Deciding against medicine

just-joe

Hi everyone, so a while ago I was heavily contemplating going back to study grad med. Spent alot of time reading different threads on this forum which were very useful. I'm just about to finish my first degree, and wasn't sure what I was going to straight after finishing/when I would try to get into med school.

Recently I've decided that it will be a few years until I study medicine.
anyways, and maybe I won't actually do it. (Travel for a while, take a break from college etc).

So I'm wondering, has anyone came close to studying med/grad med, and then not actually done it? Or dropped out when they realised it wasn't for them?

lonestargirl

just-joe wrote: »

So I'm wondering, has anyone came close to studying med/grad med, and then not actually done it? Or dropped out when they realised it wasn't for them?

Yes, did the Gamsat and got a place in RCSI for 2008 and turned it down. There were a variety of things that influenced my decisions and I'll try to explain them.

I did a Experimental Physics degree and a Medical Physics MSc. I started working as a research physicist (clinical jobs are hard to get with no experience). I enjoyed the work but I couldn't see myself staying there forever. Meanwhile my boyfriend (now husband) had gone to do medicine after a physiology BSc+MSc and was loving it. I applied for a place on the trainee physicist scheme, interviwed in Jan 08 but didn't get it. I was pi**ed and in a fit of pique sent in a CAO application and signed up for Gamsat (the day before the closing date).

I sent off for the Acer test papers and didn't really do much study until they arrived. In the meantime I interviewed for, and got, a clinical job as a dosimetrist (planning radiation treatments). One month into the job and I realised that a) I loved it and b) I was very good at it. I figured I should still give Gamsat my best shot as I signed up and paid for it. I had studied physics and chemistry during undergrad and anatomy and physiology during my postgrad so none of the subjects were completely 'new' to me. I studied for 3-4 weekends in the run up to the exam and gave it my best shot. When the results came in my strong scientific background showed as I scored an overall 63: 68(S1); 50(S2); 67(S3). When they rang me from RCSI and told me I was being offered a place in round 0 the women wouldn't accept my refusal, she said I should sleep on it for a day or two before calling her back!

Do I regret not doing medicine? No, but I'm glad I went through with the Gamsat as I don't have those 'what if' thoughts.My life is very different now from what it would have been if I had chosen medicine. My husband graduated from medicine and we decided that, for us, the USA was our best option. He is in a surgery residency program here in Houston and I left my (permanent :eek: ) job with the HSE to move here in September. I see him working 80 hrs week in week out for about $10 an hour and I don't think I could ever be that committed to any profession.

While I love dosimetry I realise that in order to progress I probably ultimately need to be a physicist with responsibility for dosimetry as there is no grade above senior dosimetrist in Ireland. At the moment I have been shortlisted for application to a 5-year funded PhD program at a hospital that is a world leader in cancer care. While I expect to work hard in the future I'm glad I've picked a career that allows me time for the other things I love as well as having a contribution in patient care.

DrIndy

Very well said. People do focus on medicine as the bee-knees. There are ridiculous sacrifices to it as well - particularily if training in the USA. There are many other careers which people overlook as they focus on one single goal but those other careers do contribute very highly to patients indirectly or directly and are at least as rewarding without the grind, stress and ultimate responsibility.

Don't get me wrong - I love my job and love being a doctor - but some people do apply with blinkers attached.