To Be, or Not to Be, That Is Always the Question

Had a long debate today with one of my friends about the pros and cons of medical school and pa school.  I won't go into them for the sole purpose of no one would read this if I did, but she is an advocate of me going to medical school and I am not.  The last year I have struggled immensely with the choice between the two careers and my future.  The bottom line is it comes down to this.  I love medicine, I want to make it a huge part of my life and dedicate myself to giving people second chances.  But, in 60 years when I'm looking back at my life I don't want to associate myself as just being a doctor.  I want so much more out of life.  To become and MD I would not even be able to start my life until my mid 30's hopefully.  I am not saying I am not dedicated because I will always try to gain as much knowledge about medicine as I can, but to be able to finish school early and continually gain knowledge and insight into medicine as I practice for the rest of my life while at the same time being able to travel, see the world, have a family, and make memories, is in my view the perfect route.  I have to remind myself quite often why I am choosing PA over MD.  When I am 60, 70, 80 years old, I want to know I lived my life to the fullest and experienced as much as I could have.  To those people who do go through the rigorous trials of becoming an MD, I solute you, but it's not for me.  Their are many aspects of life.  Juggling between them can be difficult at times.  Learning to keep a balance between it all is the only way anyone can survive.