Organic Chemistry? Check. Summer volunteering and research? Check. Studying for the MCAT on Saturday mornings in the library? Check. Brainwash yourself into believing that you and Meredith Grey are the same person? Check. Time to think about why you really want to pursue a career in medicine? Maybe not.
As a Biology student with a concentration in pre-medical studies, I’ve seen so many people declare the pre-medical concentration and burn out within a year and switch majors. I’ve also seen people who stick with it, but unfortunately find themselves unhappy after a while. You may frequently ask yourself the question: “Why should I pick X medical school?” When the question we should be asking ourselves is: “Why should X Medical School pick me”?
Think of yourself as more than just a number, more than just another statistic that people spat out all the time, highlighting the fact that so many of us will never actually become doctors. The process of succeeding during undergraduate studies and applying to medical school is one of the hardest journeys many of us have ever decided to commit to, and it takes a lot of perseverance at 2 AM in the library, when you’re studying last minute for that bio exam, wondering if it’s all worth it. So why don’t we try to get a positive outcome from this experience?
Like many pre-medical students, when I first decided I wanted to be a doctor, I really had no idea why. It caught my eye at a career seminar as something at which I could excel and grow to love, but I couldn’t tell you why. I even turned down an internship at one point because I could not come up with a legitimate personal statement that wasn’t cheesy or falsified. The good news is that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I now can confidently speak on my decision to enter a career in medicine and speak comfortably about my goals and intents as a physician. By now you may be pacing around your room as your eyes skim the screen of your smart phone trying to find my magic solution.
Unfortunately, there is no magic solution in which overnight you will learn what you want out of a career in medicine. Not until I actually began to shadow doctors and became involved in making my community a better place did I understand why I wanted to become a doctor. Not until I worked with underprivileged populations in a clinical setting, and then took that a step forward to start volunteering at a shelter to help that same community outside of the walls of an exam room, did I understand why I wanted to be a doctor. It wasn’t until I realized that health is more than just the absence of a disease or illness; that it has to do with a person as a whole and, as a doctor, it is important to be able to tie that all together.
The best way for you to find your why as a doctor is to invest in your personal development outside of the classroom. Don’t be another cliché medical student who only cares about getting a high GPA and MCAT score. Be the medical student who has a political science minor, the one who is involved at the local community center to tutor children, the one who is trying to learn a new language, to help make a patient more comfortable one day. Always remember, doctors are people too. If your goal is to become a great doctor one day, work on becoming a great person.
