anon-maybe-doc
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2020
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I made this account recently pretty much just to get a feel for what the internet has to say about my situation.
TLDR: i'm accepted to med school but struggling with the idea of work/life balance, passion, time commitment, etc. of medical school, considering PA school (change my mind).
To give you the story- I am a senior double major at my university, 3.93 GPA, 208 MCAT, accepted into 2 med schools, one DO and one MD.
I feel like I am a very proactive student, I put my best into my work and devote a lot of time to school already and feel I have a great work life balance. I don't put things off or procrastinate and I feel confident I can complete medical school, it's now a question of if I want to or not. I've jumped through the hoops of what needs to be done for medical school but am starting to realize with all of the tours I have been on, the students may have a quality I do not: they're insane.
All jokes aside, I have had doctors tell me not to be a doctor due to the stressors they face, I hear medical school students saying how they sleep for 5 hours a night and study for 12-15 during the day. I have to spend 8 more years of the prime of my life only to be worried about being on-call all the time, worrying about malpractice, and having little time for anything else? I kind of want to know if these doctors just aren't good fits and if these students just aren't very proactive.
Granted, I love medicine, I love the idea of helping someone's medically related problems. However, at the end of the day, I do just see being a doctor as a job. I've read too many articles saying your job should be your way to make money, and you should find your passions throughout your experiences in you life in all realms of it. However, I realize being a doctor provides you with experiences like no other, and I would say it is my passion to experience as much as I can in my finite amount of time here. However, I'm finding it difficult to surrender so much of this prime time of my life to one singular thing. I really would like to have time during the day to cook dinner, go to the movies, see some friends, etc. and I'm worried that medical school may keep me from this as much as I want the experiences a doctor has. I also find it difficult to believe that some of your guys are as passionate about being doctors as many of these forums say, as many of the other pre-med students at my university that have been accepted aren't even sure if it's a right fit for them.
Because of this, I am really considering PA school now, something that takes 2.5 years of school and still offers a nice compensation along with the positives medicine has to offer and something that I would consider has a much better work/life balance. Maybe I just have pre-medical school jitters as it is causing me to uproot my life and move away in a couple months. I basically would like to know how you medical school students achieve a work/life balance if you have one at all, and know what your opinions are on PAs and how their future job market appears to be. Sorry for such a long post, I just want to convey my situation adequately.
TLDR: i'm accepted to med school but struggling with the idea of work/life balance, passion, time commitment, etc. of medical school, considering PA school (change my mind).
To give you the story- I am a senior double major at my university, 3.93 GPA, 208 MCAT, accepted into 2 med schools, one DO and one MD.
I feel like I am a very proactive student, I put my best into my work and devote a lot of time to school already and feel I have a great work life balance. I don't put things off or procrastinate and I feel confident I can complete medical school, it's now a question of if I want to or not. I've jumped through the hoops of what needs to be done for medical school but am starting to realize with all of the tours I have been on, the students may have a quality I do not: they're insane.
All jokes aside, I have had doctors tell me not to be a doctor due to the stressors they face, I hear medical school students saying how they sleep for 5 hours a night and study for 12-15 during the day. I have to spend 8 more years of the prime of my life only to be worried about being on-call all the time, worrying about malpractice, and having little time for anything else? I kind of want to know if these doctors just aren't good fits and if these students just aren't very proactive.
Granted, I love medicine, I love the idea of helping someone's medically related problems. However, at the end of the day, I do just see being a doctor as a job. I've read too many articles saying your job should be your way to make money, and you should find your passions throughout your experiences in you life in all realms of it. However, I realize being a doctor provides you with experiences like no other, and I would say it is my passion to experience as much as I can in my finite amount of time here. However, I'm finding it difficult to surrender so much of this prime time of my life to one singular thing. I really would like to have time during the day to cook dinner, go to the movies, see some friends, etc. and I'm worried that medical school may keep me from this as much as I want the experiences a doctor has. I also find it difficult to believe that some of your guys are as passionate about being doctors as many of these forums say, as many of the other pre-med students at my university that have been accepted aren't even sure if it's a right fit for them.
Because of this, I am really considering PA school now, something that takes 2.5 years of school and still offers a nice compensation along with the positives medicine has to offer and something that I would consider has a much better work/life balance. Maybe I just have pre-medical school jitters as it is causing me to uproot my life and move away in a couple months. I basically would like to know how you medical school students achieve a work/life balance if you have one at all, and know what your opinions are on PAs and how their future job market appears to be. Sorry for such a long post, I just want to convey my situation adequately.