I know there are a whole bunch of medically experienced Dopers, and I’d really like some input.
I did well in high school and got accepted to a prestigious all-women’s college (including getting into their special intern-with-a-professor work-study program). I also did a Telluride Association summer program, if that means anything to anybody. More recently, I took pre-med physics at the University of Washington and got something like a 3.6 cumulative (while working more than full time).
It sort of came to me a couple of years ago while working in a completely unrelated job that I should be a doctor. It really seemed like a bolt from above, almost. So when I got laid off from that, I looked for jobs in the medical field.
Currently, I work as a phlebotomist in a local hospital and I totally love what I do. I really like working with patients, and I really like the hospital atmosphere.
I am planning to go back to school in the near future to do something in the medical field. The thing is that I left college after two years, and don’t have my bachelor’s degree, and while I was in college I took no science courses.
I came in thinking I wanted to be an MD, and I haven’t totally given that up. However, I’m starting to question my abilities to make it through internship/residency. I’m a 28 year old female and I live near my parents but not with them. I’m self supporting financially. I have a semi-long term relationship that I can’t count on for emotional support through this time; I’ve never been married and I have no children. I am unsure whether I want children.
I’m starting to consider whether I’d rather look into either being a Physician’s Assistant or a Nurse Practitioner, but my stubborn streak says to go for the MD, since that was the original idea. (I’ve got nothing but respect for RNs, PAs, and NPs; I’ve seen them in action.)
I know that realistically I’ve got about three years of undergrad left (because I do have to work while going to school) and right now I’m planning to take the general prerequisites for either medical or nursing school and kind of see how I fare from there.
I’d like to hear from Dopers in the medical fields (especially female MDs or those who are close to them) and find out what they think about my particular situation. I can’t really talk to the interns/residents at work; they’re very busy, and I also feel uncomfortable talking to them because they’re all men my age or younger.
I know this was long. Thanks in advance.
(And mods, I hope I’m in the right forum. I’m looking for some [NS] humble opinions.)