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deleted1026555
Hi all, I'm more than a bit conflicted about what to do and could use some ideas or at least a sounding board. TL;DR I'm wondering if finding an alternative occupation (job or a few undergrad classes) before applying to med school might be a better idea than staying at my postdoc.
As you can probably tell by my username, I'm currently in a postdoc position and am hoping to switch careers to medicine. I don't technically have any remaining prereqs left to do; I was a biochem major and did the gen bio series plus a genetics course. I did experimental/analytical pchem for my PhD, though, so I really feel like I'm rusty with anything related to biology, and I basically have never had a real biology lab (gen bio lab existed but was a joke at my undergrad). I've started volunteering in a free clinic and think I've found a way to get shadowing hours around my work schedule, so there technically isn't any kind of conflict with work hours. Hypothetically, I should be able to stay in my postdoc according to the rules of my company until June 2022, almost right before med school would start. The pay and benefits are better than what I could get pretty much anywhere else with my level of experience, and my PI here is a genuinely nice guy. But...
I kind of hate the work I do. It's in research that honestly is shallow, dull, and in what I consider to be inching toward an ethical gray area. Various family members I've talked to have suggested that I just take one day at a time, be grateful that I have a job, and to not tell my PI (thought being in case he regrets training me just for me to leave, and decides to fire me). But I really have a hard time with the thought of staying. I almost feel like I'm stagnant here, and it's getting harder each day to pay attention to my work. I mean, it's basically a trainee professional job, and the culture of the company is that you spend whatever time is necessary to get things done, and the longer I'm here, the more projects I'll be working on and the less free time I'll have for anything like shadowing, volunteering or studying. I also wonder if hanging on to my postdoc position will look like a lack of commitment to medicine.
Either going back to do some undergrad classes and/or trying to get some kind of healthcare certificate is super tempting to me right now. It's been so long since I've done something that wasn't basically chosen for me. I just kinda fell into my postdoc since my grad PI knows my postdoc PI. Both the schools I attended for undergrad and grad had a very limited number of courses, so it'd be really nice to make a choice (and frankly take a break, which I didn't between undergrad and grad school, or between grad school and my postdoc). Is there any practicality in trying to dive into the healthcare scene? There are limited allied health training opportunities where I am currently, so I'd have to leave town (and move back in with my parents; would be the same for returning to undergrad) and obviously wouldn't be able to get trained while I still have my postdoc. I also worry about the job opportunities, as well, and whether anyone would want to hire an MA, NAC, or EMT with zero experience but a PhD. But any of this would be wildly different from what I've done for the past 8 years, so it honestly sounds really exciting. Any constructive ideas, advice, or suggestions are welcome--thanks for those taking the time to read all of this.
As you can probably tell by my username, I'm currently in a postdoc position and am hoping to switch careers to medicine. I don't technically have any remaining prereqs left to do; I was a biochem major and did the gen bio series plus a genetics course. I did experimental/analytical pchem for my PhD, though, so I really feel like I'm rusty with anything related to biology, and I basically have never had a real biology lab (gen bio lab existed but was a joke at my undergrad). I've started volunteering in a free clinic and think I've found a way to get shadowing hours around my work schedule, so there technically isn't any kind of conflict with work hours. Hypothetically, I should be able to stay in my postdoc according to the rules of my company until June 2022, almost right before med school would start. The pay and benefits are better than what I could get pretty much anywhere else with my level of experience, and my PI here is a genuinely nice guy. But...
I kind of hate the work I do. It's in research that honestly is shallow, dull, and in what I consider to be inching toward an ethical gray area. Various family members I've talked to have suggested that I just take one day at a time, be grateful that I have a job, and to not tell my PI (thought being in case he regrets training me just for me to leave, and decides to fire me). But I really have a hard time with the thought of staying. I almost feel like I'm stagnant here, and it's getting harder each day to pay attention to my work. I mean, it's basically a trainee professional job, and the culture of the company is that you spend whatever time is necessary to get things done, and the longer I'm here, the more projects I'll be working on and the less free time I'll have for anything like shadowing, volunteering or studying. I also wonder if hanging on to my postdoc position will look like a lack of commitment to medicine.
Either going back to do some undergrad classes and/or trying to get some kind of healthcare certificate is super tempting to me right now. It's been so long since I've done something that wasn't basically chosen for me. I just kinda fell into my postdoc since my grad PI knows my postdoc PI. Both the schools I attended for undergrad and grad had a very limited number of courses, so it'd be really nice to make a choice (and frankly take a break, which I didn't between undergrad and grad school, or between grad school and my postdoc). Is there any practicality in trying to dive into the healthcare scene? There are limited allied health training opportunities where I am currently, so I'd have to leave town (and move back in with my parents; would be the same for returning to undergrad) and obviously wouldn't be able to get trained while I still have my postdoc. I also worry about the job opportunities, as well, and whether anyone would want to hire an MA, NAC, or EMT with zero experience but a PhD. But any of this would be wildly different from what I've done for the past 8 years, so it honestly sounds really exciting. Any constructive ideas, advice, or suggestions are welcome--thanks for those taking the time to read all of this.
