I'm a rising sophomore and still very naive, so I can understand if I seem irrational or if it's way too early to have substantial feedback.
I've yet to shadow healthcare providers. I just started shadowing an optometrist and I've already shadowed a pharmacist (probably should do more, but not feeling it), but not yet an MD or PA, though I plan to within this coming school year. In my current case, I guess I don't have enough insight about these careers.
What I do know is that medical school seems very daunting. It's not the rigor I'm worried about; it's the duration. It's the 10+ additional years of education after college with piling debt and a not-so-guaranteed choice of residency that doesn't pay you enough for 80-hour work weeks. It's the waiting what seems like an eternity to have any gratification for pouring in hard work, all the while sacrificing my health, social, and possibly family life. Granted, this is all based on what I've heard and read about the profession, but if all this is true, then I'm not sure the income is worth it.
Now that I think about it, I don't care if I'm not called, "Doctor" or if I'm not the one having the final say. I genuinely like interacting with and caring for people, medically-related science, and alleviating what seems to be someone's darkest hour, but I want to keep my sanity and life in the process!
Again, I haven't shadowed yet. Once I do, maybe I can change my mind and decide that, despite all that, it'll be worth it and I can feel the intrinsic gratification that makes the MD profession worthwhile. But as of this moment, it seems too masochistic.
Hence, the mid-level consideration (PA or NP) or optometry. I can still get the autonomy, the power to prescribe, and the ability to diagnose, but keep my social and personal lives. The only downsides I see to mid-level or optometry are that they have more prerequisites than medical school, and I might have to take a summer class or two to get those fulfilled, and that I hear optometrists are saturated where I live (Houston). And NP sounds very iffy because I don't have RN experience, which is problematic because my current school has a sort-of accelerated BSN/MSN program for non-RN students to be eligible for NP right after college, and I heard NP's without RN experience aren't very employable.
I'm just at a temporary crisis. Am I just stressing out over nothing? I just need advice as to what I should be thinking about right now and possibly what career path I should start focusing on. I don't want to waste time in college, unable to envision a clear path, because I need to know what I must do so I can get this stuff done and decided in the next 3 years.
I've yet to shadow healthcare providers. I just started shadowing an optometrist and I've already shadowed a pharmacist (probably should do more, but not feeling it), but not yet an MD or PA, though I plan to within this coming school year. In my current case, I guess I don't have enough insight about these careers.
What I do know is that medical school seems very daunting. It's not the rigor I'm worried about; it's the duration. It's the 10+ additional years of education after college with piling debt and a not-so-guaranteed choice of residency that doesn't pay you enough for 80-hour work weeks. It's the waiting what seems like an eternity to have any gratification for pouring in hard work, all the while sacrificing my health, social, and possibly family life. Granted, this is all based on what I've heard and read about the profession, but if all this is true, then I'm not sure the income is worth it.
Now that I think about it, I don't care if I'm not called, "Doctor" or if I'm not the one having the final say. I genuinely like interacting with and caring for people, medically-related science, and alleviating what seems to be someone's darkest hour, but I want to keep my sanity and life in the process!
Again, I haven't shadowed yet. Once I do, maybe I can change my mind and decide that, despite all that, it'll be worth it and I can feel the intrinsic gratification that makes the MD profession worthwhile. But as of this moment, it seems too masochistic.
Hence, the mid-level consideration (PA or NP) or optometry. I can still get the autonomy, the power to prescribe, and the ability to diagnose, but keep my social and personal lives. The only downsides I see to mid-level or optometry are that they have more prerequisites than medical school, and I might have to take a summer class or two to get those fulfilled, and that I hear optometrists are saturated where I live (Houston). And NP sounds very iffy because I don't have RN experience, which is problematic because my current school has a sort-of accelerated BSN/MSN program for non-RN students to be eligible for NP right after college, and I heard NP's without RN experience aren't very employable.
I'm just at a temporary crisis. Am I just stressing out over nothing? I just need advice as to what I should be thinking about right now and possibly what career path I should start focusing on. I don't want to waste time in college, unable to envision a clear path, because I need to know what I must do so I can get this stuff done and decided in the next 3 years.
