How To Figure Out If You're The Right Fit For Med School

By Elana Goodwin on June 17, 2016

This article is brought to you by Kaplan, the leader in test prep for over 90 standardized tests, including the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, and MCAT.

Going to medical school is a big deal and commitment — which means you really need to be certain that it’s the right choice and path for you. Determining whether you’d be a good fit for med school is something you really need to contemplate and your decision shouldn’t be made lightly.

Before you decide, there are lots of factors to consider — here are some helpful ways to know whether med school would be the right fit for you or if you’re better off doing something else.

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Med school is not the right fit for you if you’re only going because your parents want you to. Being a doctor is something many parents want for their children as it seems like a more employable and stable job than something in the arts or other fields. It’s okay to want to please your parents and to have said you want to grow up to be a doctor when you were young — but going to med school because you want your parents’ approval isn’t a good idea.

In the long run, your parents want you to be happy and they’ll be happier if you figure out you’re not the right fit for med school BEFORE you go and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on med school and an education and degree you don’t really want.

Med school is the right fit for you if you enjoy working with people. Even if you end up working in a lab, going into pathology or radiology, or start your own private practice, you’ll want to consider whether you like working with people when figuring out whether med school is the right fit for you.

Medicine is a field where you will be working with other people — your peers, your mentors, nurses, patients, etc. You’ll need to be able to communicate well, get along with others, and have loads of patience. You don’t necessarily need to be an extrovert or extremely outgoing, but you need to want to work with and for people, and be able to enjoy it.

Med school is not the right fit for you if you’re not 100 percent sure you want to be a doctor. There are plenty of other careers in the medical field you can go into if you’re not totally sold on the idea of being a doctor. You can become a nurse, a physician’s assistant, or pursue a PhD rather than an MD.

You need to really want to be a doctor as the road to becoming one is long and expensive, from med school to interning to residency and beyond. Before you commit to going to med school, figure out if becoming a doctor is really what you want to do and whether you’re better suited and would be happier pursuing another career in medicine.

Med school is the right fit for you if you love learning. Medicine is a changing field, with new treatments and discoveries being made all the time and much still unknown. To be a good doctor and stay on top of information, you need to love learning as you’ll have to constantly be expanding your knowledge — not just in med school, but beyond it as well.

Med school is simply the beginning of your schooling and learning, and your first years of med school will be challenging, jam-packed, and full of information you’ll need to know. Memorization will only get you so far — you need to really be passionate about understanding various diseases, treatments, drugs, complications, procedures, etc. and be willing to put in the time and effort to actually comprehend the whys and hows.

Med school is not the right fit for you if you’re just in it for the money. Today, you’re looking at coming out of med school with a lot of debt; so if you want to go to med school and become a doctor because you think you’ll make a lot of money, you’re going to be sadly mistaken. Most medical school grads end up with about $170,000 of debt when they get out of school, though the amount varies. Depending on what field and specialty you go into, you may be able to pay off that debt sooner and start banking your salary, but not all specialties will pay as well as others.

Going into med school, you need to understand how much debt you’re likely to end up with and the reality of what your income may be once you are a full-fledged doctor. Of course, the medical school you go to will also affect how much debt you’re left with as some may offer more incentives for med students and be more affordable than other private or more renowned institutions. Additionally, if you’re going to devote years of your life to med school and becoming a doctor, you need to be motivated by more than just money — you need to have a passion for medicine and truly want to be what you’re going to med school to be.

These are just some factors to consider when trying to decide if going to med school is the right path but you’ll want to really explore and consider all angles and aspects when deciding whether med school is the right fit for you — because it’s a huge decision and not one worth rushing.

Learn more about Kaplan’s test prep options and start building the confidence you need for Test Day.

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