Should I pursue medicine regardless of Crohns?

[Lady1]

Hi everyone.. Hope you are all doing well..and in case you're not I hope you're doing well soon : )! :hug:

So my story.. I always wanted to pursue medicine but went to law school due to practical reasons. Next year I'm a JD but I don't want to be a lawyer.
The thought of pursuing medicine/dentistry has never really disappeared.

It's been one year since my diagnose of Crohn's ..and even though I'm not on medicine (anymore) I am low energy, have headaches and I have to wake up 1 hour earlier just for my stool..

I am so scared of failing.. Should I pursue my dream regardless of Crohns?

 

[nogutsnoglory]

I say go for it, we always need to try to live our lives and not let IBD get the upper hand if we can avoid it. Everything is a challenge but hopefully you'll get better and find ways to manage your symptoms. You'll never know if you don't try!

 

[DJW]

Hi Lady1.

I know of at least one doctor here with IBD and another here working towards becoming a doctor.
Unfortunately I don't know how to tag people. Hopefully they will see the thread and respond.

 

[lbligh]

Every profession has its stressful and less-stressful sub-specialties.

It seems rather wasteful of your law degree, to switch to an unrelated profession. Are you interested in forensic medicine, perhaps?

 

[SupportiveMom]

Forensic medicine... how cool! If I were to go back to school I would want to do that!

There are a few docs here, a nurse too I recall. The road isn't easy but I would bet worth it in the end. And if you go into gastro you'd have so much more street cred from your patients!

 

[Lady1]

Every profession has its stressful and less-stressful sub-specialties.

It seems rather wasteful of your law degree, to switch to an unrelated profession. Are you interested in forensic medicine, perhaps?

Well forensic medicine is a bit scary for me :- ).. I prefer to work with people that I can communicate with (at least most of the time)..

I don't think it will be a waste anyway..the analytic thinking skills always come in handy.

 

[lilac]

go for it! will be less stressful having a job you love than a job you hate, especially when your flaring!

 

[alex_chris]

Quite honestly, if you can manage it from a funding perspective to go to med school after you have already studied law (and presumably a first degree as well, as you talk about JD), go for it.

My perspective will be a bit different because I did not originally study in the US, but it's still strangely similar:

1. Pre-diagnosis, when I was 18, I moved from Austria to Switzerland to study technical physics at the ETH Zurich. In the first year at university, I was diagnosed with Crohn's and was in pretty bad shape. Along with the stress from studying quite a hard subject at a top school, plus Crohn's, plus being in another country, I decided to come back to Austria.

2. But the technical university in Vienna is two notches below the ETH Zurich and I wasn't thrilled anyway to continue physics. So I decided what the heck, I got Crohn's, what better thing to do than study medicine (it's a minimum 6 year degree in Austria, but no need for a first pre-med degree). I aced my first exams and generally liked it, but - well - three of my fingers on my left hand (all except my thumb and my pinky finger) were affected by an amniotic band constriction that entrapped my left hand during the later part of when my mother was pregnant. It doesn't affect me one bit, I play the piano and write rather fast on a computer. Anyway, during anatomy classes when we worked on bodies, I realized that one of the problems down the line would be sterile glothes. Of course it's possible to wear them, but in the surgerical field that might just have posed big problems. It wasn't the only reason I switched study fields a second time, but anyway, I still abandoned medicine back then.

3. I switched to law (again, just like medicine, it is a first degree in Austria as it is the case in most of Europe) and studied computer engineering in parallel and graduated both. Later on, I moved to NY and studied at NYU for an LLM and have since then (with a few years doing other stuff in between) worked as a US and eventuall German lawyer (also passed the German bar).

Soooo, long story short, I believe, if Crohn's wasn't a problem to get your JD, it won't be a problem to get your MD .... all provided that you actually have it under control right now and know how to manage it. The only problem I could see is if you really want to go into dentristy or surgery. Those jobs go along with many, many hours of "standing around" while performing surgery, which can be quite strenuous. I was interning in cardiac surgery for a month between terms when I studied medicine - as first year students we weren't allowed to much at all, but we were allowed to observe in surgery from the side and believe me, you really need to be able to stand for many long hours each day.

 

[Lady1]

Quite honestly, if you can manage it from a funding perspective to go to med school after you have already studied law (and presumably a first degree as well, as you talk about JD), go for it.

My perspective will be a bit different because I did not originally study in the US, but it's still strangely similar:

1. Pre-diagnosis, when I was 18, I moved from Austria to Switzerland to study technical physics at the ETH Zurich. In the first year at university, I was diagnosed with Crohn's and was in pretty bad shape. Along with the stress from studying quite a hard subject at a top school, plus Crohn's, plus being in another country, I decided to come back to Austria.

2. But the technical university in Vienna is two notches below the ETH Zurich and I wasn't thrilled anyway to continue physics. So I decided what the heck, I got Crohn's, what better thing to do than study medicine (it's a minimum 6 year degree in Austria, but no need for a first pre-med degree). I aced my first exams and generally liked it, but - well - three of my fingers on my left hand (all except my thumb and my pinky finger) were affected by an amniotic band constriction that entrapped my left hand during the later part of when my mother was pregnant. It doesn't affect me one bit, I play the piano and write rather fast on a computer. Anyway, during anatomy classes when we worked on bodies, I realized that one of the problems down the line would be sterile glothes. Of course it's possible to wear them, but in the surgerical field that might just have posed big problems. It wasn't the only reason I switched study fields a second time, but anyway, I still abandoned medicine back then.

3. I switched to law (again, just like medicine, it is a first degree in Austria as it is the case in most of Europe) and studied computer engineering in parallel and graduated both. Later on, I moved to NY and studied at NYU for an LLM and have since then (with a few years doing other stuff in between) worked as a US and eventuall German lawyer (also passed the German bar).

Soooo, long story short, I believe, if Crohn's wasn't a problem to get your JD, it won't be a problem to get your MD .... all provided that you actually have it under control right now and know how to manage it. The only problem I could see is if you really want to go into dentristy or surgery. Those jobs go along with many, many hours of "standing around" while performing surgery, which can be quite strenuous. I was interning in cardiac surgery for a month between terms when I studied medicine - as first year students we weren't allowed to much at all, but we were allowed to observe in surgery from the side and believe me, you really need to be able to stand for many long hours each day.

Thanks for the story.. and of course the rest of the people too .

The funding is really not the issue. I have worked for every penny in law school so my real major debt is going to begin if I (will) pursue medicine.

I live outside the US too..and the problem is I only have one chance left for entering med school. Here is the case that you can only apply 3 times in your life for med school. Since I already used 2 of those chances in the last years I only have one left. In the past years we had a lottery system in our country but by next year the government has decided to remove that system..instead they choose people through hospital work experience, motivation and a couple of science based tests.

Unlike med school I have 3 chances left for dentistry..but I have to say, I am less motivated for that.

Anyway, I am glad to hear you finally did find a career that you like!:thumright:

 

[alex_chris]

Thanks for the story.. and of course the rest of the people too .

The funding is really not the issue. I have worked for every penny in law school so my real major debt is going to begin if I (will) pursue medicine.

I live outside the US too..and the problem is I only have one chance left for entering med school. Here is the case that you can only apply 3 times in your life for med school. Since I already used 2 of those chances in the last years I only have one left. In the past years we had a lottery system in our country but by next year the government has decided to remove that system..instead they choose people through hospital work experience, motivation and a couple of science based tests.

Unlike med school I have 3 chances left for dentistry..but I have to say, I am less motivated for that.

Anyway, I am glad to hear you finally did find a career that you like!:thumright:

Just out of curiosity, what country are you from? Just curious about which country would choose med students by lottery... . That doesn't sound right!

 

[alex_chris]

It's been one year since my diagnose of Crohn's ..and even though I'm not on medicine (anymore) I am low energy, have headaches and I have to wake up 1 hour earlier just for my stool..

Forgot to comment on that part of your post. What does your GI say about your current (no meds at all) treatment? If you got problems, which it looks like from this description, I am pretty surprised that you are not on any long term meds such as immunsuppressives (azathioprine/6mp) and/or biologics (humira, remicade etc.). Have you started medication and then abandoned it?

 

[Lady1]

Just out of curiosity, what country are you from? Just curious about which country would choose med students by lottery... . That doesn't sound right!

If your location is right (Germany).. we're neighbours (netherlands).
Yes the system isn't right but oh well..you can't fight the system, can you.. Important thing for me is knowing I only have one shot left whether I like it or not :shifty-t:

Well.. right after my diagnose (one year ago) I was put on Entocort, later on Azatiophrine and Pullorine.. the gastro checked my blood levels frequently and eventually said 'your blood levels are ok', than she tapered of the meds completely. For the ongoing headaches, hairloss and morning discomforts she didn't find them alarming. I am suprised that most of the people (on this forum) are permanetly on meds (even if they are in remission).. and she said I didn't need them untill I would have heavy symptoms again of the small intestine. I do have the meds (clyster) in case I would have discomfort from the large intestine (blood for example).

 

[alex_chris]

Well.. right after my diagnose (one year ago) I was put on Entocort, later on Azatiophrine and Pullorine.. the gastro checked my blood levels frequently and eventually said 'your blood levels are ok', than she tapered of the meds completely. For the ongoing headaches, hairloss and morning discomforts she didn't find them alarming. I am suprised that most of the people (on this forum) are permanetly on meds (even if they are in remission).. and she said I didn't need them untill I would have heavy symptoms again of the small intestine. I do have the meds (clyster) in case I would have discomfort from the large intestine (blood for example).

Long term remission means that you have no or virtually no symptoms for a long time, usually over a year. There are people who then get off long-term meds such as aza. I have tried it too and have been not taking any meds from 2008 to 2010 and for a few months this year. It is possible to manage without meds, but it is quite hard for a lot of people. If you got symptoms, then you likely also have some inflammation in your intestine and that, unfortunately, is not good at all. The standard approach is to take meds long-term because the effect from occasional or constant inflammation in your intestine is much worse than the potential side effects of medication.

Having said that, if you have symptoms, then rethinking long-term meds such as azathioprine (the usual course is 4-5 years and if at that point long-term remission has been established, you try to get off aza) might be something to consider.

Cheers from Frankfurt. I love the Netherlands, we are working on two capital markets transactions for Dutch companies right now. The Dutch are awesome!