Who Was It?

[Veritas86]

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For some of us, there's a couple people we can credit for us going this way as nontrads. Giving us the last big push, ya know?

For me, it was a combination of things. For one, I was BSing with my primary doc about drug mechanisms and such (yeaahhhh...I'm a nerd. Shadowed him a few times and always have a blast), and he told me that I wasn't too old, that I should still do it.

For another, it was one of my ex girlfriends. She told me I should just suck it up and actually do something for me for once.

Finally, it was my dog. Kid you not. Charlotte is a rescue dog. She would've been taken to the pound the next day had I not adopted her. I gave her a second chance, and she inspired me to take my own second chance. Both at school and at life. 🙂

 

[curt656]

The recession put me back in school after basically destroying my career. I decided it was time to move into biological sciences of some sort. I started taking Biology and Anatomy & Physiology and it sucked me right in.

I have always loved science and have been a daily reader of physorg.com for years. That being said, I wasn't quite prepared for how cell science and the processes of the human body just completely grabbed a hold of me.

I started making comments in the course of conversation with friends and family that I wish I wasn't too old to be a doctor (I am 38). Of course, they told me that I wasn't but I didn't believe them. After all, family and friends are usually always encouraging, right?

One day, I took my son to see his ENT who is the most amazing doctor I have ever met. He is the epitome of all that is good in the medical profession. This is a person I truly respect. I made the comment to him and he literally pulled me into his office, sat me down, and told me that he could see me doing it and that he would do everything he could to help (shadowing, letters, phone calls - whatever).

So I really started giving it some serious thought. I thought about how my family has had some amazing physicians cross our paths, like my sons ENT and like the cardiologist who treated my son for free for a whole year when I lost my job and insurance. My son was 2 months old with prolonged Q-T (which normalized by his first birthday). He was on a holter monitor for months, had regular EKG's, and she didn't charge me a cent. It was physicians like these two who had the power to make such a powerful, dramatic, and positive effect on the lives of me and my family. It really touched my heart in ways that I never experienced before. If one day I can give a morsel of that back, I can only imagine how it would feel. I know how they made me feel, and to give that to others would be one of my greatest accomplishments in life. It may sound sappy and sentimental, but it is the truth.

So here I am, 2 years into my bachelor's and taking the MCAT in August. Fingers crossed!!

 

[FrkyBgStok]

My wife.

 

[Deekle]

My niece was born with spina bifida. A bad enough case that pretty much everyone said she'd never walk/run like a normal kid. A stud peds surgeon put her back together like new and now she barely even has a scar. That was the first kick.

After 5 years in the Navy, I took a spill and jacked up my knee requiring surgery. While I was recovering, I went to school to learn micro-miniature electronics repair. One of the surgeons from Balboa Naval hospital came by my shop one day and asked me to install a mod chip on his playstation. It was some pretty precise work. I used a needle point soldering iron under magnification to get it done. He looked over my shoulder the whole time. When I was done he told me "It's a crime you're not a surgeon, you've got the steadiest hands I've ever seen." I told him he was crazy at the time, but looking back, that was kick #2.

The birth of my son and the amazing doctors that let me see/help with everything was kick #3. That was the one that sent me rolling down the hill.

 

[Lefty Doodle]

I think I started feeling like I had matured to the point where I wasn't scared of taking risks, and started to view pursuing something I wouldn't necessarily be the best at as a way of stretching myself and making this time worthwhile.

I previously worked in public health, because I thought I would help more people. But I could never be convinced I was helping anyone outside of our payroll. Also, "politics" mattered a lot and I wasn't good at that, and I think being good at that is something you are born with. I was a good grant writer and got my organization a lot of money, but I was bad at rubbing shoulders with rich people and I hated dealing with Russian government officials. Not only was I bad at it, but I also resented it, because I felt like all these people wanted was to have their egos massaged and no one really cared about the goals we had to help people. I ultimately decided I needed a more concrete means of helping people.

So those were some motivating factors but obviously what is going to keep me grinding away at this is that medicine is a stable field, as long as my heart is in the right place and I work hard, I will always have a job. That is not true for so many things. I think it's a means to have a better life than I could have had.

PS--also I know this is cheesy every time I hear Dido's "Life for Rent" I think of how I used to view my life. Like, you deserve nothing more than you get if you feel like you're renting your life. I think with so many things we get out what we put in.

 

[dmf2682]

I lost my dad a couple years ago. Made me realize time is fleeting and I'd better make the most of what I have. I can do a lot more good with what I have been given if I became a doctor.

 

[aSagacious]

My wife.

She wants the house to herself, huh? 😉

 

[dbizzy]

Myself

 

[ejw5075]

Finally, it was my dog. Kid you not. Charlotte is a rescue dog. She would've been taken to the pound the next day had I not adopted her. I gave her a second chance, and she inspired me to take my own second chance. Both at school and at life. 🙂

awww

Cheesy but super cute dude.

 

[DrMidlife]

My ex-boyfriend's wife.

The ex and I stayed friendly, so I met his new girlfriend early on, and the 3 of us hung out socially from time to time. She made her way into med school and started at 32. Her dad's a doctor, so I thought nothing of it. I was more impressed by her professional dancing background.

A few years later I started thinking about med school. The next time we all went out to dinner, I mentioned I was thinking about it. The ex's wife lit up like a Christmas tree and said "oh my god you HAVE to go to med school you'd be SUCH a great doctor."

I doubt there's ever been another event in my life that was so completely validating, from such a reliable source.

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

One big push was the first doctor I shadowed, but it was sort of a negative push. After watching Crazy Doc H, it was obvious to me that if she could be a doctor, I could be one too. Shadowing the orthopods on my last ship was more of a positive push. They had the coolest job in the world, and I could easily see myself doing it. That was what really confirmed my decision to go back to college for the prereqs.

 

[Veritas86]

awww

Cheesy but super cute dude.

Haha I do what I can. Rough story for her. She was found on the side of the road next to her mom. Her mom had been shot and killed. A groomer took her in, but was going to send her to the shelter either the next day or after. We have a 72 hour kill shelter, so I saved the little hooligan.

Good stories all around, family! Keep em coming.