Need advice what should I do?

Started by Semaphore
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Semaphore

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Hi all,
I'm looking for some advice and guidance. I am a recent college graduate who has a full time job as a software engineer. I hate my job! I really want to do something different. I have said for years that I wanted to go into medicine but during my high school years I started to doubt myself and ultimately chose a different route. I have absolutely no experience in health care at all. I'm concerned that this will be a problem should I choose to apply to a post bacc program. I am also not sure if going back to school is the right decision, before graduating my professors warned me about taking time off to work, I am now in that situation where financially it doesn't make a lot of sense. I get paid well at my job and I enjoy having a steady check. I feel like now, while I am still young and without a family, would be the best time to make a career change. However, my fear lies in the fact that I am not sure I'll be successful as a doctor and I have invested a lot of time and money into my current career, it seems illogical to throw all of that away. Anyone else in a similar position?
 
As a starting point, given your situation, I think the best advice I can give you is to get medical experience through volunteering. And shadowing. Not only will both give you a good sense of whether you want to work in medicine, but post-bacc programs (and medical schools) want to see that you're involved and have tested your interest. And yes, you are young. VERY young. Taking a few years to build a strong post-bacc application would be your best best. Try volunteering for now, then...if you like it...seek out shadowing opportunities. If the interest is still there (and likely growing at this point), consider medical scribing and even clinical research. Time is very much on your side though. 🙂 Good luck!
 
I can't say that I've invested a lot of money, but I did spend a lot of my timeout a slew of careers before I realized I hated where I was at and where I was going. Then I decided to go for it. It was always in the back of my mind, but I was always so bashful and doubtful about my abilities as a student and whether I'd make a good physician. The future is still uncertain as I'm a year away from applying now. Regardless this has been one of the busiest periods of my life (school+clinical work+ volunteering+shadowing.) and yet ironically the happiest. The reason being is that I'm reaching for my personal desideratum. So should you. Good luck.


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Thank you for the feedback. I have looked into volunteer work in my area, most of it seems to be more like greeting guests at the hospital or working in the gift shop. I would like to get volunteer experience that gives me a more realistic view of life as a physician. Where else can I look? Also, since I am no longer in school I don't have access to as many resources. I've noticed that some programs turn people away if they are not already in a pre-med program. I am young but not super young, I turn 25 this summer. I know the average age for medical school is around 24/25 so i'll be older than the traditional student.

@alexwantsanMD I would love that! While I was still in school I took classes, worked in a few research labs, tutored and served on the board of one of my orgs. It was a bit overwhelming at times but I enjoyed keeping myself busy. I think that's also part of the reason why I am so miserable right now. Work is like a machine, you do the same thing every day its not feeding my intellectual curiosity at all. I don't get to interact too much with other people I just sit in an office at a computer ALL DAY! Plus I don't feel like what I do is valuable, I'm lacking job satisfaction.
 
Semaphore said:
Thank you for the feedback. I have looked into volunteer work in my area, most of it seems to be more like greeting guests at the hospital or working in the gift shop. I would like to get volunteer experience that gives me a more realistic view of life as a physician. Where else can I look? Also, since I am no longer in school I don't have access to as many resources. I've noticed that some programs turn people away if they are not already in a pre-med program. I am young but not super young, I turn 25 this summer. I know the average age for medical school is around 24/25 so i'll be older than the traditional student.
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I'm 35 and my roommate (also an incoming M1) is 40. You? Are on my lawn.

Seriously though, 25 is nothing. Don't even let that bother you if you decide it's what you want.

As for the deciding part, you got good advice from people telling you to shadow. Shadow as many docs as you can, in as many specialties as you can. Volunteering is both great and necessary for an app (and you'll need clinical exposure of some sort en route to application), but volunteering will only show you the atmosphere -- it won't show you the job. Shadow right now to give yourself insight on what a doctor's life is like, work out the rest later if you do that and decide that yes, you want this.

No medical school turns away someone who isn't already in a "pre-med program". There are structured, expensive post-bacc programs and for some people it's convenient to have everything laid out and planned, but they're not necessary. The most important things are your cGPA, sGPA, and MCAT, followed by what you're doing outside the classroom. There are pre-requisities you do have to complete in order to be competitive, but you can do them a la carte at your local university as most of us did.
 
Eccesignum said:
I'm 35 and my roommate (also an incoming M1) is 40. You? Are on my lawn....
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Thanks for the reply Eccesignum, Lol! How do I find a doctor to shadow? Do I just look up local physicians and ask if they wouldn't mind me shadowing? As for volunteering, does it matter where I volunteer? For example would it be a bad idea to volunteer in my field of Computer Science? I would do that in addition to shadowing a physician. Or should I focus on health care related volunteer opportunities?
 
Semaphore said:
Thanks for the reply Eccesignum, Lol! How do I find a doctor to shadow? Do I just look up local physicians and ask if they wouldn't mind me shadowing? As for volunteering, does it matter where I volunteer? For example would it be a bad idea to volunteer in my field of Computer Science? I would do that in addition to shadowing a physician. Or should I focus on health care related volunteer opportunities?
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Unfortunately I'm a bad person to ask about how to shadow. I was already working in healthcare so I had no trouble finding doctors (I know, spoiled). You might try searching SDN for advice on that or posting the question.

Regarding volunteering, I'd strongly recommend doing something that puts you working (preferably face-to-face) with humans less fortunate than yourself, in whatever setting makes you happy. Doesn't have to be healthcare-related.
 
From a school you're associated with; you could try emailing physician's that work at the hospitals. Or even emailing private practices or clinics. Provide a personal statement, it doesn't have to be lengthy. Personally I've had the privilege of knowing those in health care field and have family. (Spoiled as well.) but that also didn't stop me from striking up a conversation with someone wearing scrubs or overhearing an individual discussing their occupation as a physician (I worked as a barista.). I'd ask about their occupation, how they like their work, advice they have for premed hopefuls (blah blah blah) and finally drop, 'do you allow premed students to shadow?' Some do not, because of Hipaa laws.


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In my town, you have to go through HR at the hospitals and clinics, fill out an application and they connect you with a dr to shadow. They also have volunteer programs in clinical areas. make an appointment with a volunteer coordinator to find out what you can do to secure a better volunteer position and call HR and tell them you are interested in going to medical school and ask how you can go about finding a physician to shadow.
 
Thanks for all of your advice I feel super inspired. I have looked up shadowing opportunities in my area and turns out there are plenty I just needed to look a little further out. I plan to reach out to a few of the physicians. I'm feeling really excited to start this new journey, thanks again you all have no idea how much this helped!
 
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