Hello,
I just joined so I’m not sure if I’m posting in the right place, but just wanted to get some opinions. I am currently a Biochemistry/Pre-Med major. I’ve wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember and I’ve never had an interest in anything else. The end of last semester and this summer were extremely stressful for me because of a family health issue at home, so I ended up failing 2 classes (that I was doing really good in at the beginning of the semester, but everything went downhill after the diagnosis toward mid-end of the semester). I am currently retaking those classes and I just feel so unmotivated! I have never felt like this before but I truly feel like I should have taken a semester off or something because I was still so anxious and stresses out over the summer because of this. It’s been tough and I’m so terrified of failing again (they’re both important classes for my major). This has all caused me to doubt wanting to go to medical school/become a doctor for the first time ever. I have never felt this way before and while I don’t want to feel this way because I truly love the medical field and it’s what I am interested in, I’ve been looking into other jobs still in the medical field that just take less time to complete but are also very interesting and get paid pretty well (the pay is not what I’ve ever been most worried about but you know, it helps of course). I was just wondering if any one has been in this position and what do you all suggest? Should I keep at this or really look into something else. I’m just scared. Everything will only get harder from this point on (I’m a sophomore). I’m scared I won’t be able to handle it or the MCAT or med school, residency, etc. Any advice?
You sound depressed, burnt out and a bit lost. It sounds like up until now you’ve had a pretty smooth path in life and failing these classes has really shaken you faith in yourself.
IMO, this is what you need to do:
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You need to get your head together. Make an appointment with the counseling office at your college and talk to someone who can help you work on developing some coping skills. The counselors may also be able to provide some career guidance while you’re reassessing your life/career goals.
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Get yourself some tutoring stat! You can’t afford to fail or do poorly in any more classes. Not just for med school, but for the sake of any future career. If it looks like you’re not going to be able to pull off good grades in your classes–withdrawals are preferable to more C-D-F grades on your transcript.
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Consider taking some time off from school–maybe even consider withdrawing from your classes this term and taking a leave of absence. Time and distance will give you some perspective that you don’t have right now. It may be useful to get a job or volunteer position during your LOA. Real world work experience is always useful and it can help you decide if medicine is really your passion in life or merely a childhood dream.
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Go talk with the career services and/or the health career advising office at your college. They can point toward information about other healthcare careers.
I can point you toward a good place to start reading-- [Explore Health Careers](http://explorehealthcareers.org) The careers mentioned on this website range from those requiring minimal education/training through requiring manyl years of post graduate education & training.
When you’re feeling more like yourself, see if you can arrange some shadowing with various different health careers.
I’m not going to kid you, pre-med is tough. Med school is even tougher. Residency is one long grind. while it’s perfectly normal to have doubts, it’s also important to realize that not everyone is cut out for that path. (I certainly know I’m not!)