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Med school the right choice?
How do I know if med school is right for me?
Thursday, January 10, 2008
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Name:
manda12
Gender:
Female
Age:
20
Living In:
manalapan
RE: Med school the right choice?
Do you want to help people? Are you capable of having very little social life for about five years of your life while making no money and sometimes working all night long? In the end you dont think this hard work will pay off for you- then don't even begin.
Monday, March 03, 2008
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Name:
jarod
Gender:
Male
Age:
18
Living In:
Lubbock
RE: Med school the right choice?
In order to make sure that medicine is the right choice for you, I would suggest becoming a patient transporter in a hospital. It will give you lots of patient contact, and you will get to work in all different areas of the hospital, in turn which will give you a good perspective on which area you would like to specialize then.
While working in the hospital, talk to doctors. Sometimes they can be rude because they are so stressed, or they simply think they are better than you because you are "just a transporter." But anyways, talk to them and get to know them. Eventually you can ask a surgeon or anesthesiologist to let you shadow them.
This is where you will really get to see what being a doctor is like. There is first lots of paperwork, then the procedure, then lots more paperwork. And then you have to go consult with the patient and family.
If you see what the doc does, and you know you will enjoy it because it will bring you personal satisfaction, then go for medical school. Buy and read some books about preparing for medical school. You will have to prepare early, the first day you step foot into your freshman English class is when preparation will have to begin.
If you do this, and you know you will love practicing medicine, getting through medical school will be a challenge, but you will always know in the back your mind that it is worth it, because you know that you will be happy when you're done with all this education.
If you are going to be a doctor for the money, don't even waste your time, or your future patients. Life isn't about how much money you make & your career. Life is about whether or not you are happy with your career and life in general.
It doesn't matter if you bring home a thousands dollars a day if you spend twelve hours doing something you hate doing to get it. And then having to do it the next day.
Physicians don't have much of a social life. I am a patient transporter and I transported a physician who was in the hospital because she went into labor with her third baby. When I was preparing to take her out of the hospital, she was on the phone with a nurse giving orders while holding her newborn. This is what you can expect.
Medical school is a real challenge. Getting in is even harder. On top of this, you will have to go through a residency program after graduation of medical school where you will work 50-80 hours a week for 3 or more years, while getting paid very, very, very little. They do this so you gain experience and prove to the medical board that you are a world class physician.
If you really take initiative to gain knowledge of what it is really like being a physician, you will eventually realize whether or not the practice of medicine is for you. But again, if you are thinking about medicine because of the fancy cars and the big vacations homes, you NEED to reconsider going into medicine, and that is not just a suggestion.
Thursday, July 03, 2008