Session 249 Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider is a Hospitalist turned evangelist for Palliative Care. Learn what you can be doing now to help patients in their most critical times no matter what field of medicine you're getting into. If you're looking for full-length MCAT practice tests, check out Next Step Test Prep. They have ten full-length practice tests that simulate the real exam to help you get the best score possible. Use the promo code MSHQ to save 10% off your purchase. Last week, I was at the Podcast Movement where I was nominated for the Academy of Podcasters Award for Best Science and Medicine podcast. And for the third year in a row, I came up short. Nevertheless, it was a blast! Today, I have an amazing conversation with Shoshana who does her very best to change the conversation around dying. She funded Extremis, a short documentary about end of life decisions being made in an intensive care unit. It has been nominated for an Academy Award and others. Now, she's pointing her efforts towards End Well, a symposium to bring together all the best minds in the world, not only in healthcare, but also in the community and technology space - anybody that wants to help change the end of life decisions and care going on in this world. The event is taking place on December 7, 2017 in San Francisco. [02:40] Her Interest in Becoming a Physician Taking the nontraditional route, Shoshana realized she wanted to become a doctor way after college. Her undergrad studies ran the gamut from Fine Arts to Women Studies, Spanish, and Marine Conservation Biology. At the very end of college, she thought she would be pursuing a Doctorate in Marine Science. But she quickly realized it wasn't enough for her. She wanted to work with humans, not creatures who can't talk back at her. Not knowing what her next steps would be, she took a job all the way across the country in North Carolina. She had opportunity to work at a medical center. three months into the process of being an intern at the medical center, she realized she wanted to go to medical school. At 23, she found herself back in college doing undergrad courses at UNC Chapel Hill. She completed the coursework the following year and took the MCAT. It wasn't until she was 25 that she thought she has done all the work, taken the exam, applied and somebody wanted her. There were times she thought of doing something else. She felt she had many years to continue to think about the right professional course for her. She was lucky to have great mentors that had come before her who have also taken time off between college and medical school. It's changing now since most people take some time off or take the nontraditional route before starting medical education. So it did cross her mind but her biggest focus is where she's going to be happy and fulfilled in life. Despite that it took her four years off, she thought this is the right path for her. Additionally, the best advice she got was that if there's anything else you could see yourself really being happy and fulfilled in doing, do that. "If there's anything else you could see yourself really being happy and fulfilled in doing, do that." Shoshana says that if you have a million interests and medicine is just one of the many and not the end all be all for you, don't go into medicine. Because there are so many factors that come along with it such as time commitment and financial proponent. It's hard especially for women since you're spending seven years minimum to complete the training. That's a lot of time of your life to give up. It's worth it but she thinks you really have to be sure this is something you want to do. "People need to be as certain as possible that that's the right path for them before jumping all in." For many people, having a family is something they see as a part of their future lives, if it isn't already. For women, especially, age 22-32 is prime time for people to be thinking about children and family, although it's not for every