Are you considering medicine as a career for yourself?

Hello,

I am a resident's wife, 29, who is strongly considering medicine as a career for me. As a brief history of my background, I have a law degree, then after graduating I did a post-bacc, took the MCAT twice, and applied but didn't get any interviews. My post-bacc grades were high but my MCATs were low (25, 26).

Frustrated with the process, I put that dream on hold for awhile and attempted to see if I could find another career that I'd love as much as medicine. I've been out of law school for 3 years now. In the past 2 years I've worked in medical research, journalism, and now as a legal secretary, and worked with career counselors to try to find another career that captivates me like medicine does. I've also done a lot of job shadowing and informational interviewing. The main things I've found is that I want to work with people, in a nurturing way, and that I can't stand desk jobs.

Sadly, in these past 2 years, I've gone from job to job, have been unhappy, and I'm studying for the bar exam right now. My plan is to practice law for a year in our new city, while trying to figure out what career will really work for me (I know it's probably not going to be law as I can't stand my job working in a law firm now as a legal secretary and I didn't like law school either.) Besides medicine I'm also strongly considering dentistry.

The problem is, I daydream about medicine 24/7. My husband's med school and residency experiences really put me off medicine, as I've seen how much he's had to sacrifice and we have bascially no time to spend together anymore, since he started residency. He has sacrificed his 20's for medicine, and I'm not sure I want to sacrifice my 30's in that way. On the other hand, I don't want to continue being unhappy like I am now.

I feel, rightly or wrongly, that if I was on the medical path, I'd feel like I had a purpose. I've felt that medicine is my true calling for so long, but until I did a post-bacc I never did anything about it, fearing that I wasn't able to handle the science load. But I did really well in the post-bacc, and it was only the MCAT that twice has been the main obstacle. If I had done well on the MCAT I'd be in med school by now, most likely, instead of working a dead-end legal secretary job, which I took because it is very, very difficult to find non-legal work with a law degree (no one wants to hire you because they keep telling you you're overqualified for entry-level positions, and you're underqualified for more challenging work you'd want to do.)

I've worked in the operating room for a year, and also in various medical volunteer capacities, and those have been the only jobs I've ever enjoyed. Nothing else has even come close.

This summer we're moving to a brand new city as my husband's residency is over July 1. If I decide to apply to med schools again, and get in somewhere, we'll likely have to move yet another time. My husband says he supports me and will move anywhere I'd get in, because he wants to see me happy and I clearly am not. I feel useless, unfulfilled, and like I'm wasting my potential on a daily basis and haven't found anything that makes me feel otherwise. I feel like second fiddle to him and that feeling really bothers me. However, knowing the immense sacrifices involved, which I've seen vicariously through my husband's residency, I have been unable to 100% enthusiastically commit to medicine.

Also, at this point, in order to be competitive, I'd have to retake the MCAT a third time, which I'm not too enthusiastic about.

Any thoughts about this conundrum?

[DCJenn]

Hang tight, you will definitely get some responses from the masses- we have quite a few people who are in academia in lieu of medicine. We also have a lot of nurses, all of whom seem to be fulfilled by thier choices.

Jenn

Hey there
My boyfriend is a neurosurgery resident and I am applying to medical school for fall 2007! I am taking the August MCAT though for the 1st time, so its a risk because my advisor is having me apply in June with everyone else so I'm not waiting for my scores.
I wanted to go to med school long before I met my man (probably was thinking about it since first year in college). I worked as a CNA in college, then as a medical assistant in a pediatric office. I finished my BSN (nursing) in 2003. I guess during nursing school is what confirmed my desire, I got to scrub in on a few surgeries and then I just knew thats what I needed to do. I was missing a bunch of the prereqs upon graduation. So I finished a BA in biology just last year. I was going to take the MCAT last august but got nervous I also was considering applying MD/PhD (because I got to do research in Organic chemistry the past few years). It's very competitive. once again I stayed in school, and am just about finished with my 1st year of grad school (Biochem). It's only a 2 year master program, though if I got accepted to med school here I could petition to have my MS courses used towards my PhD (since we all take the same courses together anyways). Any time I am in doubt about medicine I just try and shadow. And every time, I am once again convinced this is what I want to do.
As for my boyfriend, when we first started dating he used to comment that women were not meant for NS, but maybe better for derm or something like that. He shuts up about that now. He is very supportive though about med school, and worries about it more than me! Its cool having him around though because seriously he can answer just about any question I have when I am studying for the MCAT bio section or human physio. I mean seriously, he knows his stuff! He will come in handy in med school.
Oh, I also worked as an RN during my 1st year in my biology program on telemetry. Once I started in the lab though I couldnt handle it anymore.
Ok thats how I decided on medicine. There is not one specific reason why, there are many reasons.

[Michele]

I'm a vet....way cooler than med school!

Seriously though, it's much easier to "second-career" vetmed than it is human med....and medicine is the same....same diabetes, same emergency stuff (hit by cars are like MVAs), same anesthesia/sx experiences, similar chemo protocols....also as a general vet you get to do it all. It's not all about vaccinations anymore...people are making families of 4-legged children and demanding higher level healthcare...especially on aging pets.

Vet school is pretty hard to get into though as well....but you don't need the MCAT...and the vet schools seem more forgiving for non-trad applicants as far as grades...and it's easy to get experience to see if it's right for you. Just call local clinics and volunteer....or apply for kennel positions and work your way up as your experiences grow.

The grass is always greener...

Here's my suggestion. Work as a lawyer for a couple of years saving diligently and living like a pauper. Once you hit about 140K, reevaluate your desires. If you would rather pass that cash over and be a doc, do it.

I would also like to point out that it is very possible that you could not end up in the field you want. Your step 1 scores are huge when applying. It has been shown that how you do on the MCAT correlates with how you do on step 1.

Good luck

[Gwendolyn]

Honestly, it sounds like you already have your answer...This is a horribly tough road, but you already know that. Putting it off won't make it go away, it will only delay you accomplishing your goals. We know multiple people (DH included) who did not do well on their MCATS and got in, and others who did well and took three-four years to get in. A woman we graduated college (6 years ago)just started this year. you are not alone.