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What If Med School Isn’t for You? Good News: You’ve Got Options
The field of healthcare is as diverse as the professionals working in it.
Half of the young people I mentor want to go to medical school. Even when they learn of the time commitment and the expense, they still want to do it. Their reasons are as diverse as they are. Some want to go to medical school because one or both parents are physicians, or a revered family member is a physician. On the one hand, they want to keep up. On the other, they want to be like that person they admire.
Others want to go to medical school because they feel a calling to the profession, and they are aware that they have the aptitude for it. They can memorize and repeat lots of information, they’re okay with dealing with people, and complex systems are no big deal to them. They’ve taken practice MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test) exams, and they did well. And they’re getting nothing but perfect scores in their college courses.
A third group is the group I’d like to tell you about. They’re the students who got distracted in college and didn’t make the grade. In one case, family finances collapsed after their parent was terminally ill. Seeing the physicians inspired this young person to go to medical school, but the lack of money to pay for rent and other…
