Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 7/4/2010

Question
I am at a cross road in my life. I don't know who to turn to for help, assurance, or answers anymore and let me say I am beyond glad that I have found you (and this site).

My most important and foremost question is:
Does it take a certain and special kind of person to do what you do?

For some reason I have it stuck in my mind that I am just not cut out for this, even though it's what I have been planning on for years now. Like many others, I am terrified of failure and I am afraid of choosing the wrong profession.

Do you have to be a science brain or a genius to be in your field (maybe more specifically to take the classes that you did in college)? I am a successful student and hard worker, but I just do not know if you need to be special to be in your field and I don't know if I am or am not that certain special.

Thank you so much!

Answer
All it takes to do any job is a love of the job and a good work ethic. Do you ahve to be smart to be a doctor...sure. There is a lot of material to learn and you need to be able to logically deduce solutions, etc. Medicine requires a lot of dedication, long hours, stress etc, but no one can decide if you are cut out for it but you. I don't know where you are in your education but you could try volunteering at a hospital. To get more hands on, you could train to become an EMT and work on a local ambulance (to see if you have the stomach for it, etc).

You don't have to be a science genius but you do need to be academically competitive.

Hope this helps,

Ronald Levy, MD
Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston