OK there are some people that really want to make you feel like you are crazy about going into medicine and taking the hard road ahead. Well, a couple of days ago a friend of my sister made some nasty comments about me and how I was not good enough to make it. I got angry and hurt because to my face she said a completely different thing. She is only 19 so thinks she knows everything and gloats telling everyone how she never has had to study during her time in school and that she had around a 3.6 GPA. I learned something: put big plugs in my ears and ignore this kind of people turns out she has only a 3.29 GPA and all her premed classes have been with B or Less so I think she was trying to make herself feel better. I really wont say anything to her I will let my grades speak for me. Sorryyyyyyyyy for making this soooooo long but really had to get this off my chest
I would say you nailed it right on the head. I agree that she was saying it out of necessity for making herself feel better. Take the high road. Older siblings get the distinct honor of protecting their younger counterparts–it most often doesn’t work out the other way until the “kids” are much more mature.
Of course, on the inside gloat like heck at how well you are doing!! 
Larry
I believe that one of the most powerful things about coming to this late in life is the strength of conviction and large amount of internal motivation it takes to do it. At best, you get an enthusiastic yet perplexed support from strangers or family members. There is very little external motivation in pursuing a career change of this magnitude late in life. So, search from within, and let that be your motivator. And, when find it, everything else will seem inconsequential, both the positive and negative. Good luck, and don’t listen to the naysayers!
Ahhhh…the all supporting base of family and friends… 
Both my brother-in-laws said “You?”…My own mother has gone questioning her own doctor, dentist, chiropractor and anyone she knows with a medical degree about whether or not what I’m doing is the right thing to do, whether I’m too old to do it and whether past CREDIT would be a problem…Good friend asked if I’d thought of podiatry or looking into PA or NP…His mom’s first question to me was “how old are you?” Friend of a friend asked me what kind of medicine and when I replied he went on a tirade of how it’s the worst medicine to practise because of x, y, & z…
On the other hand my pastor here in Maryland was encouraging me to switch from PA to MD. The deacons had been praying that I “realize” my potential and switch my plans to MD and the acquantiances at the church were all in support of my goal of MD…
This is the difference in those who only know me as an adult and those who were their when I barely graduated school with a 1.2gpa because of laziness. This is the difference between those who witnessed my struggles working fulltime and taking a full load and my responsibilities in the lab and Navy versus those who saw me work real hard at not even mowing the grass…
The plus side is the physician’s and scientists I’ve worked with and still work with think my plans are great and can’t wait to see me in practise somewhere…My sister thinks it’s about time my ambitions match my potential. My brother (good friend) can’t wait to address me as his colleague and my wife is behind me 125%. The extra 25% is when my motivations start to lag…
Thankfully my time in the military has thickened my skin and the doubting Thomas’…well…in the end the majority of these same people will be boasting at how they ALWAYS knew you’d make it…but then some will still find something wrong with it…wrong school, wrong initials (MD/DO), wrong residency, wrong…wrong…wrong…let’s just say I wouldn’t lose any sleep over dear ole mom and friends who don’t believe… 
Believe in yourself because in the end that is the only belief that matters.
… that’s an old Sinatra song. The best revenge is to live well and be successful… so get in there girl!
Amen Goodcat,
There is something very sad about those who put down others in order to pump themselves up.
Quote:
Amen Goodcat,
There is something very sad about those who put down others in order to pump themselves up.
Hi there,
No one can make you feel inferior without your permission. It is your dream and you do not have to defend it to anyone. It is your life to live and play out as you see fit.
One of the fundamental problems with the whole process of medicine is that many people seek to constantly compare themselves with other. In the end, your style is your style. No patient cares a rat’s a-- where you went to medical school, what you scored on MCAT, USMLE etc, what your GPA was, how many schools accepted you etc. Your patients want a caring and knowledgable physician who can address their needs. If you can’t make this work, your grades, your scores and your schools can’t do this for you. You can’t fake this, you either have it or your don’t and you can’t create it.
So next time you encounter someone who want to attempt to step on you for ego building, consider the source and move on. You have far too much with your own life to waste a second on negative people for any reason. For the rest of your career, you are going to encounter negativity in some form. Just don’t let it stick.
I have always made a pointed effort to be very civilized with people who have bad manners. I also tend to laugh at people who have an inflated sense of their importance (this works well in Washington, DC). In the end, we all bleed the same way and we are all human beings with wonderful imperfections going through life. Live yours and play out your dream with gusto!
Natalie
Amen on the part about DC, Natalie! Inflated egos and self-aggrandizement are in adundance here, though you do find the occasional pockets of purity and genuine purpose.
Amen sister!!!
Natalie,
I have to disagree. We here in the MD-DC area do not have an inflated sense of self. Why just the other day a coworker of mine was complaining on the lack of rain and voila…he made it rain! Another had insisted that I allow him to “merge” because he forgot what kind of car he was driving…I say this because he asked me “do you know what kind of car this is?” I assumed because it was a BMW that he would know…I let him in and he salutes me with the typical beltway salute. Customary for the MD-DC demigods to acknowledge each other in this way. I failed to salute back and was bombarded with a sense of unworthiness till I remembered my “place” in the food chain of DC.
A lady at a store wanted me to carry her bags for her and when I refused she insisted to speak with the manager. I waited for the manager and waited while she explained my “rudeness”…turns out I don’t work there and she assumed because I smiled at her and said “good afternoon” that I was an employee. My wife was more than a little upset. I just laughed because the woman honored me with her assumption of my “lower” status. It’s not everyday that you meet demi-gods…actually here in MD-DC you do. We mere mortals must understand their greatness and bow and blah, blah, blah…
I hope the sarcasm is coming out in this post.
croooz,
LMAO!!
Kathy
To croooz’s entry, LOL!!!
The store incident is the best!