Should I Go to Medical School? Under Two Conditions

Table of Contents

Focus of Blog Post

This blog post will focus on my thoughts for considering whether or not to pursue medical school. I’ll start by giving you some of my story and then discuss the two conditions for going to medical school.

Introduction and Personal Story

Before I went to medical school I had heard lots of advice from all sorts of people about whether or not to pursue medicine. People had strong opinions whether they were in medicine or not. Ultimately, I chose to pursue medicine. It has been a frustrating journey with more hardships than I had ever anticipated, but it also has been a good fit for me. Medicine as a profession has many pros and cons.

Ultimate message: Pursue medical school only under two conditions. One, if it is your only passion; or two, there is nothing else you want to do.

The Two Reasons for Pursuing Medical School Explained

Why do I say the above?

Nothing Else You Want to Do

First of all, part of the ultimate message above was the piece of advice that has stuck with me since I started considering medicine. Almost any physician with whom I discussed my interest to pursue medical school told me to do something else. They said to choose medicine if that is the only thing I wanted to do, if there was nothing else I wanted to do.

So many practicing physicians expressed dissatisfaction to me with their medical careers. They told me if they had a chance to do it again they would not do it, they would not choose medicine. However, the majority of practicing physicians I talked with, while having dissatisfaction with much of medicine, still would choose their medical careers and to go through the process of becoming a physician all again. As such, it was not too different from other fields I had considered and discussed with others such as engineering or academia.

Passion for Medicine

Second, most people whether in or out of medicine had a general “follow your passion” advice. “Life is short, so go for something great.” “Do that which will make you happy.”

Could I tell for sure I had a passion for medicine? I couldn’t practice medicine without first going to medical school. Although I didn’t know for sure if I had a passion for medicine, I did have passion for making the world a better place, for studying and employing knowledge that could ease the suffering of people I care for. Through this, I hoped for a transitive property that would translate to medicine.

As it is, I am passionate about my medical career. I am happy to provide care to patients. I am happy with my skillsets. I consider it an honor to have the trust patients give me as a medical professional. However, I had many passions before medical school and continue to have many passions beyond medicine. it is a monumental task for most people to go through medical school and residency to become a physician, and then a huge time and emotional burden to continue to practice medicine. I have other passions outside medicine and medical education certainly interfered with my ability to pursue other passions.

Other Passions vs Only One Passion

It is good to pursue passions, but it can be very challenging to push other passions aside or to give up on them. Therefore, I don’t like the idea of following a passion to practice medicine. That is, don’t just go to medical school if you think you will be passionate about becoming a physician. Rather, go to medical school if that will either be your one overriding passion or if it will be your only passion.

Time Demands

Third, medical education and practice is not just time-consuming. It is emotionally burdensome. It will put pressure on you to miss time with family and friends. It will require sacrifice. Even with the best medical practice there will be patients that have bad outcomes. Mistakes will be made. It is very challenging in about every way.

Opinions of Others

To finish, I want to comment on how the opinions of others can affect our decisions.

I had many people support my desire to attend medical school and become a physician. In fact, people commented how happy they were that I would one day become a physician because I was smart, kind, and hardworking – values they think all doctors should have, but that not all doctors have. Throughout medical training I received praise from attendings, from ancillary staff, and from patients about my patience and the care I gave to patients.

I know that there are so many other people who are being told they should go into medicine because they are so smart – physicians need to be smart! Because they are kind – physicians need to be kind! Because they are hardworking – doctors need to work for their patients! It can feed the idea that you are filling a dramatically needed role in society. One that you not just should fill, but need to fill for the sake of your future patients and for society.

Conclusion

I urge you to consider however, my ultimate message. Pursue medical school and a career in medicine if it is your only passion or if there is nothing else you want to do. Medical education takes time to really learn it and to practice it well. It will interfere with your other passions and desires in life. It is so time-consuming and emotionally burdensome that you will revisit desires for other careers if you were not committed solely to medicine, and the feeling of losing out on these other passions and opportunities can be devastating.

I hope that this helps anyone make a strong decision to pursue medicine or to help others avoid medicine. It is an amazing field for some, but it is not for everyone, and so many people would likely be happier doing something else.

If after all this you feel medicine may be right for you, consider checking out the following link to AAMC’s “Deciding if Medicine is for You” https://students-residents.aamc.org/deciding-if-medicine-you/deciding-if-medicine-you. The AAMC has great resources and may give you a different perspective to think about.

Leave a comment on anything you would like me to discuss regarding the medical education journey, my own experience, or anything you would like me to cover.