The unique rat race that is a “pre-med” journey begins early and easily becomes a tiring and constant battle. The field on which it takes place is littered with sacrifices, compromises, self-doubts, and the stinging smell of defeat. Years of commitment, time, energy, successes and failures culminate as efforts towards a career in medicine. The competitive and all-consuming compulsion to hone the distinguished repute of a future physician can be isolating and debilitating. Students may be suited to harness this kind of environment and reroute this competitive drive to fuel their own fire. Inversely, this may drive others to a brink of isolation with feelings of loneliness and doubt or inevitably leave lifelong learners compelled to climb an endless ladder of accomplishments as a response to living years of learned measurements of self-worth. In a majority of cases, students lay in a healthy and challenging medium on this spectrum of extremes.
After the harsh surrealism of the COVID pandemic, I was very fortunate to have been spared a large part of a relentless competition through my acceptance into an accelerated medical school program at the University of Arizona. I was graciously granted freedoms that have offered me glimpses into the infinite perspectives of wellness, worldliness, and embracing diversity through holding space for it.

The structure of the Accelerated Pathway to Medical Education Program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson includes 3 years spent in undergraduate schooling to complete a number of required courses to prepare for medical school. Along with these courses, the program requires a number of commitments to research, volunteering, and leadership. There is no requirement of getting a bachelor’s degree and this stipulation allows students to take courses that genuinely cater to fostering other essential development during these three years in a more non-traditional format. Students can choose to achieve a bachelor’s degree in their desired area of study in these three years and it is entirely doable with the support of the program and its ever-available and attentive advisors. The unspoken challenge once accepted is a brief and overwhelming feeling that the wheels are set in motion so early. The pressure is that these programs crack the code on producing the most invested and honed candidate with the widest girth of awareness. The reality is that such programs are one of many ways to foster interest in medicine and support early decisions in those that know such dedication early. The risk is to create division or absolutes that paralyze the growth intended to foster.

On the matter of division, it is rare to find such sure intentions in high school students. It comes as no surprise that “marrying” medicine may feel like any marriage before 20 years of age, daunting. These programs work to enhance the diversity of students that enter medical school by finding early commitment and by encouraging their scholars to widen the horizons of their interests and dive into engaging with the populations they will eventually serve as a physician.

Other pathways include gap years after undergraduate learning and have become a very common and almost expected part of the journey of a pre med applicant to help add dimension. According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, the 2023 questionnaire given to matriculating medical students reported that 73.2% of students took one or more gap years between finishing undergrad and beginning medical school. Gap years are amazing opportunities for students to explore more about their interests and their personal drivers.

Choosing the path of medicine is not just a career, it is a profound commitment to healing, advocating, and offering clarity in times of uncertainty. Every challenge faced, every problem solved, and every solution found leads to a future where lives are changed for the better in collaboration with narratives already unfolding. The privilege of becoming a doctor is a testament to resilience and the unwavering pursuit of knowledge and service to maintaining health and wellness.

We often lean on certain divisions in order to support our decisions, justify the actions we take in our lives or even account for results that we receive. The stifling environment of instant gratification provided to us by the world of social media has made it difficult for myself and many of my peers to shift into a mentality to create our own long term goals and ignore the glaringly easy idea to compare ourselves, yet soon enough we are all equally tasked with the esteem obligation of upholding the science and art of medicine alongside others. As an ongoing investment and product of the dedicated accelerated medical school program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine Tucson, I hope to express the beauty that can be found. I have had the time to travel abroad, volunteer in third world countries, be a part of humanitarian research for the improvement of healthcare access in disadvantaged countries, connect with and shadow physicians, and explore my own passions to bring to the world of medicine. The wonderful flexibility of the program supports my desire to broaden my understanding of the world around me.

Being a physician is a journey of commitment to the purpose of leading in medicine, one that reaffirms the wisdom, courage, and compassion required to care for others. To those who feel the pull of this noble profession, know that the impact you make will extend far beyond diagnoses and treatments, and it will touch lives, bring hope, and shape a lasting difference in the communities you serve. For those considering an early program I would highly encourage the program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson as they have provided me with such a gift that I am excited to share with the next prospective class.