Why Premed

[confuse]

Hi,
This is my first time in here and I'm excited to see so many premeds. I am in my second year and feeling kind of lost about all the premed experience. Mind sharing with me why you want to be a doctor? I'm pursuing both a degree in engineering and bio, and have taken many classes in both major. I've always wanted to be a doctor for idealist reasons (help patients, communicate with people, feeling appreciated, etc.) but after seeing how things are run in the ER and other hospital environments, I realize that reality is very different from what I've imagine. I also found that engineering comes naturally to me while I have to struggle in the bio and organic chem classes; however, I don't have any interest in an engineering profession. I'm at a crossroad right now and taking a step back to carefully evaluate myself and my ambitions. I see so many unhappy and stressed out premeds from my school and I ask myself, "all of that for what?" My roomate asks me an interesting question, "why do you want to be a doctor? If you can't be a doctor, would you be willing to be a nurse?" I haven't been able to give him a definite answer yet. I'm hoping that you guys can help me shed some light in these matters.

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[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by confuse
Hi,
This is my first time in here and I'm excited to see so many premeds. I am in my second year and feeling kind of lost about all the premed experience. Mind sharing with me why you want to be a doctor? I'm pursuing both a degree in engineering and bio, and have taken many classes in both major. I've always wanted to be a doctor for idealist reasons (help patients, communicate with people, feeling appreciated, etc.) but after seeing how things are run in the ER and other hospital environments, I realize that reality is very different from what I've imagine. I also found that engineering comes naturally to me while I have to struggle in the bio and organic chem classes; however, I don't have any interest in an engineering profession. I'm at a crossroad right now and taking a step back to carefully evaluate myself and my ambitions. I see so many unhappy and stressed out premeds from my school and I ask myself, "all of that for what?" My roomate asks me an interesting question, "why do you want to be a doctor? If you can't be a doctor, would you be willing to be a nurse?" I haven't been able to give him a definite answer yet. I'm hoping that you guys can help me shed some light in these matters.

Being a physician is a unique responsibility. There is so much joy to be able to touch other people's lives in a meaningful and rewarding way. People come to you and place the care of their health and lives in your hands. There are few careers where you are in complete responsibility of life vs death, or in my case, vision vs blindness (although as a neuro-ophthalmologist, you can save many lives by diagnosing the missed cerebral aneurysm).

Medicine also allows us to meld our thirst of science, engineering, and human biology with the convictions to help other people. There is a lot of BS in medicine; however, if you truly love science, human biology, and serving patients, then being a physician is your calling. This calling can only come within your heart. Thus, for people who are entering medicine because of parental pressure or for the attraction of a stable and decent income, being "unhappy and stressed out" is inevitable.

BTW, welcome to SDN!

Good luck.

 

[exigente chica]

Originally posted by confuse
Hi,
I also found that engineering comes naturally to me while I have to struggle in the bio and organic chem classes; however, I don't have any interest in an engineering profession.

I know what you mean, everything seems to come easy to me outside of physics classes, but I'm not going to switch my major because of it.
There are so many things that I am good at, that takes very little effort, but even though I must puul all nighters and go to tutoring, I still want to be a doctor.

And remeber all things that are worth it are not alwasy the easiest to get, trust me..so true

Good luck and do some self reflection

 

[cardiosurg]

SINCE I WAS A PEANUT I HAVE SAID THAT I WANTED TO BECOME A DOCTOR. I WANTED THE PRESTIGUE (SPELLING?), THE MONEY, AND THE 'POWER' TO MAKE PEOPLE BETTER. IN COLLEGE I STARTED WORKING FOR AN INDIGENT MEDICAL CLINC. MY ENTIRE PERSPECTIVE CHANGED THE DAY THAT A MAN WITH A BRAIN TUMOR CAME IN. THERE WAS NO WAY THAT HE WAS GOING TO AFFORD CHEMO/RADIATION/SURGERY. I LOVE WORKING WITH CHILDREN. AT THE TIME I WAS ALSO FOLLOWING SURGEONS AROUND IN THE OR AND IN CLINIC. I STARTED LOOKING UP VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS SUCH AS HEARTCARE (NONPROFIT PROGRAM FOR PED HEART PATIENTS AROUND THE WORLD). AS I SAID IN A PREVIOUS POST, COMING TO WORK IN THE PICU 3 NIGHTS A WEEK, AND SEEING CHILDREN WHO ONE DAY I COULD HELP KEEPS ME MOTIVATED AND KEEPS ME ON THE TRACK TO A MEDICAL CAREER. I LOOK FORWARD TO ONE DAY BECOMING A PED CT SURGEON AND BEING ABLE TO DO MEDICAL MISSIONS ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR AND WORKING MY TAIL OFF THE REST OF THE YEAR!

 

[confuse]

Optho and cardio,
Thanks a lot for your input. I guess I was feeling somewhat "jaded" because of my not so well performance in the bio major and from being around too many stressed out premeds. As for myself, I am totally composed because I know that once I decide that the medical career is for me, I will become a doctor one way or another no matter what or how long it takes. Parental pressure has taken a big toll on me, not in particular about choosing the medical profession but I just really hate to have my parents worry about my GPA. Reflecting on my experience as an intern for the Asian Liver Center, I think I would enjoy very much working as a doctor although I intern as a community outreach. In a few weeks, I will be shadowing and working as a medical interpreter at a busy ER environment so hopefully, that would give me a better idea of what I might be getting myself into. If I ever become a doctor, I would probably want to join the Doctors Without Border program for the first few years cuz it seems like my kind of thing.

chica,
I hear ya. I'm pulling an all nighter tonight because I haven't done anything in the weekend. (hence, procrastinating on this forum)