If you come to school thinking that you are headed toward medical school, for example, should you even bother to consider alternatives? Most admissions personnel from any health professions program would argue that it is both normal and valuable to consider other options along the way, if only because it helps you be more certain this—whatever “this” is—is the right choice for you. The extent to which you explore those alternatives can vary, depending on how certain you feel: Maybe all you do is read about other paths, or maybe you actually do some comparative shadowing.
The organizations housing health care professions programs frequently also run websites designed to make information about what their profession is like available to college students and others who are just beginning to prepare.
