Should I think of becoming doctor

Answered

In all honesty, this should never be a question you ask other people; rather, this is very personal question you should ask yourself. If you find yourself questioning the career-path of a doctor, it has become apparent that it may not be the best fit. To become a doctor, you have to be extremely passionate about what you do and you absolutely must be willing to sacrifice time and some leisurely activity for 7-8 yrs after high school. If you are questioning yourself, to me that signals that the passionate-drive is not strong enough. Think about this for a moment:

Your grades are really well (no doubt about that), but you are missing that dedicated component to adhere to the rigorous journey to become a doctor (at least you haven’t portrayed that through this Q&A). The path that lies ahead is more than just high school; to even get into med school, you must do the same thing AGAIN as an undergraduate. Instead of the SAT/ACT, it’s the MCAT (which honestly makes the college admissions test look like a joke). Then, you must be able to balance medical prerequisite course with significant extracurricular activities—something that shows you can handle the coursework, the clinical hours, and the time management. And finally, let’s say you DO make it into med school, do you even know the average national debt that puts you in? Something like $200,000; while the college national average is like $30,000. Furthermore, can you survive through medical school? It can become very frustrating and the journey is nothing to waste time with, you absolutely must be on top of it all. One day off in med school is like a week away from college and a month away from high school—now try to make up that work!

I absolutely don’t mean to discourage you in any way, but I do hope to put into perspective the significance of the question you asked. It takes great will-power to go to grad school, and to become a doctor is at the top of that list. It is completely doable in the sense that nearly anyone is capable of achieving it, but sometimes the strict adherence to this pathway is unlikely for some people. Also note that if it does seem scary and frightening now, your just a Junior and you’ll develop to that level to where it becomes “doable”. It won’t be easy of course, but you will be more than capable.

For further guidance on the subject, I suggests you ask this question on the Student Doctor Network (SDN) Medical Forums. There is a high school section if you just scroll through the subject listings: (https://forums.studentdoctor.net/)

Hope I helped somewhat; I also intend to become a doctor someday. A physician-scientist more so. Good luck on whatever journey you choose to take, there is definitely excellent potential in you!