I am a rising senior. I don’t quite know what career in medicine I want to pursue. I’m scared that I won’t do well in medical school, and it is very expensive. I don’t know if I should major in nursing, something for premed, or something for physician assistant. (The premed and pre physician assistant majors would likely be the same major like bio, medical studies, etc).
I have a 3.98UW and 4.45W GPA and 1350/1600 SAT. I am taking AP Bio, AP Calc, and AP Psych this year to prepare for college.
My biggest fear is that I come out of undergrad with a degree like biology and then don’t get into med school or PA school. Then what do I do?
Thanks for your help and time
I think you should set up shadow days with professionals in each field you are considering. Spend a day (or more), ask questions, and get an idea of the actual job. I think we need more of this for students in high school to help them answer questions like yours. Good luck! You will make the right decision.
There are many more medical professions than listed in your OP. I have heard that many students who are on the premed route if they don’t make it to medical school instead go into other medical fields (I have been told this by various medical professionals that I have run into in visits to hospitals).
I think that if you start off on the premed track, then within a couple of years of university you will have a pretty good idea whether you are cut out for medical school or if you should aim at an alternative. However, I am sure that you are aware that undergrad, medical school, and residency is a very long trek. If you are considering this, then affordability and avoiding debt needs to be a major consideration in your choice of universities for undergrad.
I agree with @Empireapple that shadow days in hospitals and doctor’s offices would be very valuable at this point.
I agree with all the recommendations that have been made. There are many different career options in healthcare aside from becoming a physician. For example one career is to become a nurse anesthetist. It is a very promising career. https://explorehealthcareers.org/career/nursing/nurse-anesthetist/
You don’t have to make a decision immediately. Shadow people in different healthcare fields to get an idea of what their job entails.
