anyone else who suffers being well-rounded?

[candyandy]

I'm new to this board and finding the posts very insightful and helpful. I am just wondering if there's anyone else out there who is like me... that is, older, well-rounded and feeling torn between medicine and another career move.

 

My situation is this: I did a BMus (honours, cello performance) followed immediatley by a BA in Liberal Arts (a 'great books program' or a 'history of ideas' program describe this degree). I took a year to work a government teaching job in Europe and learn German, was accepted to some very awesome graduate schools in the humanities... and then decided to defer! I had this nagging feeling that I wanted to explore the possibility of medicine.

 

I'm hunkered down this year at the local university, fulfilling the pre-reqs for ~6 Canadian medical schools and doing some ECs on the side while thinking things over. I'm thinking them over and over... I've had "informational interviews" with different doctors to find out about their lives/jobs/careers/experiences... I've done a lot of serious self-exploration considering what I need in order to be happy in life, how willing I am to commit to the kind of training needed to be a doctor... I have been consulting with a career counselor.

 

I know that I want a stimulating career--that I am easily bored... I also know that I need my work to contribute to my community and be directly involved in improving the lives of others. I am intellectually, emotionally etc up to the challenges of being a doctor--and I believe that this career would fit me well, that I would be good at it and gain a lot of personal satisfaction from it... but somedays general chemistry or calculus is such a drag and I remember the very inviting graduate school offers I have on hold to sit up in the ivory tower... I could be good at any number of careers, should I chose to be.

 

Is there anyone on this board who is torn about whether to persevere down this path? Anyone who is perhaps equally gifted in another field? I ask hoping to connect with people who aren't tunnel-visioned about medicine as their goal... and I guess I'm seeking validation for not being a linear person.

 

I expect some will want to respond with something along the lines of "if you're not 110% committed this isn't the career for you". I'm not 110% committed but I refuse to believe that this means I don't have anything to contribute to medicine. I have a really wide breadth and depth of interests.... and in many ways I think this might even make me a better doctor than had I done everything always in the pursuit of only this one goal.

 

Anyway, looking forward to your replies... and if I don't say so later, happy holidays!

[Karma]

Chemistry and physics are not at all representative of medicine. I remember having the same thoughts as you, since I found those subjects to be pretty boring. I was so relieved that in medical school, basic sciences are not very important, much less that the clinical aspect of medicine: making a diagnosis based on a number of symptoms.

 

I think that it's very good that you're taking time to think all this through. I can only say that you should go into medicine if you're 99.99% this is what you want to do, because it's a HUGE investment in term of everything: your time, relationships, money. I begin to realise only now how demanding it is.

 

I'm not trying to talk you out of it:) I'm just saying that it's good you're asking yourself all those questions.

[bloh]

I think you do have to be completely committed to medicine. It is a long journey, and you have to want it and be happy doing it. Having said that, it does not mean that you cannot have other passions and interests. It is reasonable to believe that you could be happy with other jobs but if you would rather see yourself playing music or reading books than working in a clinic, then I think your answer is pretty obvious.

[LostDuck]

I'm actually going through the same thing right now. Torn between medicine and public health (I know the two could be combined, but i'm not sure I'm up to that kind of commitment) and I can understand how difficult this can be.

 

I know it seems like cliché but the advice I keep getting from people is to 'follow my heart.' And in the end, I think that really is the best way to go. Do the research rigorously first about what both careers would entail, shadow doctors as well the people from other careers you're interested - and then think long and hard about what you make you happy both personally and professionally. That's what i'm trying to do right now as well.

 

Best of luck!

 

Lost (hopefully not for long) Duck