Growing up, life is relatively easy for most people. Your parents or guardians help ensure your basic needs of food, water, warmth, rest, security and safety. You get to be a kid and learn to navigate the world around you without having to make major long-term decisions. However, once you hit late adolescence and early adulthood, there comes a time when you have to face your fears and make tough, serious life decisions. One of these decisions includes choosing what career path to take. That decision is intensified when your career of choice is medicine. I admit that becoming a doctor is no walk in the park. It is a massive, long-term commitment to make. But what is stopping you from trying? Do you feel like you do not measure up? Do you doubt yourself and your abilities? There are many myths and misconceptions surrounding medicine as a career choice – and most of them are maintained by people who have never worked as an MD or DO, or have no medical experience at all. I’d like to share of the top five reasons I hear people tell me about why they may not be fit to pursue medicine.
