Looking Forward
I can't sugar-coat it: I feel extremely privileged to be in the position I am today. Maybe some might call it a little naive, when they think about the years of training and impending debt. But after years of building an idea of who I want to become, it feels good to be committed to my aspirations. I'm sure that about 20,000 other incoming students feel the same way. All of them with their own personal motivations and legends, complete with a list of challenges and awe-inspiring accomplishments that brought them this far.
Although I don't know exactly what they're thinking, it is probably a mix of excitement, anxiety, and fear—all stemming from questions we have asked, and some that we haven't yet formed.
It will be a while before I get my answers just yet, but thinking about all the big things and the little things I hope to gain from the next 4 years of school helps keep my goals in perspective.
The greatest reason why I hope to be a physician is because of the potential—the potential to change someone's life for the better; to join a community that emphasizes the pursuit and proliferation of the sciences; to practice medicine in a time when 3D-printing technology, personalized genomic data, gene editing, and other similar technologies are beginning to reshape how we view the art of healing itself. Whatever specialty I am matched into years down the road, whether it be general surgery or internal medicine, I know that I will be providing a service that I am privileged to have the ability to do so to begin with.
To those who may be a year or even decades removed from my position, I would gladly take any wisdom you may have to offer. And to those that are starting their medical journey like myself, I wish you the best of luck. I look forward to the next chapter of my life—I'll let you know how it goes.
Medscape Med Students © 2017 WebMD, LLC
Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Expectations Entering Medical School - Medscape - Aug 30, 2017.
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