My parents are forcing me to become a doctor and medicine is a field I can't stand. I hate blood and can't stand dealing with sick people.
The problem is if I say I don't want to become one, they said they will stop supporting me and cut off everything to me (no money and won't be allowed in the house) and as of right now, I only have a small part-time job in addition to college so there is no way I can support myself. Another problem is that my entire culture (I'm Indian) and all of my relatives have this view that if you're not a professional of some sort, then you're a complete failure. It doesn't help that all of my cousins are either in med school, going to med school, law school, or MBA programs. Then they also lay the guilt trip on me talking about how much they supported me all these years. I realize they don't have to support me now, but I have nowhere to turn and don't know what to do.
I would rather someone who's actually interested in medicine (like many people on this forum) become a doctor rather than someone like myself who can't stand that field and has zero interest.
Mr Felix17: im going to clue you in into one secret that very few people in this world know about me.
I know it says in my profile under my SDN name that i am doing optometry. that is true for the most part, but optometry was never my first choice , and i mean NEVER..
Being an Physician (MD) was my main goal back then, my uncle is a doctor, his son is doing his residency in George Washington School of medicine. But events in my life from getting low grades, personal problems, medicine stopped being my desire, especially from all the bad things that i hear happening in the field. i did not do much in terms of learning about it because i was soo damn fixated with the good lifestyle. but a goodlifestyle comes with a price that even the strongest person can barely afford.
my parents wanted me to be a doctor because not only i wanted to be one at one time in my life, but it makes a crap load of money, and money was the only thing that drove me to do it, felix 17, i paid a nasty price more than you can imagine because of such an attitude.
I want you to remember this principle : Concern yourself with the responsibilities of a profession FIRST AND FOREMOST rather than the rewards.
keep on reading this because i will say this once and once only.
when my grades were not all that great, i had to do a lot of soul searching, and i looked at different professions, which i suggest you do ASAP. i looked at dentistry( the most popular backup plan of pre-meds), pharm, optometry, podiatry, and so on. Optometry was something out of the blue i choosed, i dont know if it was fate, or coincidence.
I did a lot of research into this profession, sure MDs have more prestige than OD's but it all comes down to what you are happy with. Are there things that i do love/ dont like about optometry? absolutely. But i have realized that this is the profession that i have waited soo damn long to be a part of. Good pay, more interaction with patients, less competition than med/ dental, more time with family, high interest in vision, no manditory residency, and so on.
my parents supported me all my life, but are not so inclined to support my decision. it hurts me a lot when they try to put medicine in my face when i have done soo much work, so much studying for the OATs', so much work in a masters program, and soo much volunteering. i have 2 years of shadowing experience with a total of two OD's.
if i was given $1 million dollars for every time my parents try subtly to disuade me from optometry into medicine, Donald Trump would be filing for chapter 17 bancruptcy. my parents have ways of making me feel guilty of what i am doing, but then again, i fight to protect my desire to do optometry. its easy in life to go with the tide, it is that damn much freakin harder to go against the norm, or against the things that the people you love want for you.
my one regret with optometry: I should have learned about the profession long time ago instead of goofing around soo damn much in undergrad.
it seems to me your parents have a strangle hold on you.. like someone said here in this thread " GROW A PAIR". IF you want to do something like dentistry, go and get it. tell mom and dad to shut their trap and you fight like mad to keep your newly found goal.
there is no harm in finding something new. the hardest thing about what i did, was to psychologically reprogram my mind that was built to do medicine to do optometry. and believe me, its not that simple to change careers or jobs or goals.
i have been around health professionals since i was a kid.. the truth is with medicine , "there are a lot of smart , talented MD's there, and very few caring , honest ones"
i know how you feel right now, because i went through it. i have good grades now, good OAT's came back from an interview in Pennsylvania this past Xmas break. got another interview next week. but in all honestly, you have to find the one thing you want to do and not something of a backup plan necessarily. because after 4 years, all you have is the profession and the worst thing in this world , worse than 100 million reject letters, is waking up every day to say " i hate what i do". i was in that position when i was a salesperson making a crapload of money. trust me Money doesnt do jack for you if you are not happy.
do i feel guilty at times leaving medicine and against my parents wishes? absolutely.
did i find the right profession, and something i can contribute in today's society where i can bring more personal and professional happiness for my self? your damn right i did.
well i have to go m8, good luck and hopefully this helps you out.