Am I going pre-med for the right reasons?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>After a brief existential crisis, I've decided:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I want to influence society in a positive way and go to sleep every now and then thinking I did something meaningful.</p></li>
<li><p>I decided that the meaning of my life is taking on responsibility, and choosing to become something greater than myself. Of course, I understand there will be a lot of cynics in the field who have to deal with death and sick people very often, but I think there's always a need for a flickering flame of hope in these environments. Society could always use another doctor rather than another lawyer/banker.</p></li>
<li><p>I want to do #2 and #3 in a secure way, and medicine is one of those professions that has fewer "layoffs", allowing me to live comfortably while doing those. Especially with baby boomers, there will be a greater demand for doctors (they'll work harder for fewer pay, but I'm okay with that as long as I can live somewhat comfortably)</p></li>
<li><p>In the long run, I want a financially secure future. I don't want to be "filthy" rich or have so much money I don't know what to do with, but have a safety net.</p></li>
<li><p>I want to give something back to my parents and devoting my life to something like this would make us both equally proud and happy. </p></li>
<li><p>I want to be a role model to my younger siblings.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Originally, I wanted to go into finance/business because I enjoyed economics more than I did the sciences. I, however, have the feeling that professional Wall Streeters need to be extremely talented quantitatively. I'm above average in math (760 SAT, 710 SAT II) but by no means talented. I consider myself more of a hard worker than a talented young mind (though some may argue differently...) </p>

<p>I go to Swarthmore, I have the work ethic, and a 780 SAT II in Bio, if that means anything... I'm not sure how my science skills will translate to the MCATs.</p>

<p>Reasons I'm hesitant about Med School.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Lab/Research for Science.
I really am not a hardcore science student. I enjoyed human anatomy and physiology in biology, but only tolerated chemistry and biochem stuff. Also, I detest writing lab reports (especially for biology)</p></li>
<li><p>I don't want to take on a lot of debt
My parents are blue collar working class, and they have to pay for my siblings' education soon too. They probably will not be able to support me if I go to medicine, which means I'll be taking heavy burdens for 8+ years. </p></li>
<li><p>I'm worried about hospital culture/politics and whether that is a big problem for current physicians.</p></li>
<li><p>I tend to be introverted and strategic, thinking everything through before acting on anything. This makes my people skills a big not as good as they should be, which is certainly required for doctors, though I strive to gain them. Besides that, I am generally really nice, and I am a good listener.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>If anyone wants to disillusion me by telling me about about their regrets going into medicine, go right ahead.</p>

2

<p>Have you considered public health (MPH) at all? They work much more with big picture society altering stuff than average MDs do.</p>

3

<p>You’d be amazed at how much your social skills can grow once you’re out in the “real” world. After college I took a year to work before grad school and I’m a manager in a retail store. I am amazed at how much more social I became just interacting with customers and coworkers everyday - even an associate made a comment the other day about how much happier I seem now than when I started there in a different position. And it’s true. I chat more easily and even go out of my way to see people. I used to suffer from severe anxiety throughout my 'teens and early 20’s, and it seems to have just about all gone away. Without drugs or therapy. So don’t concern yourself too much with that problem.</p>

<p>Are you interested at all in engineering or accounting? People are always suggesting those for a secure job placement as well.</p>

<p>If you are really set on the pre-med, just apply to a variety of schools and try to get the best aid you can at a school that will give you a solid opportunity for pursuing grad school. Don’t do it for your parents or for your siblings; the amount of schooling you go through will require a lot of self-motivation, and if <em>you</em> don’t really want to do it for <em>you</em> then it’ll be tough to make it. We always tend to do a lot better at the things we love. Perhaps talk it through with your parents and see their feedback for the finances.</p>

4

<p>I’d be doing for myself because I think it’s a meaningful profession. Now I’d imagine that would “fill” up a certain void I’d have if I worked in finance, though then again I may be being overly naive here.</p>

<p>My parents aren’t too happy about finance because my welfare would depend entirely on the market. Also after since the 2008 financial crisis, fields in finance (like IBanking) will never be the same again. </p>

<p>Will I feel tortured for 4 years in medical school? Well I can tolerate memorization. I don’t really have a “passion” for science, but I can tolerate it fine. I figured my motivation would be getting into residency and having a first hand experience of serving others in their dire times, while being relatively safe myself.</p>

<p>Of course at times, I doubt my altruism because I can’t imagine going to another country for months helping starving families. If doctors need that “altruistic” drive, then I probably wouldn’t be cut out for it. My drive would be to “lead a meaningful life”, which is why I’m really confused, as I don’t know whether this profession will actually translate to meaning.</p>

<p>I’m not interested in accounting/engineering because my mathematical talents rely entirely on figuring out how to follow patterns and making calculations, rather than think creatively and figure out applications.</p>

5

<p>There are many ways to help humanity other than being a doctor.</p>

<p>Public health and public interest fields (including things like advocacy for environmental policies, involvement in micro-banking, working for non-profit organizations and NGOs) have a far, far wider impact on the quality of the lives of more people than a physician ever will. (Note, no one going to get rich doing any of those, but you can live a comfortable lifestyle. I know several young people and a number of older people who all currently work in advocacy areas and they all have a stable and comfortable lifestyle/work life.)</p>

<p>Pursuing those areas might be more in line with your interests and skills. Advocacy agencies and groups always need individuals with training in economics to help formulate policies and do planning.</p>

<p>Physicians need to be passionate about wanting to be a doctor. I’ve heard more than one doctor/med student liken medicine to having a vocational call to a ministry. It has to be something you want for yourself because you can’t imagine yourself doing anything else.</p>

<p>I’m not sure that you need a passion for science to be a doctor, but you have to like it and be comfortable dealing with it. You will be involved in scientific learning for the rest of your life. A doctor’s science training never really ends–there is always more to learn–new medications & new procedures to learn about, new disease processes to understand, new studies that you need to be able to read and analyze because they will affect the way you treat your patients. And a lot of these new studies/medications/procedures/processes will involve statistics, biochemistry, genetics. If you don’t like those–how will you be able to force yourself to read about it at the end of the day when you’re tired and have a ton of other stuff to do? (And doctors do a huge amount of reading just to keep current in their field. People think once you get done med school/residency, you’re finished studying. Nothing could be further from the truth.)</p>

<p>If you think you might want to pursue medicine, consider spending some time volunteering at a medical facility. It doesn’t have to be a hospital. It could be a nursing home, group home for the disabled, or a hospice. But it needs someplace where you will be able to see close up the kinds of populations you will be serving as physician. (Also, it will count as some the needed patient-contact volunteer hours med school applicants are expected to have.)</p>

<p>Re: #2 Medical school is hugely expensive. Even if you attend a public, state-based med school, you should expect to take on about $130,000 minimum in new loans. (National average for 2010.) And beginning in 2012, the federal government will no longer subsidize loans for medical students. This means your interest will continue to accrue while you are in school and often during your residency as well. There are very few merit awards for med students to help underwrite the cost of med school. And while there are some service programs (most notably thru military service or the national public health corp) that will ‘forgive’ a portion your debt for each year of service, they are not easy to get accepted into and often do not forgive your entire debt. (I believe the max forgiveness rate is $25,000 per year for a max of 4 years.)</p>

<p>Student debt is becoming an increasingly important issue one needs to consider. Many doctors are forced into certain kinds of high paying specialties or to practice in affluent areas since it’s the only way they service their student debt.</p>