Hey guys, Im new here.
For some time now Ive been wanting to enter the medical field, but my intentions/motivations have been...well conflicting. I wanted to write my thoughts down (1) so I can get a better handle on this issue myself and (2) maybe get some advice/thoughts from you guys.
Here we go: (I tried to make it as short as I can!!)
Coming out of high school, I was interested, to say the least, in the healthcare. I volunteered at my local rescue squad all during high school and finally as an EMT-B after I turned 18 and continued doing that until I went into junior year of college. I even gave up the summer before college to do an internship (unpaid) at the local hospital. Dont get me wrong, it was great fun; I learned a lot, met some cool people - the whole experience was an eye opener.
While healthcare seemed enticing, I kept my doors open to other options and opportunities. And here at college, I quickly discovered that I loved physics and being involved with research, I'm glad to say that Ive found much joy and success in them.
Though I loved my newfound interests, I never completely cut myself off from a possibility of a career in medicine. I happened to have taken all the pre-med courses, during which I met a lot of premedical students and got to speak on a numerous occasions with doctors/nurses/other healthcare practitioners. But gradually I became less and less enchanted.
Why? Lack of passion and concern (Im pretty sure this is it)
Reasons?
To start, I will say that ive never, as far I as remember, felt the same kind of vibe and enthusiasm talking with doctors/premed students/medical students about their work and profession than I did talking with any other physicist/physics major etc (people from the other world let call them that) about what they loved.
But maybe I am biased since I love physics, but from all the time I spent with my pre-med friends, I never recalled anyone really caring about what they were learning. Everyone just wanted to get into medical school at quickly as possible and were prepared to do whatever it took.
Example: not once did I meet someone who was actually genuinely excited to volunteer. Almost everyone were along the lines of yea i have to go volunteer on saturday. it sucks and i hate it, but i have to do it to get into med school. its like a requirement. ?!?@?#$ Maybe it is just my bad luck and you guys will prove me wrong.
Also, premed courses were a huge turn off. They were just memorize, test, repeat. I did not like that one bit. (I took them because some of them were requirements for my major). Even though I did great, huge boost to the GPA, I didnt feel like I learned anything. It was like Woohoo, pat on back - youre really good at memorizing, but not really knowing. But then again, people tell me that what med school is about: memorizing and not knowing.
Lastly, there wasnt a sense of community. Again, maybe it was just my school and just my terrible luck, but the premed community was not close-knit or connected. Theres about 400-500 premed students per class here. It wasnt until I found this site did i find finally a nice community of people sharing stories, experience and helping each other.
My conflict of interest: for me, I am now drawn much more to MD-PhD programs as opposed to just PhD simply because I feel that the healthcare profession needs *help*. I know that it may not be my place, a lowly undergrad, to make such a statement, but I truly feel that there is lack of positivity, excitement, passion, enthusiasm to what was once vibrant discipline (still is in many regards), An so I want to show people that doctors can be fun and are good people who love their work.
What is difficult for me is choosing to give up what I am *truly* interested in (pure physics research) and choose a career that I can still be interested in (say clinical medical physics).
For some time now Ive been wanting to enter the medical field, but my intentions/motivations have been...well conflicting. I wanted to write my thoughts down (1) so I can get a better handle on this issue myself and (2) maybe get some advice/thoughts from you guys.
Here we go: (I tried to make it as short as I can!!)
Coming out of high school, I was interested, to say the least, in the healthcare. I volunteered at my local rescue squad all during high school and finally as an EMT-B after I turned 18 and continued doing that until I went into junior year of college. I even gave up the summer before college to do an internship (unpaid) at the local hospital. Dont get me wrong, it was great fun; I learned a lot, met some cool people - the whole experience was an eye opener.
While healthcare seemed enticing, I kept my doors open to other options and opportunities. And here at college, I quickly discovered that I loved physics and being involved with research, I'm glad to say that Ive found much joy and success in them.
Though I loved my newfound interests, I never completely cut myself off from a possibility of a career in medicine. I happened to have taken all the pre-med courses, during which I met a lot of premedical students and got to speak on a numerous occasions with doctors/nurses/other healthcare practitioners. But gradually I became less and less enchanted.
Why? Lack of passion and concern (Im pretty sure this is it)
Reasons?
To start, I will say that ive never, as far I as remember, felt the same kind of vibe and enthusiasm talking with doctors/premed students/medical students about their work and profession than I did talking with any other physicist/physics major etc (people from the other world let call them that) about what they loved.
But maybe I am biased since I love physics, but from all the time I spent with my pre-med friends, I never recalled anyone really caring about what they were learning. Everyone just wanted to get into medical school at quickly as possible and were prepared to do whatever it took.
Example: not once did I meet someone who was actually genuinely excited to volunteer. Almost everyone were along the lines of yea i have to go volunteer on saturday. it sucks and i hate it, but i have to do it to get into med school. its like a requirement. ?!?@?#$ Maybe it is just my bad luck and you guys will prove me wrong.
Also, premed courses were a huge turn off. They were just memorize, test, repeat. I did not like that one bit. (I took them because some of them were requirements for my major). Even though I did great, huge boost to the GPA, I didnt feel like I learned anything. It was like Woohoo, pat on back - youre really good at memorizing, but not really knowing. But then again, people tell me that what med school is about: memorizing and not knowing.
Lastly, there wasnt a sense of community. Again, maybe it was just my school and just my terrible luck, but the premed community was not close-knit or connected. Theres about 400-500 premed students per class here. It wasnt until I found this site did i find finally a nice community of people sharing stories, experience and helping each other.
My conflict of interest: for me, I am now drawn much more to MD-PhD programs as opposed to just PhD simply because I feel that the healthcare profession needs *help*. I know that it may not be my place, a lowly undergrad, to make such a statement, but I truly feel that there is lack of positivity, excitement, passion, enthusiasm to what was once vibrant discipline (still is in many regards), An so I want to show people that doctors can be fun and are good people who love their work.
What is difficult for me is choosing to give up what I am *truly* interested in (pure physics research) and choose a career that I can still be interested in (say clinical medical physics).
