One of the real difficulties with where I am professionally in my life right now is the obvious that I'm not in medical school yet and desperately want to be. But another difficult reality I had until last evening was that I wasn't able to specifically articulate what I wanted to be doing with my professional life within the next 10 years, or of how what I'm doing now would fit into my future. That was, until I read the following paper last evening, "Personalized Oncology Through Integrative High-Throughput Sequencing: A Pilot Study". And here's the link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3476478/pdf/nihms-413659.pdf.
This paper suggests formation and use of a Sequencing Tumor Board which is essentially a team of professionals with training in oncology, genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, pathology, social and behavioral sciences, and ethics that interpret and make clinical recommendations based on sequencing data. And the SUPER great news for me is that EVERYTHING I'm doing right now and a LOT of what I've done in the past, including my MD goals of becoming a Pathologist, would fit in perfectly with such a professional goal.
Now, I understand perfectly well that careers often take paths different from what we imagine, but I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when I realized that the circuitous path I've taken in my professional career could come together quite usefully and in an extremely academically engaging way, by my participation on a Sequencing Tumor Board. At least for those years I'm working for "da man", my ultimate goal STILL, is to work for myself.
And speaking of building my business, I thought that once I finish medical school, I would expand my offerings to include test prep for the USMLE. That's a LONG way off from now I know, but a business owner/future Pathologist has gotta keep those ideas and goals FLOWING, LOL!!!
So I'll leave my readers with this 1970's gem with the hope that we ALL on some level, KNOW where we're going to!!!
What a wonderful song by Diana Ross, it was nice to listen to it again. I came to your blog because, I am also considering med school, what stops me is I am almost 50. Do you think that is too old? I need to take biology only if they take my undergrad which was a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy you blog, thanks for sharing your stories.
Hi Lorena, thanks for commenting and congrats for not letting go of your dream!! I'm 47 and while I DO think that's an old age to be attending med school, I haven't let that fact deter me from my path. When I was in my late teens/early 20's, someone ALWAYS had some negative, non supportive comment to make about my goals. At some point you MUST ignore the naysayers no matter how "well-imformed" they may appear to be, and go for it!
DeleteJust keep in mind that the path to the MD is long and requires a TON of perseverance, motivation, and hard work! Find some like minded people (like me :)), and move toward your goals! Good luck and keep in touch!
I was wondering if you have done a cost analysis of the MD at our age. Money wise is it a good idea? Are we going to recover the "investment"? There are so many doctors complaining that they take 15 years to repay their loans. I enjoy your blog, it gives me hope. I would like to take the MCAT next year, but I am not sure if I will go to med school, I am still thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteHi Lorena, I actually have done a cost analysis to see if med school at a later age made sense for me. And the operative, VERY subjective phrase here is "for me" because this is highly individual. Plus, I'd never once envisioned retiring because I THROUGHLY enjoy working. Of course, this assumes I remain healthy but that's a concern everyone should have at every age group. Along those same lines, I'm extra committed to living a healthy lifestyle (translated maintaining a healthy weight) now so that med school, residency, and medical practice are not only possible but enjoyable as well.
DeleteI should also mention that I've already figured on a mortgage like student loan payment (assuming there's no money left in the government loan repayment program), and I'm okay with that since I'm planning on living FAR more frugally in my 50's and 60's than I did in my rather "splurgeful" 20's and 30's.
The bottom line is that even as Doc salaries continue to drop, I don't foresee any serious negative financial effects by my attending med school. But again, everyone's situation is different and life changes on a dime, so to speak. I'm just going to go for it and let the chips fall where they may!