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How To Go About Deciding to Become a Doctor
There is a whole thought process that is incredibly beneficial to go through when deciding to become a doctor. I've outlined some questions below that you should take some time to sit down and REALLY think about.
Don't hurry yourself on these and remember to be honest.
Also remember that you don't have to hurry the decision. There's always summer school, postbac premed programs, and a host of other ways to complete your premed requirements.
What's On This Lens?
- Questions to Ask Yourself
- Med School Confidential
- My Favorite Books on Being a Doctor
- How to Make the Decision
- A Blog from A Pre-Med Student
- Books on Deciding to Become a Doctor
- Very Helpful Websites
- Scared of Medicine?
- Help for Making the Decision by the People Who Know It All
- Videos on Becoming a Doctor
- A Little Favor
- Perfect New Doctor Shirt
- Leave Feedback!
Questions to Ask Yourself
Deciding to Become a Doctor is No Easy Task!
Here are some questions you should ask yourself.Realistically, this should take you some time to do. If you are answering these in a couple minutes, you should take the time to write out your answers so that they are very clear and devote some time to doing more research about what medical school is like. Sometimes it's hard to answer these questions without a solid understanding of what to expect.
1) Why do I want to become a doctor?
2) Do I understand what it takes to get into medical school? Do I understand what I will have to sacrifice during my med school and residency years? Do I understand what my life as a doctor will be like?
3) How will my answers to the question above (in #2) affect what else I want in my life? family? friends? free time? hobbies? other life goals?
4) Am I a strong enough applicant to get into medical school? Do I have the grades? Do I have the service work? Do I have clinical experience? If not, you can always make yourself a better applicant by doing the things mentioned here. The bigger question is: do I want to?
5) If you answered no to the question above (in #4), what could I do to improve my resume? How much work am I willing to put in it?
This is by no means a comprehensive list of questions. You will find a lot of questions like this in a lot of books about going into medicine.
The books that contain these questions are really useful because they also address a lot of the answers that you might come up with.
For example, they discuss answers to questions like "why do I want to become a doctor?" in great detail. There are, of course, good reasons to want to become a doctor and then there are not so good reasons. It's important to know which category your answers to this one fall under!
Med School Confidential
It helped me work through the thought process that I explained above when it comes to making that enormous life decision.
It was a quick read that I have come back to again and again over the years because it is organized so well and the information is incredibly easy to find.
The important points in that books are phrased in such a way that they are easy to understand and therefore are easy to remember after you've read the book.
There are a lot of stories from real med school applicants throughout the book that are really interesting and informative.
Overall, you can tell that the book really was written by people who have been through the entire process and not just by people on the med school committees.
Med School Confidential: A Complete Guide to the Medical School Experience: By Students, for Students
Amazon Price: $12.89 (as of 07/11/2009) 
My Favorite Books on Being a Doctor
Some of these books are more uplifting than others but they are all worth reading for the perspective that they impart.
Hot Lights, Cold Steel: Life, Death and Sleepless Nights in a Surgeon's First Years
I absolutely loved this book. It made me laugh and cry and made me realize what good stuff can come out of both good time and hard times.
Amazon Price: $10.85 (as of 07/11/2009)
Treatment Kind and Fair: Letters to a Young Doctor (Letters to a Young...)
This is one of the most encouraging books on becoming a doctor that I've read. While she's realistic about the demands on a doctor's time, she has great things to say about the joys that come with becoming a doctor.
Amazon Price: $12.71 (as of 07/11/2009)
The House of God: The Classic Novel of Life and Death in an American Hospital
Warning: this book is cynical. I've heard it said that if you still want to be a doctor after reading this book, than you should definitely go ahead and do it. It's a fascinating read. I would also like to say that medicine has changed drastically since this book was written so take it with a grain of salt.
Amazon Price: $10.20 (as of 07/11/2009)
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science
Amazon Price: $10.98 (as of 07/11/2009)
First, Do No Harm
Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 07/11/2009)
How to Make the Decision
1) Talk to working physicians and get their opinion.
2) Read books written by practicing physicians.
3) Jobshadow
4) Read up on the level of achievement you need and compare it to what you think you can do.
5) Talk to you premed adviser if you have one.
6) Discuss it with the people you are closest with. Can they see you being a doctor?
7) IMPORTANT: WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU WANT.
Not what your parents want, not what you're boyfriend thinks, not what you think you should do.
8) Go for it!
A Blog from A Pre-Med Student
This is a really interesting blog that has good information but also personal information that will help you decide if this is really something you want to do.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byBooks on Deciding to Become a Doctor
Becoming a Doctor: A Journey of Initiation in Medical School
Amazon Price: $10.88 (as of 07/11/2009)
So You Want to Be a Doctor: Official Know-it All Guide (So You Want to Be...(Frederick Fell))
Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 07/11/2009)
Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue
Amazon Price: $13.50 (as of 07/11/2009)
Very Helpful Websites
- Student Doctor Network
- Student Doctor Network will be your best friend as you're deciding to become a doctor and will be if you really go for it. There is a ton of information from professionals, teachers, and students.
- National Voice of Students
- This is the President's of the Medical Society story for why he became a doctor. Read as many stories as you can because this will tease out why you would want to become a doctor.
- A Day in the Life of a Physician
- This is a site devoted to people like YOU! It clearly lays out the pros and cons for becoming a doctor in this day and age. It has a list of all of the responsibilities that a future doctor will need to be aware of but has a list of the rewards as well.
Scared of Medicine?
Here's my favorite link:
Videos on Becoming a Doctor
Northwestern has a whole series of "Becoming a [insert specialty here]" will practicing doctors so that you can get a feel for if it sounds like something you would like to do.
There are also plenty of people's opinions on the "Life of a Doctor" so make sure you check those out to get a real taste for it.
And then...there are just some plain silly videos you should watch just for the heck of it.
A Little Favor
Please, take a second to rate this page!
And leave feedback if you feel so inclined...
Perfect New Doctor Shirt
1) get this shirt
2) leave it out where you can see it all the time...
you'll never forget what you're goal is!
3) Drag it out the second you graduate from medical school and where it with pride!
Leave Feedback!
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Don't like it?
What helped you decide to become a doctor...or didn't!
Leave those comments here...
sherridan wrote...
Very helpful lens, Alex. Please do submit it to my new careers information group 'Career and Work Oracle'. Cheers, Sherridan
Posted February 28, 2009
