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What Are Your Options If You Decide Halfway Through Medical School That You Don't Wanna Be A Doctor?

Discussion in 'Medical Students Cafe' started by Dr.Scorpiowoman, May 21, 2018.

  1. Dr.Scorpiowoman

    Dr.Scorpiowoman Golden Member

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    This question was originally posted on Quora.com and was answered by Robert (Bob) Johnston



    This is something that a surprising number of medical students, myself included, grapple with at some stage. There are a few aspects to managing this situation. Here’s what I would do:

    1: At a minimum, I’d continue the degree.

    It was a long path to get to med school, and simply having the medical degree does carry some level of prestige that can be useful for job applications and other things, so I’d definitely get it at a minimum. Also, keep in mind that the experience as a doctor is very different to that at med school… especially halfway through med school. You might very well find that when you actually get there, it’s not as bad as you think. I certainly found the job to be far more enjoyable than med school, although even I didn’t stick with the clinical space. So even if you’re dead set on not being a doctor, I’d finish the med degree. Anyway, read on.

    2: Consider non-clinical, or at least less common, medical specialties.

    It may be that medicine itself and clinical practice just aren’t your thing, but there’s actually a lot more on offer than that. For instance, if you find disease interesting, but aren’t that interested in actually treating patients, taking histories and so forth, pathology might be interesting for you (and with a good lifestyle). Radiologists make good money interpreting diagnostic films.

    A couple of specialties are even further removed from the clinical space. Public health and preventative medicine (different places use different names) is a very non-clinical specialty where you use your knowledge of disease to tackle health issues on a population aspect. I’m involved in this and I find it very interesting (although it’s not for everyone). For instance, if we talk about, say, neurology, I’m not the best person to assess from someone’s weakness or subtle changes on their CT brain as to what tiny artery in the brain has probably occluded. I just don’t get excited by that stuff (believe me, I tried). On the other hand, if you need someone to predict how many strokes we are going to see next year and what services the state is going to need, I’m your guy. Not everyone finds that interesting, but I do.

    3: Take your med degree and use it outside the medical workforce!

    There are jobs outside the healthcare system, and also within the health system but outside the medical sphere. There’s health admin, running the hospital or the health service. You could work in industry, the insurance field, or many more besides. Ask around and see what you find!

    The big thing about these kinds of jobs is that within med school and the medical community, the focus is overwhelmingly on the “traditional” pathway of getting into specialty programs and residencies, becoming specialists and going into practice. That absolutely doesn’t mean there are other options, but it does mean that if you want to branch outside this model, you will often need to actively seek them out and inquire about them. For instance, to get involved in some of the stuff that I did, I started by asking around at my medical school, saying that I was interested in this sort of thing, did anyone know someone who could help me. It actually wasn’t long before I started to hear about people who could help.

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