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[Honeycat]

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[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums. Can you explain why you feel that being a counselor in mental health does not give you enough high-touch opportunities as a teacher?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

You wrote.

I think I have a pretty strong service orientation with a lot of work in mental health/crisis counseling (5 years) and strong commitment to teaching and mentorship with being a TA, tutoring, and the college counseling club. My mission/why medicine revolves around being an educator and helping people with their mentalhealth/self esteem through teaching, mentorship, and medicine.

Could you elaborate?

A big part of my draw to medicine is being able to help people feel listened to and calm them down in moments of high stress, which I get to do in crisis counseling and also a lot at my job as a medical assistant drawing blood from kids haha. Part of the reason I like teaching too is not just sharing my knowledge but helping people feel confident in themselves and that it is ok to struggle with difficult material (I TAed for orgo 2 twice so there were a lot of people that were really anxious about the course, and I got a lot of fulfillment from helping people feel like the content was accessible to them).

1) But you do this already as a counselor. How is becoming a physician an opportunity for further growth?
2) That's valid, but is this something you see doctors do with patients?

I say this because you don't need to go to a top brand-name school to do what you say is your attraction to medicine. Find a school that puts you close to patients and communities in need, who struggle with daily activities, and are challenged with prioritizing their health over other basic needs. You do this already as a counselor, and I'm not sure that your argument shows your areas where you must develop to be a doctor.

Also you want to be an educator. In medical education, that means you need to embrace research. It doesn't need to be bench-side, but become more credible by showing us you are capable of doing research that other physicians who share your interest in mental health do. You say you have two projects that fulfill this, so tell us more.