My daughter wants to be a doctor

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There is a movement on to train all physicians to do abortions
Can you provide a link or some documentation about this? I don’t think it’s true… Why would a neural doctor or a private practice family physician need to perform an abortion?
 
s4angel;5225342:
There is a movement on to train all physicians to do abortions and as a pediatrician and treating patients up to the age of 18 she very well may be forced to choose between her beliefs and her career.QUOTE]

What movement is this? Please elaborate.

It seems to me that you are projecting very far into the future. I cannot imagine why you would discourage a young child from pursuing her dreams of becoming a doctor. Those dreams may change or modify in the years to come. In the meantime, the self-discipline and academic rigors she will be exposing herself to can only strengthen her intellect and serve her well in the future, no matter what career path she eventually does choose.
I believe it was in NYC where all the medical students in the city medical schools were required to be trained to perform abortions. Currently, a med student can get a religious conscience exemption but, as we all know, conscience exemptions are under attack too.

The state of California has a similar law.

My own son wants to be a doctor as well but will not participate in any medical training to perform abortions. He has stated that he will go abroad for his medical degree if it comes down to a choice.
 
“Ras” from what I’ve heard, sometimes med students are called upon… to take part in “training” which may be morally objectionable to them. Up till now, I believe they can refuse certain aspects of this “training” (i.e., participation in abortion procedures, etc.). But that may not always be the case.

Perhaps that is what the OP is worried about? Just a thought.
That’s not the case in every country though - if the child wants to study they can study overseas where morally objectionable procedures or training are not required, even if they are in America. In fact a lot of American students find it cheaper to study overseas.
 
The more medical care professionals that we have that will refuse to perform abortions/euthanasia, the better. Can you imagine if EVERY SINGLE DOCTOR refused to perform abortions? There would be NO WAY for a woman to even THINK about getting an abortion! I’m about to enter nursing school, and I plan to flatly refuse to participate in any abortion procedure. If they kick me out, so be it, but I am at least going to try, rather than let fear get in my way. I’m lucky that in my area, there is only one hospital and one clinic that performs abortions, and I won’t be going to school neither either of them, so I am betting I won’t come head-to-head with that at least until after I’m an RN. Hmm, I guess I’ll have to do the same thing with vasectomies/tubal ligations… no matter. All I should have to say is “it’s against my religious beliefs” and they should leave me alone. There are doctors who refuse to prescribe the birth control pill, I know one personally. All of her patients have to go to another doctor if they want them. If she can do that, then anyone can refuse to do procedures that are against their faith.
 
She could become an NFP-only OB/GYN!!! Man I would love to have one of them in my area, especially if the services were covered by my insurance. We definitely don’t have enough NFP-savvy doctors!

Also, pray for your daughter’s vocation, and have her pray for it as well.

God bless.
 
I used to be a premed student myself (now International Relations:D, focusing on development, where I can actually take classes on development as it relates to health care) and while it wasn’t meant for me, my desire to go into health care hasn’t died and I’m thinking of going on to become a direct-entry midwife and then get a public health degree, so I can fight for better maternal/child health, both here and abroad.

Seriously, we NEED more professionals (whether nurse, midwife, doctor) who are spiritual, who know NFP, natural birth, breastfeeding, who are holistic and who love both mother and child. We NEED professionals who want to help women empower themselves but at the same time, recognize that they have a responsibility for that child in the womb. And if the government tries to stuff them down, we NEED professionals willing to FIGHT!
 
Well, one word “SPECIALIZE.”

I haven’t heard of an oncologist who had to perform and abortion, or a pediatrician. So, get into a field that goes as far from that issue as possible. What fields is she hoping to get into? That would help narrow the list by a whole by a extrememly large amount.
 
Even if she decides not to become a doctor, there are many other medical careers. At the moment, one of the hottest career tracks is “Physician’s Assistant” or “PA.” These professionals do a lot of what a doctor does and they make an excellent salary. But they don’t bear quite the same burdens that a doctor must bear.

Nurse practitioner is a similiar career to PA. We have a lot of these in our part of the country (Northern Illinois).

Physical therapy is another hot career. These professionals are attempting to be in the “ground floor” of “preventative medicine,” and in the future, they are hoping to encourage everyone to begin visiting a PT from childhood once a year, just like we do with dentists.

Both of the careers take some extra schooling beyond Bachelor’s Degree, but not the years of grind that they medical doctors must endure and PAY FOR.

And of course, there’s nursing–an excellent career.

And then there are the ancillary health professions, e.g., clinical laboratory science (my career), medical imaging, respiratory therapy, etc…

The big issue that comes up with many women is that pull toward marriage and family. It is extremely difficult for a woman to be married and have children in her twenties if she is also involved with pre-med undergraduate work and med school, internship, and residency. Many women understandably decide to give up their dreams of becoming a doctor in order to fall in love, get married, and have/raise children while they are young, healthy, and fertile. I personally think these women are making a wise decision.

And many of these women, when they realize that they want to pursue having a family instead of practicing medicine, end up in one of the careers that I mentioned above because of the lesser school requirements and less costs.

My suggestion to you is to allow your daughter to “shadow” several medical professionals, including a doctor, but also a nurse, a medical technologist (lab), x-ray tech, resp. tech, etc. You can easily find people who are willing to allow a young pre-teen to shadow them for a few hours.

This is a wonderful way for her to get a realistic idea of what medical professionals actually do. Many time, children and teenagers get interested in medicine from various television shows, and they don’t have a realistic picture of what the career really means. So shadowing allows them to see the “real McCoy.” Sometimes this will repel them away from the medical field, but in many cases, it gives them even more interest in pursuing a medical profession.

It is really helpful for a pre-teen to have some idea of interest in medicine before entering middle school and especially high school. They need to emphasize a curricula heavy in science and math, the more the better. Courses like chemistry and physics should be taken, preferably the honors versions of these classes. Also, AP courses allow the student to earn college credit while still in high school; this can same them a semester’s or a year’s worth of tuition payments, not to mention the time. (My daughter graduated from college in three and a half years thanks to AP courses in high school, a savings of $10,000 for us!)

Good luck to her. If she lived near me, I would be happy to allow her to shadow me!
 
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