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[ivorywhisper]

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Hello everyone,

Ive been a lurker for a few months, around the time I decided on becoming a doctor. Im 25 years old and a biochemistry major. Im about a year and a half away from my bachelor's. I LOVE school and science. (a big dork, I know!). However, due to some financial reasons, I had to take a break from my undergrad and had to work full time and couldn't afford to go to school. I was able to go back to school last semester and I had to keep working full time. I was very nervous about it but I still was able to keep a 4.0.

The original idea (from years ago) when I first picked my major in college was to go into research and cure cancer or aids. However, when I went to college this year, something started not sitting right with me, with the idea of just doing research and it kept bothering me, so much so that I wasn't even sure about my major. A lot of it probably had to do with my current job, and the fact that I interact with different people everyday and I realised that I would miss that...and then, I don't know why, but I just saw myself being a doctor and it made sense. I don't know how else to explain it! Ive been reading about it, ordered some MCAT study material and Ive been reading these forums, trying to get into everyone's head to figure out if medicine is really for me! I do have my moments when I have doubts- is that normal or would I have absolutely zero doubt if it was right for me? Anyway, thanks for reading/listening!

 

[OpusPocus]

When I make the right decision, it generally just feels right. The converse is true as well for me.

As I let the idea sink in, that "just feels right" sensation got louder.

I'm a fairly risk averse individual and have really surprised myself with respect to changing from a cushy career for one I'm not even guaranteed entry into.

 

[montessori2md]

I would point out that research does not necessarily equate with staying away from humans. If you are really science/research oriented, there are ways to use that without becoming a lab rat. I would visit with some of your friendly neighborhood academic science types and talk with them about your feelings, in addition to exploring the MD thing. That said, there is plenty of room for research/science in MD world.

Myself, if I were super science oriented (which I'm not, by MDschool standards), I'd be shopping around every medical instrument manufacturer and research project I thought was cool and finding out what their backgrounds/salaries/lifestyles were like.

 

[dragonfly99]

ivory,
Yes, I think it is normal to still have some doubts. Also, I think for most people, there are multiple occupations/career paths that we could have chosen and probably have been happy and been good at them. For example, I thought of being a physical therapist, high school biology teacher, or scientist with a MS or PhD, in addition to doing medicine. I think you are doing some of the right things to explore this. However, I do think you need to get yourself set up with a hospital volunteer gig and/or shadow some physicians. If you call your local or state medical society, they might be able to suggest some physician(s) for you to shadow. You might be able to find out from your university, and/or other premeds, whether there are any local hospital(s) that are good places to volunteer.

 

[ivorywhisper]

Thanks for the replies guys!

I actually got in touch with the local hospital and I start shadowing next week! I work 40 hours a week, and being back in school, leaves very little time to shadow and volunteer. (I wonder what it will be like when I have to add "study for MCATs to my list) Anyway, I took my last final today (yes, I go to school on Saturdays!) and Im looking forward to shadowing over the summer!

I also looked at some overseas volunteering/shadowing. I haven't really researched this a lot but I would definitely like to have that experience. My job will probably let me have some time off to do that but I'd have to figure out how to fund a trip like that as well as keep paying my current bills.