Moving on from pre med

[deleted421268]

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I originally started as pre med but am struggling with Mcat and feel that I may not be meant to be a doctor and never applied to med school. I am interested in rehab and physical therapy interests me also! Although I’ve been feeling kinda down because the earning potential of doctors are higher and both PTs and docs are esteemed professionals but medical doctors are slightly more esteemed. Also feel like I’m disappointing my loved ones because why be a PT when you could be the one referring down to PT? Why go into medical sales when you could be the doc yourself? Although they do support me in whatever I pursue.

 

[Sleepingdoc]

Talk to other recently graduated physicians. You will never see MCAT topics again. I did pretty well on the MCAT back when I was premed, but I do not recall MCAT topics ever being relevant to my medical career after I was done with the exam.
Now with a word of caution, you may however have gaps in the way you study/ knowledge, MCAT is just the first of many exams you will be taking.. If test taking is not one of your strengths, last thing you want is have 3 years of med school debt and flunk out because of exams, so you may need to adjust your strategy.

 

[ChymeofPassion]

If you've truly exhausted all possible resources, you should applaud yourself for getting out while you can and pursuing something else to make YOU happy. Not everyone can succeed on the MCAT (not to mention the path to an MD after the mcat has like 7 more exams just as difficult/higher stress (you're in debt...), and I've seen too many people spend their entire 20s toiling around with that exam/applying go medical school, screwing themselves over when they eventually move on to a lower income career. PT and rehab are extremely important and respected professions that the world NEEDS, so I think that's a great avenue if you're interested in it.

 

[RedTurpentine]

Regardless of what path you choose, I think the earlier in your life you ditch your concerns about comparative esteem the sooner you'll find contentment with yourself and some lasting happiness. Even (or maybe especially) if you landed a seat at Harvard Medical School, you could still find someone with more "esteem" than you, you could still discern another rung of the ladder to climb. This line of thinking will never, ever give you peace. Work hard, certainly, but at the end of the day, you just do you.

 

[Moko]

Physicians don't "refer down" to PTs. Our roles in patients' care are different but equally as important. You don't want a physician managing a patient's PT/OT/SLP needs. We receive virtually no training in these areas. For some patients, having a good physical therapist can do much more for their quality of life than a physician could. Just my thoughts

 

[Goro]

I originally started as pre med but am struggling with Mcat and feel that I may not be meant to be a doctor and never applied to med school. I am interested in rehab and physical therapy interests me also! Although I’ve been feeling kinda down because the earning potential of doctors are higher and both PTs and docs are esteemed professionals but medical doctors are slightly more esteemed. Also feel like I’m disappointing my loved ones because why be a PT when you could be the one referring down to PT? Why go into medical sales when you could be the doc yourself? Although they do support me in whatever I pursue.

I'm sorry that you're feeling vulnerable, but this is at least the fourth thread that you have started about this.

The rationales you gave for going into Medicine ($, esteem, disappointing others.) are the lousiest reasons (yes, making bank is the baseline, but it can't be the only reason), and you would have burnt out at some point early on.

So, I'm not going to advise on what to do, except that you seek counseling.

I can't sugar coat this. If your loved ones are disappointed that you won't be a doctor, then you have very shallow loved ones, or, more likely, you grossly underestimate their support for you.

TLDR: stop with the pity parties, work on your Plan B, and don't look back.

 

[ciestar]

It IS okay if you dont ever become a physician. Do what is best for YOU and your future.