What if I Change My Mind??

Obviously, I don’t want you to change your mind about being a physician. But I do (also, obviously) want you to make the best possible decision for yourself and your future! And I want you to know that it’s okay to change your mind if that’s what you decide to do.

Sometimes I follow up with students that I have known for years through their interest in being a physician only to learn that they have changed their mind and are no longer pre-med. Sometimes they reluctantly tell me, sometimes I just happen to check in with them after a while of not hearing from them and then they tell me. That’s okay! I’m not their momma and I’m not paying their tuition! So after my initial few seconds of mourning, I always let them know that I’m completely okay with their decision and support whatever they decide to be in life (if it’s reasonable, of course). But I also make sure they have a valid reason for changing their mind and something of a plan for moving forward.

A few reasons not to change your mind

You don’t think you can afford it…

A medical education isn’t cheap. And President Biden won’t be deferring student loan repayment forever. But there are resources out there to help offset costs of paying for your education. Look into them! And if you make good financial decisions and don’t make a habit of living above your means, you will survive. So don’t let the price tag associated with being a doctor be a deterrent to being a doctor. You’ll make plenty of money soon enough to pay those loans back but the fewer you have to pay, the better!

You don’t think you’re smart enough…

You are! Put in the time to study, seek out help when you need it, and do your very best at everything put in front of you and you will be fine. Besides, I’m convinced that it takes a whole lot more than book smarts to get through medical training anyways! Always remember, you are more than enough and you can do this!

You’ve had some setbacks…

They happen to the best of us. Maybe you don’t do as well in a BCPM course or on your MCAT as you wanted to. Who said that a setback is a setup for a comeback? It’s true! Don’t let setbacks make you think you are inadequate or that you should cross being a physician off your list. Instead, bounce back from anything that doesn’t go as well as you’d planned and turn it into a positive for yourself. There are plenty of people (many who look just like you) who have overcome incredible obstacles and they get up every day and put on their white coat and go see patients.

Someone told you that you couldn’t do it…

Whether it was a high school counselor, college advisor, family member, or “friend”…don’t let anyone else’s negativity affect what you know is possible for you. Sometimes people, even the ones we’re closest to, can be our biggest haters. Set in your mind what you want to do and don’t let those folks get in the way of your destiny.

You think you’re not a strong candidate…

Hello…that’s why I created this blog! To provide tips and info to help you become the strongest applicant possible. If you’re new to the website, take some time to look through previous posts and feel free to offer suggestions of other things you’d like to know about to help you on your pre-med journey. There are steps you can take from Day 1 of Freshman year to stay on track and there are also ways to make yourself a stronger candidate after some setbacks. 

Reasons you may change your mind

Medical experiences turn you off

One of the most important pre-med experiences you will have is shadowing and getting medical exposure. There’s a good reason this is required for admission. You may learn from shadowing that you don’t like people, medicine, body fluids, etc. You may realize that you don’t care anything about people’s health and realize that you could never see yourself doing this job for the rest of your working years. What a great time to realize this…not when you’re a resident, but when you’re pre-med! One caveat to that is: don’t let one bad shadowing experience change your mind, you may just be shadowing the wrong specialty or provider…so give yourself a few experiences. If you hate them all and dread going, then okay….pick something else.

There’s another field that you’re really interested in

Just because you’ve been saying since you were 6 years old that you wanted to be a doctor, the beauty of going to college and taking various courses is that you get to see what all is out there in the world and available to you! You may find that you want to be an engineer or attorney or history professor or literally anything else. [Maybe you’ll decide to become a veterinarian and open an all-night emergency pet clinic. I certainly gave the one here 4 hours of my time and nearly half of my paycheck last night. Apparently that’s where the money is…And your patients don’t talk, which sometimes could be a bonus!] Bottom line is: No one is holding you to something you said before puberty or even something you said last year at Thanksgiving dinner. Be what you want to be.

You realize that it was never your dream

My parents are super happy to tell anyone who will listen that their kid is a doctor. I think they would be just as proud of me if I was a teacher, hairdresser, or street sweeper but they’re reaaaallllly proud that I’m a doctor. With that said, I’ve always been careful that my goal to be a doctor was my goal, not theirs. Don’t put yourself on this path just to make someone else happy if being a physician isn’t really your dream! There’s a lot of time and hard work that goes into becoming a doctor, do it because it’s what you want to do!

The desire is gone

I’m a firm believer that when something is no longer for you, God will take the desire away completely and you’ll know, without a doubt, that it’s time to move on and consider other options. I hold that for careers, relationships, friendships, everything. If you’re not feeling it at all, it’s time to pack up and move on. If this happens to you then okay, I’ll yield, and you can get off the pre-med train.

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The woooooorst thing you can do is go through 4 years of pre-med, 4 years of medical school, and x number of years of residency, and then realize that you don’t really want to be a doctor. Because you’ll have wasted a lot of time and a lot of money by then. And, you’ll be that much further behind in starting on the career that you were actually meant to do.

Does the field of medicine need you? Yes!

Does it want you if you don’t want it? Nope!

So take some time to seriously consider if a career in medicine is really what you want. If it is, then go for it with all of your heart and give it everything you have. If you decide (for good reason) that it isn’t, then that’s okay too. Find what is and give that everything you have. 

If you have questions, concerns, or just want/need a little reassurance or personal advice, feel free to leave a comment below or send me a private email.