Sunday, February 9, 2014

I Considered Medical School for a Few Days

Yup, I did. Never considered it before as an option for me. I've never been a fan of blood and everyone just always made the assumption that that rules out being a doctor for you. And then Ryan was talking about how I could totally do med. school if I wanted to and he wondered if aversion to blood is something people can get over. And suddenly the idea opened up as an actual possibility.

I asked my pediatrician friend if she knew anyone who'd become accustomed to the sight of blood. Turns out, she fainted the first time she saw a video of an IV being put in - and now she's done them tons of times. So her answer was that you totally can overcome aversions like that.

The first thing to throw me off the idea was needing to do physics for the MCAT. Except that's such a stupid reason. It's not like I'm not good at this school thing - I could totally do physics if I wanted to.

So in mid-January I found myself seriously considering medical school for a week or so. It's fun to think that I could totally do it if I wanted to and that Ryan would be 100% supportive (and he said if I did med. school we'd move wherever I got a job when done and he'd just find whatever job he could).

But I don't think I will. At this point the pros just don't outweigh the cons, and it's not like it's something I feel passionately about. Sure, I'd likely have a pretty stellar salary at the end of it all (far more than I'd make as a dietitian), but the reality is that doing prerequisites would likely take quite a bit longer than they already will and then I'd still have four years of medical school plus however many years for internship or residency ahead of me. We'd likely be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt by the end of it, Gareth would be almost done with high school (yikes!), and it's not like you get to choose where you go for residency (even Ryan didn't seem too fond of this aspect). Besides, I think it'd maybe be a bit crazy to only apply to one school for the medical school part of things also (I can't think of anyone I know who's done med. school and done this), and since Ryan likes his job here and I like living here, I'd like to stay here. Giving up all those years and going into major debt just doesn't seem worth it for something that I'm not passionate about doing. Maybe if I'd considered the idea eight to ten years ago, but for where we are now, it doesn't make sense.

So, it was fun to consider something as an option that I'd never considered for myself before. It's cool to realize that I could totally do it if I wanted to and good to know that it's not something I'll regret not trying. For now I'm still on the dietitian track - but keeping options open to other things that might come along and interest me. I might even dabble in programming this summer, just to see if it's a viable "oh, crap, I failed O-Chem" backup plan. :)

2 comments:

Alanna said...

I seriously considered law school after my mission, not because I really wanted to be a lawyer, but because my sister had just finished her law degree and I figured if she could do it, I could, too. And I'm competitive like that. Fortunately, I also watched her study for the New York Bar Exam all summer, and decided I didn't want to go through all that just to prove to myself that I was smart! So I got my Master's in humanities instead...

But I've always had this insane amount of confidence that anything I put my mind to, I could probably succeed at. And it's a good feeling, even if I'm just staying home with the kids right now.

I'm proud of you for seeing that in yourself, as well! (And proud of Ryan for being a good supportive husband-- the world needs a LOT more of those around!)

Momof8 said...

Wow, Erin! That is wonderful that you were able to seriously consider medical school. And kudos to Ryan for being so supportive of the idea.

I remember considering a number of different careers at one point--biologist (cellular biology was fascinating), accountant (I enjoyed the logical aspect of it and seriously considered applying at Hewlett Packard a few years ago), human resource manager (something I hadn't considered until I took the class a few years ago). I have enjoyed being a secretary and a teacher. If I had to choose one or the other for full-time work right now, I would opt for the business/management work because it is less stressful and the pay is a little better.