Why do I want to be a doctor?
That is a huge questions. And as I am told it will be
frequent in my interviews with potential medical schools. That is what this
post is about. Something incredibly important to me. With all the schooling,
the stress, the tests, the o-chem, and all the loans. ;D It is a long road, and
this is post is a look into why. Why on earth am I doing this!?
Back in the
day, when the only thing that you worried about was getting all the Golden Bananas
on Donkey Kong 64, I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up. (now I don’t know
what on earth I was thinking…pun intended.) One day I went to Lagoon with the
family. I was finally able to ride the cool big white Rollercoaster. I remember
this being the first big rollercoaster I ever went on. My dad being the future
planning dad he is told me that what my stomach felt like would be what it
would be like to be on the space shuttle. Well after the ride I puked, and my
dreams of being an astronaut were in my mind. Ruined.
The
downfall of my astronaut career led to a dark time in the life of young Max
George. I wanted to be all sorts of things. Only to let them fall away with
little thought or care. A scientist, video game designer, director, and crime
scene investigator were only a few of the things that I wanted to be when I “grew
up.” One test told me that I should be a clothes designer….still thinking that
might be a good idea….
A few of my
posts have talked about how I am a planner. So it is normal for me to say that
not knowing what I wanted to do with my life was very distressing. I knew I liked
science, but math was not my favorite. I loved kids, but I did not like
teaching. This would perplex me day in and day out. One day, the thought came
into my head about medicine. Maybe I could be a doctor. A pediatrician. I would
use science and work with kids. Best of both worlds!
I knew in
that moment I think that being a pediatrician is what would make me happy in
life. It just seemed so clear. I took some medical classes my senior year of high
school and fell in love with the art of medicine. I could look at an anatomical
diagram and have it memorized in a matter of minutes. Ask me to do that with a
Robert Frost poem and it will take me 4 years to master. Medicine just came
easy to me. All of the sudden, I knew, with out a doubt what I wanted to be
when I grew up.
Why do I want to be a doctor?
All of this happened while I was pubescent and in high
school. I took some medical classes in college before my mission and again,
fell in love with the science. I left for Uruguay and continued this drive to
see an MD after my name. I returned home and began school immediately in the
fall as a pre-med student.
Being a
pre-med student is no cake walk. There are so many pre-req classes for the MCAT
that I want to shoot myself on occasion. I feel like I will never get out of Weber State
University . I see my
friends around me graduating and moving on with there lives. And I am still
dreading finals week every semester. The classes are difficult. Often I have 3
classes with 3 hour labs a week. Chemistry is a bitch. I have so much extra-curricular
going on that I feel overloaded sometimes. Sometimes I wish I could just work
at Great Harvest full time….
And I will
be honest. Sometimes I do want to give it all up. Throw the towel. Give up on
medicine. There is nothing more degrading then getting a bad score on a test in
my mind, and I have had my fair share. I look at the 7 years I still have to
go, all the money, the moving, the challenges, and I want to say screw it. Why shouldn’t
I go into movie editing!? That would be fun.
I know Gandalf...I know..... |
Why do I want to be a doctor!?!?
Here is the
reason. I want to make a difference. Now, I am not saying that all the other
professions on this planet do not make a difference. That would be ignorant of
me. But for me, to feel like I am making a difference I need to be a doctor.
There is no other profession that I can think of that would fulfill me as much
as a doctor would. I want to cause change. I want to look into the eyes of a
sick child and make them feel better. I want to heal. I want to fix. I do not
want to be another grain of sand on this planet. I want to be that seashell
that makes someone’s day. And in my young adult brain the only way I can do
that is by being a doctor. I want to figure out the unknown. I want to solve
problems. I want to be there for people when they need me. There are a lot of
perks too. The pay, the prestige, the allure of being a doctor. But at the
heart of it all, I want to help this world. I do not want to fade into the
background noise like a lot of my generation. I want to be a doctor.
After
writing all of this I feel like we maybe should start asking kids what will
they be when they grow up instead of what they want to be. Obviously that would
be impossible. It took me quite sometime to figure it out. And I am glad I did.
I am passionate about medicine and this is a small glimpse as to why. Kylies
little cousins have recently started calling me Dr. Max, and now it is a thing.
I even have a clock with it on it! (Thank you Brian.) Dr. Max. It has a nice
ring to it. A lot is going to happen in my life. Some of it I won’t be able to
control. One thing though that I can control is that I will be a doctor. Give
me all the hell that is school. I can take it. Give me all the student loans. It’s
worth it. Give me the stress. What is another ulcer? Dr. Max is only a few
years away.
Scary, stressed, senior in college Max... |
p.s. Sorry is this sounded arrogant. Not my intention. It is
however, my passion, and I feel like I can be somewhat of a big head about it
;)
p.p.s What do you want to be when you grow up? :D (3000 blog
points)