When I use a word . . . On becoming a doctor

A recent online article in <i>The Times</i> newspaper sought to advise school leavers “how to become a doctor.” Its authors would have been better advising them to consider whether they wanted to become doctors at all. I don’t pretend to be able to advise school leavers about that—it is too long since I did it myself, and even when I was doing it the whole process seemed to me akin to driving down an unfamiliar highway in a dense fog, wondering if I was ever going to arrive. My best offer is to suggest that they ask themselves a question similar to a question I was asked when pondering what specialty might suit me best as a trainee: what are their favourite academic subjects? If they are those that fit the needs of the undergraduate curriculum, they should go for it, assuming that current resident doctors don’t strongly advise them not to, for other reasons. And if they have very wide interests, spanning the sciences and humanities, then they should certainly go for it—of all careers, medicine is likely to offer them the best chance of indulging those interests and becoming expert practitioners.