Let me begin by saying that I am a 24, male, and am graduating with my degree in biology/sociology this December. I originally was pre-med but now am starting to think that I may not want to attend medical school anymore. I have worked as a PCT and I enjoyed the work. I have started to look into ABSN programs to work for some time and then maybe continue my education into NP, CRNA, Ph.D. or getting my MSN and becoming an educator. My freshman year, about 4.5 years ago, I was revved up for medicine and that's the only thing I wanted to do but now my mind has changed and I am starting to feel like what I wanted then is not what I want now. A few reasons I am doubting medical school is 1. The time that it would take to gain the MD, I am not sure if I will have a family around this time or if I will get married but unfortunately, after 4.5 years of undergrad, I do not think I would like to wait another 7 plus years before I begin working and enjoying life. 2. The money, it just seems too expensive to attend medical school and I understand that physicians will make a great amount of money after they finish residency but I do not think that I could handle having 200k plus loans over my head. If I were to become an NP or any other advanced practicing nurse (from what I know, please correct me if I am wrong) I can work part time while doing school, or my employer can pay for schooling, or I can work for a good amount of time as a BSN and save to pay for school out of pocket since it is not as costly as medical school. 3. Before when I was a freshman I used to give the reason that every pre-medical student says about wanting to go to medical school, we wanted to be the leader of the group and be in charge of the treatment plan for the patient, but now I am starting to think with my personality I may not want to be the end all be all. Yes, I am a leader and I take on leader roles but I do not think I would like to be the final decision in patient care and to not have a back up to help me for example such as if I were an NP I could speak to my over seeing physician if I am unsure of a treatment plan, if I were a physician it would all be on me and I don't think I can be put in that situation to make the decision to decide if someone dies because of my error. 4. This leads into the issue of liability and mal practice insurance. even though physicians make good money they are taxed much higher and they have so much overhead (please correct me if I am wrong). 5. Lifestyle, I feel that becoming any other form of healthcare professional would allow me to have somewhat of a resemblance of a balanced/normal lifestyle. I would like to come home and not have to continue working or to have to worry about my patients because if anything bad happens to them while I am gone it is all my responsibilities. I do understand nurses also think about their patients when they leave work but also nurses get to clock out and just go home. I know that there are specialties in medicine that are great for lifestyle balance but most are competitive residency and I do not know if it would be worth it to go to medical school with the risk of not getting into one of these specialties or any residency at all. 6. The lateral mobility, knowing myself I am an indecisive person and the idea that I could move into a different specialty without having to redo a residency sounds very pleasing to me. In conclusion, maybe I wanted to become a physician because I liked the idea of being an MD but now I am just starting to actually think about what comes with being an MD. I know that becoming a nurse or any other healthcare professional also has its struggles and no job is perfect but I think I am starting to wake up to how harsh medical training and practice can be. I have been pondering this decision for the past 3 months and I think I know what I want to decide but I am still constantly unsure because seeing all my pre med friends and the way they look at me because of my reasonings it makes me feel like I am crazy. Many of them say that everything I mentioned I used to say the opposite, did really mean what I said before or was I just ignorant to what it took to be an MD and now I am started to know myself better. Either way, thank you all for reading this and for any advice or just thoughts.
At one time, I too wanted to become a doctor. I was going for my BS in biology, but because I was a single parent of five children, my mom and sister thought it would be a good idea if I went to nursing school first. I found out in my very first nursing class that nursing is actually what I wanted to do with patients all along.
I guess what I would ask myself is, what is it I want to be able to accomplish with a patient? For me it turned out to be all about nursing and not actually diagnosing a patient. Things however did not work out and I had to quit because of heart problems. Fast forward nine years and I found out this morning I was accepted into Ivy Tech's ASN program. I am so excited and I want to cry everytime I think about my acceptance letter. Also, my heart function has improved greatly.
angmcav, ADN, RN
38 Posts
At one time, I too wanted to become a doctor. I was going for my BS in biology, but because I was a single parent of five children, my mom and sister thought it would be a good idea if I went to nursing school first. I found out in my very first nursing class that nursing is actually what I wanted to do with patients all along.
I guess what I would ask myself is, what is it I want to be able to accomplish with a patient? For me it turned out to be all about nursing and not actually diagnosing a patient. Things however did not work out and I had to quit because of heart problems. Fast forward nine years and I found out this morning I was accepted into Ivy Tech's ASN program. I am so excited and I want to cry everytime I think about my acceptance letter. Also, my heart function has improved greatly.