Hello I am a sophmore biology major on the premed track. I have been a little worried as to whether medicine is right for me lately. Not necessarily because I don’t like it but I cant help to think there might be a better fit for me. I excel (still maintaining a 4.0) and enjoy the classes (I’m not crazy or obsessed with any specific topic but my favorites are physics and mostly math, I hate chemistry ironically .) What I know is I love building things and overall using my hands, and I love math, its always came very easily to me. When I was younger I would create summer projects for myself every year and would do math problems on my spare time (lol). But I also enjoy anatomy and physiology (I love watching dissections) and biology. The thought of doing research really interests me and I really want a PhD/MD degree however I did research one summer and found it boring (not sure if this is normal or if it was just the program I was in). I also have shadowed two doctors who were family practitioners and found that very boring, sometimes I’d almost fall asleep in the room while the doctor was talking to the patient, but I feel it is because it is a job of just talking to people which I know for sure I don’t want. However I do realize that the medical field is very very vast and I feel like I am bound to find somewhere that I fit in. I also have a strong passion for helping disadvantaged populations. I have done some research into engineering but I can’t think of any specific field in it that has what I am looking for. Taking classes outside my major/track is also not an option. Any help or suggested fields would be greatly appreciated because I can’t stop worrying.
What about something that has to do with surgery considering you like to work with your hands and you like dissections?
@thefuturedoctor Yea that is what I was thinking. I was trying to see if I could shadow a surgeon but that’s a lot harder than I thought. I initially wanted to be a practitioner but my shadowing experience completely changed that. So I feel like even though it sounds like a fit I wont really know until I get direct experience.
Dont be a practitioner, wont survive nowadays. You need to be a specialist and yes i agree you need the hands on experience that you are talking about. Any chance you could shadow a surgeon somehow?
@thefuturedoctor I set a few emails and made a few calls but I dont think Ill ever hear back. Actually been very frustrating.
Here are my suggestions:
Continue shadowing, including more specialists and surgeons if possible
Try another lab-type research position. This will help determine whether you like lab work …or not.
Try doing research that is science or math based ( or anything) but is not in a lab… my D tried lab work and is now involved in non-lab research
Research internships and various summer research positions… they don’t have to be directly related to your major. Google…right now… summer research positions and internships. Apply to those that look interesting to you. As a biology major there is no reason why you can’t apply to a variety of positions. Worst case… you don’t get them. Best case… new doors and interests begin to open.
You are a sophomore. Now is the time to continue trying to figure out if medicine is for you… but it is also the time to explore all options just in case it is not. You may be on a premed track today… and tomorrow you may find an internship that sparks a new interest within biology, math, physics … such as prosthetics etc.
Talk to your professors and see if you can join them in their research or projects that look interesting to you.
Doing things with your hands + math is definitely one way to describe intraoperative anesthesia.
Every surgical subspecialty, anesthesia, radiology, and pathology all have relatively little to no discussions with patients if sitting in a clinic and talking is boring. Even within the medical subspecialties you can always have a practice that is more inpatient based (e.g. consult service, ICU) which often has less sitting and talking to patients.
Like others have said, make sure you see other types of physicians. As you said, the field is very vast and just because you can’t imagine being a family medicine doc doesn’t mean you aren’t meant to be a physician.