In the medical community, it seems as if some students were born with stethoscopes around their necks. As early as elementary school, inspired, high achieving students decide their life path, and every year, thousands of undergraduates undertake the pre-medical track. However, most pre-meds inevitably change course, like neuroscience majors Zaima Rahman and Neha Jarabandi, who dedicated most of their undergraduate years to medicine until they realized that the path wasn’t for them.
Rahman’s Journey
“From a young age, I really liked the idea of working in medicine,” Rahman, a fifth-year student said. “I love the idea of helping others. I know it’s really cliche but it really did pique my interest. I wasn’t into much of the computer realm or the arts or anything. Science was really my main subject and it felt like the most natural case for me to pursue [it].”
Later, witnessing health care firsthand pushed Rahman further into her passion.
“I had a grandma who suffered from cervical cancer and since she stayed with us, I had to help her with a lot of things and go to doctor’s appointments with her,” Rahman said. “They [my parents and health care professionals] made her life much easier while she was suffering. That was something I really truly grasped. I really liked the idea of making people’s lives easier and happier.”
At this point, Rahman’s mind was made up. She wanted to pursue medicine. As she explored the field, she started contemplating different specialties.
“In the beginning, I really loved the idea of being an oncologist — working in the cancer field,” Rahman said. “Later it was pediatric oncology that I was really interested in. I talked to doctors about it and a lot of them said it was very hard but I was very determined. Later, I became more interested in women’s psychology and women’s health, and in the end, I wanted to become an OBGYN.”
Despite her initial enthusiasm, Rahman was weathered by the harsh reality of medicine during her undergraduate years.
“Honestly, as I was going through it, I won’t lie, I had a really bad mental breakdown at one point,” Rahman said. “I was struggling a lot and a lot of things were happening to me. As classes got harder for me to go through, I started to lose interest in a way. I wasn’t intrigued as much as I was before. It wasn’t the medicine field that I thought it was going to be.”
Rahman said that having to take chemistry classes was one of the main reasons she made the switch from the pre-med neuroscience track to the industrial neuroscience track. The pressure of having to balance many things at once was another reason.
I was very much the type of person to think I could push through it, but then I realized that I wasn’t really pushing through it anymore, I was suffering through it.
— Zaima Rahman, neuroscience senior
“It was senior year and I still didn’t shadow that many hours, I didn’t volunteer as much, I didn’t join that many clubs and I didn’t do any research,” Rahman said. “I had to start studying the MCAT. When will I start studying the MCAT? All that kind of got to me. I was very much the type of person to think I could push through it, but then I realized that I wasn’t really pushing through it anymore, I was suffering through it.”
When she came to the decision to move away from the pre-med track, Rahman was afraid of disappointing all those who had been supporting her, but after speaking to her adviser and seeking guidance from her faith, she decided it was the best way to move forward.
“I’m the eldest daughter so my parents had a lot of high hopes for me,” Rahman said. “At the end, when I told them that I changed my [pathway] and that I’m not going to pursue this anymore, I cried. I’m not a crier and I don’t back down that easily so when they saw that, they were very supportive and understanding.”
Although it was a difficult decision for Rahman to step away from medicine, her horizons have been broadened as she is now considering different pathways.
“When I was a pre-med, I was only focused on becoming a doctor and that was it, but now I love business, I love health care management, I love learning the laws, ethics and regulations behind stuff and I love the idea that I get to talk to the people who also make a difference,” Rahman said.
Now Rahman is looking toward careers which aid in clinical trials or ones in the pharmaceutical industry. However, she still feels as though she would have stuck to the medical path if it had not been as difficult.
“I would have never thought of switching my degree plan but I don’t blame them because I think the industry needs to be harsh,” Rahman said. “It’s people’s lives you’re dealing with and if you make it easier on people, you’re not going to have as good of doctors.”
Jarabandi’s Journey
Jarabandi, a senior, found her passion for medicine while participating in Health Science Clinical, a yearlong application-based program open to junior and senior high school students throughout various districts in the DFW area.
“Volunteering in nursing homes and seeing the impact that I was having definitely sparked my interest,” Jarabandi said. “I really appreciated seeing various aspects of the hospital and seeing the impact of me helping.”
During her first years of university, Jarabandi was involved in many pre-medical extracurriculars including working as an emergency medical technician and volunteering. Later, around the beginning of her junior year, she made the tough decision of switching out of the pre-med track.
“I think throughout my experiences in the hospital, I really loved the personal aspect of it,” Jarabandi said. “If I went into medicine, I would’ve wanted to be a surgeon, but I realized that doctors don’t really get as much patient interaction as I would have wanted.”
Seeing how often friends in medical school were studying also made Jarabandi realize that committing to the path may not be the way she wants to spend her 20s. Introspection about her personal interests also steered her away.
“If I wanted to be a doctor, I would have wanted to be like Richard from Grey’s Anatomy because he’s in charge of other surgeon’s schedules and [is] on the administrative side, but I would have to have my MBA for that anyways so I was thinking, what is it that I really want?” Jarabandi said. “Do I want to go into the administrative side of it, the business side or do I want to help medically?”
Learning more about the structural barriers to healthcare sparked Jarabandi’s interest in a different side of the field. She said that while doctors can make an impact in breaking these structural barriers, there’s a lot that limits them.
I think a variety of experiences made me realize that I really wanted to work administratively and create a large impact.
— Neha Jarabandi, neuroscience senior
“Doing health policy internships through a government agency in Houston and exploring consulting and different fields showed me that medicine wasn’t the only way that I could give back to my community,” Jarabandi said. “I think a variety of experiences made me realize that I really wanted to work administratively and create a large impact.”
Now, Jarabandi is finding ways to blend her interests in science and business as she explores new career paths.
“I am planning to go into finance and within that, the first job that I want to go into is health care investment banking.” Jarabandi said. “Hopefully down the line, I’llwork in venture capital with neurotechnology companies helping to fund and invest in startups. I’m really interested in neuroscience and that’s one way that I can connect my passions.”
Despite planning for a different career trajectory, Jarabandi decided against switching out of the pre-med neuroscience track as she would have had to spend more than four years pursuing undergraduate studies. Instead, she is considering a master’s in finance to help her gain technical skills for her future career.
“I’m looking forward to learning,” Jarabandi said. “I’m really behind compared to other people but it’s interesting because the more I learn about [finance and business], the more interested I am, because these are things that I never thought about before, so things are new, exciting and shiny and I like how there’s so much for me to learn in a weird way.”
Jarabandi states she wishes that she had explored different career paths outside of medicine sooner.
“I was so locked into medicine that I never thought it would be me that would be leaving the space,” Jarabandi said. “One thing I would really recommend to anyone going into medicine is to maybe do a double major and also do the pre-med track. I’ve met a lot of people who’ve done a different major and maybe they’re doing medicine, maybe they’re not, but at least they tried something different.”