I don’t know who makes up the “career finder” self assessments that high school guidance counselors use, but I think they’re rubbish; medicine didn’t come up on my list. I headed off to business school. As a kid in the 80’s I blame too much Street Legal – business suits and office politics had such allure. I was going to park my Beemer on Bay Street and eat sushi 3 times a day.

In hind sight not having shared interests with my business school classmates should have been a tip-off, but I’m far too practical (a nice synonym for stubborn) to bail on a degree ½ way through. I ended up working in finance and accounting at a large financial services company here in Halifax. I was good at it and quickly had a position with significant autonomy and intellectually challenging problems to work on….no clerk duties, right to the good stuff, wahoo…and yet, I was miserable. Here’s a tip from my career guidance manual, if you can convince yourself you’ll be more productive taking your laptop to the pub and working there for the afternoon…change careers.

People sometimes comment positively on the personal attributes exemplified by a person who makes a significant career change. This embarrasses me because I think that’s hooey. When you’re miserable, change is the easiest route, sticking it out is the hard path. Mind you I was 23 and income stability didn’t seem like a matter worth bothering about. I more or less stumbled into my new career, working with homeless and high-risk youth. The pay was low and the hours stank (characteristics common of both jobs you can obtain without specific training and medical residency), but I was pretty content doing it. It felt good to be helping people in a tangible and immediate way.

Over a year or so of thinking on it and with the help of some good surfing doctor friends I finally had the hallelujah moment. Helping people and applying specialized knowledge to solve challenging problems – medicine of course! I ditched the wetsuit and headed to Dal’s admissions office to sign up for med school. So, turns out it’s not quite that easy. I receive complements on my persistence in pursing admittance to Dal’s medical school; believe me, if I knew at the time it was going to take 6 years, I’d be an accountant. Rejection letters. It was the first time in my life I had worked hard to achieve a goal and not accomplished it. It sucks and makes you angry and depressed in equal measures. Fortunately, those emotions grew into renewed focus and determination. It’s quite possible the reason I lasted for 6 years of working to get into Dal med is because I react poorly to being told no. But now I’m here, in medical school, and I’m trilled and the years of effort seem well worth it.

Here is why I know I made the right choice – when I get up in the morning to prepare for the day, I’m not unhappy and wishing I could go back to bed, I’m content to make coffee and pack up my books knowing I’m going to med school for the day and that’s exactly where I want to be. It took six years to switch from reading ledgers to reading ECG’s, it was time well spent.