sarahangel53225
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- Aug 23, 2020
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Hi everyone! I’m a rising senior in high school starting to apply for college, and im really conflicted as to what I want to be after college. For the past couple years, I’ve loved the idea of being a general pediatrician with my own clinic one day. I even did internships and shadowed a pediatrician, which definitely increased my interest in the profession. However, I’ve been doing a lot of research about the work-life balance of a primary care physician, and it seems as though there is not much (unless they work part-time, which means a lower salary). My number one goal in life is to be a mom, and I feel like if I pursue medical school and have kids as early as I would like (late twenties), I won’t be able to spend as much time with them, especially during residency. Part of me wants to go all in and pray it will work out, but the other half wants to be realistic and see if there’s a different career path.
Because I want a schedule where I’ll be able to leave my work at work and home stuff at home, I’ve also considered being a pediatric or neonatal nurse (didn’t get to shadow either though). If I became a nurse, I would still be able to have patient interaction (if not more) and I would have a better work-life balance, I think. I also wouldn’t be in school for as long and can start a family earlier. My only thing about nursing is that I feel like it’s not as respected, and I also like to be in charge, so I would most likely become a PNP or NNP to have more autonomy and such. That is another reason why I don’t know if it’s worth it to go to medical school. If I can do pretty much the same thing a general pediatrician does as a PNP, then what’s the point of spending 11 years in training? I know my salary might be quite lower, but I would sacrifice that for more time with family. I really just don’t know because I know I would love being a Pediatrician (from shadowing and research), but I feel that if I shadowed a PNP, I would also enjoy that. Im not really interested in specializing, since that means more years of training and more sacrifice. So I don’t know if I should just be pre-med and try to shadow more (although that’s not possible right now due to corona), or if I should major in nursing and go from there. Is that a good idea? Will I still be respected and have autonomy as a nurse? Is it as fulfilling as being a doctor? If I did become a Pediatrician, would I be able to achieve work-life balance (most likely would work part-time). Is it worth it if I know for sure I would just do primary care? I would really really appreciate it if someone gave me some advice, as this is all I’ve been thinking about for the last few months!!
Because I want a schedule where I’ll be able to leave my work at work and home stuff at home, I’ve also considered being a pediatric or neonatal nurse (didn’t get to shadow either though). If I became a nurse, I would still be able to have patient interaction (if not more) and I would have a better work-life balance, I think. I also wouldn’t be in school for as long and can start a family earlier. My only thing about nursing is that I feel like it’s not as respected, and I also like to be in charge, so I would most likely become a PNP or NNP to have more autonomy and such. That is another reason why I don’t know if it’s worth it to go to medical school. If I can do pretty much the same thing a general pediatrician does as a PNP, then what’s the point of spending 11 years in training? I know my salary might be quite lower, but I would sacrifice that for more time with family. I really just don’t know because I know I would love being a Pediatrician (from shadowing and research), but I feel that if I shadowed a PNP, I would also enjoy that. Im not really interested in specializing, since that means more years of training and more sacrifice. So I don’t know if I should just be pre-med and try to shadow more (although that’s not possible right now due to corona), or if I should major in nursing and go from there. Is that a good idea? Will I still be respected and have autonomy as a nurse? Is it as fulfilling as being a doctor? If I did become a Pediatrician, would I be able to achieve work-life balance (most likely would work part-time). Is it worth it if I know for sure I would just do primary care? I would really really appreciate it if someone gave me some advice, as this is all I’ve been thinking about for the last few months!!
