Hey there y'all!
Thanks for coming and reading about my story.
I'm usually a person who's very kept to myself and tend to stay away from social media and blogging, but I would love to be able to share my story with anyone whose interested in listening. The internet can be a freeing place, especially when one can write freely without fear of being judged and repercussions in real life, and that is why I'm going to be keeping my identity hidden. I feel like this is the best way for me to be able to provide a detailed, critical, and unbiased documentation of events that happen in my medical journey while also protecting the privacy and secrecy of those around me. I'm sure I'll have fun looking back and reading what I write, and maybe you guys will too.
Therefore for all intents and puposes, please refer to me as Osteichthyes (O. for short).
So lets get started!
I'm originally from Southern California, but I'm currently a medical student in Philadelphia, PA. I'm currently finishing my second year of medical school (MS2) and will have another two years of schooling, plus four more years of residency on top of that. No, I do not come from a family of doctors or big money or anything. Actually, my family is lucky enough to be able to sustain a living through our family business of photography. I'm actually the first one in the family with a University Degree. As you can all imagine, the amount of revenue one can earn from photography is not enough (I know some photographers make a lot of money, but we don't) to sustain my medical education, so I have to take out personal loans to pay for my education.
How much will I owe by the time I graduate? $320,000.00 USD if I'm lucky
What....? But you'll pay that off in no time with the salary you'll get!
Sure, I'll pay it off eventually, but the amount of time spent to complete the education and start working puts those who are in medical school at an extreme disadvantage when compared with those who have worked and began saving money already. If you think about it, an extra 8 years of education (residency is paid, but not as much as you'd expect) can earn someone a lot of money as well, and they don't have debt on top of that. I'm not complaining about the debt, I just want to give you guys a better perspective of someone who's currently going through it. I've understood for a long time that I'll likely be poor for a long time (surprising huh considering I'll be a physician) but that doesn't put me off from pursuing my field.
For those who ARE considering pursuing a career in medicine, PLEASE do not let monetary value society places on the job blind you. We work hard. Really hard. The hours are grueling. The work is stressful. The mental grind is a struggle. Studying and memorization of facts is your new job. In fact most of the time at the end of the day my elbows are hurting (from writing on my desk all day) and my brain is fried because of all the new information. Nonetheless, I find myself going to sleep smiling because I know I'm learning knowledge that can one day help save someone's life. If you can't imagine yourself doing that, I would give yourself some time to think before submitting that application letter.
I'm in the field to help people get better, in any way, shape or form. I regret nothing about my decision to go to medical school. I find myself lucky to even be here in fact and am a strong believer that things always happen for a reason.
Case in point being my admission to my school. I applied to 30 schools across the U.S., but unfortunately for me, I had messed up my timing and ended up taking my MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) late, and missing the opening date to submit applications. Why does that matter? Well, Medical College admissions are done on a rolling basis, which means that the applications that are submitted earlier get looked at first, and in a highly competitive field like this, that matters a lot. Seats get filled and schools eventually stop looking at applications at all. This didn't help my case. I was 3 months late in the application process, and that's HUGE. Nonetheless I took the MCAT (and was lucky enough to score in the 91st percentile) and submitted my applications. Here's a basic timeline I was able to find.
Months and months passed and by March I had hear nothing from any schools. I was already preparing my new applications and getting ready to apply again. Things were ready for me to resubmit and I had gone to Australia to attend my cousin's wedding. Next thing you know, I get an email from one of the schools I applied to and they were giving me an opportunity to interview with them. I was ECSTATIC. My whole family in Australia was happy and cheered me on to go and do my best. Deep down inside I was very nervous. I only had one shot at this. This was the SOLE interview I had received, and it was highly strange that it was this late in the process. Most schools had finished filling their seats by now.
I've never been a person to back down from a challenge, and this was not going to be an exception. I scheduled the earliest date possible (as this was critical in my mind to give myself the best chance) and bought my plane ticket to fly back the day after my cousin's wedding instead of spending more time with them in Australia like originally planned. The ticket was pricey, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
A lot of people say, "You only need one interview," when talking about getting the interview, but when it really came down to it for me, that became, "You only GOT one interview."
The pressure was mounting but I usually thrive under pressure. Or at least that's what I thought.
I land in Philadelphia 14 hours later and Uber to my hotel. I order food and begin to prepare myself for the interview. My mind was racing, I was stressed out and didn't know what to do. I didn't sleep much on the plane because..... it's a plane. The food was supposed to be brought up to my room, but they called me down to the lobby instead. This made me really frustrated for some reason and I came down ready to give them a piece of my mind.
What happened next was nothing short of amazing. My jaws dropped when I looked up and saw my girlfriend standing there holding my food. She had decided to MEGABUS all the way to Philadelphia from North Carolina to surprise and support me in my efforts. To this day I believe her support and love is what pushed me through the finish line and I love her passionately with all my heart.
Well, me being me, I ended up not getting any sleep the night before and went into the interview feeling beat up from the 14 hour plane ride and a restless night. Things went fine, I thought, and I flew back after getting to spend some time exploring Philadelphia with my girlfriend whom I hadn't seen for months because of a long-distance relationship.
Fast forward one month, I received a letter in the mail.
Waitlisted.
I was both dejected and optimistic, because a waitlist is better than an outright rejection. Nonetheless, I was pretty disappointed. Months went by and I had already given into the idea that I'd have to wait another year before I could begin my journey... but things happen for a reason.
I was in my room doing some research on the computer when I got a phone call from an area code I recognized. 215. I knew that was Philadelphia.
My heart raced. My hands were clammy as I reached my finger towards the accept button and swiped. I picked up the phone and squeaked out a, "Hello?"
It was the Dean of Admissions. She asked if it was me and notified me about my past status of being Waitlisted. She then proceeded with, "Well.... CONGRATULATIONS!!! We actually have a spot left with your name on it if you'll take it."
I couldn't believe what was happening. I was stunned. Beyond my wildest dreams honestly. To go from a feeling of pure despair and pessimism for the past few weeks and receive this call was one of the BEST feelings of my life. That being said though, it really limited how I could respond and all I could do was awkwardly reply, "Yes.. YES. YES! I'll take it."
I mean it would've been nice to be able to thank her for the phone call and thank the school for giving me a chance, but hey, that's what happens when you're surprised right?
Thus, my journey into medicine had begun. I would have to leave my life in California behind and move to Pennsylvania. Coast to coast.
Anyways, I think I'll stop here for now. Thank you for reading guys, I hope you enjoyed it! Please reply below with questions or comments!
If you enjoyed the read (or just want to help a poor medical student pay off his loans)
PLEASE UPVOTE, FOLLOW AND RESTEEM!
Regards,
O.