Career choice should not determine your happiness; no matter what you do in life the onus is on you learn contentment and find satisfaction in the labor of your hands. There is an older gentleman who works full time at one of my local grocery stores. He’s not a manager, he sweeps floors, greets customers, and works the checkout. He is one of the most content, happy people I have ever seen…why is that? Perhaps he is a retiree, just wasting time earning minimum wage in his golden years…that’s possible. No matter the case, here you have someone who is content with working for $6.75/hr, for people who are 1/3 his age. I can’t imagine there are many prospects for someone in his position. Why is he so happy? Because he chooses to be. He chooses to smile and have a good time. He chooses to enjoy his life.
You have an idea that you might be happier if you were a doctor…the thing is, you’ve never been a doctor before. So, how can you know this? It is not that being a doctor would make you happy, you are searching for something to bring you happiness. This is not something you can search for…you already have it inside of you to be happy. Your friend is absolutely right, not all of our dreams are meant to come true. Most of them never will, that’s what pushes us.
Whatever you do, don’t pursue Caribbean schools. Even the top four are a gamble. Statistics will tell you that there is a significantly lower portion of students who pass the USMLE. That says something. If anything, go DO. Otherwise, if you feel that you will never be happy unless you are a doctor, then I would submit to you that the issue is not about becoming a doctor, it is that you are convinced you need x, y, or z to bring you happiness. In that case, once you are in med school it will not longer be “only med school will make me happy,” it will become “only surg/derm/rad will make me happy” or “only the onc/PhD program will make me happy.” It never stops.
My advice to you: take the opportunity you have immediately available to you. Let it pan out for a number of years; if, after plenty of real world experience, you feel that you still want to pursue medicine, then by all means go for it. Enjoy your new marriage, don’t be so quick to subject it to the rigors of med school. Take a long walk, a deep breath, a couple of drinks, and realize that it will be okay if you decide to not do this right now. Live your life and find out how to be happy with where you are at. Already, you have something that many doctors wish they could have but probably never will - a family.