It’s the age-old phrase uttered by many a college student:“Being Pre-Med sucks.” To many this isn’t a surprise at all. For those of you who don’t know, in order to get into Med School, one must take two semesters of biology, two semesters of chemistry, two of organic chemistry, two of physics (all with labs, of course), two of calculus, and two of English. Not to mention you have to maintain a stellar GPA and basically ace the MCATs. Laboratory research and good recommendations are also a must. This doesn’t sound horrible if you’re a hermit, but for those of us who want some sort of social life and who want to take interesting courses (which I like to believe is the reason many go to college), it flat-out sucks.

So why would I want to put myself through these nine circles of hell? The answer that many, including myself, give is that we like what’s at the end of the road: being a doctor. Being a white Jewish boy from Long Island, all I remember from growing up is my aunts pinching my cheeks and asking me “Are you going to be a doctor like your parents?”

You see, in my family, becoming a doctor is like taking your first crap. Everyone is happy for you, but they expect you to do it anyway. If you don’t do it, you’re essentially a freak that can’t take a crap. There are exceptions, but the vast majority of jobs in my family revolve around medicine. Currently my dad is the professor of Gross Anatomy at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. My uncle is a neurologist there. My mom went there for Med School (She failed, mind you, but ended up meeting my dad in the process). One uncle went there for his residency. I think a grand total of five cousins are also doctors around the country in fields ranging from interventional radiology to emergency medicine. But the mac-daddy of them all was my grandfather who practically started the field of neurology at Mount Sinai. My family is basically medical royalty there. So I kind of fell into it.

Some of my friends tell me, “Well you don’t have to do it. You signed up for it.” That’s true, but the fact of the matter is I want to be a doctor more than anything else. The Pre-Med path is a means to an end. After getting my EMT license this past summer, I know this more than ever. I loved learning about anything to do with clinical medicine. I enjoyed every second of my required ambulance hours, from something as crazy as watching a blind schizophrenic beat the shit out of two cops, to something as innocent as taking vitals on four little kids in a car accident. I even rejoined my old firehouse as a medic because I loved it so much. Medicine is really what I want to do; I just hate the path to get there.

Luckily (or unluckily depending on how you view it), I am not the only one that feels this way. I do not think I have spoken to one person that really enjoys this path. Maybe they like a class here or there, but for the most part the responses I get fall all along the same lines. One sophomore I asked in chemistry said she hated it because “You have to take organic.” Another said “It’s because you don’t have a life to yourself” or because “You have to start looking for another school again junior year.” My roommate, being the antagonizing guy he is, said “’Cause you have to listen to all your other Pre Med friends bitch. Yeah. I mean you Benny.” Nice right? But he has a point; we do bitch a lot. He’s Pre Med too, and he bitches a lot.

It makes me think is there anyone who actually likes being Pre-Med? I’ve asked a few people and got some surprising responses.  One girl in my Chemistry class said simply, “I like to learn.” One freshman who told me he was doubling up on chemistry and physics while concurrently taking Calc 114 said, “I like the ability to take all different science courses.” I honestly think that a lot of this is bullshit. People will create lies in order to get them through this ordeal.

You see, no one really enjoys taking all of those courses. For those science majors who are Pre-Med, they will enjoy the science course that coincides with their major, and hopefully their interests. Biology majors will enjoy Biology. Chemistry majors, Chem. Physics majors, Physics. No one should enjoy Orgo.

I’m only saying this because I honestly believe there is better stuff we could all be doing with our time. We could be in interesting clubs or student organizations, or making connections and friendships that could last us a lifetime. We could be in classes different from anything we took in high school and anything we will ever take in Med School—making us different from every run-of-the-mill doctor that graduates. But instead we are stuck in courses that are out to get us, made to weed out us out of this Pre-Med track. Maybe they are doing us a favor.

I guess it’s a decision every Pre Med student must make for himself. You have to figure out if you can tolerate the four years of boring intro courses in order to get to the end goal, whether it be to help people, cut open a dead body, or make a butt-load of cash. I am still struggling with it every day. I feel lost and uncertain. I don’t know if I am making the right decisions and am always worried that I am going to fall flat on my face. I guess it’s comforting to know that at the very least I am not alone. All of us are in over our heads. But if we try hard enough, we’ll make it. At least I hope we will.