Stuck in a horrible situation, what do I do?

[TheSurrealDoc]

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I'm a second year medical student at a foreign school in my home country and I realized that I will be extremely miserable as a doctor. I barely have any interest in reading the topics assigned and I'm just wasting my time. My situation is kind of different and I want to make sure everything is smooth before I make a sudden move.

1.) I'm from USA and I did 1 year of pre-med in a safety school but performed poorly (2.6 gpa)

2.) Due to the economy and friends regretting their majors, I decided to search for an alternative option. Albeit, here I am at a medical school overseas.

So basically I've been here for about 1 yr and 8 months now and decided that I will never go near this field again. Now if I quit and go back to the states to major in what I really like (computers) then how will I explain my leave of absence to colleges? How would I be admitted into a decent institute?


Am I trapped? Should I just finish what I've started forcefully?

 

[EgotiStick]

I'm a second year medical student at a foreign school in my home country and I realized that I will be extremely miserable as a doctor. I barely have any interest in reading the topics assigned and I'm just wasting my time. My situation is kind of different and I want to make sure everything is smooth before I make a sudden move.

1.) I'm from USA and I did 1 year of pre-med in a safety school but performed poorly (2.6 gpa)

2.) Due to the economy and friends regretting their majors, I decided to search for an alternative option. Albeit, here I am at a medical school overseas.

So basically I've been here for about 1 yr and 8 months now and decided that I will never go near this field again. Now if I quit and go back to the states to major in what I really like (computers) then how will I explain my leave of absence to colleges? How would I be admitted into a decent institute?


Am I trapped? Should I just finish what I've started forcefully?

If this is true, it sucks for you. I think you stand with as much to gain by finishing your MD and then moving towards your passions than you do stopping and restarting comp. sci. or whatever in undergrad.

There's a lot of money to be made by fiddling with the electronics and other technology in medicine. An MD gives you a lot of credibility for things of that nature. on the other hand, it may be too expensive if its really killing you to keep going. my 0.02


You have to wonder whats going to "hold" you in computer science when the going gets rough, however

 

[LossForWords]

If you know you'll never actually be a doctor, then I think you should quit now and find something you will like. You'll never get back the year and 8 months you spent in med school, but that's no reason to keep wasting time. It's like people who sit through a movie they hate because they don't want to waste their money. The money is gone no matter what so now you're just wasting your time as well.

As far as how you explain it, just be upfront about it. I know people in my med school class who started other careers, decided they hated it, and went into medicine. It can work both ways, just don't be too defensive about it. It's okay that you don't like medicine; it's not for everybody (which probably includes whoever would be interviewing you for some new career). Just state the fact that it takes a lot of love for medicine to make it through med school and, while you enjoyed the challenge and responsibility, in the end you just didn't have the love of medicine like you do for ___________(insert new career here).

 

[Siverhideo1985]

Are you sure you don't want to be a doctor even though you haven't done the clinical portion yet?

I just know that a lot of people burn out second year and then love 3rd year. I would imagine that the clinical rotations would allow you to explore options where you get to do things with computers in the medical field without flushing two years and a lot of money down the toilet?

 

[bomgd3]

How are you doing in medical school? Do you feel that you'll be able to do competitively on the boards? Are you above-average in intelligence and just bombed freshman year due to other factors, or have you always struggled in school? Because a 2.6 freshman GPA at a safety school does not bode well. You may finish your MD, but you might still have a hard time in residency. One of my parents is an FMG pathologist who witnessed several people get booted from residency. MD =/= practicing physician.

I would say, take a step back and re-evaluate your motivation and preparation. It may ultimately be more beneficial to come back and do that compsci degree.

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

Are you sure you don't want to be a doctor even though you haven't done the clinical portion yet?

I just know that a lot of people burn out second year and then love 3rd year. I would imagine that the clinical rotations would allow you to explore options where you get to do things with computers in the medical field without flushing two years and a lot of money down the toilet?

Burnout is one thing, but having a genuine interest in the subject matter and the intellectual capacity to push through are a must. It sounds like the OP has neither. Flushing 2 years worth of tuition down the drain is bad, flushing away 4 more years of good money after bad is worse.

 

[TheSurrealDoc]

The scariest part about all this is that a 2.6 plus the fact that I couldn't handle medical school will probably get me rejected from most universities. Am I right?

Is there any type of spin or fluff I can add to my story to have a fighting chance? As far as pushing through, it's going to be very tough. I'll be able to finish but I don't think I'll do that well on the steps so yeah.

 

[Skelfie]

SurrealDoc, you can always consider enrolling in a community college that has strong ties to a good university, and then transferring from CC to university when you have enough credits. I'm not sure about other states, but I know that there are at least a few of those in California. Best of luck! 🙂

 

[bomgd3]

SurrealDoc, you can always consider enrolling in a community college that has strong ties to a good university, and then transferring from CC to university when you have enough credits. I'm not sure about other states, but I know that there are at least a few of those in California. Best of luck! 🙂

This. Also, make sure you absolutely kill your CC classes since they are usually easier than university classes.

 

[Pansit]

I'm a second year medical student at a foreign school in my home country and I realized that I will be extremely miserable as a doctor. I barely have any interest in reading the topics assigned and I'm just wasting my time. My situation is kind of different and I want to make sure everything is smooth before I make a sudden move.

1.) I'm from USA and I did 1 year of pre-med in a safety school but performed poorly (2.6 gpa)

2.) Due to the economy and friends regretting their majors, I decided to search for an alternative option. Albeit, here I am at a medical school overseas.

So basically I've been here for about 1 yr and 8 months now and decided that I will never go near this field again. Now if I quit and go back to the states to major in what I really like (computers) then how will I explain my leave of absence to colleges? How would I be admitted into a decent institute?


Am I trapped? Should I just finish what I've started forcefully?

Dude...just say that you thought you wanted to go to medical school and actually realized in the end that your true interests lie with computers. That sounds more believable than anything

 

[ar2388]

Dude...just say that you thought you wanted to go to medical school and actually realized in the end that your true interests lie with computers. That sounds more believable than anything

agreed

 

[DrJosephKim]

If you're young, consider the rest of your future as you plan out your decisions. There are many advantages to finishing medical school, even if you don't plan to practice medicine. You'll be in a better position to find jobs that are looking for people who have scientific and clinical knowledge plus a terminal degree.

On the other hand, if you'd rather get a graduate degree related to computers, then you may ultimately be investing your time/resources in a better place where you may experience greater enjoyment in your day-to-day work

 

[TheSurrealDoc]

If you're young, consider the rest of your future as you plan out your decisions. There are many advantages to finishing medical school, even if you don't plan to practice medicine. You'll be in a better position to find jobs that are looking for people who have scientific and clinical knowledge plus a terminal degree.

On the other hand, if you'd rather get a graduate degree related to computers, then you may ultimately be investing your time/resources in a better place where you may experience greater enjoyment in your day-to-day work

I'm still in Medical school because of compromise. I absolutely do not want to be here, but the choices I've made to leave the country to pursue an IMG degree leaves me in a tough spot. Going back now would me I would get rejected from most universities and staying as a struggling IMG would make it almost impossible to match as matching for IMGs is already difficult; imagine that with a 80 Step 1 score (Presuming I score that much based on level of interest)