To encourage my 9 year old into medicine already?

[SunshiningBetty]

My 9 year old daughter is very mature and academic. From a very young age she has loved anything medical and devours books and TV shows about the body and hospitals. She is desperate to become a doctor already. I am worried about encouraging that too much as I know how hard the life of a junior doctor can be. She is constantly asking to find a club, group, camp or course which would foster her interest but I have had no luck finding anything. Is this something I should help her pursue already and does anyone have any ideas of what she could do? Or should I stick to something more neutral like brownies?

We have St John’s Ambulance close my house and the run a group called Badgers which your daughter may enjoy xx

I would have hated SJA, cannot stand first aid or blood/injuries etc (gritted my teeth through surgical blocks at med school, absolutely hated them). Not all medicine is related to that type of thing...so if she liked SJA that would be good, but equally if she didn't that wouldn't mean she either did or did not want to be a doctor/had more or less chance of getting in. My extracurricular activies as a child were not related to science at all (although I was good at it at school and an avid reader of science books).

@Fluffycloudland77

I definitely meant the adult Adam Kay book not the children’s one (I’m sure that’s very good too).

The long shifts in medicine would have killed me. I can see why so many drs marry drs, no one else would fully get the long hours & also who else are they going to meet working like that?.

DH is a doc and I’m not. He said he preferred the idea of marrying a non medic as otherwise if you’re both in medicine your entire life revolves around it. He likes coming home and not talking too much about it :)

Long shifts certainly aren’t exclusive to doctors so it’s not like only other doctors can understand. I’ve worked my share of eighty hour weeks in a completely different job but even if I hadn’t I don’t think it’d be that difficult to be with someone who works a lot. You just put yourself in their shoes and understand that they have other commitments as well as the relationship, but that goes for everyone.

I'm a doctor, and as PP have said at this age St John ambulance would be good to get involved with, and it's good to hear she has a wide range of interests. However it's really important as she gets older that she is exposed to or aware of lots of different possible career paths - within healthcare if that remains her passion (nursing, radiography, speech and language therapy, dietetics, physio, OT etc etc).. or outside of healthcare! It's definitely best to keep an open mind. I love my job but at times I have felt that I was pushed into it by my school because all the bright kids at my school either did medicine/law/oxbridge. I've struggled with feeling that I didn't have a choice and that I could have benefited from at least exploring or considering other avenues. Just something to be aware of!

You can't 'pursue' becoming a doctor at 9 @SunshiningBetty. If she's interested let her read science books and magazines but I agree with pp, support her with finding interesting hobbies, how about chess, orienteering, swimming or is she maybe interested in learning an instrument? It could be something fun like recorder or ukulele or even drums. As others have set brownies or sea cadets or even horse riding where she can learn to look after the horses which could foster caring and responsibility. Even fine art, or pottery, anything at all, where she can be and find 'herself'. This will give her the strength and integrity to deal with all the challenges that becoming a doc would entail.