How and when did you know...

[OrangeBlood04]

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that medicine was right for you? This is probably geared more towards those who have been through school or residency, but I want to know when the light went off in your head to tell you that "yes. this is what i want to do for the rest of my life."

I currently am 25 years old and have a very solid job with an amazing company but find myself bored-a LOT. I have always had an interest in helping people, making a difference, etc, etc but just have held back from pursuing it b/c of the time commitment and thoughts of failure. Life is too short (or perhaps more appropriate-too long-to do something you hate your whole life), but I want to KNOW that this is the profession for me before jumping in with two feet and finding out third year of med school that i made a mistake.

Any advice, tips, etc you can provide would be greatly appreciated. What things did you recognize in yourself and in the field that made you KNOW that this is what you wanted to do and that you'd be successful at it?

Thanks so much in advance.

 

[Buckeye4life]

Hi Orangeblood. Btw, what does your screen name mean? Are you from Florida? Nevermind. I would first and foremost know yourself and what you do well. This will take some serious time and self reflection. A few books I would highly recommend are The Purpose Driven Life, Your Best Life Now, and Cure for the Common Life. All three books help you see the big picture, recognize your strengths, weaknesses, and guide you in the direction you are suppose to go. Also, I don't know if one can actually Know if you should pursue medicine. For me I felt a calling to enter, but I still had doubts, especially as the first day of med school approached. I think you have to take some things on faith that this is what you're suppose to do, and in my experience if it's meant to be the doors will continue to open or close. Good luck with your decision, and again, I would highly recommend reading a couple of the above books.

 

[njbmd]

that medicine was right for you? This is probably geared more towards those who have been through school or residency, but I want to know when the light went off in your head to tell you that "yes. this is what i want to do for the rest of my life."

January of the year that I finished defending my dissertation for my Ph.D.

 

[PT2MD]

Hi Orangeblood. Btw, what does your screen name mean?

I'm betting he/she is a fellow Longhorn? Class of '04? If so, I'm UT Class of 94. If not, please disregard the ramble.

EDIT: I knew when I was practicing for five years and discovered I could be doing even more for my patients than physical therapy could allow. I still have the ability and fire for learning more. I was headed for my doctorate in physical therapy (Ph.D. not DPT). I figured if I'm going to earn a doctorate, why not in something that would broaden my scope of practice? Here I is...

 

[Beau Geste]

I've always been attracted to medicine but for different reasons never went the traditional route.

I KNEW it was time to throw caution to the wind when doing my PhD research with aphasia. Lots of time with neurology stuff and my interests headed away from what I was originally doing.

So I dropped my doctoral studies for the chance to pursue new doctoral studies in medicine. Let's hope it was a fruitful decision!

 

[QofQuimica]

I'm betting he/she is a fellow Longhorn? Class of '04? If so, I'm UT Class of 94. If not, please disregard the ramble...

Could still be a Gator; UF's colors are orange and blue.

OP, what makes you think I've decided what I want to do for the rest of my life even now???

Ok, so seriously, the short story is that I've thought about med school on and off since HS. My dad is a DO, so I grew up around it. I wound up getting engaged in college and went to grad school with my ex instead of med school. Fast forward a decade, I've gotten my PhD, my ex is out of the picture, and now here I am, in med school. Shoulda done an MD/PhD in the first place, but I'm getting there in the end. 🙂

My advice to you is to spend some time shadowing and/or volunteering in clinical settings. See how you like it. If you think there are some other things you might want to do with your life, try those out too. You'll figure something out. And I don't think you can know as an M3 if you hate medicine. You might hate every second of med school (we all hate it at least sometimes!), but being a med student is not the same as being a physician. The nice thing about an MD/DO is that it's a super flexible degree. You can practice, do research, consult, go into administration, run for Congress, write novels, whatever you want. I don't think there are too many other degrees that give you the kind of career flexibility that an MD/DO gives you.

to you with your decision.

 

[OrangeBlood04]

Well I had just written out about a four paragraph reply and then it said I wasn't logged in..which I totally was-bogus!
Anyways, thank you all for the wonderful replies. In reference to my screenname, I am neither a gator, nor a longhorn..i am, in fact, a cowboy!(2 business degrees from oklahoma state)

I have always been interested in medicine-even at a very young age and have even shadowed for two weeks (one week before college and another just last year). Ithink my attraction to medicine revolves around several things: helping people, working/interacting with people every day, making people feel better and laugh, working with my hands, something new every day, never being bored, making a difference in someone's life and the world, etc. These are some of the reasons why it's easy to come back to medicine as a solution-but I wonder if I would have these thoughts if I wasn't so bored with my first two corporate jobs.

I think the thing that has kept me from just jumping in with two feet have been the whole long time commitment deal (I know, I know, I'll be 35-37 either way, whether I do medicine or not but it is still daunting), fear of failure, fear of being 8 years down the road thinking to myself "gee, I don't like this any better than my last jobs" and finally what kind of effect school and residency and potential long hours as a physician will have on my future wife (probably get married in 2 years) and kids as family is very important to me? I do plan on shadowing some more doctors this fall when I have some time off and am going to take a couple of science courses (biology for sure) and volunteer at a children's hospital(though this would be more just brightening patients days rather than actual medicine-but still should be good).

Keep the thoughts coming and again, I really do appreciate them all. Sorry so long.

 

[OrangeBlood04]

I am going to shamelessly bump this back up to see if anyone else has any input...
Thanks again in advance.

 

[DrMidlife]

I'm in the middle of applying, after giving up pretty much everything to do medicine. The "everything" I gave up includes my cushy lucrative 15 year engineering career, my big charming beautiful old sun-filled house, a couple of friendships, my waistline, my financial stability, my confidence, and my spending habits. I'm literally going for broke.

Which is nerve-wracking. Obviously. The only thing I can think of that would be MORE nerve-wracking would be if I was absolutely, definitively certain that medicine is truly deeply honestly what I want to do. Don't get me wrong, I'm quite certain that I want to spend the rest of my life providing medical care with the high-but-limited degree of autonomy that an MD or DO has, and I'm quite willing to work my fanny off and be very uncomfortable and often miserable on the way there, and meanwhile, before I'm halfway through I'll be crippled by debt. But UTTERLY certain? Hardly. At this point in my life I know myself (and my neuroses) well enough to know better than to be utterly anything about anything.

2 years ago, when I started my postbac, the level of certainty I had was this: I could think of nothing cooler to do for the rest of my life than medicine, in the wake of making a final decision to not have kids (I was 39 and single). I read physician memoirs and policy studies voraciously, I harassed every MD I knew, and I consulted my mentors and tried hard to eliminate medicine as a possibility. The primary alternative at that point was teaching: I'm much more certain that I'd be a great teacher than a great doctor, but teaching as a career doesn't have the same appeal as medicine, for a variety of reasons.

So now, with a ton of money and time and emotion sunk into the attempt to do medicine, my enthusiasm hasn't waned. But I understand the risks and the downside much better. I'm still quite infatuated with the ideal of medicine, but reality has seeped in. I now view it more as a preferable arena in which to play the game of managing frustration and disillusionment that goes on in every arena. I don't know if this makes any sense to anybody else, and it probably sounds really cynical and pessimistic, but to me it resonates.

And most recently, I found myself quite willing to pursue DO. This was a big surprise. Two years ago I wasn't willing to give everything up for osteo, but I WAS willing for an MD. Now I don't care: I just want to be a doctor.

Whew, that was kinda cathartic. Carry on.

 

[montessori2md]

I knew when I was brave enough to suggest med school to my husband.

I thought I was wrong after my first organic quiz 🙂

I knew after my first few volunteer shifts, when my pts would tell me what specialty they thought I should choose, and tell me things like "tiene una cara" -literally, you have a face, but in the context, saying I looked like I would be a good MD.

Later, when nurses would ask me to help them out with this or that, and tell me that I looked like I belonged here.

When I told my parents, and they didn't think I was nuts.

But before all of that, there was the intellectual part of it, which for me was a lot of researching different careers and deciding which one was the one I wanted. Lots of jobs allow you to be "doctor like" without the debt or work that the MD entails, but I (and I am sure I will have many days when I will regret this) want the yucky, studying, indentured servitude aspect of the MD. It's sick, but that's the way it is.

 

[sandst]

Orangeblood, I could have practically written your post myself. I am 32 and have that same fear. All I have known for sure in my life is what I definitely don't want to do and that I was meant to be a mom. Now, I have a 1 year old, a decent job, but I know I can do more. I have considered lots of things, but nothing ever seems to feel right. I have big problems with everything I consider. So, do you just have to jump in and do it to find out? I think to a certain extent that is true. No one ever really knows for sure about a situation until they are in that situation. You just have to be willing to take the risk. And trust me, I have done the soul searching career tests, and skill analyzing, but I am still not convinced of anything. Right now, my biggest challenge is how I can go back to school with a family to take care of, then end up with a job that isn't so demanding that I will never see my family! (Note: I am considering a career in Audiology, not MD.) But, I am beginning to learn that I have to lower my expectations a bit - the perfect job I have been waiting for simply does not exist!🙂

 

[foreverLaur]

I've known since I was 4 - seriously. However, I chose to pursue business because medicine didn't fit in with any of my other life goals. After working for Ernst & Young as an auditor and various other business jobs, I realized that i wouldn't be happy unless I pursued medicine.

 

[PTtoMD]

For me, it was in the back of my mind for years. I kept writing it off as me having an issue with never being satisfied or something. I worked hard to get my PT degree. I remember sitting a year after i graduated and not allowing myself to start looking into med schools on the computer. I told myself i was being ridiculous and to push aside the thoughts. They persisted. I never told anyone except my spouse. A decade later, the thoughts are more present then ever. Over the past year i would literally get a pit in my stomach when i spoke to anyone at work that was on the med school track. I wanted so much to be on that path. Often, people would mistake me in the elevator as a 'doctor' (a lab coat confuses everyone!). I always corrected them but that pit would come back as i said 'oh i am a physical therapist not a doctor'.I

The other big turning point, was having a baby. I realized that having a child was/is the most wonderful thing in the world but it didn't replace my other life aspirations. I used to think that when i had a child, it would result in me having no interest in my career. The opposite is true. I want to set an example for my daughter to follow her dreams. I realized that being happy as a person and happy with my life choices will make me a better mother. I didn't want to be unhappy with myself in 10-20 years saying if only i had.....
In January someone gave me that you'll either be 50 and a doctor or 50 and not a doctor line and it hit home!
The big change is that recently i started to share my dream with friends and family. To my surprise, they are not that shocked and seem pretty supportive. Talking about it makes it more real. As i said in another post, over the past year my thoughts have changed from 'will i ever do this' to 'when will i do this'. This has been liberating....sorry to ramble!

 

[whitequote]

hei i got the same problem🙁 Im currently 20 and taking up Accounting because this is the education my parents want me to pursue. Im thinking to finish accounting first so that I got an undergrad degree then after that I'll think about med school but the problem is by the time I am done with accounting maybe I am already 24 by then! I am a female! do you think that's too old to consider med school?? How old are medical students by the way?? how old are they when they enter med school?

 

[foreverLaur]

hei i got the same problem🙁 Im currently 20 and taking up Accounting because this is the education my parents want me to pursue. Im thinking to finish accounting first so that I got an undergrad degree then after that I'll think about med school but the problem is by the time I am done with accounting maybe I am already 24 by then! I am a female! do you think that's too old to consider med school?? How old are medical students by the way?? how old are they when they enter med school?

not too old at all. i think that is the average age. you are never too old to pursue your dream.

 

[Nasem]

Alright,
August 2007, I had just turned 25, I was in the I.T industry for approx 2 years then, and I was making 60k per year (plus full benefits and 2 or 3 weeks of paid vacation per year)........ Man I'll tell you I had it all, I started working for my company for 35k (after 4 Promotions), started making 60k which means I was GOOD at my job, my managers loved me, my company loved me, and I wanted out...

Not many people today understand my position, and explaining to them that I simply don't want to sit at a computer desk for 8 or 10 hers per day for 40 to 50 hrs per week is not what I want to do..... I wanna be out there, I wanna interact with people on a personal level and be able to provide something back.... Its a good feeling when your good at your job, but its even a better feeling when your good at your job and your job is helping others.... Personally, I think I can be a good doctor (MD or DO) and the harsh medical student's life / the pre-med admissions process / and the residency on-night duties are all worth it.

 

[NonTradMed]

How did I realize that I wanted to do medicine? When I couldn't stop thinking about it and being envious about friends who were in the field. I was also in IT programming away with good salary, benefits etc but I realized I couldn't do this forever and I became obsessed with finding something else that I had a passion for. I kept on wistfully thinking about medicine and comparing all the other job options back to medicine, and that was how I realized that medicine may be the career that I should opt for.

In my opinion, if you can crack open the MCAT book and really be earnst and disciplined about studying it, that shows dedication to the field. Also, shadow doctors, and look into other careers as well (law/business/dentistry/pharm/etc). Make sure medicine cannot be substituted by anything else and this isn't a passing fancy or an excuse to avoid a hated job. If you can't imagine doing anything else but med school, and you can show that dedication by working hard to achieve that goal, then medicine is for you. If you find other fields that are of equal interest, way out your options and see which better fits your goal.