The desire to become a doctor is a laudable goal that requires dedication and perseverance on the part of premed students. This intensive program of study and rigorous coursework helps those aspiring to enter the medical field better understand the complexities of the medical field and prepares them to serve as healthcare practitioners. As challenging as these pre-med courses can be, there are numerous positive benefits to pursuing these studies that can carry into other professional and personal endeavors.

Intellectually Stimulating: Premed students engage in a wide variety of studies, ranging from medical-specific courses like anatomy and biochemistry to broader studies such as English, psychology, and philosophy. These challenging courses will provide immense

intellectual stimulation, as students will be presented with difficult tasks and new information regularly. Furthermore, the combination of these courses will cross-pollinate and supplement each other to strengthen the overall understanding of the material and concepts.

Real-World Skills Development: Premed students typically gain substantive real-world skills on their path to becoming a doctor. By chronically taking notes and studying hard, students can form lifelong habits of organization and comprehensiveness that will help them better understand complex material and retain more information from lectures, textbooks, and scientific journals. They may also learn how to communicate effectively with their colleagues and be able to think critically and constructively. More hard skills could include managing their studies and schedules efficiently and working collaboratively with others.

Real-World Experience: Entering the medical field often requires some form of real-world experience and premed students have an opportunity to gain this in various forms. For instance, they can volunteer to participate in clinical studies, which allow them to observe and interact with real patients or join a medical school's research program. Even the family members of some premed students may be an invaluable source of experience as they can often provide advice or stories from their healthcare visits with physicians.

These are just a few of the many advantages of pursuing premed studies. Not only is it a great way to open the door to the medical field, it is also a path to gain an array of knowledge and experiences to use in a broader context. For those that are thinking about becoming a doctor, these positive benefits should only add to the impetus to begin premed studies and work diligently towards a fulfilling career helping others.