<p>Im having a small problem, I really like music but my parents insist that I should become a doctor. Whilst I am thinking of applying to Med school. I enjoy music, playing on piano, guitar. In school I never participated in music events nor have I been motivated. Just found that I really like contemporary music. I had second thoughts of being a producer. I want to sing, compose music and Dj.
Any ideas, could I take a double majoring in med and music ?
should I drop the idea of music school and pursue just Medicine ?</p>
<p>miketyson,
I have a young adult child who is going into health care (not for a MD but for an NP). If you do not want to do go into health care don’t do it!!! You really have to love it to make it through med-school and beyond. Our daughter’s first clinical rotation was in Acute-Care Oncology. I talked with an MD gastroenterologist my age who attended the medical school my daughter’s program is at and she told me how her first rotation was also acute care oncology and she shared her war stories with me, which were awfully similar to things my daughter had reported. Also medicine is no longer the lucrative profession it once was. With med school tuitions costing 70k+ even a plastic surgeon is going to be paying back debt for many years. People don’t go into medicine for money they go into it because they want to be caregivers and healers. If that is not in your blood then I would steer clear of medicine.</p>
<p>If however you are interested in medicine and music then one thing to consider is that our daughter tells me that many medical schools are admitting people almost exclusively from these post-bac programs. These post-bac programs have sprung up and offer graduates from liberal arts colleges a one year intensive program that fulfills premed requirements. Medical schools prefer graduates from these programs because these programs mimic the intensity of medical school and also most of the students in them have had spent some time in the work force or hopefully doing something in health care. UVM and Tufts have two of the top post-bac programs on the east-coast.</p>
<p>Finally you are young and your ideas about what you want to do may change with experience and time. I know that sounds unlikely but it happens. It sounds like you need to attend a good liberal arts school that will allow you to explore a range of careers and interests. You also might want to seriously think about how you use your summer. If music is a passion then maybe do an intensive music program over the summer to see if you really do enjoy doing it all the time. I have two boys, both attended Berklee’s 5 week program. Both were equally talented and good at music. One went to Berklee and decided that although he loved music he did not want to do it exclusively. The other did Berklee and that only made him more determined to apply to a conservatory.</p>