Questioning whether or not medical school is the right choice for me

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TXCO

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I have been dealing with a tough decision. After graduating with my undergrad, I took a gap year to spend some time in a beautiful area loving life and to apply to focus on my MCAT and applying to medical school. I did well on my MCAT (512), and I have an sGPA of 4.0 and overall GPA of 3.9. I received admission to my dream medical school, but I decided to turn down the decision and give myself an extra year to decide what I want to do. So here I am.

I absolutely love the academic side of medicine, and learning about the different body systems etc., and I enjoyed all of my shadowing and internship experiences. My internship was in cardiology, but I did multiple rotations through surgeries, including heart surgery, and through the emergency room. While I loved my experiences, I never really felt that "Oh my god this is what I want to do the rest of my life" feeling. Being an EMT, I thought the emergency room would be the place for me, but I realized that it isn't the exciting action I was expecting. I love medicine, but I also love the adrenaline rush that being an EMT brings.

In my gap year, I've sen how much I love hiking and enjoying life, and I fear that becoming an MD will prevent me from continuing these adventures, and that my whole life will revolve around medicine. This brings me to the PA route, in which I could pursue what I am passionate about, while also having time for said activities. However, if one qualifies for medical school and has he potential to become an MD, am I being stupid not just going to medical school?

Then my last option, is to pursue the route of a paramedic/firefighter. During my ride-outs for EMT, I rode on an engine for a fire department, and the rush of excitement and happiness I felt every time I heard the tone and hopped on the truck was far greater than anything I had ever experienced in the hospital. The idea of being the first responder and the person who is there for the patient first on their worst day is so appealing to me. Being a college athlete, I love the physical aspect that being a firefighter entails, as well as the teamwork and camaraderie that come with the job. I worry that taking this route is a waste of a great MCAT score, and that in years to come I'll find it isn't as intellectually challenging and fulfilling. I am scheduled for a ride-out tomorrow with my local FD just to make sure that I still get that excitement and feeling I used to get.

I also know there is quite a pay difference between the three routes, but at this point in time I am focused on living my best life, loving my career, and doing the best I can for my community.

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When you say you “decided to turn down the decision” do you mean you were accepted to an MD program and declined the offer? Or did you ask for a deferral or something?
 
I have been dealing with a tough decision. After graduating with my undergrad, I took a gap year to spend some time in a beautiful area loving life and to apply to focus on my MCAT and applying to medical school. I did well on my MCAT (512), and I have an sGPA of 4.0 and overall GPA of 3.9. I received admission to my dream medical school, but I decided to turn down the decision and give myself an extra year to decide what I want to do. So here I am.

I absolutely love the academic side of medicine, and learning about the different body systems etc., and I enjoyed all of my shadowing and internship experiences. My internship was in cardiology, but I did multiple rotations through surgeries, including heart surgery, and through the emergency room. While I loved my experiences, I never really felt that "Oh my god this is what I want to do the rest of my life" feeling. Being an EMT, I thought the emergency room would be the place for me, but I realized that it isn't the exciting action I was expecting. I love medicine, but I also love the adrenaline rush that being an EMT brings.

In my gap year, I've sen how much I love hiking and enjoying life, and I fear that becoming an MD will prevent me from continuing these adventures, and that my whole life will revolve around medicine. This brings me to the PA route, in which I could pursue what I am passionate about, while also having time for said activities. However, if one qualifies for medical school and has he potential to become an MD, am I being stupid not just going to medical school?

Then my last option, is to pursue the route of a paramedic/firefighter. During my ride-outs for EMT, I rode on an engine for a fire department, and the rush of excitement and happiness I felt every time I heard the tone and hopped on the truck was far greater than anything I had ever experienced in the hospital. The idea of being the first responder and the person who is there for the patient first on their worst day is so appealing to me. Being a college athlete, I love the physical aspect that being a firefighter entails, as well as the teamwork and camaraderie that come with the job. I worry that taking this route is a waste of a great MCAT score, and that in years to come I'll find it isn't as intellectually challenging and fulfilling. I am scheduled for a ride-out tomorrow with my local FD just to make sure that I still get that excitement and feeling I used to get.

I also know there is quite a pay difference between the three routes, but at this point in time I am focused on living my best life, loving my career, and doing the best I can for my community.
I mean you turned down an MD acceptance, that pretty much makes any future MD acceptance impossible right? So I’m not sure why you’re still contemplating it, you essentially sealed your fate a year ago
 
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I have been dealing with a tough decision. After graduating with my undergrad, I took a gap year to spend some time in a beautiful area loving life and to apply to focus on my MCAT and applying to medical school. I did well on my MCAT (512), and I have an sGPA of 4.0 and overall GPA of 3.9. I received admission to my dream medical school, but I decided to turn down the decision and give myself an extra year to decide what I want to do. So here I am.

I absolutely love the academic side of medicine, and learning about the different body systems etc., and I enjoyed all of my shadowing and internship experiences. My internship was in cardiology, but I did multiple rotations through surgeries, including heart surgery, and through the emergency room. While I loved my experiences, I never really felt that "Oh my god this is what I want to do the rest of my life" feeling. Being an EMT, I thought the emergency room would be the place for me, but I realized that it isn't the exciting action I was expecting. I love medicine, but I also love the adrenaline rush that being an EMT brings.

In my gap year, I've sen how much I love hiking and enjoying life, and I fear that becoming an MD will prevent me from continuing these adventures, and that my whole life will revolve around medicine. This brings me to the PA route, in which I could pursue what I am passionate about, while also having time for said activities. However, if one qualifies for medical school and has he potential to become an MD, am I being stupid not just going to medical school?

Then my last option, is to pursue the route of a paramedic/firefighter. During my ride-outs for EMT, I rode on an engine for a fire department, and the rush of excitement and happiness I felt every time I heard the tone and hopped on the truck was far greater than anything I had ever experienced in the hospital. The idea of being the first responder and the person who is there for the patient first on their worst day is so appealing to me. Being a college athlete, I love the physical aspect that being a firefighter entails, as well as the teamwork and camaraderie that come with the job. I worry that taking this route is a waste of a great MCAT score, and that in years to come I'll find it isn't as intellectually challenging and fulfilling. I am scheduled for a ride-out tomorrow with my local FD just to make sure that I still get that excitement and feeling I used to get.

I also know there is quite a pay difference between the three routes, but at this point in time I am focused on living my best life, loving my career, and doing the best I can for my community.

You made the right choice because you clearly do not want to be a doctor.

You have pretty much blackballed yourself out of being one, because more and more med schools ask "Have you ever been accepted to a medical school?"

So, don't look back and move on to Plan B.
 
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Also why did you make a new account Ginganinja19? Are you a troll?
 
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As I was reading your essay, I was thinking that firefighting would be the right path for you. The pay is not as great as medicine but it may be a great fit for you. If you start young, you can retire at a relatively young age and get a job to fill your time during retirement.

You may also like a job in federal service: Careers in Wildland Fire | US Forest Service
 
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I would highly suggest the EM route. Emergency medicine can provide a large amount of time off to enjoy life outside the hospital, possibly more than any other specialty. You can literally just work a few days a month part time and make an upper middle class income giving you around 24 days off every month to do whatever you want. Even full time you can have 16-17 days off every month. You’ll also have the ability to do pretty much any sport or activity and have access to the best equipment available.
 
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As I was reading your essay, I was thinking that firefighting would be the right path for you. The pay is not as great as medicine but it may be a great fit for you. If you start young, you can retire at a relatively young age and get a job to fill your time during retirement.

You may also like a job in federal service: Careers in Wildland Fire | US Forest Service



He did it......
 

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This brings me to the PA route, in which I could pursue what I am passionate about, while also having time for said activities. However, if one qualifies for medical school and has he potential to become an MD, am I being stupid not just going to medical school?

Often times people go the PA route because of the flexibility in lifestyle, not because it's for those who can't make it into medical school. Pre-meds and pre-PA students take very similar prereqs and they learn a lot of the same things.
 
Do not go into medicine if that's your feeling. It's actually very unexciting and even the most 'exciting' field is filled with paperwork. There are a million rules and regulations to follow and if you break them you risk getting sued
 
Why is the sentiment of PA as a "backup to medical school" on this board? PA schools are hard to get into, just like medical school. My state medical school has a PA program and gets as many applicants for their program as the MD school gets (~1700) but only has 35 spots open (as opposed to 170 for the medical school.) That's only ~21% available spots
 
It sounds like you just got your EMT license and haven't actually worked in the field. Don't expect that adrenaline rush to last on every call. The longer you work, the rarer it is you get a call that really gets your heart racing. With that said there are many other redeeming qualities in EMS/Fire and I recommend trying it out. Either go straight to fire or work for a while as an EMT while doing medic school. Either way it's pretty low cost so you don't need to necessarily know that's what you want to do with the rest of your life first
 
Why is the sentiment of PA as a "backup to medical school" on this board? PA schools are hard to get into, just like medical school. My state medical school has a PA program and gets as many applicants for their program as the MD school gets (~1700) but only has 35 spots open (as opposed to 170 for the medical school.) That's only ~21% available spots
PA schools are difficult to get into, it's true. But, not as bad as medical school.
 
So I wasn't very specific. Last year I applied to USUHS, And they were very understanding with me that I wanted to make sure this was the right route for me before I made that commitment. I have always thought military was the way to go because i could potentially be deployed and have the opportunity to practice medicine in a hostile environment, which sounds so fulfilling and exciting, more so than being a civilian doc. I've researched the pros and cons and I feel that I could live with the cons because the pros are worth it. Is it dumb for me to think being a military doctor would be more exciting than being a civilian? I am still learning towards fire, but part of me still thinks I should go medical. I just love the excitement of riding on a rig and hopping out to a new scene every call! And obviously the camraderie, which I feel like is also there in military? As you can tell, I'm in a struggle.
 
Also why did you make a new account Ginganinja19? Are you a troll?

I didn't realize my personal picture was on that account so I quickly deleted it and reposted on this!
 
I have been dealing with a tough decision. After graduating with my undergrad, I took a gap year to spend some time in a beautiful area loving life and to apply to focus on my MCAT and applying to medical school. I did well on my MCAT (512), and I have an sGPA of 4.0 and overall GPA of 3.9. I received admission to my dream medical school, but I decided to turn down the decision and give myself an extra year to decide what I want to do. So here I am.

I absolutely love the academic side of medicine, and learning about the different body systems etc., and I enjoyed all of my shadowing and internship experiences. My internship was in cardiology, but I did multiple rotations through surgeries, including heart surgery, and through the emergency room. While I loved my experiences, I never really felt that "Oh my god this is what I want to do the rest of my life" feeling. Being an EMT, I thought the emergency room would be the place for me, but I realized that it isn't the exciting action I was expecting. I love medicine, but I also love the adrenaline rush that being an EMT brings.

In my gap year, I've sen how much I love hiking and enjoying life, and I fear that becoming an MD will prevent me from continuing these adventures, and that my whole life will revolve around medicine. This brings me to the PA route, in which I could pursue what I am passionate about, while also having time for said activities. However, if one qualifies for medical school and has he potential to become an MD, am I being stupid not just going to medical school?

Then my last option, is to pursue the route of a paramedic/firefighter. During my ride-outs for EMT, I rode on an engine for a fire department, and the rush of excitement and happiness I felt every time I heard the tone and hopped on the truck was far greater than anything I had ever experienced in the hospital. The idea of being the first responder and the person who is there for the patient first on their worst day is so appealing to me. Being a college athlete, I love the physical aspect that being a firefighter entails, as well as the teamwork and camaraderie that come with the job. I worry that taking this route is a waste of a great MCAT score, and that in years to come I'll find it isn't as intellectually challenging and fulfilling. I am scheduled for a ride-out tomorrow with my local FD just to make sure that I still get that excitement and feeling I used to get.

I also know there is quite a pay difference between the three routes, but at this point in time I am focused on living my best life, loving my career, and doing the best I can for my community.

Some of my best climbing partners have been physicians who work 3 DAYS A WEEK. Just saying
 
So I wasn't very specific. Last year I applied to USUHS, And they were very understanding with me that I wanted to make sure this was the right route for me before I made that commitment. I have always thought military was the way to go because i could potentially be deployed and have the opportunity to practice medicine in a hostile environment, which sounds so fulfilling and exciting, more so than being a civilian doc. I've researched the pros and cons and I feel that I could live with the cons because the pros are worth it. Is it dumb for me to think being a military doctor would be more exciting than being a civilian? I am still learning towards fire, but part of me still thinks I should go medical. I just love the excitement of riding on a rig and hopping out to a new scene every call! And obviously the camraderie, which I feel like is also there in military? As you can tell, I'm in a struggle.
It really sounds like you have no idea what you want. That is not the mindset you should have thinking to join the military. You should read some of the threads on the military medicine forum, my exposure has been at Army DCC but realizing that most likely it will be much *less* ‘exciting’ than civilian where you have all ages and much more pathology

Take some more time to soul search, there’s no rush
 
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So I wasn't very specific. Last year I applied to USUHS, And they were very understanding with me that I wanted to make sure this was the right route for me before I made that commitment. I have always thought military was the way to go because i could potentially be deployed and have the opportunity to practice medicine in a hostile environment, which sounds so fulfilling and exciting, more so than being a civilian doc. I've researched the pros and cons and I feel that I could live with the cons because the pros are worth it. Is it dumb for me to think being a military doctor would be more exciting than being a civilian? I am still learning towards fire, but part of me still thinks I should go medical. I just love the excitement of riding on a rig and hopping out to a new scene every call! And obviously the camraderie, which I feel like is also there in military? As you can tell, I'm in a struggle.
Did you get an EMT job yet? I promise you first response is different than how you picture it in your head or what you experienced on your ~40 hours of EMT clinicals. You can't know if you'll like it until you try it
 
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What, you didn't apply to DO as a backup? This is a ridiculous and contrived post. I think you are a troll. As I have said in previous posts, if you have to think about being a physician,, dont do it. It is much too difficult of a life. Be a PhD researcher if you really are as smart as you indicate. Consider investment banking or working for Google.
 
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Did you get an EMT job yet? I promise you first response is different than how you picture it in your head or what you experienced on your ~40 hours of EMT clinicals. You can't know if you'll like it until you try it
All of my local 911 jobs require EMT experience, so I am currently working with an IFT company. I interact with fire in the hospitals and 911 EMTs and their stories make me jealous and envious of their jobs. And it might not be as fun and exciting as I think it is! That's what I am trying to get advice on. I just want to hear people's opinions, whether they are negative or positive, to make an informed decision when the time comes.

Also, I applied to all of my state schools and have some interviews scheduled in Texas.
 
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