When students think about medicine, it’s easy to focus on the science, the classes, the MCAT, and the long hours of studying. But in a recent conversation with a Lawrence alum and current family medicine physician, one theme came up again and again:
Medicine is just as much about people as it is about science.
From choosing a specialty to preparing for medical school, her journey offered practical advice, but also a deeper reminder of what it actually means to work in healthcare.
There Isn’t Always a “Perfect” Path into Medicine
One of the most surprising things she shared was that choosing family medicine didn’t come from one defining moment. Instead, it was about fit.
During medical school, she explored different paths, pediatrics, obstetrics, and more, but ultimately chose family medicine because of the variety and the people. It allowed her to care for patients across different stages of life and build long-term relationships. That idea alone is important for pre-med students, that you don’t have to have everything figured out early.
In fact, many medical students enter school thinking they’ll pursue one specialty, only to discover something completely different along the way. Keeping an open mind isn’t just helpful, it’s necessary.
The Skills That Matter Most Aren’t Always What You Expect
When asked what helped prepare her for medicine, the answer wasn’t a specific class or textbook.
It was tutoring.
Through tutoring, she learned how to explain concepts in different ways, adapt to different people, and communicate clearly, all of which translate directly into patient care.
In medicine, you are constantly teaching:
- Explaining diagnoses
- Walking patients through treatment plans
- Helping people understand complex information during stressful moments
This reinforces something many students overlook:
being a strong communicator is just as important as understanding the science.
She also emphasized practical skills that students can start developing now:
- Finding effective study methods that work for you
- Learning how to take exams efficiently (especially multiple-choice tests)
- Managing large amounts of information
Medical knowledge will come in medical school. But how you learn (and how you work with people) starts much earlier.
What Medical Training Actually Feels Like
Medical school is often described as “drinking from a fire hydrant,” and that description came up again. The volume of information is intense, especially at the beginning. But over time, students adjust and develop routines that help them manage the workload. One key piece of advice was to have something outside of medicine. Whether it’s relationships, hobbies, or simple routines like working out or trying new restaurants, having something that grounds you outside of school is essential. It helps you stay balanced and avoid burnout.
She also spoke honestly about work-life balance as a physician. It’s not always perfect, but it improves over time — especially as you learn to set boundaries. Early in her career, she was more flexible with her time. Now, with a family, she prioritizes being home at a certain time. That shift reflects something many students don’t realize:
Work-life balance in medicine is something you build, not something you start with.
Preparing for the MCAT and Gap Years the Right Way
For students preparing for medical school, her advice was very practical.
For the MCAT:
- Take as many full-length practice tests as possible
- Build stamina for long testing sessions
- Review every question carefully, even the ones you guessed correctly
The goal isn’t just content knowledge, but also endurance and strategy.
On gap years, her perspective was very encouraging.
She took one herself and described it as a reset: a chance to study, gain experience, and enter medical school feeling more prepared. Working as a scribe helped her become familiar with medical terminology, documentation, and clinical environments, which made the transition into medical school smoother.
But she also emphasized that gap years don’t have to look one specific way.
You can:
- Do research
- Work in clinical settings
- Volunteer
- Or pursue experiences that build transferable skills
What matters most is being able to reflect on those experiences and explain how they’ve prepared you for medicine.
The Most Important Advice: Stay Open-Minded
If there was one piece of advice that stood out, it was this:
Don’t go into medicine with a fixed plan.
Your interests will evolve. Your experiences will shape your decisions. And the path you imagined at the beginning may not be the one you follow in the end, which is okay. Medicine is a demanding field. If you choose a path based only on expectations, prestige, or external pressure, it will be difficult to sustain. But if you find something you genuinely enjoy (whether that’s family medicine, research, surgery, or another field), that’s what will carry you through.
My Reflection
Just like many physicians in medical school, the act of choice is never straightforward. From choosing a medical school to answering questions on the MCAT to deciding what field to pursue, medicine is full of decisions.
But what stood out to me most is that physicians don’t just make choices for themselves; they make choices for others. Every day, they decide how to care for patients who may not fully understand their own condition. They consider not just physical health, but also mental and social well-being. Sometimes they work with clear information; other times, they have very little to go on.
Because of this, physicians must develop a unique skill, which is the ability to understand people. It reminds me of a teacher in a classroom. Even if they are teaching the same concept to every student, they must adapt how they present it based on how each student learns. In the same way, physicians must adjust how they communicate, listen, and respond to each patient.
In the end, medicine is not just about knowledge, it’s about connection.
Dennis Boakye ’26 is a senior with a major in Neuroscience and a minor in Mathematics. Dennis is the current career peer educator for the Health and Medicinal Professions (HMP) and the Physical and Natural Sciences (PHN) career communities at Lawrence University. Connect with Dennis on LinkedIn.