

I now feel bad for feeling bad for you with your frat brothers' prank.

Right?

The pre-allo boards are a bigger hivemind then the Stormfront message boards. Their only saving grace is the large amount of traffic they receive and the quick back and forth that happens. But in terms of quality it's a joke....I spend most of my time these days on the Allo board and the Specialty boards. A lot of specialty boards like Anesthesiology and Emergency Medicine boards are pretty damn awesome 👍

This is absolutely HILARIOUS considering the source.

not SDN....just the pre-allo boards. obviously its not a racist place...the point is that there is no room for dissent here without getting spammed by pre-allo's numerous crusaders. saying that elite schools have more competition and GPA means more there than at a no name school is the same as going on stormfront and saying that white people aren't the superior race.

try going against any core dogma of these boards and see where it takes you....

For the love of God, stop talking.

OP, don't let your parents force you to into a career that will make you miserable. Man up and put your foot down. That said, yes, you may need to decide on another career to pay the bills if you want to consider making it as a writer. Good luck to you.

 

[flatearth22]

Jobs in the humanities are few these days. Many PhDs are stringing together adjunct positions at several institutions and working out of the trunks of their cars to make a "living", it you can call it that. The younger writers I know (30s-40s) are teaching junior high English and publishing novels and short story collections with varying degrees of success.

There are some writers who have become doctors (Perri Klass who had a column in the NYTimes while still in med school), and some doctors become writers (Pauline Chen, Richard Selzer, Sherwin Nuland to name a few). A few write novels,(Klass as many to her credit as well as magazine articles and other columns in the popular press as well are in the medical literature) more often they write short essays,(Chen and Selzer) and non-fiction to appeal to a wide audience. (e.g. Nuland's "How We Die")

It requires discipline, an early bedtime and writing before dawn. Chen, Selzer and Nuland are all surgeons. Klass is a pediatric infectious disease specialist.

Neal Baer studied film before attending Harvard Med School & becoming a pediatrician and a screenwriter for ER, and a producer of Law & Order SVU.

It is hard to get into medical school & if your heart is not in it, you may not get past the interview stage. If that's the case, you will need a plan B (almost 60% of applicants don't get in). If you'd like to be a professional novelist or an essayist, you are likely to need something that will pay the bills because your art will not.

I don't have any particular advice but I do feel your pain.

probably why her parents want her to enter a field with $$$ and job security. would you want your kid to be "happy" while she is living paycheck to paycheck and can't make enough money to live the way she wants? the PhD market altogether is a joke especially in the humanities. watch this -

[youtube]obTNwPJvOI8[/youtube]

once again, OP doesn't HAVE to practice medicine (or only practice it part time) after her medical training is over. MD is easily the most versatile and powerful degree in the country especially the way our economy is going:

PhD - over saturation, hard to get tenure jobs, industry jobs are hit or miss

JD - way oversaturation. really matters where you go to law school.

MBA - not a professional degree. does not make up for experience....also really matters where you go to business school

MFA - lol....really?

go MD, OP. With your writing skills and an MD degree you could write a popular book like "House of God" or "The Intern Blues." Med schools like unique people so your written skills would give you a leg up in admissions not to mention your PS and secondary essays 👍

 

[roseglass6370]

OP, life is too short to do something you hate. You clearly hate the idea of going into medicine.Don't force yourself to go through the years of school/training it takes to become a doctor just to appease your parents.
You're a grown-up now.
Act like one.
Tell your parents to stop micromanaging your life by forcing you to make decisions that you don't want to make. Then, go pursue a degree in creative writing and teach.

Anyone who tells you that its worth it to go through the training to be a doctor just to come out with an MD for job security is incredibly naive. It's not worth it. Period.

You know what to do.

 

[NickNaylor]

The MD isn't a "versatile and powerful degree." When you get a MD, you're qualified to do exactly one thing: practice medicine. Even if you're doing consulting it's in the context of practicing medicine or curing disease. The only other thing the MD does is demonstrate that you're reasonably intelligent and are able to jump through hoops.

 

[Journey2become]

go MD, OP. With your writing skills and an MD degree you could write a popular book like "House of God" or "The Intern Blues." Med schools like unique people so your written skills would give you a leg up in admissions not to mention your PS and secondary essays

I can just see the next big hit "Why I hate Medicine" by Dark Roast

 

[911 Turbo]

FFFFFF, why does every thread seem to devolve into a fight between flatearth and someone else??

 

[TheRach1025]

It is hard to get into medical school & if your heart is not in it, you may not get past the interview stage. If that's the case, you will need a plan B (almost 60% of applicants don't get in). If you'd like to be a professional novelist or an essayist, you are likely to need something that will pay the bills because your art will not.

OP, if you absolutely must please your parents with the Dr. title or being part of the healthcare field, you might consider dentistry. No residency is required and dentists tend to have more free time and control over their schedules than M.D.s

I can even imagine a dentist managing his/her schedule well enough to take classes on the side for other interests.

Also, when your manuscripts are rejected, you can work out your frustrations on your patients' gums.

Artists must eat.

 

[flatearth22]

OP, if you absolutely must please your parents with the Dr. title or being part of the healthcare field, you might consider dentistry. No residency is required and dentists tend to have more free time and control over their schedules than M.D.s

I can even imagine a dentist managing his/her schedule well enough to take classes on the side for other interests.

Also, when your manuscripts are rejected, you can work out your frustrations on your patients' gums.

Artists must eat.

There's no prestige in telling someone that your daughter is a dentist.

 

[Journey2become]

That may be a terrible idea depending on which state you want to work in. There are way too many PhDs and way too few teaching positions available for them at universities, ESPECIALLY in the fine arts.

OP, if you absolutely must please your parents with the Dr. title or being part of the healthcare field, you might consider dentistry.

What is important is to find a plan B that you could actually see yourself doing, and that pays the bills - whatever that might be.

 

[Wolfman89]

There's no prestige in telling someone that your daughter is a dentist.

I'm not pre-dental or anything, but I would not claim that there is no prestige in dentistry.

 

[Journey2become]

I'm not pre-dental or anything, but I would not claim that there is no prestige in dentistry.

👍 I agree.

 

[Jane121]

ok, well I read your whole post and the responses. I may have missed a bit here or there, but I'm definitely assuming you are south asian or some other ethnicity in which parents can be very pushy about kids' (even adult kids' jobs). I am an Indian-American attending physician myself (just completed board certification in my field🙂).

I think in these cases you need to take some time to separate out your dislike of your parents' over controlling behavior. It's a separate issue as to what you should do in life. I agree with all the posts noting the career path you state that you want (writing, PhD in English) is not really that smart. I'm not trying to be mean. How old are you now? Where do you want to be in 10 years? 20? Do you want to own (have a mortgage on) a home? Do you want to have children (and will you pay to put them through college?) Think about this: do you think your parents LOVE their jobs, or are they more realistic about them and the benefits they confer?

And yes, it is true there are plenty of things you can do in medicine as a physician. Not only are the specialties all different, but you can do different things within each specialty, from subspecialization to working in different environments, to part time work. Yes, many physicians do work part time, and you can make a nice normal salary just doing that (i.e. part time 20 hrs in academics, which is generally lower pay could easily be 50-60k, which a lot of people have to work 40 hrs per week for).

Another word of wisdom, both my parents are physicians. My mother has said to me many times: "no matter what you do, after about 8 years it becomes a little boring". I'm only just getting to the part of my life where I can even half way know what she is talking about, because as I said, I just finished residency last academic year, just completed board certification for my specialty, am in a couple of programs that will be evolving over the next few years, and my husband and I will probably be trying for a first baby in a few years; so I won't be doing enough of the same things to be bored anytime real soon, but I also know I've achieved a lot in my life. I think I would be bored and probably dissapointed if I hadn't pursued medicine.

Several posters have talked about coming to the end of life not having pursued a dream. Again, just have to note, to address cultural issues, if the OP is south asian your viewpoint may not apply (reincarnation/hinduism anyone?)

Well, good luck in whatever you choose. I doubt the whole writing/English PhD thing is the best thing to do, but it's your life.

 

[okdocrx]

Wait. There are people who don't want to be doctors?

most people would love to be doctors, but they don't want to go to medical school and residency, and possibly sub-specialty so they invent doctorates in their field and they are "doctors"

 

[startswithb]

most people would love to be doctors, but they don't want to go to medical school and residency, and possibly sub-specialty so they invent doctorates in their field and they are "doctors"

rofl. it's true.

 

[Dark Roast]

ok, well I read your whole post and the responses. I may have missed a bit here or there, but I'm definitely assuming you are south asian or some other ethnicity in which parents can be very pushy about kids' (even adult kids' jobs). I am an Indian-American attending physician myself (just completed board certification in my field🙂).

I'm half-Korean on my mother's side, and even though there's certainly many worse Tiger Mothers out there, she has her moments.

As people have pointed out, the fact that English/Writing ISN'T a strong field is a big reason why I'm having so much trouble over this. It's sort of a grudging acceptance of what an MD can do vs a PhD verses the fact that I'm pretty much force-feeding myself a love of medicine and I'm starting to gag on it.

 

[ponyo]

I'm half-Korean on my mother's side, and even though there's certainly many worse Tiger Mothers out there, she has her moments.

As people have pointed out, the fact that English/Writing ISN'T a strong field is a big reason why I'm having so much trouble over this. It's sort of a grudging acceptance of what an MD can do vs a PhD verses the fact that I'm pretty much force-feeding myself a love of medicine and I'm starting to gag on it.

MD and English Ph.D. are NOT the only options out there. When I was a freshman I decided to drop art, which had been my dream for quite a while and in which I was infinitely better than sciences. I actually fought the urge to just go directly to med the way my Asian friends & family suggested and really took the time to think over all the countless fields & jobs out there--consulting, banking, law, journalism, biotech, restaurant management (yes), psych, philosophy, politics... In the end I decided that med was the way I wanted to go, but it could easily have been something else. If I had felt the way you seem to feel about medicine, I would absolutely have done something that is perhaps not as stable as the parents would like but which makes me a bit happier.

Unless you really do believe in reincarnation like someone suggested, think long and hard how you want to live because I really, really think everybody has to be responsible for their own happiness and that career choice is way too big a decision to remain passive in this situation. Regretting your life is seriously the saddest thing in the world.

 

[FunnyCurrent]

Jobs in the humanities are few these days. Many PhDs are stringing together adjunct positions at several institutions and working out of the trunks of their cars to make a "living", it you can call it that. The younger writers I know (30s-40s) are teaching junior high English and publishing novels and short story collections with varying degrees of success.

There are some writers who have become doctors (Perri Klass who had a column in the NYTimes while still in med school), and some doctors become writers (Pauline Chen, Richard Selzer, Sherwin Nuland to name a few). A few write novels,(Klass as many to her credit as well as magazine articles and other columns in the popular press as well are in the medical literature) more often they write short essays,(Chen and Selzer) and non-fiction to appeal to a wide audience. (e.g. Nuland's "How We Die")

It requires discipline, an early bedtime and writing before dawn. Chen, Selzer and Nuland are all surgeons. Klass is a pediatric infectious disease specialist.

Neal Baer studied film before attending Harvard Med School & becoming a pediatrician and a screenwriter for ER, and a producer of Law & Order SVU.

It is hard to get into medical school & if your heart is not in it, you may not get past the interview stage. If that's the case, you will need a plan B (almost 60% of applicants don't get in). If you'd like to be a professional novelist or an essayist, you are likely to need something that will pay the bills because your art will not.

I don't have any particular advice but I do feel your pain.

Finally advice that is adult and practical. I was going to post something similar but you know how most idealizing college students (who have never supported themselves) think.

 

[ponyo]

Finally advice that is adult and practical. I was going to post something similar but you know how most idealizing college students (who have never supported themselves) think.

Different people want different lives; I've been financially self-sufficient all throughout college and I don't think it's that bad (I may have a skewed perspective having grown up in a diy brick house with no foundation, no flooring, no glass for windows and no insulation). I also know a whole bunch of semi-starving artists who absolutely would never give their lifestyle away for that of a doctor. For them, waking up every day is exciting because they can't wait to get started on the new things they'll create that day, and it's unimaginable to trade that for hopes that maybe you'll get to retire earlier or whatever, because they have no intention of ever retiring and they would pay to do what they do.

I think a really important question is how much you love the process of writing and everything else involved in an English Ph.D.; if you're a goal-oriented person for whom the Ph.D. is a means to an end, forget it because the chance you'll get those ends are slim to none. But if you love the process for the sake of it, then that's not something to be lightly given away.

 

[bajastapler]

I really thought about this thread for a while. 🙂 There's a lot I want to say, but I tried to keep it brief. ^_^

Regardless of the path you choose:
Think about the debt you are going to accumulate.
Then think about how you are going to pay it off. (not your sister or your parents).
Finally I'd like you to think about your future plans and whether or not you want kids & how important it is for you to financially contribute to their education.

I'm not saying pick medicine for the money. Cause that's just stupid. Specially with today's economy and our shift towards socialized medicine. All I'm saying is that once you're an adult you're an adult. And that means bearing the weight of all responsibilities on your shoulders. Not just your dreams.