How do you really know??

[kal]

Hi All,

This is my first post – exciting!

I hear my story in a lot of others. I’d love to put mine out there and get some input from peopel who really know. I am 29, I was a teacher for 4 years, then I went to grad school for education, now I work for an autism research program. Medicine has been on my mind for at least 4 years, now, and I really thought it was my “calling” for a long time. The problem is that I took a Calculus class this past summer – of course, I didn’t take science classes as an undergrad, so I have a lot to make up – and it was horrible. I hated it, I didn’t do very well, and I thought I could never take two full years of pre-reqs like that. I made up my mind to leave the post-baccalaureate program I had entered, and I’ve been researching clinical psychology programs instead.

I am still not fulfilled by thoughts of other careers, though. For some reason, this keeps coming back – am I just nostalgic for an idea that sounded so good? I’ve heard a lot from med students about the prereqs – you just have to get through them to get to the good stuff. Is that true? I’m wondering if I should give it another chance. Is there any way to truly “know” if medicine is for you?

I should add that I am not a mom right now, but I am planning to have a family, so the issues are on my mind as I think about the near future. Any input or suggestions folks have would be great!

[lalee]

Were you in an official post bacc premed course? I’ve heard that they can be pretty grueling, but do prepare you well for the “real thing”. I took all my pre reqs post bacc, but not an “official” program…I just registered for the classes I needed. Not all schools require calc, so don’t let that frighten you off!! :yes:
Good luck!

[kal]

Thanks for the encouragement. I was part of an official program, then I withdrew b/c my Calculus course. I think that to do this again, though, I will need to rejoin a program and go full time. It will take less time and maybe help me focus more on the classes…. I’m not sure yet.

[PremedRN]

Kal,
Just wanted to say that I’ll be applying to med school without calculus. Many schools don’t require it, so I feel like why should I take it when Im not taking calculus based physics that engineers take? I hate math too, I think too logically for it. So why should I jeopardize my GPA by taking it? And who knows, maybe I would do well. I dont want to find out. As far as I know, you won’t be using it in med school. In addition to this, when I started back, I wasn’t approved for any grants, so why take classes that I dont need.
—Dana

[Author]

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