Madboy121

Hey Everyone-

I was accepted ED to Trinity '12, and for my whole life I've thought that I would go into a career in medicine. In fact, that's one of the big reasons why I applied early to Duke: great volunteer/research opportunities at the hospital, high med school acceptance rate, etc. A huge portion of my "Why Duke?" supplement was dedicated to my passion for medicine.

Here's the kicker: over the past couple of months, I've become less and less interested in pursuing a career in medicine and much more interested in pursuing a career in law. I've been on my school's Mock Trial team for several years now, and it might be because I'm captain of the team this year and because we have a great shot at going to nationals, but recently I've found it much easier to picture myself as a lawyer than a doctor. Mock Trial is my passion. I love preparing for court. I love arguing in court. I love objecting. I love giving a convincing closing statement. In short--I love Mock Trial.

I'm unexpectedly loathing AP Biology (it's my worst class and I find it really boring) and my favorite class all year has been "Civil Rights and Civil Liberties," in which we view U.S. Supreme Court cases over the last century.

Now, I don't really have a specific question to ask you all, but I'm definitely concerned as to my future career choice. I don't want to rule out medicine, but I certainly want to pursue my passion for law as well. I guess if I had to ask some questions on this thread, they would be:

a) Are you someone/do you know someone at Duke with this same Medicine v.s. Law concern?
b) How does Duke rank in terms of law/pre-law?
c) Is it normal for a Duke freshman to not know what career path to take? Can Duke help me with my course of studies in the fall?
d) WHAT SHOULD I DO??

I'm probably exaggerating, but it's just so weird for me because, for the last ten years, I thought my career was set in stone as a doctor, and the more I think about it, the more I want to back out of that career choice and go into something involving law. I'm not used to this whole "unsure of my future" concept, and it's making me feel very, VERY insecure.

Any advice/feedback would be greatly appreciated!

phonyreal98

a) no
b) I'm sure it's pretty good...I read in their viewbook that 99% of prelaws are admitted to law school (I think law school is a bit easier to get into than med school)
c) from what I hear, yes
d) Do what you want.

Take what you wish from this advice....I'm a high school senior too!!

Madboy121

Oops...I meant to post this on the main Duke forum..

p_hp_fan

I could copy/paste this post all over CC... gah.

I seriously think that if one were to present the entire world with every profession/academic study path available and had each person choose what would most interest them...maybe 5 people would legitimately choose medicine AND law. (Now, many more would legitimately choose one or the other.) However, due to today's omnipresent emphasis on prestige and societal perception, half the people in America believe they want to pursue at least one of these two careers, most all on pseudo realistic pretenses. It's annoying to say the least.

Solutions:
1a. Stop deceiving yourself
1b. Stop putting public perception and "the gaze" above your own ambitions
2. Open your mind
3. Use college as a base platform to explore different career opportunities
4. Follow your heart

Madboy121

p_hp_fan-

I started this post trying to tell you that I don't gauge my career options based on "prestige and social perception," but I had difficulty posing reasons for why I've personally wanted to study medicine, and all I could come up with was how I've loved to study math and science over the years.

On the other hand, I feel quite differently when it comes to law. I love Mock Trial. I love reading testimony, looking for inconsistencies between sworn statements and exhibits, delivering opening and closing arguments, cross examining witnesses, objecting etc. etc. and I know that I'm good at it. I love examining the reasoning and logic behind court cases of the past.

Now, when I think doctor, I think about the money first, and then white coat, and being called "Dr. ______," and then I think about the actual work. And I see it as work. With law, I see the job first, which is something that I think I'd enjoy a lot, and the money comes later. I don't even think of the societal implications when it comes to law...I pretty much want to ignore them.

Your post really helped me look at my career choice solely based on my passion. I know I have a lot more experiences in both medicine and law up ahead in my life, but for the time being, thank you.

sparkle28swim

if you are at all interested in keeping with medicine, keep in mind that there are ways to combine the two. you could be a lawyer for pharmaceutical companies or something. there are so many options out there once you have a law background! i think Duke would def. be good for pre-law. in the meantime, try not to worry so much. no matter what area of study you choose, you will get an excellent education at Duke.

moviefreak126

Im in the same place....but i'm in high school.

godevils2011

I'm kind of in the same boat, but not with law (actually I never really thought about it, but I haven't ruled it out). However, the reason I'm interested in medicine is that I think I would enjoy the work. I'm just afraid to commit to that path since it's such an arduous one, and to be honest, I'm not the hypercompetitive type (at least not with grades).

My advice to you is to follow your heart, which seems not to be with medicine.

sockpuppet

Funny how you see law and medicine, as I am quite the opposite. I'd hate to be buried in lots of paperwork and researching, and being a doctor means interesting cases everyday and problem solving, etc.

Of course, everyone thinks differently.

With that being said, you don't want to pick a field that your not particularly interested in. Either med or law is both time extensive and money extensive, so go with what you could see yourself studying for another 4 years and working as for the rest of your life

Jagged

It sounds like you never questioned your rigid goal of becoming a doctor, and simply when you did you found some flaws in your own thinking. Can you actually come up with any reasons why you would like to be a doctor? Like helping people? Just, be glad you have some passions, i have no clue what i wanna be.

Trinity is flexible. You can probably take the general premed and prelaw courses for a year or so till you choose.

incollege88

If you are serious about law, I would suggest holding off on pre-med requirements your first semester or two at Duke. Law school entrance heavily (and I mean heavily) weights your GPA, and you will find Duke pre-med classes, especially at the beginning levels, to be very difficult and grade-deflated (it is not uncommon for people who stack up on pre-med classes their first semester freshman year to get multiple Cs or Ds since the transition is so great, which would be killer for you if you eventually want to get into a top-5/10 law school). Duke is a great place for getting people into top law schools -- the places my friends are going are all very, very strong (I just graduated) -- but it will not be able to help you if you end up with a bad GPA. I would venture to say that AP bio is prob more similar to Duke science classes than your past experiences in math/science so if you hate it that might be something to think about. Finally, you can always start on the pre-med track your sophomore year if you decide that you want to do medicine in the end; there's no rush and there are plenty of people who will be in the same boat. Hope this helps.

C.Chan

you know what, the exact same thing happended to me. My whole lfie I have wanted to be a docotr, but this year I did Mock Trial, and debate, and speech, and can seem myself doing public speaking. I also took AP US Gov and AP Comparative Gov, and absolutely LOVE them!!! But the thing that makes me slightly different from you, is that I also LOVE AP Biology and science in general just as much. My schedulare literally is one math class, one english class, and the rest are social sciences and sciences.

HAve you ever considered being BOTH a doctor and a lawyer? Duke is one of the only universities to offer a dual degree graduate program which takes at least six years to complete. Granted, you must be exceptionally hardworking/brilliant, and be willing to endure months of sleepless nights. My uncle recently graduated from Yales joint degree program, getting both a MD and JD. He is actually doing his residency right now, but may plan on entering a firm sometime in the future.

My advice to you, is not necessarily to get both your MD and JD, but keep an open mind, and maybe find carrer paths that allow you to have the best of both worlds.

SBR

The problem with pursuing a JD/MD is that the pre-med and pre-law tracks can be very different in terms of course and testing requirements. To add to that, one has T-reqs and major requirements. Granted, it is quite possible (and indeed likely) that one could choose a major whose courses have significant overlap with one of those tracks. However, the number of courses that would still be needed could easily require multiple overload semesters which can be very stressful. Furthermore, in some cases (like Duke), you'd have to do two separate application processes for the two degrees which comprise standardized testing, recommendation letters, applications, interviews, etc. which can make your life (junior year in particular) absolutely hell.

So, you must be quite sure that you absolutely want JD/MD before you undertake that endeavor. In the case of the OP, he has already stated that he has serious doubts regarding his commitment to a career in medicine. As such, pursuing a JD/MD would probably not be an appropriate course of action.

PS: having seen some of the essays that med schools ask applicants to write, a person lacking serious commitment and dedication to the field of medicine would likely have a lot of trouble writing them. Additionally, med schools are usually very good at weeding out applicants who aren't absolutely sure they want to be doctors.

Madboy121

lol wow--I can't believe that this post was revived after nearly a year.

Update: I've learned that a career in medicine isn't for me, and that anyone who is going into the medical field truly needs to be passionate/dedicated. I didn't feel like I had that fire for medicine. On the other hand, I can truly see myself entering a legal career now, and am currently Pre-law (which isn't actually a major here at Duke...that I am still trying to decide lol). Ask me again in 9 months, though, and I could give you a completely different answer as to my career plans.