Ever struggle over decision to do it?

[nightowl]

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I began college as a pre-med, done research, done medical mentorship, taken the classes, and here I am, going into my final year of undergrad and still unsure if medicine is what I want...

Since I was, like, five I thought doctor was it. Throughout college though I have constantly second guessed my decision- it's so much time! It's a decade of my life, completely taken up with school. From what I understand, there will be no time to cultivate hobbies, enjoy life, and grow as a person (aside from the med realm). On the other hand, I've talked to lots of people didn't jump into something like med and work hard at it from the get-go who regret it later in life. I've thought about doing eight hundred things OTHER than medicine, but I just wonder if any of those other things are worth it. I always end up comparing "X" to doctor, and it never seems to measure up.

Anyone ever felt this way? How did you remedy your doubt? I've thought about doing full-time medical missions for a year and hoping that will get me over this burn-out and feeling good about it. On the other hand, maybe it's just not for me? 😕 🙁

 

[Brickhouse]

I think doubts are normal. If you're anything like me, you wouldn't be happy with a career which does not profoundly affect the world around you and there aren't too many careers out there that do. Maybe you should take a year off out of college and explore other options? Then you'd know you'd done all you could to determine if this path was right for you.

And I think your statement that people pursuing medicine don't grow as people is BS. Please.

 

[Anka]

Nightowl,

Everyone second-guesses themselves sometimes. Doubt is an important part of faith; if your faith is so weak you can't doubt it sometimes, it's probably that you're too insecure to ask questions. Same goes for career decisions. And, frankly, sometimes you have to act on decisions where you aren't completely sure of yourself. Sometime's you'll be wrong, but almost always you'll be better off than had you not made some decision.

If you believe you need to do a year of full time medical mission work to properly discern where you're called, then do it. The greatest loss you'll take is helping people out for a year. On the other hand, realize that you may never be absolutely sure of where you are called. At some point, you'll need to take a step into the abyss.

Anka

 

[Scubadoc]

Yeah I agree with the other posters. If you are so unsure, take that year off. Doing a year of medical missions in particular sounds like a great way to see if you really want to do this. One thing that seems to be a common theme with most physicians I have met is that you really need to have a passion for this, a strong desire to do this or you will end up burning out and regretting your path.

Time off may be just what you need to refocus and see if this is what you want to do. Heck, take more time and explore some other avenues. If you end up back at medicine, all you have done is gained more experiences and won't regret the decision.

Good luck.

 

[queeneleanor77]

After I graduated from undergrad, I was really burnt out with school, so I took some time off. (It turned into 4 years, but that's another story.) In that time, I did things that had nothing to do with school, nothing to do with medicine. Those experiences were really important in my decision to go back to medicine - I learned a lot about what I DON'T want to do with my life. I think both medical and non-medical experiences are equally important in your final career choice. You've got to find out what medicine is like, but you've also got to find out what else is out there, so you can make an informed decision between the two. My advice is to take a year or two off and do all kinds of things - explore the world. If you decide medicine is right for you, you can be confident that you're making the right choice. Better to find out before medical school than after. Good luck.

 

[Gauss]

don't do it
save yourself

 

[theduke]

And stay away from surgery if you can't make a decision

 

[OSU ACTON]

x

 

[skypilot]

I think doubts are normal. If you're anything like me, you wouldn't be happy with a career which does not profoundly affect the world around you and there aren't too many careers out there that do.

I have to disagree with this one. There are lots of careers that profoundly affect the world in a similar way to medicine. Many of them are underappreciated. An example is civil engineering. Many of the plagues of the 19th century were eradicated not by modern medicine but by civil engineers.

Another is modern finance. Business and commerce are what pulled us out of the mud and along with law created a civil society. So you gotta do what drives you, not what others expect you to do. 🙂

 

[leechy]

After I graduated from undergrad, I was really burnt out with school, so I took some time off. (It turned into 4 years, but that's another story.) In that time, I did things that had nothing to do with school, nothing to do with medicine. Those experiences were really important in my decision to go back to medicine - I learned a lot about what I DON'T want to do with my life. I think both medical and non-medical experiences are equally important in your final career choice. You've got to find out what medicine is like, but you've also got to find out what else is out there, so you can make an informed decision between the two. My advice is to take a year or two off and do all kinds of things - explore the world. If you decide medicine is right for you, you can be confident that you're making the right choice. Better to find out before medical school than after. Good luck.

I strongly agree with this. Getting out of the academic rut for a year or so can really reshape your outlook, rejuvenate you, and enable you to try different things. My time off has also allowed me to do a process of elimination with regards to careers.

Medicine "takes a long time", but it depends on what your outlook is and what you expect at the end of the road. In third grade I had already counted the numbers of days of school I had yet to endure before I could get my high school diploma. But then I realized that rather than being solely focused on the light at the end of the tunnel, I had to try to ENJOY my path through the tunnel (as boring and moldy and dimly lit as it could sometimes be). I tried to find enjoyment where i could (sometimes succeeding, sometimes not), but those 10 years whipped by - that's for sure. Of course, once you're out of high school and college, you now have more choice over what you want to endure, and the question is: can you enjoy the path you choose to traverse WHILE traversing it, rather than feeling that you're simply waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel?

I mean, from one perspective, medicine just takes an additional four years - you do get the MD and become a doctor after 4 years. That's just one year more than it takes to become a lawyer. If your perspective is financial, though, then yes, medicine takes much longer than law or business, and can cost more en route if you don't go to a state school. BUT if your perspective is, "When do I get to finally rest, sit back, and sip margeritas while my bank account flourishes??" the answer for many professions is: perhaps never. Or at least, not before you start collecting Social Security. Heck, if you go into law, maybe your goal there would be to make partner and finally be able to enjoy a more normal lifestyle - and attaining partner could take just as long as say, becoming a thoracic surgeon.

The sad fact is, Americans now work more hours than any other people in the industrialized world (even the Japanese). So while doctors work damn hard, still harder than most others, they're not working exponentially harder than their college classmates who choose to go into law or consulting. The qualitative difference between 65 hrs as a lawyer or 80 as a resident isn't that huge. Either way, you're making huge lifestyle sacrifices. [Hence the increased reward, in my opinion, of taking some time off while you can.]

Anyway, as always I ramble. I guess my point is: most professions that allow smart, motivated people to exercise their talent require LOTS of hard work. The only thing to figure out is if you'll enjoy or at least find some strong redeeming factors (intellectual interest, feeling of contribution, "self actualization", whatever you want to call it) while you're doing all that hard work.

 

[nightowl]

I appreciate this advice. It is a completely selfless thing to do to give advice to someone you've never met. Thanks again. 😳

 

[Brickhouse]

...along with law created a civil society.

Ok I take it back. I forgot about the thousands of insurance company employees that would be out of job if malpractice law weren't around.

I had a feeling I was gonna get flamed for that comment but I really think that being a healer is among the highest callings. Otherwise I wouldn't be spending 300K and the rest of my life pursuing it. Cheers.

 

[BananaSplit]

Although the primary purpose of getting an MD is to become a practicing clinician, it isn't the only thing you can do with it. For someone like me, who isn't 100% sure that they want to be a physician, it's comforting to know that I can use my MD to pursue my other love: teaching. You can also do research, go into public health, consult for the healthcare industry, etc.

 

[DGhiker]

Night Owl, I think it's normal and good. So many people still jump into this career without thinking about it enough and regret it later. And the fact that you're sizing everything up to being a doctor pretty much says to me you've just got cold feet....because that's exactly what I did.

I've been out of college for 4 years and have been working in the clinical research industry. So it's still been medically-related, but it's made me realize that I really want to be a doctor. That's not to say that I still don't have my days when I wonder what the hell I'm doing because it's such an undertaking, but then I come back to my senses. It is a long time in school and training, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it.

Take whatever time you need to make sure you're really ready. It'll give you a stronger application in the end because you'll really be able to say with conviction that becoming a doctor is what you want to do. Good luck in your exploration!!

 

[jpeterson99]

After I graduated from undergrad, I was really burnt out with school, so I took some time off. (It turned into 4 years, but that's another story.) In that time, I did things that had nothing to do with school, nothing to do with medicine. Those experiences were really important in my decision to go back to medicine - I learned a lot about what I DON'T want to do with my life. I think both medical and non-medical experiences are equally important in your final career choice. You've got to find out what medicine is like, but you've also got to find out what else is out there, so you can make an informed decision between the two. My advice is to take a year or two off and do all kinds of things - explore the world. If you decide medicine is right for you, you can be confident that you're making the right choice. Better to find out before medical school than after. Good luck.

I did the same thing. It really opens up your mind, doing odd job/things here and there. With the money I saved from working part time, I traveled to different countries and just relaxed a bit. After all that, I was able to conclude that medicine was the way to go and I'm starting on this new path.

 

[JMD]

From my own experience... I took two years off between undergrad and medical school. Had I not done that, I don't think that I would have the focus and drive that I do now. Medical School is a HUGE life decision so take your time. I traveled, worked, and did a little bit of medically-related stuff during my time off. After getting to see what else is out there in the so called " real world," I knew medicine was what I wanted to do. Now I don't have to second guess my decision (well, maybe once in a while...but that is normal).

Also, I think taking some time off made me a much stronger applicant. My experiences during that time really helped with my PS and interviews.

Looking back at the other posts, I am basically trying to reiterate what queeneleanor said...although her post sounds more eloquent than mine 🙂 .

 

[45408]

I don't doubt the decision, to be honest.

 

[skypilot]

Ok I take it back. I forgot about the thousands of insurance company employees that would be out of job if malpractice law weren't around.

The insurance companies will be paying your salary so learn to love them.

And the lawyers will also be there to defend you if you make a mistake.

🙂

 

[Fermata]

The insurance companies will be paying your salary so learn to love them.

And the lawyers will also be there to defend you if you make a mistake.

🙂

Sad but true.

 

[theduke]

The insurance companies will be paying your salary so learn to love them.

And the lawyers will also be there to defend you if you make a mistake.

🙂

This isn't written in stone. The structure of the medical care can flux with time. However, this can only happen by proactive actions of physicians not complacent attitudes

 

[lorelei]

What the other people said about taking time off - it can be a really good decision. Most of them, it sounds like, took the time for themselves (travel, odd jobs) which I think would be awesome. I'm working full time in an unrelated field (programming) and I think it's great too. My job does actually allow me to help people and impact the world (I'm not in industry) and I feel fulfilled by that part of it - but I still want to be a doctor, because it turns out that just being useful isn't enough; I want to work directly with people and actually practice medicine. Probably if I were working for IBM or something I'd be less clear on my motivations, so I'm glad I've done it this way.

Also, I don't buy the whole thing about how you can't have a life outside medicine for ten years. I'm sure there are some (many?) people who find it difficult - I know people who didn't have a life outside premed, or outside engineering, or whatever. And sure, you have to work really hard. But in my experience, you find time for whatever your priorities are. When I was taking 21 credit hours including 4 labs, I was still dating and visiting my family and reading books and going to parties. Not quite as much as during the easy semesters, but I think whoever said the work expands to fill the time available is right - you can almost always make time for what you want to do.

I read a few medical student and resident blogs, and almost all the people I read do seem to have lives, which always makes me feel hopeful. Two of my favorites are http://docshazam.blogspot.com/ and http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/ (both residents). Doc Shazam has been learning programming and setting up a bird-watching site in her spare time from the ER, and Michelle from The Underwear Drawer is always talking about the books she's reading, going out with friends, and playing with her dog. (I feel like a stalker now since I don't actually know these people.)