why did you choose to study medicine?
I got this question several days ago, and it's taken me a while to think of an answer. I think it's been hard because initially I didn't have a great reason for pursuing medicine. But as I have progressed in my studies, I've found new reasons why medicine was the right fit for me. So I'll try to explain it.
1. Elementary School through middle school: I was ambitious. That was all the reason I needed at first. I wanted to be a doctor because that's what smart, ambitious people did in my mind. Plus after years of sitting around a law office waiting for my mom to get off work (she was a paralegal), I saw that law was very boring. So medicine was the logical choice in my mind.
2. Middle and High School: I liked science. My ambition led me to an interest in a career medicine, and my nerdliness found its home in science. Oh, I'm going to be a doctor? Well it's a good thing I get a mini high from figuring out genetics puzzles and from cutting open rats and pigs!
3. High School and college: I liked missions. I had surrendered to a call that I believe God placed on my life. I knew he wanted me to tell people about Him, and I also knew that he had put interests and skills in my life for a reason. So I combined my ambition, interest in science, and love for missions and decided once again that medicine was for me.
4. College and Medical school: I liked people. I discovered a joy in interacting with people--teaching them, helping them, listening to them, etc. And it was a good thing, too, considering I would have to have a lot of human interaction if I was to be a doctor or a missionary (or both!). So once again, all my interests, which weren't always pointing in the same direction, came together to point to one thing: medicine (there's a vector joke in there somewhere, physics fans).