I'm not sure I want to be a doctor anymore, but I don't know what else to do

[Latteandaprayer]

I don't know why I'm putting this here other than that maybe someone has advice from a (pre) med school perspective. I'm a junior. I'm signed up to take the MCAT in April, because I was dead-set on medicine a month ago. I love interacting with patients, their families, and their medical team whenever I can. I like shadowing my doctor, I like seeing medicine "in action," I like watching minor procedures, I like watching the doctor put the pieces together and come up with a treatment plan. I especially love science, but I definitely don't want to get a PhD or to spend the rest of my life in a lab.

My biggest problems are grades and balancing my time. My cGPA is strong at a 3.8 (soon to go down), and my sGPA is a 3.66 but is definitely about to go down after this semester. I know a 3.5 isn't terrible and that I can take a gap year so my senior grades can be considered, but I don't know if I'll do any better from here on out. It seems like I have to get a B in one science class a semester, no matter how much time I dedicate to my classes. Discipline is certainly a factor in this, because I tend to spend more time studying for classes that are harder, which results in easier classes slipping through the cracks. I'm also overall not sure how well I'm going to do in my other upper level bio classes, and I don't know if I can pass med school and be a good doctor. Do I want to spend another 4 years in school? Do I want to sacrifice my interests and social life to constantly study? Do I trust myself to learn everything in medical school and apply it well enough to not hurt my patients? I don't know.

I don't know what else to do, though. I have the shadowing (50 hours with a primary care doc), the volunteering (200 clinical, 70 non clinical so far), the research (15-20h a week), and a "story," and I can't see myself doing anything else besides medicine. I just don't think I'm cut out for it, and I especially don't think I should waste my time and money doing a post-bacc, because my GPA isn't terrible. I know I sound whiney and that a GPA above 3.4 is nothing to be too concerned about, I'm just not sure I can keep it up.

Sorry for the rant and melodramatic language. I'm just tired.

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[tibwolf]

Take a gap year, get a job outside of science, have a break from the academic grind. You'll have a stronger application with some world experience and you might just find out that you have other passions you want to pursue. Certainly cheaper and less stressful than finding out while being in actual medical school.

 

[workaholic181]

Your GPAs are way higher than mine were lol. OP sounds to me like you're kind of burned out and a little disappointed in what you perceive as substandard performance. I'm not gonna lie to you, med school is tough but I personally (and most of my classmates would agree) feel that pre med was higher stress. If you like medicine I think you'll find it is worth it, and again med school is an entirely different vibe than being a pre med.

I'd highly recommend a gap year. The average age of matriculants is trending toward 25 now due to the popularity of taking a year off for work and getting your app ready. If you're not feeling the MCAT now, just cancel and revisit it later. Seems like you're hard on yourself but you are doing well. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Goro]

Take a gap year, get a job outside of science, have a break from the academic grind. You'll have a stronger application with some world experience and you might just find out that you have other passions you want to pursue. Certainly cheaper and less stressful than finding out while being in actual medical school.

This.
/thread

Also go talk to your school's career counseling center.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

I was in the same boat for a while. Lucky for me, I had several professors beg me to re-consider. It was weird, but I’m glad that they desperately wanted me to continue. You should keep going!