giving medicine a second shot

[MSc44]

so are there any non trads out there who are a bit older, that when they were growing up they knew that they wanted to be in medicine, but for some reason or another (changed their minds after college, life situitations, illness etc) did not persue it in the early 20's as most do, or was it mainly a decision made later in life

Just curious

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[t-funk]

I'm not much on posting but I knew I was going into medicine from before kindergarden until about 16 when my mom went into the mental hospital due to a manic episode. That changed everything and I decided I didn't want responsibility tlike that or to deal with these types of situations. I struggled through college paying for everything myself, got a job, and decided at 27 I would never be happy unless I went to medical school. That's my story!

 

[gipper]

i pretty much knew that i wanted to be a doctor. wanted to take some time off after college to work and get really amped about the prospects of medical school - i wanted to be excited. i applied unsuccessfully in 2003 (at the age of 25).

although it took me a few years to gear up again, i am more ready than ever - during that time, i rode my bike across the country, did volunteer work in madagascar, got an MPH, retook the MCAT and boosted my GPA (it needed some boosting)...after all of that build up, how can i not get in? (please.)

 

[little_late_MD]

I was convinced all through high school that I wanted to be a doctor. At the beginning of my senior year I had to drop Anatomy for physics (due to the requirements of a scholarship I was to receive). However, the only physics class available was the "Concepts of Physics" class, which was basically science for dummies. I learned how easy it could be if you didn't have to study! Then, as I entered college I got it in my head that all that was really important was making as much money as I possibly could. I dropped any notions of pursuing a medical career, and I went into finance.

Well, I'm now 25 and have been in the financial services sector for some time. I know that every day I walk into work I feel that a little piece of my soul is being ripped from me, and I imagine what life would be like had I committed to my chidhood dream, rather than taking the easy way out. I've decided that it's time to stop wondering, and to make something happen. I'm ready to roll the dice, and that means taking all those nasty science classes I should have taken in college Reading some of the posts here makes me truly wonder what I'm getting myself into. However, I know that if I don't try, I'll probably regret it for quite far into my golden years.

 

[Skaterbabe74]

I was going to be a doctor from the time I was probably 6 or 7. I was also a figure skater and in choir/band/theater. I was going to be Tenley Albright or Debbie Thomas (two Olympic figure skating women who went on to become doctors). Then at 13 I quit skating for awhile (ended up being all of high school). I got more involved in the arts side of my life although I was still heavily in the sciences (took 5 science classes in HS), and my junior year of high school decided I wanted to be a HS choir director. I went away to my first year of college as a music ed. major. I hated it! I hated the school, I hated the people, I hated our choir director, I was totally unprepared for living on my own, couldn't find any friends - it just sucked a$%. My folks made me finish out the year (I ended up basically bombing out since I went into my first major depression), I came home, and enrolled in the local CC trying all sorts of different paths, just drowning academically, and getting heavily involved in dance. I could have had a career in dance but it would have been so short that I decided not to pursue it and decided to try skating again.

Slowly I came back to healthcare - at the time I was planning on PT, although medicine was slowly creeping back into my mind. I still wanted the best of both worlds tho (healthcare/artistic) so I moved out to Colorado and started skating again and taking classes at the local CC. Then my money ran out. I had to quit everything - school, skating - and work full-time for 4 years.

Finally I made it back to school, and by then medicine was totally my goal again, but financial/mental stuggles have led to a less than stellar undergrad gpa so for now I've pushed the medicine thing to the background to just try to survive undergrad and get a degree. I've also found a second love for a future career in biophysics so I'll get at least a masters in that once I'm finished with undergrad, and then decide if I'm going to pursue the PhD in biophysics and give up on medicine, or pursue medicine (which is still my dream but possibly unrealistic now).

At 31, I've definitely come full-circle. I still want the best of both worlds, but the skating will be gone until I'm on my feet in some sort of career (they have all sorts of adult categories that you don't hear about unless you're actually in the figure skating world), and I'm reaquiring my saxophone to re-take that up, and then I'm still doing the science/possible medicine future too.

Good luck to ya! You can definitely do it!

 

[Wackie]

Yes!

I grew up saying I wanted to be a doctor. It was cute when I was little, but as I got older I continued to say so. I would watch surgeries on TV instead of cartoons like most eight year olds. I'd play with my microscope examining everything I could stick on a slide.
One day, when I was 11, I woke up and went into the kitchen as usual. Police officers were swarming the place. I remember an officer giving me a strange look. I now realize that he was saddened.
Dad sent my little brother and I over to a neighbor's house. I still remember one of the kids we regularly hung out with saying, "It's not fair. You don't have to go to school today." His mother hurried him out the door.
My dad called me over to the house later that day and sat me down. He told me my mother had passed away that night. Later, I learned she had become addicted and abused controlled substances used to put patients under in the OR (she was a CRNA). Phentonyl and Suphentonyl (I don't remember how to spell it). She made a critical error in the dosages and went face forward into the bathtub and drowned.
To me, my mother was as solid as a rock. And I thought that if she could succumb, then so could I. So, I cast my dreams of becoming a doctor, fearing the same thing would happen to me.
I attempted an animal science degree with aspirations of becoming a vet (reasoning that the drugs would be different and it'd still be the problem solving and scientific), but it wasn't the same. My attempts weren't even half hearted and my grades were proof. My grades had me on probation which still didn't motivate me. I quit school.
I was truly lost and wondered what I'd do with my life. I settled on working and putting my husband through school while I figured it out.
As I matured and learned that life is about choices, I realized that I could make the choice to walk a different path than my mother. I realized that this would give me a healthy respect of the medications used. I considered nursing (mostly because of my grades), but knew I wanted to be the problem solver. And then I decided to take a stab at medical school.
I'm chugging away at this undergrad stuff. It was a huge weight lifted when I started following my dreams and am truly happy.


Good luck. And never, never, ever, never quit.

 

[ER_BluEyez]

I feel like a nerd posting this...anyway...When I was 14 my parents were seperated..my dad lived in Manhattan and I lived with my mom in new Jersey. My dad was a malpractice attorney (go figure) but I was always set on being a doctor from the time I was a kid till I was 16. On 9/11/01 my dad was in WTC 1 visiting another attorney...the guy was also seperated and his family lived the next town over from me and my mom in nj. Well...everyone in the world knows what happened that day..so yeah. I gave up on what my dreams were and lost all the faith in the world.

Anyway, I was 16...straight A student..positive I was going to apply to a BS/MD program...but I ended up taking about a month off school. My mom wasn't exactly in the right state of mind to get back back on track and I slipped bad in school. I dropped out at the end of the year and never looked back.

When i was 18 I moved in with my "boyfriend" in philadelphia..and then from there we moved to los angeles california..which is where he was from. We lived with his parents until after my 19th bday...

long story short(er) I ended up going back and getting my diploma at 19...met the most awesomest person ever and moved to Illinois. He's working on films in Chicago...and he supported me 100% while I went to our CC for two semesters to get some credit under my belt.

I just started school at our State University and with my transfer credits still have a 4.0 gpa. I know Im not an older non-trad or whatever...but...I've had to deal with and overcome just as much as the others. Not to mention I'll only be applying for the first time when Im almost 26 years old.

Everyone's stories are great, and it kind of makes me appreciate what I've seen. I think even at 21 Im a more mature and focused student. Not to mention I'm 100% positive of my track in life. (at least for now )

 

[Sabres151]

so are there any non trads out there who are a bit older, that when they were growing up they knew that they wanted to be in medicine, but for some reason or another (changed their minds after college, life situitations, illness etc) did not persue it in the early 20's as most do, or was it mainly a decision made later in life

Just curious

A decision made later in life (at 28). I never had interest in medicine until I worked for the pharmaceutical industry as a drug rep for the past four years. Needless to say I'm taking the steps towards a new career. When I was a teenager I just wanted to draw comics

 

[mshheaddoc]

*raises hand*

I got sidetracked in college, graduated with a horrible gpa as an economics major. Now taking a ton of science classes and applying next year

 

[Anastasis]

I always wanted to do it but always thought I was too dumb to pull it off. Then a wise man told me, "If you're not doing it because you don't want to, that's fine but if you're not doing it because you're scared of failing, that's bull****." Thanks kinda my mantra now.

 

[BallerinaDoc]

I always wanted to do it but always thought I was too dumb to pull it off. Then a wise man told me, "If you're not doing it because you don't want to, that's fine but if you're not doing it because you're scared of failing, that's bull****." Thanks kinda my mantra now.

Definitely a wise man. Those are words to live by!

I felt the same way in college (years ago), but it took a few years working full time (and growing in more senior roles) to gain the confidence to refocus on pursuing a career in medicine.

 

[MSc44]

Definitely a wise man. Those are words to live by!

I felt the same way in college (years ago), but it took a few years working full time (and growing in more senior roles) to gain the confidence to refocus on pursuing a career in medicine.

are many of you who posted here now married, kids , family, more responsibility. find that now maybe looking back you needed that time off for whatever reason to grow in other ways? and probably would not have made it through a medical education at that point..... (was, as they say timing is everything)

for those who are wondering, im a curious 24 yo who feels that right now med school is not right for me for some reason

 

[BallerinaDoc]

are many of you who posted here now married, kids , family, more responsibility. find that now maybe looking back you needed that time off for whatever reason to grow in other ways? and probably would not have made it through a medical education at that point..... (was, as they say timing is everything)

for those who are wondering, im a curious 24 yo who feels that right now med school is not right for me for some reason

I personally needed that time off to experience different things and determine if any other career would fullfill me in the same way that I though medicine might. You can always come back to this path even if it isn't right for you just now...

And yes, I have more responsibility in terms of school loans, etc....but I am not getting married for another 23 days

 

[pingouin]

I wanted to be a pediatrician from the time I was 7- mine was mean, and I was going to be a nice one. Entered a med scholars program in college, and elected to take accelerated general chem and bio (chem I/II in one semester, same with bio- they went lightning speed). Stupid decision for me, as I am kind of chem-challenged and did not do well (did fine in bio). At 18, this felt like the end of the world, so I got out. My pre-med advisor gave me some really good advice about finding a new field, and I pursued my bachelors and masters, and have been working in that field for almost 10 years.

I love what I do, and I will miss it, although I will be able to apply some of my current professional skills to medicine, so that makes it a little easier. I know people who were leaving my current field after a year or two, or never even working in it, and I couldn't understand that- I said that I wouldn't leave unless something really came up and hit me in the face. In stepped medicine again... Once the seed was planted, I couldn't get it out of my head. I made the decision to go back to school for multiple reasons- both professional and personal- and am glad, but admittedly a bit scared. I started out by re-taking bio I, kind of like sticking my big toe into the pool to see if it was safe. Loved it, so I've continued on. Perhaps pediatrics, perhaps not.

to everyone on here- your stories are interesting and inspiring

oh- and to toss in- I have retaken bio I/II and chem I/II for several reasons- first, especially in bio, things have changed a LOT in the last 15 years- it was very different. Second, I practically failed chem the first time (lowest C possible, and that was a generous gift), so I knew I hadn't actually learned it and needed to do that. And third, on my undergrad transcript, they appear as 1 class worth 5 credit hours each- which means it would look to all med schools (except my ugrad's school) as if I only took one semester of each. (And they don't even offer them anymore due to the difficulty of the class.)

 

[defboy]

I started college at 22. I had just married and I was playing football for the college and working pt. Needless to say I pulled out the first year on probation and quit football. My wife and I had our first child at the beginning of my second year. My wife quit work and stayed home so I entered a trend of going 12-15 hours a term-dropping 6-9 hours and bombiong the other 6 or so. My gpa-2.6 with 6 F's; amazing it is still that high. My family and I moved back to our home state-Whoo Pig Sooie! and I started school again and we had a our second child and I'm working fulltime again-it seems like a vicious cycle. I sometimes feel like it will never happen. At 27-I feel like I'm getting left behind-school is hard to do with a 1 month old, 3 year old and a beautiful fully supportive wife at home; but they are also the reason I'm going through it. It all matters what we allow to be our motivation-even if it is just $$$,$$$ or saving someones maligned foot or seeing a baby born.
ps. good luck and Iknow I not a composition stud. Lord love ya-devil miss ya.

 

[t-funk]

There is absolutely no way I could have survived med school at 22 years old or even have been mature enough to know why I was doing it in the first place. And I feel like I was exceptionally mature for my age!! I had my first son after my sophomore year of college, took a year off and re-composed myself. I graduated with two bachelors and a minor in just six years out of high school probably without ever picking up a book to study, maintaining a 3.6 GPA, working 30+ hours a week, and raising a child diagnosed as autistic. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing or what I wanted to do or how to study and work for something important. I had no financial or emotional support from my family as they had never been to college and knew nothing about the real world.
It took working full-time, going to graduate school 1/2 to 3/4 time, raising 2 children and a hell of a lot of growing up to learn how to prioritize and study and work for something important because none of that was taught while I was growing up. I still have no idea how people know they want to do medicine at 20 years old and really don't explore any other avenues. That would have never worked for me.
On a side note, I am so glad medical schools take into consideration disadvantaged backgrounds. I really, really think there are some things about life you can't learn in a book and that real world knowledge should be rewarded!!!! Sorry if this is a stupid post. Please don't get mean like they do on the MD forum!!

 

[Skaterbabe74]

are many of you who posted here now married, kids , family, more responsibility. find that now maybe looking back you needed that time off for whatever reason to grow in other ways? and probably would not have made it through a medical education at that point..... (was, as they say timing is everything)

for those who are wondering, im a curious 24 yo who feels that right now med school is not right for me for some reason

Well I'm not married and I don't have any kids but yeah I definitely needed the time to grow up and learn how to prioritize my dreams. I've pretty much taken classes since graduating high school (other than the 4 years I worked full-time) but I was so lost about who I was that I couldn't get myself to do anything that involved academics well. Give me the artistic stuff (ie. dance classes, theater classes) and I could do fine. i'd show up, do my work, progress immensely well. But give me anything remotely academic whether it be a science, math, or core ed requirement and I couldn't get myself to do the work. I also really had no idea how to live on my own. I wasn't exactly spoiled growing up, but I didn't know how to cook, how to do laundry, how to budget money. I had to learn those things (not that I always succeed at them now, but I do understand how to do them now). I had to learn that my artistic dreams weren't realistic enough for making a living and give those up in favor of the dreams that would mean success career-wise. I also needed to make friends that actually pushed me to want to do well academically.

I have those things now. While I deifnitely wish I had been able to focus better on academics at 18-22 I don't regret following my artistic dreams. I needed those things just as much as I needed to learn how to live, how to study, how to succeed academically. I'm a mutt. I am extremely artistic/emotional but I am also extremely analytical and love science. If I had been focused back then I wouldn't be who I am today, and while my life is nowhere near perfect now overall I am satisfied with how I've turned out.