Premed doubts?

[smuwillobrien]

Did anyone else have a lot of doubts in their first year as to whether this is really the sort of thing you wanted to do for the rest of your life? It seems like it would be so much easier to take something simpler and just live a normal life. Perhaps go and teach high school, have a stable life and forget about this hectic stuff?

I'm afraid how next year will be. It's rough enough having to write one 10 page lab report per week for biology, but when I have 2 biology and 1 chemistry each which will require a paper a week probably what am I going to do then?

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[BubbleWand1]

Everyone has doubts...freshmen year when there's soo much to do and you're stressed and you think it can't get worse but then it does lol...and then it gets even worse

you just learn to deal with it, if this is what you want to do with your life and this is your passion, then you will do it (maybe with some sleepless nights lol)...just hang in there, what seems impossible does always get done

 

[musiclink213]

the way i see it, anything in life that's worth doing is worth a little struggle. if this is what you really want to do, than yea, you ahve to make some sacrifices. but i don't know if this is the way it is for you, but for me, if i cop out, and i know this is what i want to do, ti's my dream, than i won't be able to live with myself. you have to make the decision for yourself, and try to envision how happy you'd be doing a job thats less hectic and less stressful, but may not be as fulfilling, rewarding, etc.

 

[funkless]

Here's a little nugget:

You'll continue to have doubts about your chosen profession right up until the day you retire... then you'll miss your job like an AA member misses Cresius vodka.

It's not an easy decision we face. I keep thinking, though I'm headed to med school next fall, that I could be just as content by flipping real estate for the next 15 years and retiring at 40. And you know what? I probably COULD be as happy. But medicine is bringing me in, like a fish on a line. I can't help it. And if you're meant to practice medicine, you'll be drawn in, too.

Don't shy away from your doubts. Ruminate on them and see how you feel in the morning. Follow your intestines, not your heart.

--Funkless

 

[idq1i]

You will know soon enough if you are cut out for the field

 

[UCLAstudent]

Having some amount of doubt is healthy. Doubting and struggling with your decision may even make you a better doctor because, in the end, you'll be all the more confident that medicine is what you want to devote your life to.

 

[91Bravo]

It is quite possible that a career in medicine isn't the best match for you. Too many SDNers can't fathom someone actually finding happiness outside of medicine (shocking..I know). So don't listen to them. Over the next year or so, take a look at other careers. You may find something that stirs your passion much more than medicine. In the end, you'll only be wiser for the experience.

Good luck on your journey!

 

[LauraMac]

yeah, i have second thoughts a lot. right now everything is fine. undergrad is awesome. i have a kind of hard major at a kind of hard school, but it is nothing too drastic, so i have a lot of time to party and whatever else. and my friends in med school here seem like they get to go out a decent amount, too, so i'm not worried about that either. it's residency that i'm worried about. i just hear such horror stories about the hours and the stress. and then i worry about whether or not i'm going to have time for my kids. i don't want to be a bad mom just because i'm a little overambitious and feel the need to be a doctor. i definitely agree with musiclink about not being able to live with myself, though, if i don't do what i truly want, even if it means a couple years of my life might be kind of ****ty. the disappointment of not living up to your potential is much worse IMO than having to sacrifice a little to reach your goals. but yeah, i still have second thoughts.

-laura

 

[jlee9531]

sure many of us have doubts....

i always made sure i did other things not related to medicine to keep me.....hmm i guess balanced? for a lack of a better term.

some start off as premed then find something else and go with that or later realize that we just needed to experience something else to discover that medicine is indeed what we want to do.

go out and try to experience a lot of stuff man...
its only then can you be really confident about going into medicine...with no doubts or regrets.

 

[jeffsleepy]

err... I've taken all my premed requirements and i've never had to write a single 10 page paper... in chem... they always say to keep it under 2 pages (not including charts) and in bio, you work mostly in groups so it's not that bad

I've never even written anything above 2 pages my whole college career.

 

[DSM]

It is called "Time management". If medicine is what you are cut out for...you will make it. Hang in there, I have 2 or 3 lab reports a week and I work full time.

 

[Pre-Dent-David]

Originally posted by jeffsleepy
err... I've taken all my premed requirements and i've never had to write a single 10 page paper... in chem... they always say to keep it under 2 pages (not including charts) and in bio, you work mostly in groups so it's not that bad

I've never even written anything above 2 pages my whole college career.

Yeah seriously 10 pages is jacked.... Not to mention a waste of time because it does not facilitate learning the material in ANY WAY AT ALL. Schools need to learn the difference between purposeful challenging work and pointlessly tedious work. They are two different things!