If I could go back and give myself advice before starting medical school, it would be this: you are not behind, and you are going to be okay.
I took a somewhat unconventional route to medicine, studying bioengineering, and working for a large electronic medical record company. Later, I moved into the medical device industry (where I spent most of my days in the OR anyways). During COVID-19, my work in the healthcare industry reignited a passion for medicine that I had all but forgotten. I remember watching the red dots spread across John Hopkins’ global coronavirus map and I couldn’t help but wonder: Who are these people? How did this happen? What comes next? I wanted to understand the people and the disease behind the data – not just the technology and systems surrounding their care. I decided to test these thoughts and went back to school part-time to finish my pre-medical prerequisite coursework.
Eventually, I faced a decision that felt both obvious and terrifying: I left behind my salary, pension, and company car to become a student again. But starting over did not mean starting from scratch. My experiences came with me in the form of perspective, confidence, and a better understanding of why I am here now. I understand how insurance structures and Medicare and Medicaid can influence access to care. I know that seemingly tedious clicks in an EMR are often driven by rules designed to drive interoperability, increase transparency, and support clinical decision making to reduce errors in care delivery. I worked alongside vendors, technologists, engineers, and patient navigators long enough to know that the people behind the scenes are critical to make the healthcare system function for patients and that physicians cannot provide excellent care in isolation. I came to appreciate not only what physicians do, but also the larger system that they are a part of. As a second-year medical student, I know I am on the right track, and I no longer compare my timeline to everyone else’s.
Admittedly, starting medical school after years in the workforce was an adjustment. I no longer carried the burnout I had experienced in college, but I faced other challenges, such as getting used to being back in a classroom, relearning how to study, and occasionally wondering how I could have learned amino acid metabolism three different times and still remember none of it! — And sometimes wonder why I’d given up that salary to study the differences between generations of cephalosporin antibiotics.
All this to say, here’s what I wish I was told along the way:
1. Don’t build your application around what you think admissions committees want to see.
Pursue the activities, organizations, research, jobs, and hobbies that genuinely interest you. If you are doing something solely because you think it will “check a box”, you will probably be miserable – and it will be much harder to talk authentically about why it mattered to you. (This still stands true throughout medical school and later when preparing for residency applications.)
2. You don’t need to know your specialty on the first day of medical school.
Explore different clinical experiences, research opportunities, and extracurricular activities. Try things because you are curious. Talk to people in specialties you know nothing about. Follow opportunities that excite you, even if you’re not sure where they will land.
3. Show up.
Attend class in person when you can. Yes, recordings and third-party resources are convenient, but being there gives you the chance to ask the question that just popped into your head, have a conversation with your professor before class, and get slushies with a classmate on the walk home after a long day. These small moments build relationships with peers, faculty, staff, and mentors and make a demanding experience feel much more human.
4. Medicine is something you do, not everything you are.
Keep your hobbies. Spend time with the people you care about. Pursue goals that have nothing to do with your CV. Those parts of your life are not distractions from becoming a good physician; they help you become a more well-rounded person and, ultimately, a better physician. Don’t build a version of yourself that you think medicine wants; build a life and a career that genuinely excites you.
If I could imagine my future physician-self looking back at me now, I think she would tell me to keep being curious, keep saying yes to the things that excite me, and stop worrying so much about whether I’m doing things “right”. There will always be another exam, another application, and another milestone ahead. I hope I remember to enjoy the people, experiences, and little moments along the way – and remember why I chose a career in medicine.
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