Not every person who wishes to become a physician is cut out for it, and it's better to discover that truth earlier rather than later. A person may have the best intentions – a deep desire to help humanity, for example – but intentions alone won't spell success in medical school. Bad grades as a freshman or a lack of passion for a career in medicine are indicators medical school may not be a good fit. Here are common reasons why the decision to attend medical school should be deferred or even reversed. Poor freshman year grades. Disappointing grades during freshman year are most often the result of having taken a heavy science schedule. If your grades are low, you have a steeper mountain to climb and will possibly need to take summer courses or even a gap year. Now is the time to reflect on how much of a sacrifice you are willing to make to get into medical school. You'll need a good dose of discipline, but all is not lost. Fainting at the sight of blood. Generally speaking, this is a myth. If fainting is a problem for you, you should have a medical work-up. Fainting is not a condition that should rule your life. To know for sure if you can stomach being a physician, arrange for some shadowing opportunities, including an operating room observation, at a local hospital. You may surprise yourself. Lack of passion despite ranking top in science. Some parents and teachers think that every student who is good in biology should be a physician. One of my sons was good in biology, and he easily understands all things scientific- and engineering-related. However, he wasn't interested in pursuing a medical career. Instead, he chose a career in information technology; he followed his passion, and his career could not be a better fit for him. Needing at least eight hours of sleep to function. Humans have biological needs that conflict with a career in medicine. If you need a solid block of sleep every night, you can get through medical school and residency and then choose a daytime specialty, but there will be rotations that definitely challenge your stamina. Demanding on-call shifts and disruption of normal sleep and wake cycles can send some people into a spin. If this sounds like you, think twice about pursuing a career as a physician. Dislike for following orders. If you can't easily toe the line, it would be best to seek another career. While being a physician offers status and prestige, you won't find yourself captain at the helm for many years. Even if you rise to a leadership position, you still must comply with edicts from hospital administrators, insurance companies, government regulators and a host of others – often daily. If medicine were only about caring for patients, we wouldn't be wrestling with the 50 percent-plus burnout rate that exists. To be a successful physician today, you must push aside the negatives, seize your passion and focus on the rewards. Fear of being weighed down by a medical career. You may be the type of person who wants more control over the timing of phases or activities in your life. Perhaps you want to engage in extended travel or discover what it's like to live in another country. Major choices such as these require flexibility. One option is to engage in those activities before starting medical school. You can always postpone your decision to become a doctor and revisit it again later. Preference for teaching medicine. If teaching in a health care setting seems to be your passion, rather than practicing medicine, you're in luck. Many teaching opportunities exist that don't require you to be in the intensive care unit all night or worry about keeping a patient alive. For example, the health science disciplines, of which there are dozens, require instructors and facilitators. As a health care educator, you can expect your students to take a high level of responsibility for their learning, which is its own reward. The reasons for not choosing to attend medical school are unique and not all centered around getting a high enough GPA or scoring well on the MCAT. A career as a physician is likely something you will do for a long time, particularly when you have to invest significant dollars and 11 to 20 years of training, if you count the undergraduate years. Think hard about all the angles before you commit to this important decision. Source
