How do I know if Med School is the right choice?

[J_pharm]

.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[J_pharm]

TL;DR: becoming a physician was never a lifelong dream of mine, but something I started to think about doing as I gained more firsthand clinical experience as a pharmacist, and as I got more frustrated with the pharmacy profession. I am really passionate about healthcare and want to dedicate myself to making the healthcare system better, and it seems that becoming a physician is the best way to be able to do all that I can do in regards to that passion. I'm not 100% committed to the idea of going to med school, because of obvious reasons like the the investment in time, the financial cost, and the potential physical and mental health tolls of medical training. Any tips on figuring this out and building my confidence in making a decision one way or another, especially from other folks who made the switch from PharmD to MD, is greatly appreciated.

 

[Goro]

Start doing patient contact volunteer work (as in clinics, hospice, nursing homes, hospitals), shadowing some doctors and then see how you feel.

You will also need to decide if you're simply running away from Pharmacy, or running to Medicine.

 

[pms_testosterone]

Have you considered teaching at a pharm school as a clinical lecturer? Or becoming a science/healthcare writer in addition to your current job?

 

[J_pharm]

Start doing patient contact volunteer work (as in clinics, hospice, nursing homes, hospitals), shadowing some doctors and then see how you feel.

You will also need to decide if you're simply running away from Pharmacy, or running to Medicine.

Thanks for the response. I agree that volunteering and getting firsthand experience is one of the best ways to figure this out. I already have quite a bit of firsthand experience working with physicians (and some of my training was even done alongside medical residents), and I am not sure more experience will get me closer to making a decision. In fact, I currently work alongside physicians in my non-clinical job. I admire the knowledge and experience they have and how they apply it to the (non-clinical/non-direct patient care) work that we do together. I also know that their training enables them to assume leadership positions within the organization that are not necessarily impossible for me to make my way into, but it would be very difficult to prove myself capable. Honestly, I don't think I am capable with my pharmacy training. I keep coming to the conclusion that I have to pursue some additional training and redefine myself as something other than a pharmacist if I want to advance and have a more influential role in healthcare. The question I keep coming back to is if medical school will be the right way to redefine myself, or if maybe law school, a PhD in health policy, or something else altogether, is the better way to go... I am trying to figure out how I can do the most good and succeed in making meaningful improvements to the healthcare system.

I want to have the knowledge and experience to be able to assume positions of leadership within healthcare, and it seems that, reasonably so, it is difficult to become a leader in the healthcare field without going through the rigors of becoming a physician. I also have a strong curiosity for how the human body works (especially how the human brain works), and I would like to learn as much about medicine as I can. The part I struggle with is that I am not in love with the idea of performing medical procedures (hence the attraction to pharmacy to begin with). From my clinical experience (and general interests) so far, I am mainly interested in specialties that are not procedure-heavy, like psychiatry, neurology, or general preventive medicine. ETA: to clarify, I value having a strong clinical foundation and being able to work directly with patients and diagnose disease, but I do not have much interest in learning how to perform surgical procedures, and honestly I struggle with being up close with many physical manifestations of disease. Also, my passion is less fixing the day-to-day ailments that plague individual patients, but more developing solutions for larger scale disease prevention and population health problems.

I am not so much running away from pharmacy as much as I am wondering if I am wasting my potential. Pharmacy has been good to me; I've learned a lot, have had some good moments where I felt I was really able to help out a patient, and have made major contributions to some great research projects, policy decisions, etc. I have a really great job right now, but it's just not very fulfilling. I continue to have this nagging feeling that I am capable of doing more, and that I want to do more.

 

[J_pharm]

Have you considered teaching at a pharm school as a clinical lecturer? Or becoming a science/healthcare writer in addition to your current job?

I do precept pharmacy students and do a lot of education and training at my work. I enjoy doing all of those things, but the same issue keeps coming up - I feel too limited by having to focus on pharmacy and pharmacy-related topics, and am frustrated that I do not have the authority to speak about other areas of healthcare outside of pharmacy that are important to me. I haven't seriously done much science/healthcare writing outside of my job duties, and it might be worth a try, but I imagine I would hit similar roadblocks as teaching.

 

[Goro]

Working alongside of them is not exactly as seeing what a doctor's day is like, or seeing how different doctors approach the practice of Medicine.

I already have quite a bit of firsthand experience working with physicians (and some of my training was even done alongside medical residents), and I am not sure more experience will get me closer to making a decision. In fact, I currently work alongside physicians in my non-clinical job. I admire the knowledge and experience they have and how they apply it to the (non-clinical/non-direct patient care) work that we do together. I also know that their training enables them to assume leadership positions within the organization that are not necessarily impossible for me to make my way into, but it would be very difficult to prove myself capable. Honestly, I don't think I am capable with my pharmacy training. I keep coming to the conclusion that I have to pursue some additional training and redefine myself as something other than a pharmacist if I want to advance and have a more influential role in healthcare. The question I keep coming back to is if medical school will be the right way to redefine myself, or if maybe law school, a PhD in health policy, or something else altogether, is the better way to go... I am trying to figure out how I can do the most good and succeed in making meaningful improvements to the healthcare system.


What is this with the leadership business??? Medicine is about the patients, not about you. Wanting to be a leader in Medicine is a not a reason to become a doctor.
I want to have the knowledge and experience to be able to assume positions of leadership within healthcare, and it seems that, reasonably so, it is difficult to become a leader in the healthcare field without going through the rigors of becoming a physician.


Fine.
I also have a strong curiosity for how the human body works (especially how the human brain works), and I would like to learn as much about medicine as I can. The part I struggle with is that I am not in love with the idea of performing medical procedures (hence the attraction to pharmacy to begin with). From my clinical experience (and general interests) so far, I am mainly interested in specialties that are not procedure-heavy, like psychiatry, neurology, or general preventive medicine. ETA: to clarify, I value having a strong clinical foundation and being able to work directly with patients and diagnose disease, but I do not have much interest in learning how to perform surgical procedures, and honestly I struggle with being up close with many physical manifestations of disease.


Better to get an MPH, then.
Also, my passion is less fixing the day-to-day ailments that plague individual patients, but more developing solutions for larger scale disease prevention and population health problems.

I can't sugar coat this...I'm underwhelmed by this motivation. But see if it's still there after volunteering with patients.
I am not so much running away from pharmacy as much as I am wondering if I am wasting my potential. Pharmacy has been good to me; I've learned a lot, have had some good moments where I felt I was really able to help out a patient, and have made major contributions to some great research projects, policy decisions, etc. I have a really great job right now, but it's just not very fulfilling. I continue to have this nagging feeling that I am capable of doing more, and that I want to do more.

 

[MusicDOc124]

TLDR any of it - to answer the question of the title - med school is right if everything else is wrong.

 

[deleted831695]

It sounds like you want to be a leader in preventative medicine and health policy & management. An MPH/MBA seems more fitting, at least judging by your responses. Granted, you can use an MD or DO to go into other realms, but there are more direct paths.

 

[J_pharm]

Working alongside of them is not exactly as seeing what a doctor's day is like, or seeing how different doctors approach the practice of Medicine.

Definitely. I've been intentionally vague, but I have had extensive physician shadowing experiences in a variety of practice settings, as well as I've done a lot of work with patients. The reason I even started to seriously consider medicine was because of these experiences, and how much more I enjoyed the aspects of my training that were led by physicians. Either way, I am not disagreeing with you.

What is this with the leadership business??? Medicine is about the patients, not about you. Wanting to be a leader in Medicine is a not a reason to become a doctor.

Perhaps that was poor word choice... I definitely don't think wanting to be a leader means putting myself before patients. I've witnessed plenty of bad medicine in my career so far, and have often felt like there was only so much I could do within my role as the pharmacist on the healthcare team. A lot of times as a the pharmacist I felt like I was putting the breaks on bad medicine, correcting errors, preventing last minute mistakes - all things that are important - but I want to be in a more proactive position and less of a reactive one. I want to be better trained and better equipped to ensure patients receive good care. I also want to expand beyond managing drug therapy specifically.

Better to get an MPH, then.

Honest question - when would you steer a candidate towards medical school and a preventive medicine residency versus getting an MPH/DrPH?

I can't sugar coat this...I'm underwhelmed by this motivation. But see if it's still there after volunteering with patients.

I appreciate your honesty. If anything, you're indicating that I am doing a bad job communicating my experience and how much I care about the patients I've worked with, and that's good to know.

 

[J_pharm]

TLDR any of it - to answer the question of the title - med school is right if everything else is wrong.

It sounds like you want to be a leader in preventative medicine and health policy & management. An MPH/MBA seems more fitting, at least judging by your responses. Granted, you can use an MD or DO to go into other realms, but there are more direct paths.

Getting an MPH has definitely been on my radar. Maybe the best thing for me is to focus on that for now, and if I still feel like I can't do the work that I want to do (whatever that actually looks like), I can revisit the idea of med school. I'm just worried that I will end up regretting not biting the bullet and pursuing med school sooner rather than later. I've been thinking about med school for years and haven't been able to let it go. Maybe I should focus on studying for the MCAT and let my MCAT score decide for me, but that seems like a bit of a backwards way to go about it.

 

[Goro]

When I see people actually engage in these activities, rather than just express them as interests. Walk the walk, then talk the talk.

Honest question - when would you steer a candidate towards medical school and a preventive medicine residency versus getting an MPH/DrPH?

 

[ShinySephiroth]

Have you considered MD/PhD? The model is supposed to be 80% research and 20% patient work (though the actual working environment varies greatly from what I've read)

 

[pms_testosterone]

@J_pharm you got a GPA of 3.9. There's no way you're going to get an MCAT score low enough to hold you back.

Have you identified people with the type of career you'd like? It might help to take a look at the educational path they followed.

 

[J_pharm]

When I see people actually engage in these activities, rather than just express them as interests. Walk the walk, then talk the talk.

My problem is I've walked the walk (and continue to engage in activities even currently), and although there are a lot of things I enjoy about medicine and that keep me attracted to the idea of pursuing medical school, I still have a lot of ambivalence about choosing this path. A lot of it is self-doubt, fear, and wondering if my current feelings of unfulfillment require an internal solution rather than an external one. I don't really expect to find a solution to all this on an anonymous message board, but it's been helpful putting into words parts of my thought process and sharing it with strangers. I don't know if I did a good job articulating to you my dilemma, but thanks for taking the time to engage with me.

 

[J_pharm]

Have you considered MD/PhD? The model is supposed to be 80% research and 20% patient work (though the actual working environment varies greatly from what I've read)

I have glanced at MSTPs, but part of me wonders if I am "too old" at this point, as well as if I truly have the drive to pursue a PhD and an MD. Although it might be worth taking a more serious look into it, especially programs that offer PhDs in health policy or epidemiology... Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[J_pharm]

@J_pharm you got a GPA of 3.9. There's no way you're going to get an MCAT score low enough to hold you back.

Have you identified people with the type of career you'd like? It might help to take a look at the educational path they followed.

Thanks for the reassurance. And yes, pretty much all the people who have the type of career I'd like have gone to medical school... Most of them are not in clinical practice, or just do some clinical practice on the side, but their medical background has definitely landed them in some pretty cool public health and health policy jobs.

 

[futuremdforme]

Personally in your shoes, I would explore the options available with the PharmD unless you feel like medicine was your calling, and you pursued the pharmD because it seemed easier at the time. Financially, it will be a big hit to not have a salary for so long (perhaps double hit if your spouse has to take a lower paying job if you move). Unless you want the patient care, I find it hard to see how an MD will benefit you in the way you want, more than exploring PharmD options further.

 

[314117]

"I currently have a really great job: work/life balance is good, pay and benefits are great"

Stay with what you have. Forget trying to find your "passion" in your work. Very few people do.

To give up the stability you have, spend years of hundreds of thousands of dollars and endure years of pain, with no guarantee that you will ever find that stability again, or find your "passion" any more fullfilled at the end of the long, expensive, torturous road would be absolutely crazy to do.

Have kids, start some hobbies, read books. Go to work everyday so that you can have a nice life when you're not there. Find fullfillment in your life outside of work, like 99% of people do.

 

[Robbin]

If you really want to experience this thing you have to go to a hospital and observe the things happening there. If you are ok with this kindof environment then this field is good for you. A whole day your life consume only with patients. If you like kind of feeling then the medical field is good and have many advantages means you can care about your family very well in the difficult situation.
But some people not like the hospital environment this kind of situation the medical field is not good.

 

[Robbin]

Don't make your decision by watching someone's foot .keep in mind it's your life and career. Today's decision will make your future and in future, you have to the same thing whatever you choose today. If you are flexible with the medical field you can choose it happily. Because most of the people like to serve the patient. Their dream has to serve the patient in small village areas if you have some dream related to a medical field you can fulfil.
Thank You.

 

[RNtoMD87]

"I currently have a really great job: work/life balance is good, pay and benefits are great"

Stay with what you have. Forget trying to find your "passion" in your work. Very few people do.

To give up the stability you have, spend years of hundreds of thousands of dollars and endure years of pain, with no guarantee that you will ever find that stability again, or find your "passion" any more fullfilled at the end of the long, expensive, torturous road would be absolutely crazy to do.

Have kids, start some hobbies, read books. Go to work everyday so that you can have a nice life when you're not there. Find fullfillment in your life outside of work, like 99% of people do.

I disagree somewhat. I don't want kids or a wife, already have hobbies and already read. Each time I change careers I find more satisfaction.

Note I only said I SOMEWHAT disagree. Making a blind jump to medicine because "I may like it" is risky and I don't recommend it. But if you have a good inkling that you will find MORE satisfaction, I would do it. I liked being a military policeman, but didn't love it. I like nursing much more, but I'm not totally in love with it (I do really enjoy helping people). I know I will enjoy being a doctor more than being a nurse. If I am still unsatisfied I will continue to advance.

Never stop. Always keep improving. When you stop improving, you might as well be dead.

Hell- When you die, and what you have become meets the you that accomplished what you were capable of accomplishing.

 

[676188]

OP, would you be happy if, after all your medical education and residency training, you found yourself working in an adult or family medicine clinic, managing high blood pressure, diabetes, flu, colds, seasonal allergies, etc. with an occasional "fun" issue thrown in once in a while? Could you find fulfillment in that, day after day, for the next 30+ years, if that's where medicine landed you?

If your answer is "no", an emphatic "no!", or "please kill me now, that sounds like torture", then med school isn't for you. Everyone likes to think they'll get into their preferred specialty when they begin this journey, but what if they don't? If someone can't see themselves being happy with the most mundane aspects of medicine, maybe they should rethink their motivation.

 

[RNtoMD87]

OP, would you be happy if, after all your medical education and residency training, you found yourself working in an adult or family medicine clinic, managing high blood pressure, diabetes, flu, colds, seasonal allergies, etc. with an occasional "fun" issue thrown in once in a while? Could you find fulfillment in that, day after day, for the next 30+ years, if that's where medicine landed you?

If your answer is "no", an emphatic "no!", or "please kill me now, that sounds like torture", then med school isn't for you. Everyone likes to think they'll get into their preferred specialty when they begin this journey, but what if they don't? If someone can't see themselves being happy with the most mundane aspects of medicine, maybe they should rethink their motivation.

Still less mundane however than most other career choices that pay reasonably well.