Starting out

[ece3446]

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Hi all,
Not sure where to start but here goes. I am 27 and work as a network manager at a school in jersey. While I love my job, I have always wondered about a career in medicine. May be it is the prestige or the money associated with it but I want to make sure that I dont embark on a long and tough journey for the wrong reasons.

I needed some advice as to how most of you made the decision to go to medical school and how can I do the same. I mean is there someone I could talk to or is it a good idea to volunteer at a hospital to help you make this kind of choice.

In case you guys are wondering I have a BS and MS in Elec. Engg. from Rutgers, and 5 years of WE. Thanks all.

 

[DrMom]

I would recommend spending some time shadowing physicians or get a (very) part-time job/volunteering position in healthcare. (I actually think the shadowing would be more useful for you) You need to have a good idea of what a career in medicine is like on a day to day basis before you'll have any idea if it is worth you changing careers.

Also, find out what pre-reqs you lack so that you can get the ball rolling there.

Do you have any friends/acquaintences that are physicians or in med school? They would also be a good resource.

There are many who decide to start working towards a medical career at your age or later, so don't let age be a factor in your decision...just make sure that it really is something you'd like to do.

 

[wolferman]

I think that the best thing you could do would be to shadow some doctors and see what it is that they do day-to-day. A lot of people don't know much about being a doctor beyond what they see on "E.R." or "Scrubs" and may be a little surpised by certain aspects. It's those things that you need to see before you can make an informed decision. Working in a hospital may help you get to know what medicine is like, but I usually prefer to go straight to the source, i.e. the docs themselves. To actually get set up with a shadowing opportunity, I would suggest calling the local medical school's admissions office or the hospital volunteer office.

You'll be glad that you investigated the field a little before jumping into it. After all, many of the docs that just entered medicine for the money and prestige, often find that they burn out quicker since they don't have a love of medicine or their patients. I wish you luck in discovering whether or not you have this in you.

 

[heelshmeel]

shadowing is a good place to start... also you can look into volunteering at even non medical related things... do you like communicating with people.?? are you more interested in research? If so, you might want to explore research opportunities in the medical field.

Also you will have to look into prereqs for med school... I take it that you probably havent taken most of that stuff yet... so you would have to get on that... (and after you conquer those, there's this test called the MCAT!! (ahhh!!))