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The path to becoming a doctor is a long and hard road. However, there
are a number of compelling - and rewarding - reasons to make the journey.
Innumerable Benefits
Intimate Rapport
Being a physician gives you the most privileged listening post a human
being can have. A doctor gets to hear the innermost issues of a patient and is
privileged to weave those hints and facts into a diagnosis and treatment.
Unique Responsibility
Doctors are at the top of the "medical food chain." At the hospital
level, physicians work on a team with the nurses, therapists, and residents who
are taking care of the patient. The physician, however, has the voice that will
carry the most weight and will be expected to make the difficult decisions.
Other Reasons
In a recent poll, physicians reported other elements that led them to
the profession, among them:
- continuing intellectual challenge
- intelligent colleagues
- joy of helping and taking care of people
- respect of others in community
- diversity of opportunities
- opportunity to work with people
- enjoyment of working with science or contributing to research
- job autonomy and security
- financial reward
Reasons to Reconsider
If you're applying to med school for any of the reasons listed below,
you should examine your motivations before you take the plunge.
Parental Approval
Saying you want to be a doctor, even as a child, evokes pleased responses
from adults. If you're someone who's always wanted to be a doctor, you might be
able to remember how your goal was received early in life. Making your career
decision early isn't necessarily bad, as long as you've progressed beyond the
approval-seeking stage. You need to have a realistic sense of the profession
and of why you want to be a doctor.
The Longest Path
Another faulty reason is the "difficulty of the path." It's sometimes the case
that high achievers pursue a career in medicine simply because it's so
competitive and involves such an arduous path. Though stick-to-itiveness and
the discipline to accomplish a difficult goal are valuable assets in life and
prized by admissions officers, they alone are not enough. The alchemy of desire
and motivation has to precede the chemistry of mixing the right MCAT* scores,
letters of recommendation, and extracurriculars. Real desire should be there.
Following in Footsteps
Many med school applicants are children of physicians. Though having a parent
who practices medicine may indeed give you a sense of the field, be aware that
your folks went to med school in a different era and attending med school and
starting to practice medicine are now different in terms of greater competition
and changing medical climate.
The Bottom Line
It's important that you can explain why medicine is your chosen
profession.
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Copyright © 2004 by Kaplan, Inc., All Rights Reserved.
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