Turning down huge offers to continue pursuing med school?

[clippersfan88]

Hey sdn,

Long story short, I graduated college with a degree other than science last spring. I had intended to go into the military but had some medical hoops to jump through. I applied to a few grad program in a non science, very competitive liberal arts field. In the meantime I still couldnt forget medicine and began finishing up all my pre med pre reqs. I'll be almost completely done by the end of this year.

I just found out the other day that I was accepted into all the grad programs I applied to.. top, elite schools in the field in question and in general. I could go through the military for free, in addition to any other funding I may get that I haven;t heard about yet.

I'm so conflicted. Im very content with what im doing; working in a hospital part time while volunteering, mcat prep, and taking these classes. I really had fallen in lvoe with the vision of myself as a physician. But is it nuts to turn down this huge, sure fire option for something that is not a given? I think I could get into a medical school, but I am far from a lock, and I will absolutely not get into medical schools of this caliber.

Has anyone else ever turned down a big opportunity in another field to keep trying to become a doctor? Am I nuts to even be considering this? My gut is still telling me medicine.

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[gyngyn]

Has anyone else ever turned down a big opportunity in another field to keep trying to become a doctor?

Yes.

 

[efle]

...can someone give me examples of competitive liberal arts grad schools? Like what opportunity in liberal arts is big enough to steal someone away from the opportunities of an MD?

 

[Endoxifen]

Are we talking MS or PhD? If it's an MS, then you could get the degree and then go to medical school.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Yes. I don't want to get into details, but I am turning down a big opportunity to try to be a doctor.

 

[libertyyne]

Are we talking Julliard ?

 

[libertyyne]

is everyone being sarcastic in their response to the OP, it's kind of hard to tell if that is the case.

I am being serious.

 

[akuko2]

I had to leave my janitorial job to go to medschool. Sometimes I regret leaving the high impact position where I could render every seat sweat free, but I hope I can do some good as an MD.

 

[Cara Delevingne]

Med school is miserable. Go do the other vague thing you're refusing to talk about. You can always go back to medicine if you really want to.

Your image of being a physician vs actually being a physician are wholly different things, I suspect. Things aren't always awesome.

 

[Pepe18]

.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

is everyone being sarcastic in their response to the OP, it's kind of hard to tell if that is the case.

Was being serious.

 

[wagonwheel23]

I think you need to tell us what your options are. It does not appear that you went on any interviews, so I am assuming these are all masters programs. Two immediate ones worth taking that come to mind, because they are free and include a stipend, are Iowa Writers and Woodrow Wilson Public Policy. Am I getting close?

As a put together intelligent person, many great opportunities will reach you. However, if it is not the right fit, there is no point of pursuing an opportunity simply becauae it is a great one. Unfortunately, we cannot tell you where your heart lies.

Also, quite a bit of liberal arts hating here... An MD is not the end all be all of path for everyone.

Good luck!

 

[clippersfan88]

Okay well thanks for the responses. Not going to go into specifics about where I got into or for what, but yes you could say the schools I got into are the "Juliards" of this field, as well as most fields... And I have hundreds of clinical hours, shadowing, volunteering, etc. So to be fair I think I have about as good an idea of how badly being a med student/resident/attending will suck as most potential applicants at this stage.

Hence the point of my making this post in the first place! I still want to be a physician even though I realize that and have a different option. I appreciate those of you who responded affirming that they had also sacrificed an opportunity to risk trying for med school. I think that was pretty obviously what I was looking for. Leave it to SDN to assume any poster on here is worthy of derision, doesn;t understand how hard being a doctor is, doesnt actually want to do it, etc etc.

Thanks again.

 

[Lucca]

Ultimately, this is the kind of decision only you can make, but many people do not "feel" like they have done all they wanted before entering medicine. Others still (probably most) don't want to put it off for any reasons and go straight through and could still feel perfectly fulfilled. My personal opinion is to have a very clear idea of what you want out of an education / degree. There's no reason to put off medicine just because another opportunity is prestigious or looks good on paper. There is a good reason if there is something you really want to do but know you won't really have the same opportunity to do once you jump into the medical training pipeline.

FWIW I know some people who still had medicine solidly in their plans but decided to go teach for a couple of years. They were the kind of people who thought teaching was an excellent profession but not one they could do forever and also wanted to become doctors. I dont know if they will keep teaching or eventually go back to medicine but people do have to make these decisions. I even know a person who is deferring their acceptance just because they got a job offer that pays a lot of money and they want to live la dolce vita before entering training.

 

[jqueb29]

Depends on what you truly love and what your priorities are. If you like the artsy-fartsy stuff more than you like medicine, go with your heart. If you love medicine more, go for that instead. And if your main concern is success/money which it seems to be (as evidenced by your concern of turning a big opportunity), medicine is absolutely a much safer bet. It doesn't matter if you get into Harvard or "insert low tier DO school here"; doctors are successful. Liberal arts people can certainly be successful too, but it is far from a safe bet. Lots of them with bad jobs.

 

[Sardinia]

When people automatically assume that a "competitive liberal arts field" is related to the arts in the most colloquial sense of the term it really shows you the lack of efficacy the general education curriculum had in terms of broadening the perspective of students who are enrolled in the sciences.

 

[Levo]

Med school is miserable. Go do the other vague thing you're refusing to talk about. You can always go back to medicine if you really want to.

Your image of being a physician vs actually being a physician are wholly different things, I suspect. Things aren't always awesome.

Just to get a balanced perspective on this thread, that has not been my experience in med school. I've had the time of my life and so have many of my classmates. Sure, there's a ton of material and you don't sleep much during certain parts of third year, but it's like climbing a mountain. You push yourself, build incredible camaraderie with your climbing buddies, and get an amazing view once you reach the top. Of course, I do have classmates who have had issues while in medical school, and had their experience colored negatively by those issues, but they're in the minority. @Cara Delevingne , I hope that whatever's happening that's preventing you from enjoying med school gets better soon.

 

[clippersfan88]

Lol. I dont care about the money. I just love working as a PCA and am really enjoying the upper division classes I'm in right now. That's why I want to be a physician and am probably going to choose that over these offers.

I made this post because I felt nuts for not leaping at these other opportunities. Logically it didnt make sense. To those of you who said I should only go to one ofthese grad school programs if it's really what I wanted, thank you. Posing it as a question really made me realize that I dont want to pursue that option.

Would have been nice to have gotten those answers without all the key board jockeying.

Again, not gonna go into details, but my non science background is not in the "arts". Was gonna do it in conjunction with the military (who were gonna pay for it, btw), s0 put two and two together. Not all liberal arts majors are idiots, wanna be poets, trust fund babies, etc.

Thanks for your time.

 

[Sardinia]

@clippersfan88 The core point of interest here is whether you believe that pursuing your secondary degree will bring home a substantial paycheck to justify the costs of the tuition. A lot of federal loans are closed off to students who go on pursue a degree other than their bachelor's exposing you to higher rates of interests. I've worked embarrassing minimum wage jobs with people who had masters in fields like sociology and psychology. I think that the nature of the degree is moot. I pursued a STEM major and still received a paycheck that qualified me for federal poverty benefits. There is a reason why you were thinking about the military, there is a reason why you are considering medicine, and there is a reason why you are conflicted about graduate school. You should begin to transition your decision making into one of logical pragmatism if you don't have a bail out card that I suspect many pre-meds on this site possess or are in denial of possessing. There is no way anyone will claim any form of culpability for making a decision for you, therefore you should honestly start with the financial and the personal aspects of all the decisions on the table instead of relying on advice from strangers with insufficient information.

 

[clippersfan88]

@clippersfan88 The core point of interest here is whether you believe that pursuing your secondary degree will bring home a substantial paycheck to justify the costs of the tuition. A lot of federal loans are closed off to students who go on pursue a degree other than their bachelor's exposing you to higher rates of interests. I've worked embarrassing minimum wage jobs with people who had masters in fields like sociology and psychology. I think that the nature of the degree is moot. I pursued a STEM major and still received a paycheck that qualified me for federal poverty benefits. There is a reason why you were thinking about the military, there is a reason why you are considering medicine, and there is a reason why you are conflicted about graduate school. You should begin to transition your decision making into one of logical pragmatism if you don't have a bail out card that I suspect many pre-meds on this site possess or are in denial of possessing. There is no way anyone will claim any form of culpability for making a decision for you, therefore you should honestly start with the financial and the personal aspects of all the decisions on the table instead of relying on advice from strangers with insufficient information.

Alright man I can tell you're giving good advice and I appreciate it. Again, I could go to these programs for free through the military. I've said that a few times. That's maybe the biggest reason why I made this post. I got into elite schools that I can go to for free and have a clear, delineated, and what might come as a surprise to some of you on here, well paying and respected career path.

I made this thread cause my guy reaction was to turn this path down and I think that will ultimately be what I do. That's it. I was just looking for someone to say, "yea, I had an easier and logical sure thing option too, but I said no cause I wanted to be a physician."

Unfortunately, most of you clearly didn't read what I was saying or just saw "liberal arts" and "unsure about still trying for med school," and jumped for what you assumed wrongly I was saying. Thanks for your time. I won't be posting on SDN again.

 

[Sardinia]

@clippersfan88 I'm sorry I missed that in your initial post. I apologize for not reading carefully and wasting your time.

 

[freak7]

Are we talking Julliard ?

I am being serious.

Was being serious.

+1

Turned down opportunity to be professional musician & attending Julliard for UG. It'll always be a big "what if" but c'est la vie.

 

[Sardinia]

Turned down opportunity to be professional musician & attending Julliard for UG. It'll always be a big "what if" but c'est la vie.

I've heard that it can be a suffocating environment.

 

[efle]

Is music liberal arts, not straight up arts? I was picturing a huge opportunity to go to grad school in language/philosophy/literature or something

 

[libertyyne]

Is music liberal arts, not straight up arts? I was picturing a huge opportunity to go to grad school in language/philosophy/literature or something

Is there such a thing short of MacArthur / full bright and other prestigious fellowships?

 

[efle]

If so, seems like the easy decision is to go do it and then apply MD after

 

[libertyyne]

If so, seems like the easy decision is to go do it and then apply MD after

But OP wasnt talking about that, op was talking about TOP programs where OP would have to join the military to pay for it. ROI on graduate level liberal arts stuff is pretty poor, but personal satisfaction and goals trump ROI. Still kind of confused why OP wont just come out and name the programs.

 

[efle]

Are lib arts PhD programs not run the same as science PhD programs with stipend ??

 

[libertyyne]

Are lib arts PhD programs not run the same as science PhD programs with stipend ??

no, STEM programs are funded, lib arts you pay out of pocket for the most part.

 

[efle]

no, STEM programs are funded, lib arts you pay out of pocket for the most part.

Jesus how does anyone ever go for PhDs in liberal arts

 

[libertyyne]

Jesus how does anyone ever go for PhDs in liberal arts

I might be wrong, but I believe programs have limited research, teaching , and other work related funding that gets awarded competitively.

 

[Pepe18]

.

 

[libertyyne]

The programs worth going to are funded/have a teaching component in exchange for funding.

There are science PhDs out there that arent funded too....they are just programs not worth attending

I always thought there was some sort of Federal funding available for STEM programs.

 

[Pepe18]

.

 

[libertyyne]

What do you mean by federal funding, loans? I had a friend who got into Tulane's biomedical phd program and she said they get tuition waived, but only a limited number of people get rewarded a TA position that provides a stipend. So they are responsible for coming up with living expense money. That could end up being $60K+ in loans....she ended up going somewhere with an actual stipend

I was under the impression the NSF, NIH, or some other federal organization pays for STEM PHDs. not MS programs.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

+1

Turned down opportunity to be professional musician & attending Julliard for UG. It'll always be a big "what if" but c'est la vie.

Yep. I turned down an opportunity to tour in Japan and have a year long residency in Tokyo to join the military and finish school and apply to med school. Also turned down a more lucrative offer, although it still stands if med school doesn't work out.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I was under the impression the NSF, NIH, or some other federal organization pays for STEM PHDs. not MS programs.

Yeah. I've never heard of a STEM PhD candidate not having funding and a stipend.

 

[pikapp84]

Has anyone else ever turned down a big opportunity in another field to keep trying to become a doctor? Am I nuts to even be considering this? My gut is still telling me medicine.

At the age of 25, I turned down a 90K+ management position promotion with the potential for increase into the 150-200K range in the next 1-2 years in order to go to medical school.

I am currently an M4 waiting to match into General Surgery and I COULD NOT be happier. There's not a day that goes by where I think I didn't make the right choice. I wake up around 345-4am and I (almost literally) am running to the hospital because I LOVE what I'm doing and cannot wait to learn and do cool things in the OR and in the SICU.

Listen to your heart, it's ok to entertain other options, but you know deep inside if you truly want to become a physician or not. Do what you feel you were meant to do, but know that there are countless others who turned down other "huge opportunities" to enter the field of medicine, and haven't looked back.

 

[alex.jl1994]

.

 

[AnotherLawyer]

...can someone give me examples of competitive liberal arts grad schools? Like what opportunity in liberal arts is big enough to steal someone away from the opportunities of an MD?

The top handful of Ph.D. programs in pretty much any field are ultra competitive because the class sizes are small and because they offer a high likelihood of landing a tenure track academic position, which, for most people, is a dream job. Then there are fields like economics where, in addition to academic opportunities, there are opportunities to make lots of money in industry.

 

[libertyyne]

The top handful of Ph.D. programs in pretty much any field are ultra competitive because the class sizes are small and because they offer a high likelihood of landing a tenure track academic position, which, for most people, is a dream job. Then there are fields like economics where, in addition to academic opportunities, there are opportunities to make lots of money in industry.

Those are all fully funded positions though.

 

[SouthernGent]

Got offered a golden ticket of a job and turned it down for applying to medical school. Will I sit around some days and wonder what it could have been like? Sure. I am human, and my mind will wander some days, but my heart will stay with medicine.

 

[Ad2b]

I walked away from a $235,000+ /year career ($$ does not include bonus) to pursue this. At this point, I have no option to return to that level so if I don't get in, I had to make sure it was worth it.

It has been in ways I could never have imagined. It's hard to tell people my son's age: $$$ is not everything. No regrets no matter which way this turns out for me.

 

[Lost In Transcription]

I was under the impression the NSF, NIH, or some other federal organization pays for STEM PHDs. not MS programs.

Yes. And you can apply outside for more NSF money, which looks good to schools because the PI won't pay for your stipend/supplies.

Only really awful schools do not have NIH/NSF funding for their students. The grad students definitely make it back for the department overall between pubs and TAing.

 

[Lucca]

Are lib arts PhD programs not run the same as science PhD programs with stipend ??

You can get full funding for Liberal Arts PhDs. Like NSF grants for science PhDs, these are really competitive.

Depending on the type of degree and the institution you get it from there's anywhere from a lot of opportunities for you following the PhD or very little.