For a long time, I wanted to be a musician. But then I injured my arms and that goal kind of went down the drain.
I’ve always been interested in medicine. Both of my parents are nurses, and I’ve been hearing about medical stuff all my life. As a kid, I loved to play hospital with my stuffed animals, and after watching a Disney show on the subject, I realized I wanted to be an EMT. So when my arms went all crappy on me, I thought I might want a career in medicine.
I got my EMT certification last year, and since then I’ve spent a lot of time in the ER and on the back of ambulances. I love interacting with patients and I love the adrenaline.
Then, I spent this summer in the OR with an anesthesiologist. That sort of sealed the deal for me. I had so much fun running around the hospital learning things that I figured I wouldn’t mind ten years of medical education.
I thought about being a nurse for a while. Before I spent time in medical care, I was afraid of the amount of training that being a doctor required. I’ve heard nurses say that they got more “bang for their buck” as far as schooling:amount of fun in their jobs ratio; some even say that doctors have to work so hard that when you add up how many hours doctors have to work (in education, research, and on-call time), the difference in pay is minimal.
But it’s not about the pay. I want to be a doctor because I don’t want to be a nurse. I’ve heard my parents talk about being stepped on and bossed around, and that isn’t what I want for my career. I’m a control freak, and I would hate it.
I like the science, too. I love it when things click and I understand the complicated things that go on with human physiology. Sometimes, I don’t want to study, and I get sick of everything and how complicated it is. Sometimes I get scared that I’m not smart enough to do this.
But I think (I hope) that I have what it takes and that this is the right thing to do.
