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01futuremd

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I know why I want to be a doctor, but I don't know whether I should give up a more sure thing (I recently found out I got accepted to a very good law school) in order to do it. I'm not exactly stellar at science, though I think that with hard work I can do it. Its pretty much time for me to make a decision and I'm sort of freaking out. How have people convinced themselves to make a leap of faith and do postbac?

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I know why I want to be a doctor, but I don't know whether I should give up a more sure thing (I recently found out I got accepted to a very good law school) in order to do it. I'm not exactly stellar at science, though I think that with hard work I can do it. Its pretty much time for me to make a decision and I'm sort of freaking out. How have people convinced themselves to make a leap of faith and do postbac?

If you have to "convince" yourself of anything, you are barking up the wrong tree...
 
maybe convince was the wrong word- I'm just pretty scared to try to succeed at science when I haven't taken science classes since high school, and I'm wondering how people know that they want to be doctors? I get the sense that lots of people on this board initially had other plans and then decided to go into medicine, but what made you make that sort of jump, and how did you get over being scared to go into something fairly unknown (except for maybe volunteer experience that you have, which I also have)?
 
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I agree with postbacker, I think most people just 'know' that they want to be involved in medicine, and once you realize that then it has to be about having enough faith and self confidence that you'll eventually achieve that goal. Why exactly do you want to be a doctor? I'd ask myself if my reasons weren't things that could be accomplished just was well with a law degree (if you want to help people, make their lives better, etc.). Also, how good of a law school are you talking about? I don't know much about law school admissions, but there are a considerable amount of them, so are you talking ivy league, top 50?. I think if you've worked hard to get into a good law school, you would really have to have a burning desire to be a physician to start all over again...and remember that with med school you have to consider not only all of the time getting your degree, but also the minimum 3 years residency or more afterward before you're really able to be on your own...If you really feel like medicine is for you, then go for it, but there's definitely a lot to consider there...
 
are you willing to go through all the hoops just to get into medicine, especially when you already have an admission at a good law school? you'd have to apply to a post-bacc program, write the mcat, and do the whole amcas deal. if i were you, i'd go with law school, i mean, there must have been some motivation for applying to it in the first place?
 
It's not about doing anything to "get over" your fear. It's about acknowledging that feeling and moving forward anyway if it's the right path for you. The answer is very personal and very gut level. Picture yourself 10-15 years from now as a doctor, as a lawyer, and as whatever else you might be interested in. Which path resonates with you? That's your answer.

As to the difficulty of science -- it's more a question of hard work. If you're ready to bust you a$$, you'll do just fine in your pre-med and med school classes. It's definitely a lot of work, but it ain't rocket science.;)
 
my advice (from someone who went to law school and now is interested in med school) would be to try to defer the offer of admission from the law school for a year while you think more seriously about both options. an acceptance to a top law school may lead to many great options in law. However, if you ultimately decide you want to do medicine, then it may be much more complicated to go back to school again.
law school may not be as grueling as med school or as hard to get in to- but it is three years of expenses and definitely not a cakewalk either. i wouldn't do it if i wasn't more certain that you definitely wanted to pursue law as a career as opposed to medicine.

Good luck with your decision!
 
Hello,

I empathize. I am in the same boat, but opposite you. I have wanted to do medicine and public health work, but now I am leaning towards JD/MPH rather than MD/MPH.

Let's switch! :)


naw, seriously: Do what you really want to do. I'ts okay to change career choices and don't let any factors get you down. Unless you are like 50 years old, I'd do what I want instead of regretting it later on in life.
 
well, its a top three law school, so its a pretty great opportunity. Having to jump through all the "hoops" would definitely not be fun, especially since there are no guarantees like there are for law school (even people at the bottom of the class at top schools get great jobs). Would it be crazy to go to law school and then do a postbac? Should I even go to law school if I'm thinking about a postbac now? Ugh, thank goodness there's only so much more of this before I send my deposit somewhere!
 
well, its a top three law school, so its a pretty great opportunity. Having to jump through all the "hoops" would definitely not be fun, especially since there are no guarantees like there are for law school (even people at the bottom of the class at top schools get great jobs). Would it be crazy to go to law school and then do a postbac? Should I even go to law school if I'm thinking about a postbac now? Ugh, thank goodness there's only so much more of this before I send my deposit somewhere!

i don't think it's crazy to go to law school and then do a postbac. this part of the forum is dedicated to career changers. it's just hard to imagine though what new experiences you might encounter during law school that would influence ur decision to go into medicine, maybe besides the fact that studying the law and practicing it is a huge grind.

realistically, what could happen in ur next three years of law school that would change ur mind right now about pursuing medicine? i guess if u fit in some kind of clinical experience somewhere, but usually, law students do externships during their summers, with their 2nd summer leading to their job upon graduation. so, hard to imagine fitting in some meaningful medical-related experience.

maybe ur feeling of being a doctor might fester during the next three years of law school, and u just can't take it anymore, and u take the plunge to pursue medicine.

whatever the case, more likely than not, if ur waiting to see how ur feelings about medicine might change during ur studying of the law, u already have the experiences right now to help u figure out ur feelings about medicine. i guess now, it's just a matter of feeling it.
 
I went to a Top 10 law school and worked at a big DC law firm for several years before starting the path to medical school. I would also defer the admission and figure out what you really want to do. Hopefully, my story will save you some time and big $$$$.

In undergrad, I was premed but took the path of least resistence and focused on my partying and figured out it was easier to get decent grades in my writing classes than my science classes, so I went prelaw. I even worked as a paralegal at a DC firm to figure out what working at a big firm would be like before I went to law school. It wasn't great, but not bad either. So I go to law school, get a job at the firm I wanted to work for making a lot of money.

Big law firm life is not a cake walk. After trying to stick it out b/c I had invested three years of my life to law school and law school loans, I finally figured out I couldn't take it any more. The money just wasn't worth it anymore, it was making me miserable. Don't have any illusions that if you work at a big firm you are doing anything besides shuffling papers all day. The first couple of years will be spent doing that very special hell known as document review. Very little client contact if any. You'll be lucky if as a 6th year you ever step foot in a court room, let alone do a deposition by yourself. Forget about making partner,chances are very slim. Don't even get me started on the political BS that also comes w/ working at a big firm. Do you like accounting for every 15 or 10 minutes of your day? How do you feel about not being able to go on vacation b/c you had a slow month but must now pimp yourself like crazy to find work anywhere in the firm so you can make your billable hours for the year (B/c you are at the office 12 hours a day does not mean you can bill 12 hours a day. Try more like 9 hours) Do you like working with passive agresssive and sometimes just mean partners that totally control your fate at the firm. Then biglaw firm life is for you!

Luckily, I got instate tuition and I lived at home for a while so I was not saddled by six figure law school debt like a lot of my friends. They simply do not have the option of opting out of big firm life if they want to pay back that debt.

So unless you are getting a scholarship to law school, figure out what would happen if you end up going to law school and hate being a lawyer w/ 6 figure debt. (I'm assuming you got into Harvard, Yale or Stanford, in which case it will definitely be 6 figures w/o scholarships). Also, don't believe the BS that you can do anything w/ a law degree, not true. It's very hard to transition out of the law especially if you need to make a certain salary b/c of law school debt and people always wonder why you would take the step back from law especially if you are willing to start at the bottom in a field you have no experience in.

If you haven't worked at a law firm, it might be worth trying that out but for me, being a paralegal did not give me a very good picture of what associate life was like although it helped with understanding the big firm law culture.

I think it would be important for you to take the year off and figure out what you really wanted and instead of wasting 3 years or more and realizing this is not at all what you want to do. I hope this helps you in your decision. Good luck!
 
Thanks for the info, law2doc. While I already know I don't want to work in biglaw, my concern is more about (simplistic though it sounds) how I can help people best. I am detail-oriented, and think I could definitely be a nerd about science if I put my mind to it, but I wonder if I could work as a doctor within a system that I see a lot of flaws with- in other words, whether as a lawyer with a public health masters, I would be in a better position to change things like the ability of people with low income to access the best doctors/treatment, or increasing the influence of ethics committees in hospitals, etc. I am concerned about loans that will undoubtedly be in the six figures, but the school I got into will pay my loans for me if I do something public-interest oriented that makes under something like 80,000 a year, so the question is more one of whether I want to dedicate myself to changing things through the law or becoming a doctor and attempting to change things from within the system (which I increasingly feel is impossible to do). I do think I would enjoy being a doctor, but the chance of dedicating 8+ years to becoming one only to find that the profession is in need of many changes that I cannot make as a physician scares me. Thoughts?
 
Thanks for the info, law2doc. While I already know I don't want to work in biglaw, my concern is more about (simplistic though it sounds) how I can help people best. I am detail-oriented, and think I could definitely be a nerd about science if I put my mind to it, but I wonder if I could work as a doctor within a system that I see a lot of flaws with- in other words, whether as a lawyer with a public health masters, I would be in a better position to change things like the ability of people with low income to access the best doctors/treatment, or increasing the influence of ethics committees in hospitals, etc. I am concerned about loans that will undoubtedly be in the six figures, but the school I got into will pay my loans for me if I do something public-interest oriented that makes under something like 80,000 a year, so the question is more one of whether I want to dedicate myself to changing things through the law or becoming a doctor and attempting to change things from within the system (which I increasingly feel is impossible to do). I do think I would enjoy being a doctor, but the chance of dedicating 8+ years to becoming one only to find that the profession is in need of many changes that I cannot make as a physician scares me. Thoughts?

I don't know much about law school or law as a profession, but I am currently a Peace Corps Volunteer, so I have a few things to say about following your desire to help people. My guess is that no matter where you work, no matter what the profession, you will be working in a system with flaws. Your ability to instigate change will always be limited because this change will always involve the cooperation and shared vision of other people. They may not agree about what should be changed or how it should be changed, they may not have the experience or resources or skills to change, and they may not even agree that change needs to take place. Helping people doesn't always mean instigating change, either. You can also help people just by doing your job well, having a good attitude, and having integrity. In my experience as a PCV, these simple things go miles further than striving to be a change agent.

When I came to Bulgaria two years ago, I was really frustrated and angry for a long time because I saw so many things that I wanted to change. But the challenge of working in a flawed system is not as easy as making changes. The challenge is finding your place in the chaos, and doing what you can do to instigate change from that place.

Maybe it sounds too simple, but my advice to you is to do what you want. Choose the job you want to do every day. What does a lawyer do on a daily basis? What does a doctor do on a daily basis? Do the more interesting one. Just choose and do it well. Don't make the choice based on where the greatest need is, or on where you potentially have the greatest influence because those things will always be at least partly outside of your control. And besides, a change that's positive for one is sometimes negative for another. I'm not saying that trying to instigate change or helping people are futile goals (I have the same goals!), but based on my experience here, I really think that you will be most helpful to people and ultimately have the greatest influence by choosing the best thing for you, doing it well, and having integrity.
 
Sorry, I assumed you wanted to do biglaw. Here are my thoughts on getting a non-profit legal job. The top three schools do have great loan repayment programs but honestly even from a top school non profit jobs are hard to find. The reason most people end up in biglaw jobs is b/c they are so much easier to get and much more plentiful. Its all done on campus and you don't even send out any resumes or cover letters. It's also fairly easy to get a government job straight out of school, usually through the department's honors program. If you worked for a while after graduating, its actually really hard to get a government job unless you know someone. Keep in mind that non profits do not have huge budgets so they can't have large legal staffs. They simply don't have a resources to train people like firms or agencies so usually want people w/ experience. Either specific experience in the area that they focus on or general litigation experience, usually 2-3 year at a minimum. Most staff attorneys at these jobs have transitioned into these positions from other jobs.

I whole heartedly agree w/ what L Peterson said about working in a system w/ flaws. Rarely can one person make that large of an impact. Change happens very slowly. Even if you do policy work and advocate for changes in the law, think about how long it actually takes for a bill to become law. There are many factors and players driving these changes. Even the laws can present a challenge. A particular law might make sense 99% of the time but there might be instances where under certain facts, its the stupidest thing in the world. So basically, what I'm saying is don't think its any easier to change the world practicing law. If your goal however is to impact more people at once no matter how long it takes, law may ultimately be better b/c once a law or policy is changed it will affect a lot more people than treating individual patients. But this is a calculus you will have to solve for yourself.

Here are my reasons for why ultimately I decided medicine would be a better fit for me than the law in terms of wanting to make a difference and helping people. First, I've always enjoyed the sciences and am interested in its application to people. While law interested me from an intellectual standpoint, I found the actual practice to be very draining. I'm a very people oriented person and I need a job where I'm interacting w/ people on a daily basis. With the law you may be meeting clients occassionaly, but the bulk of your time is spent in front of the computer researching and writing memos and briefs. Also with the law, change is slow and sometimes it can take months even years for a case to come to a conclusion. When you are with a patient and treating the disease, it may take months or even years for the condition to be cured or managed but at least you can see some immediate response from the course of treatment, whether it is making them better or sometimes worse. With the law, I hated feeling like ultimately my work didn't matter. Sometimes if I wrote a memo or a brief, I would never find out what happened to it. Did it ultimately get filed and if it did it would take months for a resolution. Or sometimes you would be arguing about some small discovery matter and it would go back and forth and ultimately it wouldn't even matter b/c it doesn't advance the merits of the case. Sometimes I'd want to scream at the parties to just be reasonable, but usually by the time a case comes to litigation the people are so entrenched in their positions they'll fight over the littlest thing. I found out I really didn't like the adversarial nature of the job.

For me working with patients every day and knowing that I can help them even in small way is the pay off I need to feel fulfilled in a job. I know that sometimes you might not be able to help all of them but at least I'd know I was actually doing something that was going to make a difference one way or the other.

Hope that helps. Sorry for the long post.
 
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