seeking med school advice

New member here seeking advice on my current situatioin.


I am a 29 y/o physical therapist with over 120k in student loan debt from my PT education. I have been practicing for 2 years and developed a desire to pursue medicine during my PT program 2-3 years back. I decided I wanted to improve my knowledge and become a diagnostician and lead my patients care vs. providing therapy services.


I have gone back and forth on starting up the preparation for applying to med school 1-2 times over this period and I am currently at a crossroad. I am married with no kids and my wife has a great career with a good salary, and has voiced her opinion on prefering for me to not apply to med school. Her reasons include to avoid living like a student into most of our thirties, its affect on having children, and to avoid the negative impact on her career with her potential opportunities.


I have exhaustively researched both med and PA school, and am leaning toward PA school (with my wife’s support), but I really feel like MD/DO is really what I would like to pursue. My main concern is that if I become a PA I will possibly have regrets of not going the physician route, even with all of the negatives that physicians have to deal with in our healthcare system. I have decided that this is the final time that I will seriously consider med school or PA school and will stick with whichever route I will soon choose.


If anyone here could provide any advice from your experiences it would be appreciated.


Warren

Well…you know my take.

Hi Warren, and welcome!


I realize that when you are in a marriage and/or have family, you need to consider the implications your choices will make for both yourself and your loved ones; that being said, however, I believe that you need to ask yourself that if 10 years down the line you will feel satisfied with your choice or will you have regrets of not? I personally feel that if you are only doing PA as a compromise with your wife, instead of pursuing medicine…it will always be a thorn in your side.


I would think that communication between the two of you is very important…with both of you conversing on what you need, and then working so that neither’s needs are lesser than the other. I think if you have a strong relationship, and you come up with a solid plan, your wife will support you in pursing an MD/DO versus a PA.


Best of luck!


Kris

Thanks for the replies thus far.


I highly value my wife’s opinion that is why this decision has been so hard on me. One thing I am trying to determine is my chances of gaining some type of scholarships if I were to attend medical school. In regards to medical school application classifications I would fit under the URM category and this may be advantageous, although there are no guarantees.


I really feel that my wife’s greatest reluctance currently is to avoid moving away from southern california due to her job and living at a reduced standard of living financially. I have pretty good undergrad and grad school GPA’s and a scholarship may be a possibility.

$120K of existing debt is not trivial. That plus the interest it will be earning while you are in school will be a burden. If you are going to make a case for med school you need to get very concrete with yourself and your wife about exactly what your financial strategy is going to be, and do that before you go much farther down the road.


j

Often resistance to a desire comes from fear of the unknown. If you can come up with a solid plan as to how you would pay off your existing debt as well as how you would handle new debt you incur in medschool, perhaps your wife wouldn’t be as resistant.


Not to sway you one way or another…and everyone here will have different thoughts about it, which are all equally valid, but here’s a Reader’s Digest version of my story:


DH was an ortho surgical resident…exhausted, burned out…lots of debt. I was a CC nurse, making decent money (supporting us), but wanted to go to med school. DH was very very agaisnt it…for financial reasons as well as lifestyle reasons. So I opted to do a Master’s degree in nursing and in epidemiology instead…worked very hard in grad school…and now really don’t enjoy it. Fast forward 8 years, 3 kids, 2 mortgages and a business LOC…and I still really wish I had gone to med school. I didn’t think I would regret my earlier choice, I didn’t think I would ever be resentful/jealous of my DH, but unfulfilled dreams have an insidious way of sneaking up on you…and into your marriage. So now, at the tender age of 38, I am preparing to put my family through a whole new sacrifice. (DH is totally on board now, btw).


Whether you decide to go forward with med school or not, make sure you have a plan to deal with the fallout…either way!


Good luck!

So are you going to try for med school now? I did something similar. I went to nursing school instead of med school, became a nurse-midwife with a Master in Public Health as well, and now I am working on a PhD in Public Health (done with all except the dissertation) instead of med school. Now here I sit still yearning for medical school. When you want to be a doctor nothing else will satisfy your soul.


I am going to try for it now, even though I am well passed my youth. The only thing good about that, I am now able to dedicate my self fully to the pursuit of a medical degree, all the kids are grown.


wanda

Ok- I just recently gave in to the fact that I will be poor for the next 10 years or so. But considering we are always poor I guess it doesn’t really matter. Actually, if I go to school we will probably have more money. It’s a long story, but I will be giving up the non-necessities (i.e. keeping up with the Jones).


I think I’m posting this to remind myself that I am always poor and that I’ll be ok going to med school. I was a military brat, so if need be, maybe I will decide to go that route. I miss Hickam AFB- it would be great to be assigned to Hawaii!!!


The issue of less time with my family- that is what worries me. I’m sure we can work it out, though. From reading some of the posts, I can see that I might have time with my family while in med school. It actually might give me more time with the family. Who knows?

Sorry for not replying recently to all the feedback. I currently am gearing up for applying to PA school, but still find myself questioning medical school.


The replies here are appreciated. I just really do not want to feel like I settled for the PA profession 10+ years from now and have career regrets. I keep on telling myself that my career does not have to be the most important facet of my life and that family is very important to me. My wife and I have discussed for a few years now that when we have children I will likely be the one able to work on a part-time basis and partially stay at home for child-rearing. I just don’t think I would be happy with this situation and see myself with greater career and lifestyle satisfaction working full-time in a career I truely desire to be in.


This is currently the personal dilema I am facing right now.

What’s a DH?


Besides Juicin’ Jason Giambi.

  • dubpt Said:
Sorry for not replying recently to all the feedback. I currently am gearing up for applying to PA school, but still find myself questioning medical school.

The replies here are appreciated. I just really do not want to feel like I settled for the PA profession 10+ years from now and have career regrets. I keep on telling myself that my career does not have to be the most important facet of my life and that family is very important to me. My wife and I have discussed for a few years now that when we have children I will likely be the one able to work on a part-time basis and partially stay at home for child-rearing. I just don't think I would be happy with this situation and see myself with greater career and lifestyle satisfaction working full-time in a career I truely desire to be in.

This is currently the personal dilema I am facing right now.



You should definitely listen to your feelings and avoid the temptation to reason your way out of doing what's best for yourself. We all have to make some compromises for our families, but if you're going to be miserable as a result then your whole family is going to suffer and your wife needs to understand that. I highly recommend counseling as a way to cut through stuff and get at the heart of things. It's benefited me a lot. If you take a hard look at your vision of your life and it still comes up "physician" then you need to do some serious negotiating with your wife, possibly in the presence of a couples counselor who can mediate and keep people's energy focused on the fundamental issues.

Given that you already have a medical background as a PT perhaps volunteering or shadowing in a medical environment is unnecessary or redundant but it might be a useful component to your analysis, for example comparing the excitement and tension of the emergency dept. with the processes of an internal medicine clinic.

The good news is that whether you choose the PA/NP or MD/DO path, you will be uber-employable anywhere in the 50 states and your wife may well be able to continue or resume her very satisfying career in a mutually agreeable place. Children are something you will both need to deal with and perhaps medical school or residency is the right time to have them since she will necessarily and biologically need to take some time off from work herself. Just some ideas for you to consider; good luck!

Matt, “dh” is short for “dear husband,” although some of my friends have contended that the “d” can stand for any number of other adjectives


Mary

  • dubpt Said:
Sorry for not replying recently to all the feedback. I currently am gearing up for applying to PA school, but still find myself questioning medical school.

The replies here are appreciated. I just really do not want to feel like I settled for the PA profession 10+ years from now and have career regrets. I keep on telling myself that my career does not have to be the most important facet of my life and that family is very important to me. My wife and I have discussed for a few years now that when we have children I will likely be the one able to work on a part-time basis and partially stay at home for child-rearing. I just don't think I would be happy with this situation and see myself with greater career and lifestyle satisfaction working full-time in a career I truely desire to be in.

This is currently the personal dilema I am facing right now.



I was in the process of applying to PA school and decided against it. When I was a corpsman in the military I worked with PA's and loved it. The PA's all pushed for PA school as well as the MD's. However I knew I wouldn't be happy unless I was in charge. I floundered between PA and MD. Heck I joined here and switched back & forth three times by my last count. However I just sat myself down and realized that my family life would suffer if I didn't go for the MD/DO. It would grate on my nerves.

You have to be honest with yourself. I'm learning me and I know that I wouldn't be satisfied. I spoke and speak to former PA's who are now MD/DO's and they confirm that I need to become a MD/DO. For some the need is only to practice medicine regardless of the level. For me the MD/DO is much, much deeper than simply the practice of medicine. Some things MD/DO symbolizes to me are discipline, dedication, education,........being THE go to person. I'd like...no scratch that.....I need to be the authority in the area of medicine I practice. I don't mean THE world's expert at least not straight out of residency but definitely moving toward that goal.

That might seem shallow or whatever but those are my reasons. Believe it or don't but the majority of those came from my wife. I'm choosing EM because of the time it will provide. It's not that much of a lifestyle specialty thanks to rotating shifts and such but my sacrifice will be sleep for my family not my career.

Not sure if that makes any sense or even helps. I just know I was drawn to the PA profession. However I think that for me becoming a MD/DO is what I'm supposed to do. Whatever you decide I'm sure you'll do great.
  • croooz Said:
Some things MD/DO symbolizes to me are discipline, dedication, education,........being THE go to person. I'd like...no scratch that.....I need to be the authority in the area of medicine I practice. I don't mean THE world's expert at least not straight out of residency but definitely moving toward that goal.

That might seem shallow or whatever but those are my reasons.



Croooz, I don't think that's shallow at all. You've articulated nicely one of the big things that was on my mind when I decided on the MD vs. RNC. Going for an advanced-practice nursing degree would've been a logical choice, given my background as an RN, but what I realized with age/wisdom (well, age, anyway) was that I wanted to accept the responsibility and craved the chance to take on that role. I can tell you that I have no regrets. I love what I do; I'd probably be doing something similar if I were a FNP but the level of ultimate responsibility wouldn't be there. I see our FNPs take wonderful care of their patients, but they have to turn to the physicians when stuff gets complicated, or hospital care is required, etc. etc. I like being the person who is turned to, rather than the one doing the asking. Again, not that I'll ever know everything or not have many, many occasions to go to someone else for guidance or answers -- hardly! But I can shoulder a helluva lot more in this job, and I like it that way.

Mary