Should I Go To Medical School?
Thinking about pursuing medicine as a career? Perhaps you’ve always wanted to be a doctor since you were a child, or some life event sparked an interest in this field.
We outline the top reasons for considering medical school as your next step, which will help you decide if it’s the right path for you.
1. A lifetime of knowledge
However long a physician has been qualified, medicine is a rapidly developing field with new discoveries to read about every day.
Becoming a doctor will ensure your thirst for knowledge is always quenched, whether it’s by conducting your own research, attending conferences, reading journal papers or speaking with your professors.
If you have a passion for learning new things, you will certainly never be bored at medical school!
2. Overcome challenges
Your graduate studies as a medical student will test your ability to deal with tough situations and other problems to the limit.
These could range from barriers in your research, to difficult patients in the hospital ward.
Medical school will help you develop as a person by testing you through these challenges, and you will learn more every day about how you can be a better physician.
3. Improve other people’s lives
There is a great feeling of satisfaction that comes from helping to improve the quality of other people’s lives, by either making them better or limiting their pain and suffering.
This rewarding experience is one of the main reasons people to choose to apply to medical school, giving them a sense of fulfilment and purpose they feel is not available in any other type of career.
4. Be fascinated every day
As a physician, no two days are ever likely to be the same.
You will meet many different types of patient, carrying different ailments, injuries and illnesses, and requiring different treatments.
Then there is also the science behind each of these cases, which no doubt you will enjoy soaking up and reading more about during your free time.
5. Contribute to the medical field
A medical school program can also provide you with a platform for conducting your own research, and contributing to medicine yourself.
As you publish more and more papers later on, you can become respected in your area, and have the chance to give lecture and speak at conferences around the world.
If this is something you think you would like to do as part of your career, you may want to just apply to schools where the academic focus is on research, rather than primary care.
There are also other reasons why people choose to apply to medical school - these are just a few of the common ones.
Although many say the massive debt and stress is all worthwhile if this is what you really want, ultimately the decision is yours. Take your time to think about it and speak to family, friends and your college professors if you feel it will help.
Further information
For more tips and advice on applying to medical school in the U.S, please see: