<p>As of right now I am on the pre med track. I have changed my life completely to devout it to this life. I used to go out all the time with my friends and have a good time, and now I live in my room studying and sleeping. A lot of people tell me that it is great that I want to be a doctor, but that maybe I should seek a different career such as education. I love children, and it would be a lot less stressful. I think that main concern is that is if I become a doctor it will be a life long stress, as opposed to teaching I will have the summers off and be able to live my life with a lot less strings attached. I dream of the day that I will have kids, and maybe being a doctor isn't the best path for me? What are peoples opinions on this topic? Can I major in early childhood education while doing pre-med? Therefore if I graduate with a degree in teaching, I can also become a doctor if I really hope to?</p>
<p>The general rule of thumb is to avoid vocational majors and focus on “academic” majors. That doesn’t mean you can’t, but it doesn’t fit the “ideal” set up. That said, if you really have a passion for early childhood development it’s acceptable - your passion will be readily apparent. </p>
<p>As a pediatric resident, I think that combining early childhood ed with a pediatric residency and a developmental pediatrics fellowship could be an interesting setup. Developmental Pediatricians work with speech pathologists, psychologists and other health professionals to help diagnose, treat, and advocate for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, difficult to manage ADHD, learning disabilities, and other developmental delays (fine and gross motor, speech, social). You work with children who have problems ranging from being born premature to genetic conditions to otherwise healthy children. Compared to many other medical specialties, this is a laid back, low stress medical practice, but one that is fully in demand in cities of all sizes. The typical developmental pediatrician will see between 2 and 6 patients in a half day (in part because the testing takes a significant portion of time). There are no “developmental” emergencies and thus no call. It’s very much a clinic based, 8am-5pm sort of job, and given the low patient volume one that is not typically prone to having clinics run long unexpectedly. The very consistent lifestyle is definitely a perk of this field if that’s what you are looking for.</p>
<p>Certainly there will be a lot of stressful times and hard work before you could get to that point (4 years of college as a pre-med, 4 years of med school, 3 years as a pediatrics resident, then 3 years as a developmental/behavioral fellow), but it could be a great way to meld your interests in the end. It’s possible that if you were to go in this direction, your undergrad background might make you a unique advocate for your patients as you could incorporate the language of educational theory and speak to teachers in ways that would enhance your advocacy. It might also open up doors for you to be medical director of a developmental pre-school or be a consultant for a school district or some other educational foundation. At the moment, it’s fairly easy to get a developmental peds fellowship spot, so that would be low stress too.</p>
<p>Something to consider that you may not have even known existed.</p>
Hi! I know this has been a while (10 years ago, to be exact) so I’d like to ask if something like this is still possible?
I’m currently studying Early Childhood Education with a love for medicine and the overall idea of helping children by ensuring their physical and mental well-being.
It’s just that none of the traditional pre-med courses (Nursing, Medical Tech., Dietetics) caught my interest except for Psychology (which I did not take due to other circumstances).
I know the times have changed and medicine and academics isn’t what it used to be, but I do hope a career path such as what you said is still possible.
Much love, and thanks in advance.
Start a new thread instead of bumping a 10 year old one. Closing