Should I drop out??

[FakeUsername]

Hey all.

I hate myself for writing this thread, but I'm at a fork in the road and I could use some words of wisdom from some fellow med students. I'm on the fence between staying in school and dropping out. I'm an MS1 at a DO school and I'm only 3 months in. The reasons I am contemplating dropping out are not due to difficulty or poor grades, I actually have pretty good grades. I just really feel like my heart isnt in it. I'm sure some of you will say many med students feel down & out during the school year but I think this is different...i had these doubts 8 months BEFORE starting school, I just didnt have the guts to walk away from my acceptance without at least giving it a shot. I feel like I wanted to go to med school for the wrong reasons; job security, prestige, money, power, respect, and to prove to people/myself I could do it. To be honest, I really don't have a dying desire to help people. That said, I am a rather non-trad student in that I am an MS1 that just turned 26. I feel like im too old to go back to college for another degree but I dont want to bury myself in debt and thus commit myself to this profession if I dont see myself being happy in it. I find myself looking up alternative careers in the time that I should be spending on studying.

I have a degree in biology, like 90% of med students. That isnt a degree one can fall back on to find a job. So my current situation/thinking is this: A: stick with it, bury myself in debt and commit myself to a profession I dont see myself being happy in. B: drop out/LOA before the debt gets too high and try and find a respectable job in medical sales or something along those lines. C: go get another degree, in something like Finance or Biomech Eng, both of which I am interested in. The shame of calling myself a "med school dropout" is what keeps me hanging into med school. The sadness I would cause my loved ones who are so proud of me for getting where I am would crush me.

Any words of advice you guys may have will be greatly appreciated. Have any o you guys known anyone in my situation that walked away from school and turned out all right in the end?

thanks for those who took the time to read my post. have a good night!

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[Dral]

If you can stick it out:
Med school to intern year to preventive med residency ( with MPH) to non clinical jobs.

If you can't:
Leave now.

 

[514901]

Stick it out. We all have doubts at the outset. I'm an older medical student as well and pretty much hated the medical school social environment, but once you reach 3rd year you start to really appreciate how great of a field medicine can be/is.

 

[quechua]

Talk with your advisor and/or dean... But I'd say drop out.

Consider finishing the school year in good academic standing and requesting a leave of absence just in case you have a change of heart. I do think once you leave, your current program is likely the only one to readmit you if you decide to return to medicine.

I've had two friends do this. One at a DO school and one at an MD school. Neither took a leave of absence. They both decided to return and had to repeat the entire first year... More money.

 

[inep]

OP, your feelings are very common. Likely you may discover that the money, prestige, whatever, isn't really that important to you and you really do enjoy taking care of patients. There are LOTS of people in medicine in it for the money and prestige and they feel no shame or guilt about it like you are expressing. The fact that you feel these things and aren't so motivated by them that you are considering dropping out indicates that you might actually end up being one of the good docs who is in it for the patients. This is what happened to me. I became totally disillusioned by everyone being in it for the money and was sickened that I was initially going to be one of these people, but I finally at the last minute realized I enjoyed working with patients and that I really wanted to be a doctor and decided to stick it out (I nearly dropped out beginning of first year like you, and then again at the end of third year, but now I'm applying for a residency and am excited to make this my new career).

If you quit, you will be haunted by what-ifs for the rest of your life. Medicine is so diverse there is a way to make it work for nearly everyone. Stop looking at other jobs and focus on this. My guess is you're like me and don't adapt to major life changes very well and are afraid of committments. Give it time, trust me, it will come around for the better.

 

[Brain Bucket]

If you have dependants (parents who will rely on you) or don't have job security, stick it through. Think of it as just another onerous job you have to do well. No excuses. Not everyone who does medicine necessarily wants to do it and plenty of people switch to other careers despite being successful physicians. This way you'll have job security even as a fam med practitioner (9-5) and can spend the rest of your time with a pretty good quality of life.

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[Nephronlearner]

You should try to finish the degree, IMO.
First of all, what you feel is actually incredibly common. Most of the students have doubts. Especially at the beginning of the course.
Unfortunately, every job gets boring after a while 🙁
26 is not too old for medicine.
Furthermore, the field is so broad that almost everyone can find something interesting. If you don't see yourself working in the clinic, there are plenty of other job opportunities after MD. You can do research, teach, work at pharm industry, public health, microbiology lab, genetics and so on, and so on.
There are so many opportunities and all of those jobs provide plenty of security (both in terms of jobs and salary).
It is not very wise to drop out of medicine to do biology. It would only make sense if you were sure you were interested in a completely different profession, such as law or business (or astrophysics for that matter).
Medical school is an amazing opportunity and you certainly don't want to be 45 and regret dropping out of medical school.
Another option, as someone else mentioned, can be taking a leave of absence and exploring some other careers. Just don't rush it. You probably paid the tuition for the whole year (at least) anyway 🙂

 

[deleted480308]

Finish....the whole "doctors must have some altruistic mother theresa complex" is for application season. it's a job, do it professionally with competence and you get paid. The concept of "being happy" with work is a tad over rated. I've done work I'm not happy with, and I've been bankrupt. i know which is a bigger deal.

Besides, your are an ms1, you haven't done medicine yet and have no ability to say if you like or don't like it

 

[FakeUsername]

thanks for the responses. I honestly think one of the major contributing factors is my mental health. I have horrible anxiety + paranoid hypochondriac, which isnt a great mix for someone learning about diseases. I havent seen a counselor for it but I do have medication which I take PRN. On the other hand, I do have quite extensive patient experience, being a scribe for 2 years I have probably been present for about 20,000 patient exams. I know its still just ER and thats only 1 branch of medicine but I found no interest in treating the patients. I kinda just did my job. I appreciate all your advice, it wont be taken lightly. Theoretically, however....would dropping out to pursue a degree in finance be a horrible idea? Ever since I was a kid I have wanted to work in some part of the stock market, and I was a business degree for 2 years before switching to biology (hence why I am slightly older). Thank you guys so much!

 

[Nephronlearner]

thanks for the responses. I honestly think one of the major contributing factors is my mental health. I have horrible anxiety + paranoid hypochondriac, which isnt a great mix for someone learning about diseases. I havent seen a counselor for it but I do have medication which I take PRN. On the other hand, I do have quite extensive patient experience, being a scribe for 2 years I have probably been present for about 20,000 patient exams. I know its still just ER and thats only 1 branch of medicine but I found no interest in treating the patients. I kinda just did my job. I appreciate all your advice, it wont be taken lightly. Theoretically, however....would dropping out to pursue a degree in finance be a horrible idea? Ever since I was a kid I have wanted to work in some part of the stock market, and I was a business degree for 2 years before switching to biology (hence why I am slightly older). Thank you guys so much!

Only consider it if you are absolutely sure that this is what you want to do (and nothing else) for the rest of your life and if you are absolutely sure that you won't regret dropping out. Overall, I am sure you would find something that would interest you.
As for being a hypochondriac... at least half of med students become hypochondriacs half way through the course 😉

 

[yehhhboiii]

Only consider it if you are absolutely sure that this is what you want to do (and nothing else) for the rest of your life and if you are absolutely sure that you won't regret dropping out. Overall, I am sure you would find something that would interest you.
As for being a hypochondriac... at least half of med students become hypochondriacs half way through the course 😉

lol renal was the only system where i didn't think that something was wrong with me

 

[Brain Bucket]

lol renal was the only system where i didn't think that something was wrong with me

Lol. No chancre, no rash, no malaise, and yet all through Micro I was convinced I had syphilis.

I kinda just did my job. I appreciate all your advice, it wont be taken lightly. Theoretically, however....would dropping out to pursue a degree in finance be a horrible idea? Ever since I was a kid I have wanted to work in some part of the stock market, and I was a business degree for 2 years before switching to biology (hence why I am slightly older). Thank you guys so much!

Yes. Why'd you switch majors? You could have done medicine with a Business degree. I've always wanted to go into finance as well, but was convinced that Medicine is the smart way to go. It's been said many times - physicians are woefully ignorant when it comes to finance, and I agree.

Anyway, back to your point. You obviously want to drop out and are seeking validation from us. I don't know why. I'll say it again, it's a stupid decision to drop out of medicine unless you think you won't be able to handle the work. If you're organized and hardworking, just treat it as another job and gain financial security for yourself. If you still feel the same way 10 years from now, you could switch careers with something viable to fall back onto. It's the smart decision, but the decision has to be yours. You can't put it off on someone else, or blame someone else if it doesn't work out for you.

 

[Brain Bucket]

Why so curious?

 

[inep]

thanks for the responses. I honestly think one of the major contributing factors is my mental health. I have horrible anxiety + paranoid hypochondriac, which isnt a great mix for someone learning about diseases. I havent seen a counselor for it but I do have medication which I take PRN. On the other hand, I do have quite extensive patient experience, being a scribe for 2 years I have probably been present for about 20,000 patient exams. I know its still just ER and thats only 1 branch of medicine but I found no interest in treating the patients. I kinda just did my job. I appreciate all your advice, it wont be taken lightly. Theoretically, however....would dropping out to pursue a degree in finance be a horrible idea? Ever since I was a kid I have wanted to work in some part of the stock market, and I was a business degree for 2 years before switching to biology (hence why I am slightly older). Thank you guys so much!

You sound like a good guy and not one of these silver-spoon jerks trying to work as little as possible while screwing the patient and gov't out of the most money as possible.

Stick with it and make a difference. If you go to wall street, you be right in the thick of exactly the kind of people I am talking about. Let them stay on wall street and take their spot in derm or ent and do something valuable instead of leeching off society by scalping money off trades without producing anything.

 

[inep]

Finish....the whole "doctors must have some altruistic mother theresa complex" is for application season. it's a job, do it professionally with competence and you get paid. The concept of "being happy" with work is a tad over rated. I've done work I'm not happy with, and I've been bankrupt. i know which is a bigger deal.

Besides, your are an ms1, you haven't done medicine yet and have no ability to say if you like or don't like it

I take it you have done medicine.

Also, bull**** about being happy with work. If you don't want to work with patients, you shouldn't be a doctor. I gave up so much to do this, you all have no idea. And I am competing with people just trying to get at what I gave up to come up here because I actually care about the patients and want to help.

Altruism and compassion are important. Most people lie and fake it, and that's a sad reflection on just one thing that's wrong with our system.

 

[J ROD]

I just dont understant why you didnt stay a biz major. I have a MBA and love biz as well but I went back to school to help patients and not just make money.

So, read from that what you will.

 

[tiedyeddog]

Hey all.
I feel like I wanted to go to med school for the wrong reasons; job security, prestige, money, power, respect, and to prove to people/myself I could do it.

Sounds like a pretty good reason to me... What job are you going to get that has all of these?

 

[deleted480308]

I take it you have done medicine.

Also, bull**** about being happy with work. If you don't want to work with patients, you shouldn't be a doctor. I gave up so much to do this, you all have no idea. And I am competing with people just trying to get at what I gave up to come up here because I actually care about the patients and want to help.

Altruism and compassion are important. Most people lie and fake it, and that's a sad reflection on just one thing that's wrong with our system.

nope, haven't done medicine...I'm a career changer because I find the idea of medicine to be more intriguing to me that what I have done. Money is better too.

You need to be a good person for your own life and personal/spiritual relationships...it has nothing to do with your competence as a professional. I have worked with competent professionals and people who were altruistically great human beings. Those qualities are neither mutually exclusive nor mutually dependent.

 

[FakeUsername]

Lol I honestly don't know why I switched majors. funny story actually...I spent my first 2 years in college at one university and transferred to another in the same state...on the day of orientation of my trasferred university they said "ok, business majors go to your right, Biology majors go to the left"....for some reason I went left. To this day I dont know what I thought in that moment to make me go left. In hindsight, it was a terrible decision because now I'm between a rock and a hard place. Rock being med school and a potential future hell....hard place being that there is no career out there for a bio major unless scraping mouse **** out of a cage sounds like a career to you. I greatly appreciate all the feedback. It seems the overwhelming consensus is to stick it out. And to the previous poster, yes part of me is leaning toward dropping out and is seeking validation for the decision. If I knew I would turn out all right with a respectable job after dropping out then I would drop. its great talking to you guys about something this serious, it helps alleviate the stress.

 

[Wordead]

Take a LOA or just drop out. If you don't want to do it now, praying for a change of heart in the next 4 years is idiotic.

 

[cal8719]

Just throwing it out there - but since you are at a DO school make sure that you will be happy doing Family Medicine or maybe IM. Nothing wrong with either of those specialties and they both have relatively decent lifestyles.

4 years of med school + 3 or more years of residency is a huge commitment, one that nobody fully understands until they personally go through it. It's also very expensive so once you are more than a year in it becomes impractical to drop out.

Anyways, like others have said, your thoughts are very common. I tend to side with the "stick it out" group. I mean really, what are your other job prospects? You could go back and do "finance." That would include a few more years of undergrad. Then likely you would want to do something such as CPA or a masters if you want to make any real money. Add another year or two. The internship, being low man on the totem pole, etc. You get the point. Medicine is just another job, albeit a pretty interesting and stimulating job.

 

[deleted480308]

You lost me with the implication that FM and IM are the only likely options...

 

[cal8719]

You lost me with the implication that FM and IM are the only likely options...

Just being a realist. With the new changes things are going to get very tough for DO graduates.

 

[Kaustikos]

Just take a leave of absence.

 

[reviliver]

There are places in medicine for people who don't want to treat patients. You might find pathology or histo super intellectually stimulating, and end up going into something like academic medicine. You haven't stuck it out long enough to find the part of medicine that you like. If you don't want to burn the tuition money, time, and effort you have exerted thus far, you should stick it out for at least 1 year, shadow a bunch of different kinds of doctors, and give yourself a chance to find a spark somewhere.

And, get counseling. A good therapist will help you figure out why you're feeling the urge to cut and run.

 

[gasthrowaway]

Finish....the whole "doctors must have some altruistic mother theresa complex" is for application season. it's a job, do it professionally with competence and you get paid. The concept of "being happy" with work is a tad over rated. I've done work I'm not happy with, and I've been bankrupt. i know which is a bigger deal.

Besides, your are an ms1, you haven't done medicine yet and have no ability to say if you like or don't like it

gotta love how when you bring up compensation on SDN you get roasted for not wanting to help patients. then you see that plastics and derm are the two most competitive specialties out there.

 

[Brain Bucket]

Just being a realist. With the new changes things are going to get very tough for DO graduates.

Do tell.

 

[BurghStudent]

Before you drop out, shadow some doctors, let's say five diverse specialties. If they're open folks, see what they have to say about your concerns. You might find many like you have come before and ended up happy.

Like someone else said, there's a place for almost every personality in medicine.