On many of today’s popular TV series, you can count on a few particularly “exciting” professions to be highlighted: police, lawyers and doctors. Back in the ‘90s, the series “ER” glamorized the medical profession enough that it motivated many to consider careers in medicine.
I often ask the young adults I see in my office what they want to be “when they grow up.” Many times, they offer up hopes of becoming a neurosurgeon, pediatrician, or some other career they saw highlighted in the media. I don’t stop the conversation there, though. I then ask them about how their grades are and what their next step is toward pursuing their stated goals. This is where many of them struggle to give me an answer.
Obviously, getting into medical school isn’t easy; in fact, it’s harder now than it was when I applied to and was accepted by the University of Michigan Medical School. Nowadays, I interview students applying to attend UM and I can tell you this: if I was to apply now, I probably would not get in! The average undergraduate GPA for medical schools in Michigan ranges from 3.7-3.85. That’s pretty much an A- average; but remember, college GPAs tend to be harder to achieve than high school GPAs. So, if aspiring medical students find themselves with a 3.2 in high school, they need to have a serious moment of introspection and determine whether they are performing to the best of their ability.
I often ask aspiring doctors about the strength of their motivation in an effort to assure that it is firm enough to carry them through the process.
It is also important that the motivation to enter into a demanding career like medicine is solid. It’s not easy to sustain the effort necessary to finish four years of a challenging undergraduate degree, perform well on the MCAT, and engage in activities that display the personal qualities medical schools want to see in their admitted students – and that’s all just to get into med school! Beyond that, the motivation needs to be carried through four more years of tougher academic work in medical school, followed by several years of residency training. Becoming a doctor is certainly not something people do on a whim. So, I often ask aspiring doctors about the strength of their motivation in an effort to assure that it is firm enough to carry them through the process.
Finally, I would recommend they spend time with a doctor to really see the “non-Hollywood” perspective of patient care. I never see a TV doctor spending hours a week extracting ear wax – yet, that’s what I do! And, despite being something simple, patients leave my office enormously grateful.
Young people considering a career in medicine should spend as much time as they can with professionals who are already in the field, so that they know what it’s really like to be a doctor. If they like what they see, it’s those memories that will keep them motivated enough to get through the long nights of studying ahead of them.
