Is anyone not pre-med anymore?

[jman128]

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I just finished my junior year of college. Before junior year I decided against going for med school. It never phased me before about what Id be getting myself into. I never actually knew what being in medicine or being a doctor was about.

I was smart and good at science so Doctor made sense. However, the more I researched, the more I was turned off. The stress, the hours, insurance headaches, paperwork, decreasing compensation, the lifestyle etc....it just scared me off. I didn't think I could dedicate my life to medicine.

Right now I have been trying to find something I am passionate about which will give me a solid, well paying career but I am having a very difficult time. Another problem I am having is that every family member or family friend whenever they see me goes, "oh hey doc" or "so I hear you are in medical school." I think my parents still want me to go to med school and delude themselves into telling everyone that i am going which pisses me off to no end.

 

[smarttee88]

I just finished my junior year of college. Before junior year I decided against going for med school. It never phased me before about what Id be getting myself into. I never actually knew what being in medicine or being a doctor was about.

I was smart and good at science so Doctor made sense. However, the more I researched, the more I was turned off. The stress, the hours, insurance headaches, paperwork, decreasing compensation, the lifestyle etc....it just scared me off. I didn't think I could dedicate my life to medicine.

Right now I have been trying to find something I am passionate about which will give me a solid, well paying career but I am having a very difficult time. Another problem I am having is that every family member or family friend whenever they see me goes, "oh hey doc" or "so I hear you are in medical school." I think my parents still want me to go to med school and delude themselves into telling everyone that i am going which pisses me off to no end.

I don't think that you are going to find many people who are going to be able to relate to you on this topic. You should seek advice from a source other than the SDN Pre-Allopathic forum, as this is a place for pre-med students with pre-med problems and pre-med questions.

 

[Neurocentric]

I don't think that you are going to find many people who are going to be able to relate to you on this topic. You should seek advice from a source other than the SDN Pre-Allopathic forum, as this is a place for pre-med students with pre-med problems and pre-med questions.

Agreed. Most of us are still doing the pre-med thing, which is why we're here.

 

[StayingFocused]

I think you should still consider being a doctor. You must have had really negative clinical experiences and shadowing.
I've worked and conducted research at a crappy hospital and had this image that every hospital was angry, stressful, and unhappy. Then I volunteered a different hospital just to get a different perspective and the other hospital is the complete antithesis of the first: everyone is happy, the patients are happy, the doctors are happy, even the food is good.

You have come this far, I would try to still get more shadowing in and more clinical experience from several hospitals.

Or, consider being a professor: it's all science, pretty stress free, you can do research whenever you want, you pick your own hours, and it's fun!! You do fun lab experiments all day. Consider that.

 

[NotAsking4Much]

Or, consider being a professor: it's all science, pretty stress free, you can do research whenever you want, you pick your own hours, and it's fun!! You do fun lab experiments all day. Consider that.

This was sarcasm right? Professors have it way worse than doctors do...

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

All Jobs have their negative aspects. While obviously medicine has it's major faults, hard hours and residency and long time. Other jobs become so pointless and without interest. You can basically be in the same small cubical or position for years on end without even any recognition.
Medicine has a lot of benefits. It's all about figuring out which job/ field you'll be able to go into which will keep you interested for a long time.

I personally think working with people is stressful but it's got many benefits.

 

[thefritz]

Maybe you should be less talk and more of actually doing something. Finish college, find a job, acquire practical skills, save some money, take a loan, open a business, and become successful. No one will patronize you for that.

Everytime I come on this website, it's always another kid who thought med school was a ticket on the gravy train and realized there was more to it than that, and is now troubled because he doesn't know where else to look for the surest path to the good life requiring the least original thought or self-starting effort and is absolutely petrified of exploring options outside of those involving academic study.

 

[mspeedwagon]

Let me take a second to commend you and tell you that you are doing the right thing. Taking time to discover what you are passionate about before jumping to do it is one of the most important things you can do.

Given my current job, I know hundreds of physicians. I know some that are happy and some that are not. Probably more the latter than the former. When it comes down to it, most people hate a mostly hectic job with long hours. While the money will arguable always be good, it is definitely not good enough to forego many years of potential income in another career that you would be more happy in.

Like you, I had my doubts. It took finding another career that I love and pays well to make me realize what I actual want to do is medicine. The five years that I have been out of college so far have been great. I've worked my way up from making $31,500 straight out of college to a little under $100k now. I got to travel the country (been to almost all 50 states). I got to meet a wonderful girl. I couldn't be happier that I didn't rush into something I was not ready for and didn't really want to do out of college.

Definitely take some time to discover medicine. Take some time to discover alternate uses for the degree. One of the big draws of an MD to someone in my position (though not for me) is that it helps one advance in the biotech world. Don't do it for your folks. This is your decision. And without passion and desire, it makes a hard part that much harder.

Right now I have been trying to find something I am passionate about which will give me a solid, well paying career but I am having a very difficult time. Another problem I am having is that every family member or family friend whenever they see me goes, "oh hey doc" or "so I hear you are in medical school." I think my parents still want me to go to med school and delude themselves into telling everyone that i am going which pisses me off to no end.

 

[morning]

Knowing absolutely nothing about you makes suggestions very difficult.

 

[NickNaylor]

 

[Web MD]

Go the DNP route and save yourself time and money

 

[StayingFocused]

This was sarcasm right? Professors have it way worse than doctors do...

That really wasn't sarcasm.
Yes, they don't get paid nearly as much, and it can get stressful when applying for grants and promotions, but compared to a being a doctor it really isn't as stressful as being a doctor.
Plus lab experiments can be fun, I guess you would never be a professor then. My dad is a professor so I know from a direct source that it is not nearly as stressful as being a physician.

 

[bold text]

...Another problem I am having is that every family member or family friend whenever they see me goes, "oh hey doc" or "so I hear you are in medical school."...

This is one of the reasons I stopped telling people that I was "pre-med" and started saying I was a biology major when they asked what I was doing in school. No matter how many times I explain it, they are still clueless about the process. I have a MONTHLY conversation with my grandmother that goes something like this:

Grandmother:"So when do you graduate?"
Me: "December"
G: "Then what will you be called?"
M: "Nothing"
G: 😕
M: "You don't get a title with an undergraduate biology degree"
G: "But I thought you would be a doctor?"
M: "No I have to go to school 4 more years for that"
G: "And after that you can open your own practice?"
M: "No, I'll have to go through about 4 more years of training after medicial school before I could open a practice."
G:😕 "You're better off becoming a nurse"
[At this point she loses interest and promptly changes the subject to the weather or something.]

 

[somepremedkid]

This is one of the reasons I stopped telling people that I was "pre-med" and started saying I was a biology major when they asked what I was doing in school. No matter how many times I explain it, they are still clueless about the process. I have a MONTHLY conversation with my grandmother that goes something like this:

Grandmother:"So when do you graduate?"
Me: "December"
G: "Then what will you be called?"
M: "Nothing"
G: 😕
M: "You don't get a title with an undergraduate biology degree"
G: "But I thought you would be a doctor?"
M: "No I have to go to school 4 more years for that"
G: "And after that you can open your own practice?"
M: "No, I'll have to go through about 4 more years of training after medicial school before I could open a practice."
G:😕 "You're better off becoming a nurse"
[At this point she loses interest and promptly changes the subject to the weather or something.]

I lol'd . I've had similar conversations with family members.

 

[da8s0859q]

Go the DNP route and save yourself time and money

No! Don't tell the OP to go to the dark side.

Right now I have been trying to find something I am passionate about which will give me a solid, well paying career but I am having a very difficult time. Another problem I am having is that every family member or family friend whenever they see me goes, "oh hey doc" or "so I hear you are in medical school." I think my parents still want me to go to med school and delude themselves into telling everyone that i am going which pisses me off to no end.

Sorry about the family thing, but you're the one who's going to be "stuck with" your career -- not your family. Definitely a good thing that you're trying to find what you really want for your life; if it's not med school, it's not med school.

Oh, and answering the thread title/question... I never got along with premeds in college, especially at the start. Everyone wants to go to med school and save the world, one African baby at a time.

 

[mfrizzo3]

I heard UPS pays well.

 

[unhappytnt]

Ehh, I can relate to this somewhat... I started off college as pre-med, took three of the pre-reqs, got all A's except for chemistry. I got a C in chem and this literally devastated me as I believed that this would ruin my chances of medical school. So I decided to give up and tried finding another career choice. I dabbled in various classes this year, including economics, political science and history. For me, they were not as satisfactory as the science courses that I took. After some "soul searching", I am now back to being a pre-med this year. This time I know that I truly want to be a physician and won't be set back with petty hinderances like a C in one class. I lost a year but I now know that it was worth it: If I haven't seen that other career choices were not for me, I would always have a doubt about being in medicine.

 

[dmblue]

I used to be pre-med, but now i'm in med school

 

[muhali3]

Go for physician assistant if you don't have the commitment to deal with 7+ years of school and the responsibility of being a doctor. However, just don't make decisions based on what you read on the internet, shadow both PAs and MDs, ask them about how they like their jobs, pros/cons, and then see which role you would fit into better.

If you don't love the profession and are just doing it because you are "good at science" and want a high-paying job, then you will be miserable.

 

[MisterVeil]

I can definitely relate. I just graduated this past semester. Originally I planned to take a year off (ie, apply this cycle), but I had doubts and decided against it. So I'm not applying. I just got a job at the NIH and I'm going to work there for 1-2 years and figure out what I want to do in the meantime. Maybe I'll be drawn back to medicine. If it weren't for all the cons, I'd jump at the opportunity to become a doc, but I need some time to figure out whether the cons will be outweighed by the positive aspects of doctordom. Maybe I'll apply next year, maybe 2-3 years from now, maybe I'll decide never to apply to medical school. We'll see how the future goes.

 

[necoli]

If you enjoy research, get into bio-tech. If you are a chatty cathy type, think about becoming a drug rep. If you are not either of those two, consider becoming a medical technician. You can get into any of these fields with just a bachelors degree; they are good jobs too. Drug reps actually have a nice lifestyle.