Pursue med school or not?

[medskoolmathguy]

I just came back from seeing my bro-in-law finish med school in mexico...and I am thinking to myself: what am I going to do with my life?

I work for a stable but not exciting government office and have a stable family life and financial life. In other words, I make enough to pay my bills, go out with my family, and take a vacation every year.

However, there is something that wants more in me. I think about sometimes becoming a doctor. The challenge itself seems so appealing to me. The most important factor being that I would be able to save lives directly everyday.

Should I consider doing some volunteer work to see if the medical field is right for me? Should I consider switching even though I am pretty stable in my job?

BTW, I am married and am 28 years old and have a beautiful 2 year old daughter

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[FrkyBgStok]

Definitely volunteer to see if medicine is right for you. Shadow doctors as well. You need to find out before you make any decisions with your job.

 

[MalachiConstant]

I'm 28, have a 3 year old daughter and will be starting school in July. First of all, it's important to not have an overly romanticized idea of what it means to be a physician. You won't actually be "saving" lives everyday. Oftentimes, the best we can hope to offer is to extend a life consumed by suffering, and a great deal of the conditions we can treat with any degree of success are simply the result of poor lifestyle choices which most people aren't going to change anyway. Thus we offer medications to control symptoms, but rarely is anyone "cured" of anything.

That said, I spent a number of years in the hospital prior to applying to med school and I'm positive that no other career would suit me as well. It is intellectually stimulating, challenging, and I know I will be able to go home at night content that I'm at least trying to effect a positive change. Plus the rare occasions when you actually do save a life make it worthwhile to me. There's a lot of BS in medicine as with any other career. In my case, the deciding factor to pursue a career as a physician was the realization that I was willing to deal with that BS in exchange for the positive aspects of the job.

Find a way to get in the hospital and observe what docs actually do and ask lots of questions. Shadowing is about the best option available to get a taste of medicine and see if you dig it.



Of course, like I said, I've yet to matriculate, so I reserve the right to change my opinion after having actually gone through med school, residency and begun independent practice. Unfortunately the only way to ever know for sure if it's worthwhile is to do it.

 

[medskoolmathguy]

Thank you both for your comments. I never really wanted to be a doctor growing up but over the past few years the interest in becoming one has steadily grown in me. I sometimes wanted to, then didn’t, then wanted to again, but I never really acted on my feelings until now that I have seen my bro-in law graduate from med school. I see it as the career that will give you the most satisfaction job-wise.

I am definitely going to volunteer at a hospital and if it goes well, will also start pre-med classes next fall J

Another obstacle are my grades. I got a bachelor’s in math in 2005 but ended with a 2.99 GPA. I then started a masters program in math but did horrible and had to drop out.

Will med schools be nice to me grade-wise if I have some good volunteer experience and letters of rec? And a good MCAT score?

 

[ChE04]

Will med schools be nice to me grade-wise if I have some good volunteer experience and letters of rec? And a good MCAT score?

The general consensus is "no" they are not very forgiving. I have a lower GPA, and so my strategy is to take 3 semesters (~40 credit hours) of straight 4.0 (1 semester down so far...), and this should bring me up to 3.45 u/sGPA, which I am still stressing over applying with. I think our only hope is that someone recognizes the clear distinction between the students we used to be and the students we are currently. Think hard about taking the plunge...