At what age did you know you wanted to be a doctor?

[hkmedic]

Whenever someone tells me they've known since kindergarten that they wanted to be a doctor, I roll my eyes.

 

Really?

 

Even when people claim they've known since junior high. I just find it highly unlikely, especially since I don't believe that most 12 and 13 year olds are thinking about their careers or fully understand how the world around them works.

 

Sure, some people may have parents or other family members who are doctors, but it doesn't equate to 'understanding' what it means to be a doctor.

 

Or prove me wrong...

 

I tried to make a poll by grouping relevant age groups together (elementary school, junior high, high school, university, etc.). I was only allowed to make 10 options.

 

(It's just raining here and I'm bored, trying to start some conversation.)

[HBP]

Saw the doctor that delivered me out of the womb, knew that's what I wanna do.

[hkmedic]

Saw the doctor that delivered me as soon as I was born, knew that's what I wanna do.

 

LOL!! Haha!

[HBP]

Nah, that's a lie.

 

As I was chillin in the amniotic fluid getting fed through the umbilical cord, I had a profound curiosity for understanding science, and wanted to go into clinical research.

 

True story, told it to my interviewer.

[Tango Charlie]

I know you're joking, but there are tons of people who like to pretend that at 2 years old or something stupid like that that they knew this was the job for them. I guess maybe the odd person might've been so deeply traumatized by something at a young age that they have a literal psychosis forcing their hand, but really, you can't throw a stethoscope without hitting someone with a childhood story that supposedly dictated what their career 20 years later would be.

 

As for Yours Truly, it dawned on me that I should reconsider my options one day sitting in my paramedic pathophysiology class. I realized that a) I really loved listening to this stuff, and we weren't doing things to nearly the kind of depth I wanted, even though we were going well above what a paramedic needs to know. Then, once I actually started taking care of patients, watching autopsies, farting around emerg, and overall just getting my hands dirty in the medical field, I knew for sure that I could never stay a mere paramedic, and that I would would probably be happiest as a doctor of some description.

 

Edited because, dayum, spel gud.

[hkmedic]

I know you're joking, but there are tons of people who like to pretend that at 2 years old or something stupid like that that they knew this was the job for them. I guess maybe the odd person might've been so deeply traumatized by something at a young age that they have a literal psychosis forcing their hand, but really, you can't throw a stethoscope without hitting someone with a childhood story that supposedly dictated what their career 20 years later would be.

 

As for Yours Truly, it dawned on me that I should reconsider my options one day sitting in my paramedic pathophysiology class that a) I really loved listening to this stuff, and what we were doing wasn't nearly the kind of depth I wanted. Then once I actually started taking care of patients, watching autopsies, farting around emerg, and overall just getting my hands dirty I know for sure that I could never stay a paramedic, and that I think I'd be happiest as a doctor of some description.

 

Good personal story, thanks for sharing.

[nosuperman]

Nah, that's a lie.

 

As I was chillin in the amniotic fluid getting fed through the umbilical cord, I had a profound curiosity for understanding science, and wanted to go into clinical research.

 

True story, told it to my interviewer.

 

Reminds me of the first minute or so of this

[nosuperman]

I'd say I first thought I wanted to be a doctor in my late teens, but after University and clinical experience I look back and see I had no idea what being a doctor entailed.

 

I don't think you can truly "know" that you want something until you know what it is and how it meshes with who you are in that particular moment in your life... so the "since I was 10" crowd has some explaining to do!

[Tango Charlie]

When I was in grade 3, during the last day of school that year, my teacher at the time, a man named Mr. Barber (who was notorious for not using soap or deodorant) told us all what he thought we would grow up to be as adults. He told me that he thought I would grow up to be a tailor who specialized in sewing broken sports equipment back into working order.

 

In short, people who tell you what you should be when you're in grade 3 are idiots, and also smell.

[igeorgex]

haha I found a gr. 2 yearbook the other day and under "what do I want to be when I grow up" I listed either professional soccer player or doctor. well, the former didn't pan out so...

 

but really, I've been saying I wanted to be a doctor ever since I was 7. it wasn't really until I was in high school that I realized what a doc's lifestyle was like and how that fit into who I was. and then, just this past year I went through a struggle of deciding if medicine was the 'only option for me'. my goals changed, but I still need to be a doc to do what I wanna do

 

wow this thread really puts some things into perspective.

[hkmedic]

haha I found a gr. 2 yearbook the other day and under "what do I want to be when I grow up" I listed either professional soccer player or doctor. well, the former didn't pan out so...

 

Me too! I also wanted to be a professional soccer player when I was younger, but that also didn't work out for me. . .

 

but really, I've been saying I wanted to be a doctor ever since I was 7. it wasn't really until I was in high school that I realized what a doc's lifestyle was like and how that fit into who I was. and then, just this past year I went through a struggle of deciding if medicine was the 'only option for me'. my goals changed, but I still need to be a doc to do what I wanna do

 

wow this thread really puts some things into perspective.

 

And you nailed it with the point on "what a doc's lifestyle is like". Most kids, and perhaps even teenagers, don't really understand - they think it's like what they see on Grey's Anatomy, House and ER, and TLC. I did interview prep with a few people this year, and from time to time, heard references to popular primetime TV shows . . .

[dr_horrible]

When I was in high school, I was dead set on bypassing higher education entirely in pursuit of a musical theater career. Five years later, things turned out a little differently.

[I Heart Rural Med]

I had given medicine no thought whatsoever until I was 10 -- it was such a small, simple thing that happened but suddenly I knew what I wanted to do with my life.

 

I was the kind of kid who never ever got sick, so I didn't have a lot of exposure to anything medical before the following experience. At 10 I got a nasty ear infection and felt truly awful, and was absolutely amazed that the doctor could somehow know exactly what was wrong and just how to fix it. It seemed like almost magic, the way the doc could sleuth everything out. Within 24 hours I was feeling completely better, and I knew that I wanted to be able to relieve other people's pain the same way when I grew up.

 

It's 11 years later and it's still absolutely what I want to do with my life, so I would argue that it is possible to know that you want to be a doctor at an early age, free of coercion from family/teachers/etc.

[Boa]

Around 13-14 I had my mind set to become a Neurologist. Now, not so sure anymore if I really want to be a doctor...mmmm I mean I WANT to but I dont know if I CAN...life is sooo complicated ughh... :s

[shannn]

Wow you guys knew early

 

I thought I wanted to become a doctor as a kid, but as I went through university and gained life experiences, I saw the brighter side of other professions (OT, SLP, PT, clinical psych, teaching), and then I was dead set on becoming an SLP until a couple years go.

 

Then after talking to an SLP I was shadowing, she was telling me about how she regretted not continuing to pursue medicine and gave me a few reasons why, some of which I took to heart and then decided that in order to get the challenge and fulfillment in my life that I wanted, medicine was for me.

[astrogirl]

I was 26 when I decided it was what I wanted to do. It was something I had certainly considered earlier, but it wasn't until I had some experience working in healthcare and experience in another career that I knew I didn't want to stay in for the rest of my life that I decided I wanted to apply to medical school.

[deeman101]

I actively resisted all atempts my family and extended family (full of docs) made at interesting me in a career in medicine. Then when I was 17 I took a serious look at the careers out there and I realized there was no better career for me. Although at the time I was a bit pissed cause it meant I was wrong and my family was right all along. LOL

 

I just drove down to Florida last night to see my dad and he gave me a hug. He was noticeably proud. Now it doesn't seem so bad to make my parents happy.

[Leon]

For the majority of my life, I wanted to be a professional train driver.

 

Not joking.

[covarubious]

When I was in high school, I was dead set on bypassing higher education entirely in pursuit of a musical theater career. Five years later, things turned out a little differently.

 

lol I had the same choice to make. I am equal parts right and left brain. so medicine or theater... But for me art and creaitivity is something I do for me. I would hate to be forced to create art on demand based on another persons schedule.

[covarubious]

In the second grade I wanted to be a mad scientist/doctor. We had the birds and bees talk for some reason in school and while the other kids snickered and giggled I thought soooo immature while thinking hmmm... If I combine human sperm with fish eggs and radiation (thank you Saturday morning cartoons) I would be able to create my own race or mer-people. Of course I would have to have my own island... Then I watched the Island of Dr. Meraux and began to ponder the alternatives... lol

[AndreaM]

I've always been interested in how people 'work' and I'm not sure exactly when I decided I was going to be a doctor, but it was pretty early on (probably late elementary school).

 

As a kid I read a story about a girl with diabetes, so I researched diabetes. My grade 6 teacher brought a moose lung to school and I thought it was incredibly cool and took a piece home to show my mom (she made me throw it out). I was the kid in science class who looked forward to 'dissection day' every year and was the only girl in the class who didn't think it was gross to be cutting up things like cow eyes. When I was 15 one of my friends crashed his bike through the back of a parked car and I went to the hospital with him. Once I knew he'd be ok, my thoughts were that it was really cool that I got to watch while the doctor stitched his face up.

[Tango Charlie]

but my family grew me up making me think i want to be a doc... that has had a big influence on me

 

That's sort of disturbing. I seriously hope you wind up doing what you want to do, not what your family has coerced you into thinking you want to do. The medical profession has enough unhappy people in it already.

 

edit: Seriously, telling kids what they are and what they will be is considered by some to be a form of abuse. Kids are whoever they are, as their own persons, and not future doctors or Muslims or Scientologists or whatever their parents tell them they are. They need to find themselves, find their passion, find their beliefs, and do what they want to do with their lives, with parents providing guidance and support along the way.

 

So yeah, I feel for you, man.

[chemgirl]

I was a total dreamer who envisioned a life as a high-end baker or a writer (or some combination of the two, even) up until the beginning of grade 12 or so. I was out running with the cross country coach and told him these things. He said perhaps I should think about science/math a bit more because I did well in these areas and was a curious person. He said perhaps I should consider university, since I told him that really may not be in the cards-I was thinking culinary school at the time. So... that all got me thinking about how much I enjoyed learning about biology and how creative thought can be applied in many areas. That led me towards science, and i think once I got through first year and realized I could get appropriate marks, I started to think about medicine. So this was around age 18.

[shannn]

I've had so many dreams of doing different things:

 

-Pro NHL centre

-Pro NFL Quarterback

-cook/chef

-teacher

-PT

-OT

-SLP

-clinical psychologist

-professor

 

With the exception of the first 2, I took serious consideration for all of those careers (especially cullinary arts, was contemplaying joining the CIA if I didn't get in this year -- not that CIA, the Cullinary Institute of America).

[charmer08]

That's sort of disturbing. I seriously hope you wind up doing what you want to do, not what your family has coerced you into thinking you want to do. The medical profession has enough unhappy people in it already.

 

edit: Seriously, telling kids what they are and what they will be is considered by some to be a form of abuse. Kids are whoever they are, as their own persons, and not future doctors or Muslims or Scientologists or whatever their parents tell them they are. They need to find themselves, find their passion, find their beliefs, and do what they want to do with their lives, with parents providing guidance and support along the way.

 

So yeah, I feel for you, man.

 

uhm they told me that cuz i've liked science ever since I was a kid... I would read science books and find out why stuff happened etc etc... yes i've been a nerd ever since i was a kid

 

and its not that they are forcing me to become a doc... they just wanted me to be one and its me who has to decide whether i want and yea i want to who doesnt? lol

 

plus i believe parents should let their kids know their beliefs and they should advice their kids cuz they are the ones who know them the best! Well i guess i believe this because no one in my family is a doc and none of my siblings are in anything related to science... and they were never given the same advice as i was by my parents