Why a career in medicine?

Pre-Med & Medical School Careers in Medicine
1

I was just curious to find out why, students & graduates choose a career in medical field.

2

I assume that you’re referring to clinical medicine specifically. Answers I’ve heard a lot:

Doctor

  • [] A combination of a love for learning / the sciences / the workings of the body
    [    ] A desire to help people
    [] Some reaction to a past experience (wanting to be like a doctor who was kind to them, or make up for an incompetent physician)
    [    ] The desire for autonomy, which can’t always be fulfilled in other health professions

Nurse - The desire to help people by actually being around them and caring for them vs. just overseeing their care

Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners - I don’t know much about why people pursue these fields, but I’d think that some benefits are less schooling and debt, the chance to start working earlier, and having more life-work balance than physicians. At the same time, many PAs and NPs do virtually the same things as physicians, especially in primary care.