The Decision to Study Medicine

FROM the time that he prepares his application for medical school to the time that he sits down to write his memoirs the physician frequently finds himself confronted with the question of why he chose to become a doctor. Often his answer is considered to indicate the chances of his future success in medicine or the degree of his present devotion to the profession. Experts in vocational guidance have designated certain attitudes and aptitudes as prerequisite for the prospective physician, and the general public entertains its own notions of what prompts a young man to study medicine; but it may . . .