Im dealing with an important life choice

[Nagma]

So this is concerning my career and  college degree so basically what I will be doing until I retire. 

So in France college is free but highly selective , especially concerning the medical field. The first year of college ends with an extremely selective exam and it's common for all medical fields. So I had to retake this exam 3 times , so 3 years of grinding and cramming in hopes of getting accepted in medical school or dental school. 

After this exhausting third year my grades are good enough that I can choose between dental school and medical school. 

Problem is that I dont know what to choose , I feel like these 3 years killed my passion and curiosity to be honest so im trying to make the " best " choice. 

There is pros and cons for both ! 

Pros of dental school : 

- Easier than med school 

- Much more free time 

- Cool job , good quality of life 

- More freedom because dentists can be their own boss 

- Less exhausting than working for an hospital 

Cons : 

- Not really interesting , there is not much depth to teeth science honestly  

- Less diversity of career choices 

- Might get bored and do my job for the money 

 

Pros of Med school : 

- Very interesting , higher diversity of career paths 

- Prestige 

( - Bigger impact on people's lives  ? )

Cons : 

- Fear of burning out 

- Asks a lots of investment. If you are not passionate it seems very hard to carry on 9 more years of college 

- Another highly selective exams during the 6th year , I will be a 27 years old guy cramming for exams and its hard to imagine 

- Working for an hospital might drain my life and my energy  

- Less free time during college 

 

So yeah , i dont know. These last 3 years were very hard and i had to make a lot of sacrifices ( mainly my social life and mental health )  so its completely out of question to find another field to work in. Im being realistic i know i have a huge privilege to have this choice of careers knowing that during all my life i swore to myself to never work a corporate job / wage slavery job , but this dilemma is messing with me. 

Like most of you im into spirituality  , dental school will offer much more free time to experience stuff but its clearly the low resistance choice. While med school is the higher resistance route and maybe this world needs more doctors who are into spirituality. But my main fear is to not have the mental strength to endure 9 more years of med school and eventually dropping out DESTROYING all these years of investment ( very valuable years because its the beginning of my adult life ). 

 

( I do not have time to take the life purpose course so please dont tell me to purchase it ) 

 

 Thank you for your attention. 

Edit : recently I realised that i suffer from anxiety , used to be depressed in high school too. 

 

Edited June 13, 2022 by Nagma

[Lincisman]

Does it take the same amount (9 years) to complete dental school or less? If I were you, I would turn to the wisdom of  Cal Newport.

[flowboy]

On 13/06/2022 at 11:07 PM, Nagma said:

i had to make a lot of sacrifices ( mainly my social life and mental health )  so its completely out of question to find another field to work in.

Really?

Even if this perfect new path showed up that would provide you with meaning and fulfillment, you'd rather throw that out because you'd spent a couple years working towards something else?

On 13/06/2022 at 11:07 PM, Nagma said:

But my main fear is to not have the mental strength to endure 9 more years of med school and eventually dropping out DESTROYING all these years of investment ( very valuable years because its the beginning of my adult life ).

The pressure you are putting on yourself is radiating off the screen and I can feel it.

You don't owe your past self anything.

You don't owe your parents anything.

You don't owe your privilege anything.

This is YOUR life.

 

My professional opinion is that you need a vacation and some life purpose course or coaching. It seems that there is a foundation missing of the big "WHY" - why you do what you do.

Having the Big Why can carry you through 9 years of college without burning out.

It will also make it ridiculously easy to choose between dental and medical school, because one leads to the actualization of your vision, and the other does not.

Maybe you did have that clear why once, and you lost sight of it because of all the stress.

On 13/06/2022 at 11:07 PM, Nagma said:

I do not have time to take the life purpose course so please dont tell me to purchase it

The pressure and anxiety is causing your priorities to be all wonky. You're basically saying you can't invest a few weeks to massively decrease the chances of wasting 9 years.

 

If you can't invest a few weeks, then at least treat yourself to a weekend retreat without your phone, meditate, walk in nature.

Life decisions made from an anxious pressurized state tend to be bad ones, and I have made many of them.

[Vision]

On 6/14/2022 at 9:07 AM, Nagma said:

so basically what I will be doing until I retire. 

Sounds quite pessimistic... unless you genuinely love what you are going to be doing. 

On 6/14/2022 at 9:07 AM, Nagma said:

i had to make a lot of sacrifices ( mainly my social life and mental health )  so its completely out of question to find another field to work in.

This is sunk cost fallacy speaking, not what your heart is speaking. 

You lack clarity in your life, that's why you are struggling with this decision.

What would you be doing with your life if you had $100 million? What would do if you knew you could not fail?