When I was an 18 year old, and decided I was going to pursue medicine for real, I found myself thrust into this allegorical witness box. And these questions darted at me from all directions:
Is it possible?
Is it practical?
Is Biology even your strength?
Not surprisingly, I found that what I wanted to do, what others wanted me to do, and what I was good at- translated to a Venn Diagram that looked like this:
Nope. Not intersecting at all.
So I went around asking doctors I knew if being a doctor was a good idea. One of the worst responses I got involved the subject of marriage and mothers in law. While I agree that everything needs to be taken into consideration, if you’re a young student at the cusp of a fantastic career, and are not afraid of printing your priorities in Boldface – avoid considering such restraints.
So, should you become a doctor? Ask yourself, do you:
- Cherish learning? There’s a LOT of that to do. You’ve heard it before, hear it again. Learning does not stop. What you learn is not dissociated from what you do.
- Find it titillating to rise to new challenges? (read: 200 pages, one night scenario)
- Stay with questions for longer? (Of course, Richard Feynman would welcome you into his gang of physicists if he were alive too)
- Enjoy decoding problems? Diagnoses involve using all your faculties, often at crunch time, under pressure. (I for instance find a waiting patient or a watching Professor rather unhinging)
- Have financial back up for long years of learning?
- Have decent communication skills? Fun Fact: Medicine involves talking- to patients, to colleagues, to hospital staff, at conferences, to Committees – you name it. You’ll have to learn to be clear and succinct, as well as be able to get across without missing anything.
- Not mind missing out on what meets standard definitions of “fun”? This involves, be prepared- nearly everything. Movies, parties, vacations. Let’s save the books. Books are good.
Notice I did NOT say- a photographic memory or a high IQ. Medicine requires you to work hard, and work smart. No one that I know has a spectacular memory. Med students eventually learn how to learn.
If your answers are yes to the above prerequisites, you’re more than welcome into the world of medicine.
And once you’re here, you’ll love it. Random medicine- things get you high. Shiny medical instruments, the sounds of monitors in an OT, the stethoscope, an ambulance, a filled syringe, the smell of a freshly sanitized hospital floor, the sight of the children’s wards with cartoon themed walls, listening to doctors discussing procedures, wow.
We need good doctors. We need more passionate people in the field.
Are you up for it? 🙂
The Waiting Room 