SO YOU WANT TO BECOME A DOCTOR
DECISIONS, DECISIONS...
Becoming a doctor requires a real commitment, so your decision to pursue this career path should be an informed one. You should consider information from discussions with medical professionals. Talk to as many doctors as you can. Find out how they spend their days and what they love and do not love about their professions. Think about whether you could fill their shoes and whether you would thrive in doing so. Always consider your source when gathering information. For example, television shows with exciting plots and attractive actors glamorize medicine, whereas newspapers can do the opposite by highlighting negative trends and emphasizing scandals. While you are fortunate to have hundreds of career options to choose from, having so many choices can be confusing and overwhelming. Don’t let indecision paralyze you. Consider taking time off after college to work in medical and nonmedical fields, to travel, or volunteer before applying to medical school. This type of experience serves the dual purpose of allowing you to assess your interest in medicine, and it improves your medical school application; diversity of
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experience is a great way to improve your chances to get into medical school. In deciding whether medicine is the career for you, you should also reflect on the paths that you won’t be taking. Are you deciding between being a teacher or a doctor? Why not teach for a year or two and then reconsider medical school? The skills you learn teaching will help you explain medical issues to patients, and many medical schools leave space for non-traditional medical students. Perhaps you feel that there are too few rather than too many career possibilities from which to choose. Some people consider medicine, law, and other obvious professions because they just don’t know what else is out there. In this situation, there is nothing like spending a couple of years in the real world. This will expose you to various professions and career options. Even working for a temp agency can be beneficial; it can provide exposure to a few fields and organizations. Learning about other options might confirm your interest in medicine or could lead you in another direction. Either way, it will be valuable use of your time.
