Should I go into medicine?

[peacefulbirds]

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Ok, so I am very attached to the idea of eventually going into medical school and being an MD, but there are some reasons why I think I should and some reasons why I think I shouldn't.

Reasons why I think I shouldn't:

1. I am introverted and am not excellent at working with people. People often tell me that I have little tact or that I show little empathy. It's not that I don't feel empathy, it's that I express myself in a way that people don't understand as well.
2. A very close (older) friend thought that it would not be a good fit for me(because of reason #1), but she has no experience in any medical field.
3. I am an athlete, and will be training up to 30 hours/week during undergrad, which means I will have to attend university part-time, likely on a 6- or 8-year timeline. Because I will be graduating High School this year, I would graduate from university in 2024 or 2026 if I took a gap year.
4. I have little experience with pushing my body to the exhausted levels where most residents seem to be. I have always taken care of my nutrition, gotten adequate sleep, etc. and am worried about how I would fare in residency.

Reasons why I think I should:

1. I have gotten excellent grades for all of my life, putting in only a moderate amount of effort, and I think I could succeed during undergrad and med school.
2. I have an excellent memory, to the point where it frightens many of my peers because my recall is that good. I have some party tricks like being able to memorize the complete lyrics of a song after only hearing it once, memorizing entire passages of books and plays, etc.
3. I love systems. I like all kinds of systems, especially biological and chemical, but also having to do with computers and engineering, governmental, natural, even things as mundane as how an efficient kitchen runs. I love analyzing and understanding the relationships between components, which I think may apply very well to understanding the body.
4. I am not afraid of a challenge and look forward to pushing myself. For all of my athletic career, I have sacrificed all aspects of my life to improve my performance. I don't see myself being happy doing something that I can't put 100% of my effort into.

So, what do you guys think? Sorry for such a wall of text, and thanks in advance for your responses.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Moving to hSDN as OP is in high school

 

[Petrichor1]

Ok, so I am very attached to the idea of eventually going into medical school and being an MD, but there are some reasons why I think I should and some reasons why I think I shouldn't.

Reasons why I think I shouldn't:

1. I am introverted and am not excellent at working with people. People often tell me that I have little tact or that I show little empathy. It's not that I don't feel empathy, it's that I express myself in a way that people don't understand as well.
2. A very close (older) friend thought that it would not be a good fit for me(because of reason #1), but she has no experience in any medical field.
3. I am an athlete, and will be training up to 30 hours/week during undergrad, which means I will have to attend university part-time, likely on a 6- or 8-year timeline. Because I will be graduating High School this year, I would graduate from university in 2024 or 2026 if I took a gap year.
4. I have little experience with pushing my body to the exhausted levels where most residents seem to be. I have always taken care of my nutrition, gotten adequate sleep, etc. and am worried about how I would fare in residency.

Sorry, if some person told me what I should and shouldn't be, I wouldn't be applying to medical school. I have been encouraged by people I respect to go into medicine but even if they weren't there, I would still be trucking for this dream. You are your own cheerleader and not all doctors are personable like you think they are. I have seen some rude people and then some nice and cheery people. All in all, if you want to be a doctor, just be a "NICE" person. If you have the respect for people, please go into this field, you'll be making a real difference.

Each specialty in medicine is composed of different personalities. Do the research and volunteer at the hospital to understand if you fit in. In terms of residency, it's a phase in your life that you have to just do with. It is tiring and exhausting. You will round patients and your feet will hurt immensely but that's the price you will pay to being a busy field. Some residencies are small and so you will only work in that department and have a different type of exhaustion. In a way, after residency is done, you are welcome to go work at a clinic or be a hospitalist (depending on the range provided by your specialty).

I would also recommend that if you are still not sure about medicine even after volunteering, take some gap time by doing a job or masters to see where your heart lies. I was able to do that and I learned a great deal about my aspirations. Now, for me, it's just medicine. Tunnel vision isn't good but right now I just want to focus on the present and I've always been the type to always think about the future (that didn't work out so try something new eh?).

 

[bashwell]

Ok, so I am very attached to the idea of eventually going into medical school and being an MD, but there are some reasons why I think I should and some reasons why I think I shouldn't.

Reasons why I think I shouldn't:

1. I am introverted and am not excellent at working with people. People often tell me that I have little tact or that I show little empathy. It's not that I don't feel empathy, it's that I express myself in a way that people don't understand as well.
2. A very close (older) friend thought that it would not be a good fit for me(because of reason #1), but she has no experience in any medical field.
3. I am an athlete, and will be training up to 30 hours/week during undergrad, which means I will have to attend university part-time, likely on a 6- or 8-year timeline. Because I will be graduating High School this year, I would graduate from university in 2024 or 2026 if I took a gap year.
4. I have little experience with pushing my body to the exhausted levels where most residents seem to be. I have always taken care of my nutrition, gotten adequate sleep, etc. and am worried about how I would fare in residency.

Reasons why I think I should:

1. I have gotten excellent grades for all of my life, putting in only a moderate amount of effort, and I think I could succeed during undergrad and med school.
2. I have an excellent memory, to the point where it frightens many of my peers because my recall is that good. I have some party tricks like being able to memorize the complete lyrics of a song after only hearing it once, memorizing entire passages of books and plays, etc.
3. I love systems. I like all kinds of systems, especially biological and chemical, but also having to do with computers and engineering, governmental, natural, even things as mundane as how an efficient kitchen runs. I love analyzing and understanding the relationships between components, which I think may apply very well to understanding the body.
4. I am not afraid of a challenge and look forward to pushing myself. For all of my athletic career, I have sacrificed all aspects of my life to improve my performance. I don't see myself being happy doing something that I can't put 100% of my effort into.

So, what do you guys think? Sorry for such a wall of text, and thanks in advance for your responses.

http://www.espn.com/espnw/athletes-...-johnston-manages-olympic-training-med-school

 

[rossatron7]

Nobody can make this decision for you. You have to want it. As for your reasoning:

1. Introversion is not a weakness. People and social situations are exhausting. I would much rather chill at home than go out with a bunch of people on a Friday night. That's not to say I won't be an excellent physician. That's up to me.

2. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

3. That's a great extracurricular, something a lot of applicants would not be able to claim. But as @bashwell pointed out, it's doable.

4. If you want it badly enough, you'll figure out how to make it work.

 

[Law2Doc]

...

1. A very close (older) friend thought that it would not be a good fit for me...

So a very close friend thinks it would be a bad fit but you'd rather take the advice of strangers over the Internet who have never met you... Hmmm, Sounds legit...

Med school is not for everyone. You probably want to do some shadowing and volunteering and see if it's something you'd actually enjoy. But it's very much about dealing with people at their bleakest, and compassion and empathy are a very big part of the job. More so than knowing "systems". From what you've written you may very well not like it.

I hate the word "introvert" on SDN because there's the Meyers Briggs test definition and the definition used by the other 99% of the planet and so nobody really knows what you mean when you use it. I would argue that an "introvert" as lay people use that word would by definition be a horrible doctor but quite a few people on this site seem to use the word very differently (and perhaps even incorrectly). So best to describe your degree of social interaction/proclivity in other terms.

 

[Goro]

How about getting into college and then think about it?

 

[elite17xx]

Have you done any shadowing and/or volunteering? Personally, I think that is the most helpful way of determining whether medicine is the right career for you.
Nova also published a great documentary a while back on the lifestyle and training paths of several physicians-- I think it's called Doctor's Diaries.

 

[VolibearMain]

You'll hear this a hundred times by the time you reach medical school, "only go into medicine, if you cant see yourself doing anything else".

For me, I cant see myself doing anything else (well maybe I could be a CIA agent but who gets that job anyway). For everything else, I was bored out of my mind. Engineering, Law, Teaching, etc, etc. What made me happy was (during shadowing) going from patient to patient, evaluations, consults, watching procedures etc.

 

[Law2Doc]

...
For me, I cant see myself doing anything else (well maybe I could be a CIA agent but who gets that job anyway)...

More people than you think get such jobs, probably even someone you know -- they just aren't allowed to advertise that fact.

 

[VolibearMain]

More people than you think get such jobs, probably even someone you know -- they just aren't allowed to advertise that fact.

Oh I know, but the part of the CIA I would be interested in lol.
Im pretty happy becoming a physician. Ive tried other paths too, teaching, engineering, data management, a little bit of business. The feeling of a hospital environment (not sure if this is weird), appeals to me. I like seeing patients, helping people, I also like working with healthcare. I love "trying" to give medical advice. I mainly like the ER and management side of things. I thought originally I wanted to be a surgeon but it turned out the exact opposite, something like internal medicine, podiatry, would interest me as I get to manage patient healthcare more than just perform a procedure to correct an issue.

Anyway enough of my rant. Bottom line is I like the healthcare field. Id probably get pretty lonely hopping around the world as a CIA "agent"

 

[WellWornLad]

Well you've got lots of time to figure some of this stuff out, but there's nothing here that seems like it's arguing against it. Introverts actually make better doctors, trust me. That doc who interrupts you within 5 seconds of describing your symptoms is an extrovert. Introverts are adept at internal processing, which very much complements your typical medical interview. You won't be making small talk, you'll have a list of things you need to know from the patient so it's not like there's going to be a lot of awkward silence once you know what you're doing.

You don't need to have fantastic memory and intelligence to be a doctor, but it makes things much, much easier. Med school can be tough, but it's really just a combination of hard work and intelligence - the more you have of one, the less you need of the other. That said, many folks who were big fish in high school find the sea much bigger in college and medical school, so it's hard to say where you'd fall on the bell curve of medical students. Objective learning and memorization skills go a long way to making med school bearable however, even enjoyable.

The long hours aren't bad if you enjoy what you're doing. I worked before medical school and those times I had to do 10-12 hour shifts in manual labor or office work were awful. In medicine I routinely do 12-14 hour shifts and the time flies by. The real problem with the hours is the lack of time to do things outside of medicine, but again there's a huge variability in this by specialty. Sleep deprivation does suck, no way around that. Heck, it's considered torture in some circles. Outside of the hospital many people are outraged at the hours residents work, but believe me once they're in the hospital they're even more outraged if they can't get a doctor to talk to at 3am about their test results.

The 6-8 years of undergrad is a non-issue, assuming you do something interesting with the balance of that time. It is probably something of a plus. Maybe I shouldn't say this on this forum, but nothing is duller than interviewing the guy who went straight through high school -> college -> medical school without doing anything not related to medicine or getting into medical school.

Anyway, chances are you'll find something more sane to do with your life. Just get some time in shadowing and/or volunteering to rule it in or out.

 

[AttemptingScholar]

I'm not saying don't, but both your strengths and your weaknesses make you sound like a better fit for biomedical research. For how med schools view it, varsity athletics is a plus, part-time student is not. Shadow and volunteer in a hospital for at last 50 hours (combined or either) and reflect on if the patient interaction makes you dislike it. I'm a strong introvert, but still enjoy patient interaction, but only found that out after experience.