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A Concerning Thought - First time post


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Hello, I was actually seeking the advice of members in the forum in regards to an issue or thought that has recently been bugging me. I am registered to write my MCAT this summer, but the whole process of the MCAT studying etc. has really allowed me to reflect on my initial intentions of pursuing medicine. What initially sparked this was that I found the written section of the MCAT as the most interesting section, vs. the physiology section that most premeds would enjoy. Another concern is that I am not super interested in research or for that matter keep up to date with the breakthroughs in the medical field. I find it more interesting to keep up to date with politics and surround myself with non-medicine related issues. Is this a sign I shouldn't do medicine? I really enjoyed the prompts that had any basis on politics, ethics or law. In terms of role models; I would say that I am more interested in the work of Tommy Douglas than Fredrick Banting.

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Hello, I was actually seeking the advice of members in the forum in regards to an issue or thought that has recently been bugging me. I am registered to write my MCAT this summer, but the whole process of the MCAT studying etc. has really allowed me to reflect on my initial intentions of pursuing medicine. What initially sparked this was that I found the written section of the MCAT as the most interesting section, vs. the physiology section that most premeds would enjoy. Another concern is that I am not super interested in research or for that matter keep up to date with the breakthroughs in the medical field. I find it more interesting to keep up to date with politics and surround myself with non-medicine related issues. Is this a sign I shouldn't do medicine? I really enjoyed the prompts that had any basis on politics, ethics or law. In terms of role models; I would say that I am more interested in the work of Tommy Douglas than Fredrick Banting.

 

then go to law school :)

+ I dont think any of the premeds (including myself) is updated with breakthroughs of medicine + no school care about research other than UofT + it seems from what I read that you fit more into law school than med >> just an opinion

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Honestly like others have mentioned law is a good option but I would not rule out med so quickly.

 

What I would suggest is just surrounding yourself with activities / jobs you enjoy in order to deeply reflect on what your ambitions are. This will not hurt you if you decide to go into med in the future as it adds to your non acadamic activities.

 

Also keep in mind that not all fields of medicine are research oriented, I think there are people on this forum who are more qualified to make statements about this but from what I have seen as a premed working in a hospital, many fields when it comes to their day to day activities have alot of human interaction involved as opposed to just pure science.

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I wouldn't rule out medicine quite so fast either. Try doing some extra curriculars that expose you to the healthcare industry and see how you like it. You'll never know without experimenting, and even then, you'll probably truly not know 100% if medicine is for you.

 

... vs. the physiology section that most premeds would enjoy...

 

I think there's a misunderstanding here. Nobody enjoys any part of the MCAT, lol. :)

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i'm the same way, i'm way more humanities oriented than sciences, although i enjoy both... sciences are fun once you figure it all out.

 

you may be interested in public health or health policy, psychiatry, addictions med, medical admin (working as a registrar for your provincial med association) which an md is useful for, there's also opportunities to work in med technology with people in nano-tech, biomed engineering.

 

im the same way as you though, i dont even know who fredrick banting is, or hardly got a kick about clinical skills, i did love all the psychiatry shadowing i did, the chance to go to u of t's psych institute, my med ethics classes, the research methods classes... anything that involved critical thinking. i'm also interested in medicine theoretically, but not in day to day clinical practice, im interested in the sociology of medicine, medical culture, personality types of doctors, perceptions of doctors by patients, public health initiatives and approaches as a whole as well as outcomes, mind-body medicine, the influence of the current pharmaceutical lobbying on treatment modalities and a bunch of actual supra-clinical things, so i really resonate with what you're saying, in the end the only thing i could honestly see myself practicing clinically is psychiatry, so i checked out and did am applying to dentistry and hope to do a masters in clin psych after that so i can have an eclectic mix of the medical/technical and the art of applying my own personal experiences and therapeutic skills with theoretical and empirical models to find a satisfying mix, plus i'll get more time to work on my writing side projects and more global endeavours. if i followed my heart i prob would have went into clin psych right away but i don't regret med, it opened a lot of doors, and i did learn a lot about the medical system and medicine.

 

you may or may not enjoy medicine, you really have to test it out to know. you also have to consider other things in life like lifestyle you want to live, length of training, work atmosphere, job security, debt... if anything, i would apply, do first year, make sure to do a lot of shadowing, and see how you like it, a year of med is valuable and isn't too much of a waste, if you don't like it, apply to law or something tangental you think you would enjoy more, hope that helps

 

Hello, I was actually seeking the advice of members in the forum in regards to an issue or thought that has recently been bugging me. I am registered to write my MCAT this summer, but the whole process of the MCAT studying etc. has really allowed me to reflect on my initial intentions of pursuing medicine. What initially sparked this was that I found the written section of the MCAT as the most interesting section, vs. the physiology section that most premeds would enjoy. Another concern is that I am not super interested in research or for that matter keep up to date with the breakthroughs in the medical field. I find it more interesting to keep up to date with politics and surround myself with non-medicine related issues. Is this a sign I shouldn't do medicine? I really enjoyed the prompts that had any basis on politics, ethics or law. In terms of role models; I would say that I am more interested in the work of Tommy Douglas than Fredrick Banting.
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Many people choose a career that isn't necessarily their first passion in life. Besides, I think medicine could use more people who come from backgrounds other than vanilla life sciences. Law and politics are especially fitting towards physicians who go on to become policy makers and leaders - we need more of them.

 

Of course, if you think you might actually hate medicine and have no clue why you'd want to do it over something else, then you have to do some serious self-reflection.

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Why not dual track for both law and medicine and let the adcoms of these faculties make the decision for you? :) If you are accepted into both,only then must you make a choice. I know someone accepted into medicine and he switched to law after completing first year medicine.

 

my neighbour is a neurologist..did it for a couple years.. then went back to school to do law..

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