its not all about the moolah

In an interview for a scholarship the Rotary Club in my hometown gives out for upcoming college freshman, my drive to become a doctor was questioned.  One of the interviewers asked, "With the way the health care system is going, you may not be making as much money as a doctor makes now.  Would you still  be happy with your career choice?" I could have just simply said yes, and we move on to the next question, but I knew they would question whether I really meant it or was just giving the answer I thought they wanted so instead, I decided to tell them why I wanted to be a doctor.

I could not remember a time when I did not want to be a doctor, and at an early age my parents instilled the value of giving to me. I grew up going on mission trips and seeing the impoverished, but it was not until my first abroad mission trip that I saw true poverty.  It was there in Costa Rica at the age of 13 that I realized I wanted to become a doctor so that I could provide care to areas that did not have access and to those that could not afford it.  I realized I wanted to spend a majority of my time working in areas in the U.S. and Central and South America where people did not have hospitals, doctors and medicine readily available. 

I ended by saying, "Yes, money is great and will help me do more of what I want, but money is not the reason I am going into the medical field."