r/medschool

I come from a family of doctors: my father is a very well-known plastic surgeon in my country, my mother is an ophthalmologist, and my husband is also a doctor. On top of that, I have my own medical clinic, which originally belonged to my parents and is now managed by my brother and me. It has been operating for more than 30 years and is located on a very strategic corner in my city.

I originally studied a different degree, but given my family background and the opportunities involved, I decided that once I finished that degree, it would be strategically smart to study medicine as well.

I made it through my fourth year without ever failing an exam and with one of the highest GPAs in my class. Studying has never been particularly difficult for me—I have always done very well academically—which was another reason I felt like I should take advantage of that ability and become a doctor.

The problem is that, at this point, I am genuinely miserable. I don't like medical school, I suffer through it immensely, and I cannot imagine myself being a doctor for the rest of my life.

So I keep thinking about finishing the degree just to have the qualification, while ultimately pursuing the business side of healthcare. But even the thought of finishing medical school makes me feel awful.

I'm 36, and I want to start a family and build an income and a life of my own. Finishing medical school would mean postponing all of that even further.

At the same time, I can't stop thinking that if I quit now, I would be wasting an enormous opportunity—both because of my family's position in the healthcare industry and because of my own academic abilities. When I see people graduating who don't have anyone in the healthcare field to help them, or who have struggled academically throughout medical school, I get this overwhelming feeling that I'm wasting my life and an incredible opportunity that was handed to me.

And yet, I genuinely suffer just thinking about finishing and having to postpone other things I want for my life.

I've already invested so much time and effort into medical school that I haven't really built anything of my own in the meantime.

I'd really love to hear your thoughts. What would you do in my position? Has anyone been in a similar situation?

Thanks!

Just curious to know like do they get days off or are they still expected to come to work even when pretty sick?

Like for example it’s a bad cold and a fever and chills… do they take the day off?

How does it really work?

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I’m finishing medical school this year, and over the last few semesters I’ve gradually realized that I really dislike the career I’m about to enter. The frustrating part is that many of the things I originally thought I would actually do as a doctor aren’t really part of the job in the way I imagined.

Now I’m close to graduating, and I’m questioning whether I should actually go into medicine at all. Has anyone else had this realization this late in medical school? Did you still become a doctor, switch paths, or find a specialty that changed your perspective?

Hey guys, med school has been my dream since high school. I got into a good college and graduated with a degree in biochemistry and a psychology minor. However, during college I faced some pretty serious personal trials and graduated with a 2.5 GPA. (I know, that’s pretty terrible) I haven’t taken the MCAT yet but plan to in the next 2 years. It’s still my dream and I’m starting a position as a MA that will give me time assisting in the operating room and give me a basically guaranteed letter of rec from a practicing surgeon. I have a vague idea of what I need to do to make up for the horrible look my transcript has but honestly I’m not sure if it’s possible. My ideal is I’m accepted into med school in the next 3 years. Is it possible??? Please help!!!!

I am an OMS 4 student. It’s that time of year when administration begins what students refer to as the Great Cover-Up, meaning they manipulate data to make the Level 1 board scores seem better than they are. Word is this year it will be below 80%

I’m a 21F in my last year of undergrad, and I’ve been debating medicine vs. dentistry for a LONG time. I finally decided on dentistry, but lately I’ve been questioning whether I’m making the wrong choice.

I love learning about the human body and medicine in general, but when I went through all of the medical specialties, I couldn’t find one where I thought, “I NEED to do this.” I liked neurology, anesthesiology, radiology, and derm, but I never felt completely obsessed with any of them. I’d say I’m more cerebral than hands-on, although I do have a creative side that I really enjoy (nails, cooking, painting, etc.).

I’ve also actually gotten pretty extensive exposure to both fields. I’ve done a lot of medical and dental shadowing, took the DAT and scored in the 95th percentile, and currently have both a medical and dental job, and I love my job as a CNA. I just started my dental job, and while I like it, I feel out of place. I genuinely can’t tell if that’s because I’m new and uncomfortable or because dentistry just isn’t for me.

The problem is that I keep thinking about medicine. I’m worried I chose dentistry because it fits the lifestyle I want rather than because I actually want to be a dentist, but I also know that I like the creative aspect of dentistry. Maybe grass is greener on the other side.

My ideal life would be working around 3 days a week near a beach, having time for family, traveling, hobbies, and potentially owning a business or pursuing other business opportunities. I really like that dentistry can potentially give me that flexibility and the possibility of owning my own practice. My biggest deterrent from medicine has always been residency and the overall length/intensity of the training.

I’m taking a gap year, so I still have some time to figure this out. But I genuinely have no clue what to do. What do you all think?

i don’t know what to do. i come from a low income household and i want to be a doctor and i don’t want this to be in the way of pursuing that goal.

any advice

Hello, wanting to get into med school as a person who has 0 background in biology, have a degree in completely unrelated field.

For context, I am planning on doing DIY post bacc, going to a 4 year institution to take classes to be hopefully be a stronger candidate. I have hospital volunteer work ahead of me, now don’t know what else to do. Currently working a 9-5 and it’s a bit stressful balancing everything.

How did career changers go about their journey to get into med school? I’m a bit overwhelmed with this journey and don’t know what the best path forward is.

Thank you all for your help!

I been wrestling with this question for years now. Since I was 20 I wanted to become a doctor but during that time I was also good at design. I am at the point of my life where I hate design as it is not the same anymore due to AI and also layovers.

I do not have a degree so I would need to go back to school and I was thinking about doing the York Biomedical science degree program starting May 2027. Is this journey worth it or should I consider being a paramedic first then becoming a doctor? I’m 29 today.

34 years old, 2.4 gpa, 0 pre requisites 0 experience in the medical field. I’m starting my first pre requisites next spring at a community college and have started the process for volunteering work.

Are there others who were in a similar position with success stories and some guidance or tips?

When in medical school are you able to help support your own family and or able to afford a 1 bedroom?

I know it’s a loan but just worried if I would be able to afford a 1 bedroom.

Im currently in my final year..Idk what speciality to choose

I have the following criteria:

Good work life balance

Good pay

Good patient interaction

Im interested in doing small surgeries and procedures not major ones

I love obgyn as a subject but i hate the lifestyle..

I love ent but am afraid of the micro surgeries and wonder if i will have the precision..

In non clinical i like pharm..thats all but no inclination...

I lloveee fmt but am not strong hearted enough to do autopsies

I love medicine but the paperwork and just chronic management is exhausting

I love learning medicine thats all..

No no to surgery ortho anesthesia psychiatry

May try ophth or ent..but ophth has great learning curve

Please help me..

I’m curious how most med school students are able to afford tuition considering how high the price is. I’m about to begin my first year at CC, planning on transferring as a junior to UCSD next year, and then move on to med school. I don’t receive almost any aid, and my parents will only be able to cover one year of undergrad.

Right now looking forward to this task of paying off schooling debt it seems near impossible, especially with the Big Beautiful Bill’s limitations on federal loans. If I want to attend med school will I have to grind through hundreds of thousands of debt over a decade or two? Are there any loans, grants, forgiveness opportunities that I haven’t heard of? I’m honestly just really unsure about the whole path right now and am not sure if I’m making the right decision

Hi, I’m a full time registered nurse looking to go to med school. I need to take around 7 pre reqs including Gen chem 2, Orgo and Physics 1/2, Cell BIO and BIOCHEM. I’ll be taking the bio courses at the 4 year university that I got my BSN at. However, due to my schedule I may have to complete the other 7 classes at several different community colleges. Will this be a bad look and if so will I have a chance to explain it on my app? any help would be greatly appreciated. TIA

Is there anyone who has pursued the PhD path instead of residency? How did you finally choose this path?

How's work life balance?

What are the job opportunities available?

I am a med-student in California and also raised here in an extremely religious evangelical and christian nationalist household- pastor and doctor parents. I am currently M3 and i just came to the realization that all my life I've been brainwashed and I realized this on my own thanks to my education at medschool. However, I feel betrayed and lied to, I can't tell my parents that I've been deconstructing because I know it would break them. On the other hand I am extremely frustrated because I broke so many people's hearts especially my ex girlfriend's because she wasn't christian. I can't forgive myself. Is there anyone who experienced something similar and how they dealt with the disillusionment and their process of deconstructing with the amount of studying?

Hey guys.

I need recs for underscrubs or even a scrub brand that doesnt make me sweat and stink. i have never had BO before until starting school and my underscrubs really reeeeeekk. i have to change my shirt every two hours and have extra pairs of scrubs with me at all times. someone help me pls

TL;DR
- undergrad cGPA: 4.1/5 (3.28/4.0) at a T20, cs/cog sci major, downward trend
- need 9 - 11 courses to complete prereqs and will be doing so at a university with a good reputation near me
- no research experience, history of volunteering and plan to continue, leadership experiences throughout undergrad, previous cpr/first aid/lifeguard cert (idk if this even matters), shadowing lined up
- aiming for md schools and applying in 2030 or 2031
- is md realistic

i honestly hope i’m being dramatic but i’m in need of a reality check. seeing a 3.6 gpa being considered low stats is making me think i have no chance but i want to hear from someone who had similar stats with recent As. every A i’ve seen with similar stats to mine are 6+ years ago

i graduated last year with a 4.1/5.0 (3.28/4.0) gpa with my scGPA being around the same at a T20 with difficult grading (cs major). i had a ton of b+ but +/- didnt affect gpa at my school a b+ and b- were weighted the same. the +/- also doesn’t show up on my official transcript. i had a downward trend due to being ill at the end of my junior fall and went part time the semester after that. i had a 3 incompletes that turned into c’s senior year because i overworked myself in order to graduate on time. i believe they show up as I/C on my official transcript.

i will need to take 9 - 11 courses to get my prereqs in so i have a chance to get my gpa up, but i think even with all a’s, i’ll only be able to get up to a 3.5. i’ll be doing a part time diy postbacc at a school with a decent reputation but no linkage (its the only school with a decent program near me so doing one at a school with linkage isn’t reasonable for me).

i have no research experience. i have shadowing opportunities lined up. i am good at standardized testing so i am optimistic that with intensive studying, i can get a decent mcat score (i know not to bank on this until i actually have a score). i volunteered as an esl/citizenship tutor during my senior spring and had leadership experience in other ECs for a year and a half. i plan to continue volunteering through my jobs volunteer program.

my goal is US MD schools, ideally in CA, NJ, NY to be close to family and friends but i know i’ll have to apply outside of these regions + DO schools. currently living in CA, grew up in NJ. i’m a URM and aiming for MD schools because i know my skills and merit will always be questioned and a DO instead of MD won’t help. i am still open to DO. am i being realistic with a goal of getting into an MD school (applying 2030 or 2031)

EDIT: i know that you cant say until i have an mcat score but obviously i need to know what to aim for. also would be amazing if someone with similar GPA and an A could let me know their mcat🙏🙏 i know this is a steep ask

guys I got my grades and they were ass. I got 3as I’m not sure how to feel. Can I still get into a good medschool esp government one if I work hard in a levels too ☹️

I had to pick a tag, I’m not a premed I’m in HS.

The reason I ask this is so that I can get med experience (IVs, injections, that sort of thing, along with being in a hospital) and have a back up med related degree in case I don’t get into med school? And would it help on med school applications to have that experience? I do know someone who did that and later went into med (and got into HMS). Any advice? Any is appreciated.

For context: I’m from a state that actually has a lot of colleges with pre med programs. I would tell, but I don’t think I should put where I live online lol.