I am having doubts of becoming a doctor. Could you please give me advice on how you made it? THANK YOU!!

Question

Hello everyone, could you please tell me what I should do??! I am starting to question my choice of becoming a doctor for the reasons as follows:

My major sucks booty (genetics) and if I don't become a doctor, I know I don't want to be a researcher or stuck in a science lab for the rest of my life. (I chose this major because ASU offers little majors in biological sciences).

I STINK at chemistry, and I still have 6 more semesters of it to go!

I'm shy and reserved, and don't like dealing with rude/ignorant people. But I do like working with people and not stuck in a boring atmosphere.

I don't want to be constantly "on call" as a doctor, I want more of a set schedule so I can have time for a future family.

I don't want to be a workoholic.

I feel that I have the intelligence, and mental stability to get me by through medical school and residency, but the more I think about it, the more I start to worry about majoring in genetics and being a doctor.

Are you a doctor? What is your working schedule? What kinds of M.D. positions allow a doctor to have a "set schedule" or somewhere near a 9-5 thing? THANK YOU!

Answer 1

I'm a UK trained Osteopath which is different from the US model of taking people who didn't get into med school but still want to practice medicine.

Unlike the US model we only practice osteopathic manual medicine and don't practice any of the Allopathic medicine that US osteopaths do (who mostly don't practice manual medicine at all).

I love my job. There is virtually no hierarchy, the hours are much better, you never tell anyone that they are dying and you almost certainly won't kill anyone by mistake.

I also get a tremendous amount of satisfaction out of relieveing pain from my patients and getting them permanently better.

We don't make anything like as much money as MD's but have a much nicer role and are greatly appreciated by our patients.

The course was tough but well worth it.

Good luck

Answer 2

I'm only On-call about once a week and I work 7-5 on weekdays.  Its very easy to have a family as a doctor but not easy when youre in med school.  genetics is not a bad major by the way but its really hard to get into med school

Answer 3

Medical school is hard and being a physician is a huge time and life commitment. If you're doing it to make money, there are easier ways of doing it.

I tell this to anyone who is interested in becoming a doctor. If you can see yourself doing anything else with your life, then do it. However, if you truly love the practice of medicine, then go for it.

Here is what to expect if you go to decide to become a doctor:

You must first complete an undergraduate program (usually 4 years) during which you will apply for medical school, which is another 4 years. However, you will need to have a good undergraduate GPA, take your pre-med requirement courses, and good MCAT scores (standardized exam that tests your reading comprehenion, writing skills, and knowledge of physical and biological sciences) to even be considered for medical school.

During medical school, you will take courses in the core curriculum with numerous exams during the 1st two years covering different areas of basic science, pharmacology, physiology, and anatomy. You will also have to take two more big standardized exams during medical school. Then during your last year in medical school you will apply for residency training in whatever field you are interested (internal medicine, surgery, radiology, etc.), which can range from 3-5 years of additional training.

Unless you have financial support from your parents or you're independently wealthy, you will need to take out student loans or get scholarships for both undergrad and medical school. However, you will get paid during your residency but it is a meager salary ($42,000 - $54,000 depending on geographic location and years of training) for the large amount of work and stress (60-80 hours per week).

After completing residency, then you can practice as a doctor. However, if you want to subspecialize in cardiology, interventional radiology, or cardiothoracic surgery for example, you need to apply for fellowship and complete an additional 1-2 years trainng.

So basically, becoming a doctor is hard and a huge committment. Most people will finish their residency training by 28-30 years old at the earliest with about ~$100,000-200,000 debt in student loans. However, if you truly love the practice of medicine and helping people, then it may be your calling.

I became a doctor only after realizing that I couldn't see myself doing anything else. I went into medicine because I enjoy helping people and find it to be an exciting and interesting field, which is always changing and requires you to be constantly learning. Plus, there are few professions where you can have a direct impact on someone else's life.

As a doctor, you will have to deal with rude and ignorant people.  That comes with the job, however, the majority of your patients are usually pleasant.  Now as for being on call, that is mainly determined by the area of medicine you practice and the type of group that you join when you start working.

If you're a woman and want to have a family, certain specialties are more conducive to having one with less stress, such as opthalmology, dermatology, or radiology.  These specialites tend to have more set hours and usually do not have late night emergencies.  Anesthesiology is another good area but you will have to deal with surgeons some of whom can be at times very tempermental with big egos, but those personalities can be found in other specialities as well.

Primary care, practicing outpatient medicine has a set schedule as well.  You have a certain number of patients to see everyday and when you're done, you go home provided everything runs smoothly.  However, you will get a lot of calls at home from your patients when your on call for the practice.

I am currently a cardiology fellow, which I find to be very rewarding and interesting, but the hours can be long.

Good luck. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

My dads a doctor and he works like all day.  Maybe try dentistry?  if your shy and reserved and don't like to deal with rude/ignorant people, i don't think you should try to be a doctor.  They get those kind of patients sometimes. Be a nurse?  chiropractor?  Just stop worrying about it and get into a medical school first :)