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Originally Posted by willravel
I'm still thinking about going into medicine (cardiology).
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It's a looong road, son. How badly do you want to study cardiology?
I was going to do cardiology myself but I just got too tired of residency and fellowship and just wanted to work. I had worked in heart-lung perfusion research while taking my pre-med and had references from one of the top 10 cardiothoracic surgeons in the country. A friend of the family used to be one of the directors of the American Heart Association and he taught me all I know about EKG interpretation and his brand of cardiac auscultation. Even so, it was a tough, looooong road.
Have you taken your MCAT yet? If you live in California your grades and scores need to be top tier in order to stay in the state. You'll likely have to move for schooling and again for residency. Does your wife work, too? I hope she can work out of the house. Especially if you have a child your relationship with your family will be taxed to its limits because you'll never be around and you'll be stressed from studies all the time. I've seen the tightest marriages get close to divorce because of medical school and its demands.
Then there's residency - Imagine some months with 80-90 hour work weeks with chronic sleep deprivation. On top of that you need to study for the three US Medical Licensing Exams. After that there's the Board Exams - the toughest 2 day exam you'll ever face in your life.
Presuming you pass you then apply for fellowship. Time to uproot the family again ... and so it goes.
If you want it badly then it's something you have to fight for NOW and aggressively. If you're "thinking" about it then it will never happen - and don't even try because a half-attempt just makes you a med-school dropout with no job skills and a mountain of new debt.
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Originally Posted by willravel
Do you carry a gun in with your patients?
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no.