Hi - I am going to start an MD/PhD program this fall, and I am VERY excited about it. However, I keep having this nagging feeling that maybe I'm not doing the "right" thing, since I actually love wildlife more than people. The reason I applied MD PhD is because: (a) I volunteered in a vet clinic and I hated it (I love WILD life, not pets, and it disturbs me that people pay for their dogs to get chemo but my grandma died because she lives in a country where she couldn't pay for/access proper cancer treatment for a HIGHLY CURABLE form of cancer), (b) I shadowed human medicine doctors and thought it was fascinating, (c) I love research - I've been doing it for a few years now, (d) I can clearly envision a career for myself in human medicine/research focused on genetics that I think I will love.
HOWEVER, that being said...the thing I am the most passionate about more than anything else is trying to save the environment. This planet is amazing and I love ALL the life in it (yes humans, but even more so other animals, & plants, insects, microorganisms, etc.) It greatly depresses me that we are destroying the environment, especially with regard to climate change. The problem is, while I am very passionate about trying to stop climate change, I have NO IDEA how I would even begin to have a career in that arena! and I feel like any career I undertook would just frustrate me because I still wouldn't feel like I was doing "enough" since obviously one person alone cannot "solve" the problem. So what I am currently thinking is that I will do this MD/PhD, have my official career be in something that I love that I find intellectually fascinating and personally fulfilling, and then ALSO on the side be involved in some environmental groups. Or something. Also since I am especially interested in genetics, I see future possibilities where if I eventually wanted to really change my mind, I could easily switch from human genetics to the genetics of other species (since the types of computational methods are the same; I'm a programmer), or even work on bioremediation via genetically engineered bacteria. Anyway...that is my stream of consciousness...The question I am asking: Is all that stuff I just said okay? People always go on and on about 'pursue the ONE THING that is MOST important to you'...So is it "wrong" that I'm doing MD/PhD instead of becoming a full-time environmental activist?
HOWEVER, that being said...the thing I am the most passionate about more than anything else is trying to save the environment. This planet is amazing and I love ALL the life in it (yes humans, but even more so other animals, & plants, insects, microorganisms, etc.) It greatly depresses me that we are destroying the environment, especially with regard to climate change. The problem is, while I am very passionate about trying to stop climate change, I have NO IDEA how I would even begin to have a career in that arena! and I feel like any career I undertook would just frustrate me because I still wouldn't feel like I was doing "enough" since obviously one person alone cannot "solve" the problem. So what I am currently thinking is that I will do this MD/PhD, have my official career be in something that I love that I find intellectually fascinating and personally fulfilling, and then ALSO on the side be involved in some environmental groups. Or something. Also since I am especially interested in genetics, I see future possibilities where if I eventually wanted to really change my mind, I could easily switch from human genetics to the genetics of other species (since the types of computational methods are the same; I'm a programmer), or even work on bioremediation via genetically engineered bacteria. Anyway...that is my stream of consciousness...The question I am asking: Is all that stuff I just said okay? People always go on and on about 'pursue the ONE THING that is MOST important to you'...So is it "wrong" that I'm doing MD/PhD instead of becoming a full-time environmental activist?
