Why Do You Want to be a Physician?

Whenever I first chat with pre-med students, this is one of the first questions I ask… Why do you want to be a doctor? I may not have personally met you (yet) but this is the question I ask of you today too. 

I want you to know your “why.” Because, if you don’t, tough times (like studying for the MCAT, organic chemistry, and physics) will have you thinking that you should change your mind. But if you’re really rooted in why you want to be a doctor, then you’ll always have this to look back to during tough times and it will motivate you to keep going. If you’d asked me when I was a Sophomore in college why I wanted to be a physician, I would’ve rattled off 10 different reasons and would’ve ended with, “There is literally no other job I see myself doing.” That statement was true then and it still is today. If I won the lottery tomorrow, I’d still practice medicine. Now I wouldn’t go in more than 2 days a week (no reason to lie to you…) but I’d still practice medicine. It’s what I’m supposed to do.

Find your “why.” And know that the reasons below aren’t good enough!

It’s just what I’ve always said…

I knew when I was 6 that I wanted to be a doctor and I never changed my mind. But I do believe that if I ever did want to change my mind, I would’ve felt confident doing so. Changing your mind sometimes is okay. It’s okay! You don’t have to keep saying you want to do something or be something just because that’s what you’ve always said in the past. There are many meaningful careers that you can have that will be just as impactful (if not more) to people’s lives as being a physician. Don’t be scared, or ashamed, to change your mind. Work hard to become a doctor because it feels right to you and because, like I said earlier, it’s all you can imagine yourself doing. 

I want to make my parents/family proud…

I am pretty certain that I make my parents and family proud. I am even more certain that I don’t have to have an “M.D.” behind my name in order to do it. I don’t know your folks, but I’m sure the same thing goes for you. If you think for a second that your family will disown you if you don’t become a doctor, feel free to come join mine. My mom loves feeding strangers and will call you every day, a bajillion times a day, if you’ll answer the phone. But really…if medicine is someone else’s dream and you’re just living it out for them, you’re going to have a long, stressful, and costly road ahead of you. I wouldn’t wish medical school and being an intern in residency on anyone who didn’t really want to be there. It’s hard enough when you WANT to be there. I can imagine it’s horrible if you don’t. And who’s trying to rack up all that debt?!? Medical school is not cheap! 

Because it looks cool on TV…

Trust me, being a doctor is not always like what you see on Grey’s Anatomy or ER (but you should still watch every episode of ER, it really was the best medical TV show ever). So if the only reason you want to be a doctor is because you think you’ll find a steamy mate during your training that you could sneak into an on-call room with or that you will get to crack chests and do heart massages on the side of the highway on the way to work once a week, you need to think again. Practicing medicine day in and out is a job. And though people say things like, “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life,” let me tell you- being a doctor is WORK whether you love it or not. COVID has made that clear to anyone who didn’t believe it before. But it’s also worth it. And in order to put up with the work, specifically the training that it takes to get there, you have to really have the desire in your heart

Because I want to help people…

Teachers, policemen, attorneys, garbage collectors, postal workers, and firefighters all help people. So that answer won’t work. But for some reason, it’s still the answer that most people give… Don’t get me wrong, it is perfectly fine to want to help people- you should want to! But it can’t be the only answer you come up for why you want to be a doctor. Especially not on an interview or a medical school application. So take some time to think about this. Why do you want to be a doctor? Some life experience that you’ve had? Some inequity or aspect of medicine that you’re passionate about? There are likely multiple reasons, the desire to help people can’t stand alone. 

Because I want to make a lot of money…

Listen. The way tuition and student loans are set up…this is the dead last reason you should ever give for wanting to be a doctor. Students are graduating from medical school with over $200,000 in debt, on average. Then making what probably amounts to minimum wage based on the hours they work as a resident, then many spend the first few years as an attending working a job they don’t want to pay off their student loans. Don’t get me wrong, once you get from under that debt or to a comfortable place, you will have plenty of money to buy you a nice ride, a nice house, go on nice vacations, and do whatever you want to do. You will probably make more money in a year than some of your relatives make in several years but, for most people (there are certainly exceptions) delayed gratification is the name of the game. 

If you can already answer the question of why you want to be a physician, then you’re in the right game. If you can’t— get in the game. Or don’t…but now is the time to decide. If you can’t come up with an answer other than one of the ones above, you need to take some time and re-think this thing and decide if a career as a physician is what you really want and are called to do. 

Just like the old preachers say, You need to know that you know that you know you’re saved….You need to know that you know that you know you want to be a physician. And you need to know why.

Are you having a hard time figuring out your why? If you want to chat about it, feel free to leave a comment below or, as always, you can send me a private message!