I am having trouble making the decision. I'm not too sure what I should do. I'm 23 years old and I have been thinking about doing this for a long time. If I do become a doctor I want to be a neurologist. The only problem that I have is the schooling. I don't know whether or not I can go to school for 10 to 12 years. I'm wondering whether or not anybody else has had this problem and if they have can you reason with me and talk to me about it. If I don't become a doctor I am 100% going to be going into the medical field. I'm just not sure if I can endure that much schooling, you know?
Having a hard time making a decision
- Thread starter Rysukosan
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2007
- Messages
- 4,379
- Reaction score
- 1,645
you might get an answer in the allopathic or one of the premed forums
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2005
- Messages
- 97
- Reaction score
- 2
If you truly are interested in medicine, then go for it. You are still very young. While the number of years can appear daunting, it should be the least of your worries. Focus on your passions. Why do you want to be a doctor? Why a neurologist? Why the medical field?
I started medical school when I was around your age as well. Ended up taking a year off after college to wrap up my neuro research and then left for med school. Four years of medical school goes by faster than you realize. Took another year off after graduation to finally finish off my projects and spend time with the family (ill family members). I am currently applying to neurology residencies and will be back at work by June next year.
I am now 27 and while I do wish I could be alongside my friends in the trenches of intern year, do I regret taking that time off? No.
I met some very extraordinary people that have shaped my perspective on patient care and what kind of doctor I will be in the future. My family has greatly appreciated my own time at home as well.
Several of my former classmates had different lives before medical school. Some were already parents. Some were military and a few were models. This group started medical school in their early thirties. My own mentor in neurology was a practicing lawyer before starting medical school.
Summary: Find out why you want to go into medicine, neurology, and health care. If those reasons and passions are strong enough, time will not matter (especially at your age). Best of luck!
Well first off the brain alone fascinates me to a level that nothing else in this world has or does. Medicine has intrigued me since I have been able to comprehend anything about it, I absolutely love the idea of spending my life helping people. I have looked into programs like floating doctors after I get my feet on the ground that kind of work is what I want to do. I want to make a difference in people's life. I have sat here and thought about it long and hard and literally the only thing that has held me back was the long schooling but I figure this is what I'm gonna be doing for the rest of my life and I don't want to just settle, you know?
Its not as long of actual "schooling" as you would think:
4 years of which are undergrad which the boring "schooling part" can be really cut down quite a bit if you do research which you get credit and paid for and can be loaded with fun horizon widening classes, and full course credits for tests (like for math) --> College is super fun and not boring. Everyone needs to go to college and before they hit 30.
First 2 years of medical school: SUCKS. BORING. Take a high school class on memorizing the phone book for the entire state of california for an example. Consider Prozac and Ritalin. PAINFULLY. BORING. -But- Thats all you do.
Last 2 years of medical school: Minimal studying (Like 1-2 Hours a day in 3rd year, this year I'm shooting for 5 hours a week of leisure studying lol). People around you are kinda grumpy and jaded and kinda money obsessed but overall not bad.
So if it's length of schooling, its bad, but not that bad so far.
Word of warning though: Make sure you know what you are getting into. Make sure you don't wanna help people more in some other way (Engineer, Scientist, Policy Maker, Economist, etc), and make sure you spend time shadowing and asking questions (so you know what you are signing up for).
I definitely want to help people in the medical sense, if I wasn't gonna do the doctor thing I would do nursing or something along those lines but it would just be settling and the only reason I didn't want to do the doctor thing is because of the schooling and it seems like a silly reason now.
Have you checked out PA or BSN programs? With all this midlevel stuff you can go pretty far too. An MD is solid, but the debt is killer (as is the BS with Medicare cuts, Obamacare, liability, etc). Idk what your financial situation is and what you want out of life outside of work (e.g. family, free time, etc). So it's something else to check out as you go through. Honestly, I don't think it's settling (ok, the BSN/DNP thing maybe 🙂...
But still an MD is a solid route. You don't have to do totally stellar in college - Worst case scenario you do a D.O. or IMG program. I think it's more important and profound that you have your heart in it and it sounds like you do!
Personally I'd say give it go then!! Have you taken the first step - Have you started? Sometimes it's the first step, getting the momentum is the hardest part. Are you in college yet?
Last edited:
- Joined
- May 23, 2010
- Messages
- 503
- Reaction score
- 11
there's also PT/OT/SLP which has more autonomy that it used to
HOWEVER regardless if you become a nurse, a doctor, a midlevel provider, or a therapist your length of education is going to be until you retire. You will eventually make more money than when you're solely in school and will study less, however you will have to do educational stuff to keep your license up in any of those fields, and also to keep yourself fresh and up with new developments in your field. If you like learning and you end up ina field that's interesting you might not even notice it because you'd be trying to learn about it anyway. The further along in your career you can also direct your own learning more, for example do you want to get your CME by doing posttests from journals? going to lectures? conferences? there's some room to tailor to what you like instead of in med school proper when people are telling you what and where to learn.
it doesn't take 10 years of school though even if you have no bachelors degree- 4 undergrad and 4 med school, residency in neurology is 4 years and yes you're training still but you are an actual doctor and depending on your residency can be functioning fairly independently
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2012
- Messages
- 37
- Reaction score
- 1
Don't worry about the schooling. Just figure out what you really want to do and don't let the education stand in the way. If you love neurology, shadow some doctors and even some neurological physical therapists, speech pathologists, etc. I was considering all these, but I was bored to death shadowing speech pathologists and physical therapists. That's why I chose medicine over the other options. The schooling is a bit daunting, but it's so worth it. Not everyone can be a dermatologist or CT surgeon, but anyone who can do well in college can become a doctor. Neurology is not a competitive field, and is in a bit of a short supply, so if it's what you really want to do, look at the schooling part as half the fun!
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2008
- Messages
- 255
- Reaction score
- 1
I think it's doable, it depends on how much you want it and are willing to work for it. Time-wise, undergrad in 3 years is completely doable; keep in mind a lot of it is stuff like English, Poly Sci, Women's Studies etc., at least at the beginning. I did it in 3 years and got through it.
If money is a concern, you can always go to a state university and supplement with taking some of the general ed courses at a community college, which would be cheaper. You don't necessarily have to start at a CC and then switch either; you can be taking online english or general ed classes at the CC while concurrently taking your Bio and Chem classes at the university.
First two years of med school were OK; the second year was much better than the first. I worked on the side (research, tutoring) which made it more interesting and fulfilling. Then you have to get through Step 1, which is tough, but if you plan well, it's again very plausible to get what you need to do neurology (ave score in the high 220's?). Definitely not easy by any means, but a little work every day for several months goes a long way.
Clinicals have been simultaneously much more interesting and boring (sounds paradoxical, but I mean at different times) than the first 2 years. Sometimes things move fast and are exciting, a lot of the time you're just waiting around--it's a roller coaster. Studying seems like it would be harder, because you have less time, but so far it's been easier. If you've done the first two years well, then you've laid the foundation and when you read, you keep having a voice go off in your head that says "Oh yeah, I remember that" or "That makes sense". You go a few steps further than you did the first two years, because you learn about diagnostic tests and treatment plans for diseases. The hardest part for me is learning clinical skills that only really are cemented with practice, which I feel I'm getting better at as time goes on. I don't want to understate it; it hasn't been easy for me, but I think I'm "staying afloat" and learning what I'm supposed to be.
I can't speak to residency, as I'm not there yet. But one thing you could try to do, aside from shadowing, is see if you can spend a day at a medical school in your area (assuming there is one) seeing what the first two years are like. We've had some undergrads sit in on our lectures and go through the day with us.
If money is a concern, you can always go to a state university and supplement with taking some of the general ed courses at a community college, which would be cheaper. You don't necessarily have to start at a CC and then switch either; you can be taking online english or general ed classes at the CC while concurrently taking your Bio and Chem classes at the university.
First two years of med school were OK; the second year was much better than the first. I worked on the side (research, tutoring) which made it more interesting and fulfilling. Then you have to get through Step 1, which is tough, but if you plan well, it's again very plausible to get what you need to do neurology (ave score in the high 220's?). Definitely not easy by any means, but a little work every day for several months goes a long way.
Clinicals have been simultaneously much more interesting and boring (sounds paradoxical, but I mean at different times) than the first 2 years. Sometimes things move fast and are exciting, a lot of the time you're just waiting around--it's a roller coaster. Studying seems like it would be harder, because you have less time, but so far it's been easier. If you've done the first two years well, then you've laid the foundation and when you read, you keep having a voice go off in your head that says "Oh yeah, I remember that" or "That makes sense". You go a few steps further than you did the first two years, because you learn about diagnostic tests and treatment plans for diseases. The hardest part for me is learning clinical skills that only really are cemented with practice, which I feel I'm getting better at as time goes on. I don't want to understate it; it hasn't been easy for me, but I think I'm "staying afloat" and learning what I'm supposed to be.
I can't speak to residency, as I'm not there yet. But one thing you could try to do, aside from shadowing, is see if you can spend a day at a medical school in your area (assuming there is one) seeing what the first two years are like. We've had some undergrads sit in on our lectures and go through the day with us.
Similar threads
