I just wanted to share a story. Today when I have lately been particularly thinking about giving up the pre-med route and taking an easier less difficult but still rewarding path of being a teacher, probably high school biology. I met my future sister in laws neurologist. She was born with spina bifida, hydrocephalus and something else that I could have told you 5 minutes ago but now my mind is blank…and I will probably remember as soon as I sign out, but anyway. She turned 30 on Wednesday and everyone had told her mom that she probably wouldn’t live more than a 5 years. Well she is in a wheel chair although she can walk with the use of braces and crutches. She can drive now with a handicapped equipped van, she works and bowls, shoots sporting clays and loves to fish. Absolutely nothing is wrong with her mind. This doctor invented a special shunt that drains in 5 different locations for her so it is fail safe. She has had over 65 surgeries, at least 40 of them were neurological. She is truly a medical miracle. That doctor came to her party and cried to see her still alive 30 years later and looked through a photo album and remarked about all her surgeries and he told me that is why he is a doctor. Because there is nothing like being able to walk into a waiting room full of people and letting them know that you were able to save their loved one. He did tell me that it’s not always a happy ending, and there is the weight of that as well. But he said you focus on the people whose lives you make better. Focus on the Natalies. There were a lot of people at her party. I took away a lot with me. No matter what decision I ultimately make, whether I continue on the route and become a doctor and save lives like this doctor or I become a teacher who helps high school kids fall in love with biology and they go on to become doctors I really have a great new respect for science and the medical profession in general.
<3 Rhonda… great story!!
The path to med school is surely not easy with all the bumps and bruises. You’ve always had a plate full so I can well understand how hard it is.
Make sure whatever decision you make is the one you can be comfy with in 10 years… or ask yourself,
“In 10 years will I be okay that I did” this or that… I bet the twinge in your stomach will tell you. It’s what I’ve had to do over the past 6 months (as you already know!).
Thank you for your ongoing support, and this story!
Ad2b
Hi RAdamson.
Do you have a very noble goal. A lot of people in need of professional medical care. Being a doctor is not just a profession. Rather, it should be a gift of God. Are you ready for this?
I wish you success.
Thanks, Rhonda. Your story illustrates a rare but profound motivation to join the ranks of physicians. Each profession offers a unique range of rewards, but the deepest human touch - that which makes the difference in the life we are capable of living - can only be delivered by those who deal in life as a matter of vocation. Best wishes to you and to your sister-in-law.
Thank you Charles and Ad2b.