<p>I have a dilemma. I've taken Latin the past 4 years in high school and I think all in all it was probably my worst subject. It didn't really interest me, but I took it really because of my interest in medicine in the future (and the SATs). I was wondering if I should continue Latin in college for my requirement, a subject doesn't really interest me at all, but will be beneficial in the future. Or Spanish which I think is more interesting but won't exactly help me in my career in medicine, but more so will help with communicating with others of that language. What should I do?</p>
<p>In my opinion just take Latin so you get your language requirement out of the way with good chances of getting a good grade. After that if you have time take other stuff as electives.</p>
<p>If OP took 4 years in high school, then the language requirement is probably already met. I guess it depends on the college/university (s)he is attending, but the norm I’ve seen is that at least three years of a language will clear your of a language requirement. Do you HAVE to continue with languages? If it’s not required, then i wouldn’t go for it. But of those two options, I’d say go for Spanish. Out of four years of Latin I’m sure you remember a good chunk of it and Spanish is a Romance language so you’ll see a lot of Latin roots in there. I think it’ll be better because you’ll have more interest in it plus it reinforces the Latin words you’ve already learned. And bilingual it attractive to employers of just about any field. </p>
<p>I don’t know why you think that Latin would be more helpful for practicing medicine, but Spanish would be much more helpful, especially if you think you may want to practice in an area with a decent Spanish-speaking population. If you would like to continue with a foreign language or are required to do so, Spanish would be much more helpful in a medical field, especially if you reach some sort of proficiency. Even understanding some spanish, even if you’re not comfortable speaking it, can be helpful from a healthcare standpoint if you plan on being in an area with that population. And your more interested in spanish so that’s a benefit as well.</p>
<p>From a medical standpoint, there’s no real practical benefit to knowing latin. So don’t force yourself to keep doing it if the only reason is that you think it will give you an advantage in a medical field because it really won’t.</p>