What to do when you can't decide?

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racermike1967

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Hi all,

I have been reading posts on this forum for quite a while now and I still can't seem to make a firm decision. I graduated this past May from SUNY-Binghamton University in NY with a Overall GPA of 3.31 in Electrical Engineering. Over the course of my Senior year, I have thought very heavily (often resulting in headaches) about switching to medicine. After graduating, I applied to Hunter College in NYC for a post-bac while at the same time applying for jobs. I ended up getting an engineering job in the defense industry and am currently working in a company which requires me to go to gradschool as well as take leadership courses. According to the program I have to start grad school in engineering this coming spring 2007. Since I have been working here, I have felt very unhappy, and miss working with people. I love to help people and not to be selfish or anything but I feel a lot better knowing that I was able to help someone. Throughout the course of my prior education, I have always enjoyed studying biology and chemistry; I don't know why I didn't just do pre-med but now I have this desire to go for medicine. No matter how much I try to ignore this feeling, it still seems to creep up into my brain.

So now I'm thinking that I might quit after a year of working here, meaning end of august 2007 due to a contract, and apply to hunter college again for the post-bac. The problem is that I will be taking graduate courses and will have to quit gradschool after the first semester. I'm just not interested in this field and don't feel committed to study further in this area. Will this end up hurting me in the future when and if I apply to med school? Will the adcoms consider this as a weakness? I still have no experience in the medical setting so I would have to volunteer at a hospital. I'm planning on doing that during the night after work at a local hospital. Along with that, I need to take all the pre-requisite courses and take the MCAT.

I would greatly appreciate any advice you can give me.

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Hi all,

I have been reading posts on this forum for quite a while now and I still can't seem to make a firm decision. I graduated this past May from SUNY-Binghamton University in NY with a Overall GPA of 3.31 in Electrical Engineering. Over the course of my Senior year, I have thought very heavily (often resulting in headaches) about switching to medicine. After graduating, I applied to Hunter College in NYC for a post-bac while at the same time applying for jobs. I ended up getting an engineering job in the defense industry and am currently working in a company which requires me to go to gradschool as well as take leadership courses. According to the program I have to start grad school in engineering this coming spring 2007. Since I have been working here, I have felt very unhappy, and miss working with people. I love to help people and not to be selfish or anything but I feel a lot better knowing that I was able to help someone. Throughout the course of my prior education, I have always enjoyed studying biology and chemistry; I don't know why I didn't just do pre-med but now I have this desire to go for medicine. No matter how much I try to ignore this feeling, it still seems to creep up into my brain.

So now I'm thinking that I might quit after a year of working here, meaning end of august 2007 due to a contract, and apply to hunter college again for the post-bac. The problem is that I will be taking graduate courses and will have to quit gradschool after the first semester. I'm just not interested in this field and don't feel committed to study further in this area. Will this end up hurting me in the future when and if I apply to med school? Will the adcoms consider this as a weakness? I still have no experience in the medical setting so I would have to volunteer at a hospital. I'm planning on doing that during the night after work at a local hospital. Along with that, I need to take all the pre-requisite courses and take the MCAT.

I would greatly appreciate any advice you can give me.


Before you quit your job and drop out of grad school, you probably want to be a bit more sure. I would find a way to squeeze in some shadowing in your "spare" time, and talk to as many youngish physicians you can find, to get a better sense of whether this is your desired path. Once you have made a firm and well thought decision, then go at it whole hog. But medicine isn't a field where you should just "give it a shot" and see if you like it. It takes too long and costs too much to do it unless your whole heart is into the endeavor.
 
Every step in the wrong direction is another step in the wrong direction.

No one here can tell you what decision to make. Should you be a doctor? I have no idea ... the sacrifice is something few people can handle. Would you like being a doctor once all the med school hell is over with? I have no idea.

What I can tell you is it was the right decision for me.

I think I imagined what I wanted to do with my life before I died. Thought about how I want to spend my time on this earth and what I wanted my life to mean. For me, pursing medicine was the right decision ... or at least I think. But, I'm only a second year med student.

I can tell you this, if I was dying within the next two years, there is no way I would spend my life in med school. It is a pretty miserable existence.
 
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