How much does your environment play in getting to med school?

[dpk211]

I was at a lecture yesterday and we were talking about stem cells and somewhere in the lecture the presenter started comparing the environment of a stem cell to our environment and how it relates to becoming a doctor.

If you're plans are to go to med school does that mean you have to break ties with friends who are not doing the same things, who are not working as hard, who don't have similar ambitions? The presenter was almost saying that you should only be hanging around like-minded people.

Do you agree? I mean I don't hang around with losers but most of my friends are not going to med school.

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[icepeak]

no.

 

[Lccjblu]

uhh.. no.

my roommate and one of my better friends was a slack-ass econ major. Nvr went to any classes, was sleeping all thru the day and staying up at night. Essentially studied for finals the night prior to the actual exam date...

This guy was NOTHING like me in terms of work ethic and academic interests.

 

[slatermd]

You don't need to cut ties with people.

It is a good thing to pay attention to how people and your are influencing you, but if you falter on your journey to become a doctor it is kind of a cop out to blame your friends.

 

[addo]

you dont have to hang around with only people who are going to med school to get into med school.... but you also cant be hanging around crack heads, and the like. Says mr. obvious.

 

[zdub311]

I was at a lecture yesterday and we were talking about stem cells and somewhere in the lecture the presenter started comparing the environment of a stem cell to our environment and how it relates to becoming a doctor.

If you're plans are to go to med school does that mean you have to break ties with friends who are not doing the same things, who are not working as hard, who don't have similar ambitions? The presenter was almost saying that you should only be hanging around like-minded people.

Do you agree? I mean I don't hang around with losers but most of my friends are not going to med school.

I don't think that you have to un-friend your friends who aren't doing medicine. But it sounds like your presenter meant that people who don't have goals or any ambition probably aren't the best to be around for support and motivation.


jus' sayin

 

[Astarael]

If you're going to try to pick the people that you hang out with, you should be picking people because they are supportive, not because they have the same career goals. I'm the only one of my friends who wanted to go to medical school, but it worked out great for me because they are all incredibly supportive. You can find that quality in people from pretty much any program in college. It also means that you're not competing against your friends, which is much less stressful than the alternative.

 

[muhali3]

I think the analogy between a pre-med and stem cell is apt. But a pre-med is more like a pluripotent stem cell that may only differentiate into some type of healthcare professional. So I don't think your friends are going to make a difference, since you are already committed along your developmental path.

 

[mTOR]

I was at a lecture yesterday and we were talking about stem cells and somewhere in the lecture the presenter started comparing the environment of a stem cell to our environment and how it relates to becoming a doctor.

If you're plans are to go to med school does that mean you have to break ties with friends who are not doing the same things, who are not working as hard, who don't have similar ambitions? The presenter was almost saying that you should only be hanging around like-minded people.

Do you agree? I mean I don't hang around with losers but most of my friends are not going to med school.

I don't agree with the bolded, but to deny that your environment -- in the most broadest sense (e.g., parenting practices, economic circumstances, teacher quality, neighborhood and school social networks and other K-12 peer influences) -- doesn't play into your academic trajectory (and likewise influence whether you have the level of scholastic engagement necessary to get into med school) is disingenuous at best.

 

[bakanoisha]

I was at a lecture yesterday and we were talking about stem cells and somewhere in the lecture the presenter started comparing the environment of a stem cell to our environment and how it relates to becoming a doctor.

If you're plans are to go to med school does that mean you have to break ties with friends who are not doing the same things, who are not working as hard, who don't have similar ambitions? The presenter was almost saying that you should only be hanging around like-minded people.

Do you agree? I mean I don't hang around with losers but most of my friends are not going to med school.

I think you totally misunderstand the whole "environment" thing. Environment helps shape you over time. So, someones home/personal environment might make them more inclined to go to med school. Right now you've already made the decision and are, presumably, taking all necessary steps to accomplish your goal so there probably isn't any good reason for you to change your environment to one that is nothing but pre-meds. (And, in all honesty, hanging out with pre-meds all day would drive me nuts, personally.)

However, hanging out with like-minded people does make sense in terms of goal accomplishment. It's much easier to accomplish something when you've made it a lifestyle rather than a hobby.