The Advantages and Disadvantages of Going to Medical School

For children, it is very easy to answer “doctor” when asked what they want to be when they grow up. While their intentions are pure and honest, their innocence blinds them from the fact that becoming a doctor is extremely challenging. 

If you were one of those kids who wanted to be a doctor when he grew up, you’d now realize getting into and completing medical school is no joke. The fact that you are reading this article means that you might be questioning: is med school really worth it?

Getting into medical school is both exciting and challenging. Before you commit to putting in the time, effort, and money for the upcoming years of your life, it’s important to consider the following pros and cons of going to medical school:

Advantages of Getting into Medical School 

The most obvious advantage of going to medical school is that, if you graduate, you will become a professional and licensed doctor, which is a highly respected job. You will be equipped with the ability to save lives and provide health-related services to other people. Being a doctor, is a rewarding job that pays well and opens many doors.

The journey to become a doctor offers continuous learning about medical science. While your classmates, who did not pursue medical school, could be stuck at their desk jobs, you will be discovering new things, interacting with senior doctors, training at several medical institutions, and practicing the science of treating patients.

Are You Planning on Applying to Medical School?

The process of getting into medical school is a long and complex one. In fact, it begins before you choose where to go to college.  Where and whether you get into medical school is impacted by your choice of college major, your GPA and MCAT prep and MCAT score, the choices you make to serve your community and volunteer, and your application and medical school admissions. Here are some excellent reading materials to help you become more informed about the process and strategies you can use to get into medical school.

Disadvantages of Getting into Medical School

The medical school application process is long and arduous. From studying for the MCAT to submitting your AMCAS application to developing your medical school secondary essay strategies, the process requires immense work and focus from beginning to end. 

Let’s face it – before you reap the benefits of being a doctor, you have to survive long, stressful, and expensive years of learning, training, preparing, and testing. It doesn’t come easy or cheap. Applying to and attending medical school will cost you a lot of money. You have to be prepared to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for med school tuition, books, course requirements, and years with very little, if any, income. Applying for student loans and getting into debt are serious dilemmas that med students face.

In addition, medical school is not like your typical undergraduate course that you can pass by cramming or taking shortcuts. The difficulty level is a few notches higher, meaning thicker textbooks, more technical exams, higher grading standards, and more demanding requirements. In addition, you have to retain a specific med school GPA to be able to stay in the school.

Making the Decision

It is no secret that medical school requires a great deal of responsibility. However, if you are able to handle all of the rigors and challenges that come your way, you will enjoy a great deal of rewards – not only monetary, but humanistic rewards that nobody can put a price on.

This article was written by a medical school admissions expert at InGenius Prep.