Choosing to go to medical school isn't something that should be taken lightly. Medical school and a career in medicine for that matter are part of an incredibly long and challenging journey. It's a decision that you should make sure to spend a lot of time thinking about. I wrote this post to help walk you through the decision process of how to decide if you should really go to medical school.
Contemplation: Should I Go to Medical School?
Using the Stages of Change Model as a guide, the question of whether or not to go to medical school falls into the contemplation phase of change. The contemplation phase is the phase of change when you're thinking about taking action.
As it relates to medical school, the contemplation phase is likely the most important yet most glossed-over portion of the reflection and decision-making processes. Many premedical students find themselves applying to medical school because their parents told them to or because they couldn't think of what else to do as someone interested in healthcare and/or science. My hope for all premeds is that you make an INFORMED decision to go to medical school!
Questions to Ask Yourself
When making the decision about whether or not to pursue medical school and a career as a physician, I encourage you to ask yourself the following questions to help you decide whether (or not) you should go to medical school.
1. Why do you want to go to medical school?
It is incredibly important that you can truthfully answer this question. Knowing your why for wanting to go to medical school helps to make sure that 1) this is the right path for you and 2) that you have a guiding post to turn to when the journey becomes more challenging than you anticipated. In addition to realizing your why for yourself, you will also need to convince admissions officers and scholarship decision makers that your reasons for entering the field of medicine are genuine.
2. What impact do you want to make in the healthcare space?
If you're interested in helping patients or reshaping the healthcare industry, there are ample ways to make a difference. You don't have to go to medical school to do so!
I would argue that the medical school route, and ultimately becoming a physician, is for those who specifically want to spend a significant portion of their careers working directly in the scope of patient care. Nonetheless, there are several avenues through which you can impact patient care. So what makes a physician's role special? Doctors play an integral role in healthcare teams in that they focus primarily on the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Remember, however, that providers, such as nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs), can also fill this role depending on the state!
3. Are there career paths other than being a physician that will allow you to make the impact you desire to make in healthcare?
It is essential to remember that physicians aren't the only people who impact patient care. Hospitals and doctors' offices are filled with a variety of healthcare providers. Nurses, technicians, therapists, medical assistants, and administrators all play important, but different, roles in diagnosing, treating, and generally taking care of patients. By spending time to learn about the job description of non-physicians in healthcare, you might learn that there is actually a better career path for you!
4. Are you prepared to spend the rest of your life learning (and taking tests)?
When I told my medical school interviewers that I wanted to be a life-long learner, I honestly wasn't fully aware of what that meant. If you like to read interesting articles, watch documentaries, and learn new skills, you probably consider yourself to be a life-long learner. However, that's not quite the same as the life-long learning that is required in medicine. Not only do you need to remain up-to-date on all of the changes in medical protocols, drug uses, and procedures, but you'll be taking tests on this ever-changing information for years to come. Do you think the MCAT is bad? That's just a warmup for all of the licensing and recertification exams you'll take throughout your career as a doctor!
5. Do you enjoy hospital or outpatient clinic environments?
This point might seem obvious, but I've come across a fair share of premeds and medical students who don't quite enjoy being in the operating room, in outpatient clinics, or at the patients' beside in the hospital. Given that these environments are primarily where doctors spend their lives, shadowing is a great way to get a sense of whether you could actually see yourself in these workspaces for decades to come.
6. Do you know what you're getting yourself into?
As a first generation doctor, I was in for a rude awakening once I got to medical school. Compared to my peers who have physician parents, aunts, uncles, or siblings, I realized that I was quite unfamiliar with the nitty-gritty details of life as a medical student and life as a physician. Just as corporate America has its own social and work-related norms, the field of medicine is a culture all its own. Though there are many groups working to change some of the antiquated systems in medicine ( e.g. TimesUp Healthcare, White Coats for Black Lives, or Students for a National Health Program), hierarchies and unfair expectations still present challenges for medical trainees and professionals alike.
Another reason that it's important to know what you're getting yourself into is that ever so often, there are medical school students who drop out of medical school. On an anecdotal basis from my medical school experience, I saw that students who dropped out of medical school quickly realized it wasn't the right path for them either because of the rigor of the work or their lack of interest in the subject matter. These points are supported in the blog post by endocrinologist "Dr. Daniel."
The more research you do by talking to medical students, residents, fellows, and attendings, the more likely you are to be mentally prepared for what you will face in medical school and beyond 🙂
Additional Tips to Help Decide Whether You Should Go to Medical School
In addition to asking yourself the above questions, you can take the following steps to help cement your decision to either attend or forgo medical school.
1. Shadow Physicians, Nurses, Physician Assistants, and other medical professionals
Shadowing is basically a requirement to go to medical school. There isn't a perfect number of shadowing hours that you should pursue. However, you can improve the quality of your shadowing experiences by increasing the variety of the types of medical professionals that you shadow.
2. Volunteer at your local hospital or community clinic
Getting some hands-on experience in providing medical care and counseling to patients is a great way to test the water to see if you could see yourself in the doctor role. Although you can't perform all of the tasks of a physician, volunteering lets you work alongside doctors, while performing tasks that assist with patient care.
3. Complete the academic premed requirements
Even if you're not 100% sure that you will go to medical school, it still helps to complete the premed requirements in college if you can. Completing the premed requirements while in college can help to save you time and money in the long-run. Be sure to check out the MSAR website to get the accurate list of requirements for each medical school.
4. Explore other career options through internships and career surveys
Though medicine and a career as a physician might seem like the best fit for you, don't limit yourself to premed-specific activities! Career exploration is healthy, and I wish that colleges emphasized this more. In undergrad and even while in medical school, I spent a lot of time exploring other career paths — teaching, consulting, real estate, and more. At the end of the day, this exploration helped me to be even more confident that a career in psychiatry was the best fit for me. Exploring career options might strengthen your desire to pursue medicine, as it did for me. Or, you might realize that you're actually better suited as a lawyer, businessperson, politician, or artist — whatever is perfect for you!
Summary
Medical school is a long and challenging journey. But ultimately, the decision to go to medical school is an incredibly rewarding one if you've made the right decision for you. Once you've decided that you should, in fact, go to medical school, then it's time to put in the work to make sure that you achieve your goals! Be sure to check out the other posts in the Premed Corner of my blog for tips and tricks related to the path to medical school!
Peace and blessings,
Atasha Jordan, MD, MBA
