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Pre-Clinical Medicine...the right career for me?

Sabrina

Member
So I'm currently in high school and as the title states, I'm just not sure if getting into medicine is for me anymore. For the last week I've been adamant to become a doctor but now....i dont know. I just don't feel the rush of excitement on the prospect of wearing the white coat. I feel like I can never make a decision as to what career to choose. It went from pharmacy, dietetics, teacher to doctor. Also what is the fastest way to become a doc? 5 years study, 1 year intern then another for residency? I really don't want to waste my youth with my head buried in books! I want to travel, study Islam/history overseas (i'm Muslim btw) and just....live. I'm going to apply everywhere for medicine but if I don't get accepted then I'm going straight to biomed. what do you guys think? :confused:

Also how many hours do you guys study in medical school? I've started to wake up early, do 2 hours then after school another 3.
 
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lumos

Regular Member
It seems like you just need to take some more time to think about what you want to do. You're only in high school – you don't have to make any real choices just yet! Believe me, not all med students feel a 'rush of excitement at the prospect of wearing a white coat'. Especially since we wear white coats almost everyday and it loses its novelty factor. Yes, you do need passion and motivation to study medicine since it is a long road (and if your heart isn't in it, the many years of study are not going to be worth it), but don't worry if, at the moment, the thought of med doesn't make you jump out of your skin with excitement...

Just take some time, work hard at school, and think about options. Don't worry at all about finding fast routes to becoming a doctor, since a lot of pathways take quite a few years to finish and medicine is not a race. Besides, even if you can technically put 'Dr' in front of your name after graduating med school, you'll still have many years/decades of study to go after that.

You sound like an ideal candidate for a gap year student to me. Even if, by the end of year 12, you're still not entirely sure what you want to do, then take a break! Travel, work, have an epic social life, etc. Don't think that you have to rush into studying immediately after school. Personally, I was 100% sure that I wanted to do med, but taking a gap year was the best decision ever.
 

Sabrina

Member
Yeah I really want to take a gap year but I want to be as young as possible when I become a doctor. I can see you're doing your MBBS at monash! How is it? Intense? Chill? Do you feel intimidated because everyone around you are geniuses? I only live 10mins away and really hoping i'll get accepted there. So how many hours do you study and tell me a bit about your experiences throughout applying if you don't mind me asking. :D

Also do you ever feel like your somewhat 'wasting' your youth?
 

AGZT

Member
Are you in the last year of highschool? Even if so, you still have plenty of time to think about your future being only the end of February right now. If you are unsure, to be safe, I reckon you sit the UMAT anyway (that is if you're in year 12). Personally, I think you need to do some more research and pondering into what you want to do with your career and your future. You've only been adamant about becoming a doctor for the past week. Many year 12 students have been adamant about becoming a doctor of 2+ years or even much longer. The best thing you can do right now, is to study hard and only occasionally think about where you want to be in the future to give you a sense of direction. Good Luck!
 

chinaski

Regular Member
You have until you're around thirty until it's a bit sad not to have some direction in your life. Until then, though, it's perfectly normal and acceptable to not have reached a decision to commit yourself to anything in particular. Medicine isn't about wearing a white coat - the fact that you're not excited by that isn't a concern. Nonetheless, the training pathway from med school to consultant level doctor is the best part of a decade for most of us (and more that a decade for others), so that is something worth considering if you want faster gratification. Nothing wrong with that, of course - prolonged training and what goes with it isn't for everyone.
 

lalalarry

Regular Member
I kind of understand your position. I too had those thoughts come into my head. Studying med is definietly a long and arduous journey. Not only does it take 6 years to complete the course, you still have to specialise. This sort of makes you wonder, when am I going to travel? (as of now, i have no idea when i'll be able to do my OE! >.< ) how am I supposed to raise a family? (As by the time you graduate, you'll be in your mid 20s and by the time you finish specialising, you'll be nearly 30)

I would recommend taking a gap year or something if possible financially. i'm currently in 2nd year med and have met many people who are post grads or travelle first before doing health sci and med. I believe that after you travel/do a degree/gap year and then decide to study medicine, you definitely know at that point that med is what you want to do and you'd have less of that niggly sensation in the back of your mind going, is med right for me?

But i also understand about wanting to be as young as possible when starting your studies as everything is still fresh in your mind from highschool and you'll finish earlier, as I too, am in that sort of position :p

as you're in highschool, i'd say just have fun in your last year, (cue cheesy talk coming up) join up with some social sports club, do the production if that's your thing, get involved and seriously, make the most of your last highschool year! I loved yr13, it was so chill and relaxed, once you get to uni, everything becomes much more serious so make the most of highschool while you still can :D

I hope that helped :)
 

Sabrina

Member
Are you in the last year of highschool?........Good Luck!

Thank you :) and nah I'm in year 11. I've actually always thought of becoming a doctor though but other fields appealed to me more at that specific point in time. Its just that now I can really see myself becoming a Dr.
 

lumos

Regular Member
Yeah I really want to take a gap year but I want to be as young as possible when I become a doctor.

Why, may I ask..? It's not a race. And in a career like medicine, a bit of extra maturity and life experience is always a good thing. If you want to take a gap year, take one. An extra year before you can call yourself a doctor is going to make no difference.

I can see you're doing your MBBS at monash! How is it? Intense? Chill? Do you feel intimidated because everyone around you are geniuses? I only live 10mins away and really hoping i'll get accepted there. So how many hours do you study and tell me a bit about your experiences throughout applying if you don't mind me asking. :D

Monash is awesome. It's no more intense than any other course, I don't think. The workload is pretty large and it can get intense at times, but it's lots of fun, and pretty chilled. And no, I don't tend to notice the genius factor around me... The kids are hella smart, that's for sure, but it's a myth that all med students get 99.95 and 100 on the UMAT. We don't all have photographic memories and IQs of 200+.

I work reasonably hard but I don't spend all my life studying. It's hard to quantify how many hours a night, maybe 3? Sometimes more, sometimes less. And my experience applying was both good and bad.. I had UMAT troubles initially, and the system can be brutal, but somehow I made my way in.

Also do you ever feel like your somewhat 'wasting' your youth?

Nope. Because I took a gap year and because I have a social life.
 
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pi

Junior doctor
Emeritus Staff
As with many things in life, you can only know it's for you if you try it first! I wasn't sure on med when I got in, but I am now (especially after some clinical weeks) :)

Take the risk and hope it pays off, with med school it usually does!
 

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lumos

Regular Member
As with many things in life, you can only know it's for you if you try it first! I wasn't sure on med when I got in, but I am now (especially after some clinical weeks) :)

I agree. There are those who are 100% sure they want to do med, and those who aren't certain. While you do kind of need a certain amount of passion to succeed in med, you really never know until you try it. You don't have to be completely sure what you want to do at age 16..
 

lalalarry

Regular Member
Thank you :) and nah I'm in year 11. I've actually always thought of becoming a doctor though but other fields appealed to me more at that specific point in time. Its just that now I can really see myself becoming a Dr.

Year 11! Well, to be honest, I was around the same age when I decided to pursue medicine but my main reasons for doing so were more along the cultural lines if you get what I mean

Seriously, I think it's good to be thinking about your future and stuff but just have fun, enjoy high school, enjoy the freedom while you can! Who knows, perhaps by yr 13 you've decided yes, I really want to be a doctor! Or maybe no, actually, I want to study fine arts! Keeping an open mind is definitely a good idea. Remember, you can always change your mind, even after you start a course at uni!

But being an Australian, I've heard it's very stressful in yr 13 and that unis take the cream of the crop from yr 13 into med rather than the health sci approach that otago has, is that true?
 

lumos

Regular Member
But being an Australian, I've heard it's very stressful in yr 13 and that unis take the cream of the crop from yr 13 into med rather than the health sci approach that otago has, is that true?

We go to year 12, not year 13, and it can be pretty stressful. And we don't have HSFY, nor a uni here in Victoria that takes non-standards. Just undergrad at Monash, postgrad at Monash, Melbourne or Deakin, or interstate options.
 

Sabrina

Member
So I'm going to call my cousin since she's a doc and ask her if I can shadow/annoy the crap out of her with questions. ah! I'm so excited!! Reading all your responses really made my day considering I had a pretty shitty one.








btw life of pi.....nice avatar lol
 

chinaski

Regular Member
Probably a good idea - it would be advisable to look beyond the premise of wearing a white coat as a career. Additionally, I get the impression that you probably need to think about the process involved in post graduate training, if you really are so concerned about rushing through as quickly as possible and not missing out on the opportunity to travel, study etc along the way. :)
 

Sabrina

Member
Not only does it take 6 years to complete the course, you still have to specialise.

I thought after medical school you become an intern, resident then a qualified doctor.. Don't we have a choice to specialise or not? For example, to work with cancer patients I understand you must complete an extra (approximately) 3 years to become an oncologist. But lets just say for a General Practitioner...I don't think you really need to specialise in anything since you already learnt it in medschool....yeah?
 

chinaski

Regular Member
I thought after medical school you become an intern, resident then a qualified doctor.. Don't we have a choice to specialise or not? For example, to work with cancer patients I understand you must complete an extra (approximately) 3 years to become an oncologist. But lets just say for a General Practitioner...I don't think you really need to specialise in anything since you already learnt it in medschool....yeah?

No.

This is why I said that you would do well to do some reading about what it takes to train as a doctor. To become qualified to do anything - even GP - you have to gain a fellowship from a post graduate training college. To become an oncologist, you must do a year's internship, then, AT A MINIMUM, six years after that (but be aware that most people do extra years on top of that minimum). General practice is a specialty in its own right, and takes a minimum of three years to complete after internship - clicky: RACGP - The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

I don't mean to sound unkind, but you (like many high schoolers) really should do some homework about a career pathway before you commit to study. Otherwise, how do you know what you're signing up for?
 

lalalarry

Regular Member
No.

This is why I said that you would do well to do some reading about what it takes to train as a doctor. To become qualified to do anything - even GP - you have to gain a fellowship from a post graduate training college. To become an oncologist, you must do a year's internship, then, AT A MINIMUM, six years after that (but be aware that most people do extra years on top of that minimum). General practice is a specialty in its own right, and takes a minimum of three years to complete after internship - clicky: RACGP - The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

I don't mean to sound unkind, but you (like many high schoolers) really should do some homework about a career pathway before you commit to study. Otherwise, how do you know what you're signing up for?

Chinaski has a very good point. Before I decided to do med, at school, we had a careers advisor talk to us and show us a website on which one could search a career and see what you needed to study, for how long (which will include both years in university and specialising years), pay, chances of getting a job and etc. I'm sure Australia has a similar site for students.
 

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Cathay

🚂Train Driver🚆
Emeritus Staff
I thought after medical school you become an intern, resident then a qualified doctor..
I promise I'm not being difficult, but the best response to that thought is "what do you suppose a 'qualified doctor' does?"

Anyway, the thought that general practice isn't a specialty is really common among non-medical folk, and I really do wish we had posters that say "A kitten cries every time you imply general practice isn't a specialty."
 

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