I think that as long as you are reasonably certain that your body will let you do a lot of the stuff that you are going to need it to do (with accomodation as needed, but so what?), then do it. The OR thing... they'll drag in a stool or something for you to sit on if you need it, etc.

My friend who is blind is an expert at finding ways to do stuff that people say he can't do. He got a "A" in histology as a first year med student. Histology is a class that is pretty much entirely made up of looking at slides under a microscope. He did this by having the professor make enlarged black & white copies of the slides (or similar slides of the same tissues), and then he put them through a special printer that makes black lines raised. He felt the shapes of the different cells, etc. He also had a "describer" provided by the disability service center on campus, who would tell him what color certain areas were, etc. This same guy has two black belts (tae kwon do and judo), was valedictorian at his college, and one day gave me an elaborate lesson on how to properly steer when paddling a canoe. He even got to carry the Olympic Torch as part of the relay when the winter games were in Utah in 2002. He lives his life with this attitude that he can do pretty much whatever other people can do... just that he has to find a new way of doing things sometimes.

Stamina-wise, hell, lots of us didn't think we could do it, but we just sort of kept pressing through and that was that. The stamina thing is something you'll have to answer for yourself, of course, since I have no idea.

But you can come up with ways to conserve energy doing things during the day (I forced my team to take the elevator between floors when we were rounding, and they did it... took longer than charging up the stairs like they were used to doing, but then I saved myself from pain and weakness in my calves for the rest of the day). You can tell them you need to sit when people are presenting patients on rounds... or use your wheelchair... and that will get rid of the need for the stamina to stand for hours in the morning while people present. Same for clinic days... make it a priority to conserve your energy. The energy conservation thing was a lesson I learned the hard way.

My medical issues are constantly in flux and have been worsening considerably over the past couple of years, so I am constantly having to set new limits for myself and redefine who I am and what I can do. But you and I don't have the same disorder, not even close. (I have a metabolic myopathy, probably mitochondrial, and get recurrent attacks of rhabdomyolysis as well as some ongoing pain and weakness. My disorder also affects my nerves, kidneys, acid-base status, and mood. There are some possible effects on my heart as well, but right now they are mild if they are there at all, so we are just watching it.) My experience has been one of becoming more and more disabled, while yours is something you've had your whole life. I get "episodes" where I am quite sick, and stretches of time where I am relatively okay. It is frustrating because when I am well it seems like I could do what I want to do, no problem. But when I am sick and stuck in the hospital or whatever, then it seems like I am crazy for trying.

I want to do pediatrics... have always wanted this. I am thinking more about doing a more sedentary specialty instead, though, like child psych or some subspecialty with less on-call time or whatever. We will see what things are like by the time I finish this degree program in 2008.

About the MPH thing... you're right that it does put us in a good position job-wise, even if the doctor thing doesn't work out. That was one reason why I chose to do this grad school thing at this point in my life... because even if the whole "doctor" thing doesn't work out, I can still do things that mean a lot to me and that are health-related, but that are "desk jobs". I wanted to do an MPH eventually anyhow. I did a lot of work with kids and moms from the housing projects in Chicago while I was in med school, and really decided that I wanted to do work that incorporated that sort of focus when I was a doctor. I got to know a couple of amazing pediatricians while I was there who were doing really good work with the kids in the projects, and I would love to be able to do work like that myself someday. I know that the MPH will help. The thing was... I did things out of order and took time off between med school and residency, so that I could respect my body's boundaries without totally destroying my career.

Also, I echo what the moms are saying about docs who do and don't understand. I have a group of pretty good doctors right now (trial and error), but it wasn't always that way. I am constantly having to explain my disorder to the ER docs or the internal medicine team when I am inpatient, and they don't even know much about it (luckily my metabolic doc and neuromuscular doc do). They will make assumptions about my level of pain, weakness, and what I can and can't do that just aren't true. They will also question doing certain treatments that my metabolic doc requests (even as simple as putting glucose in my IV fluids during an attack), just because they aren't familiar with my disorder. "We don't usually do that for rhabdo" (but most rhabdo isn't caused by metabolic myopathies, and most people don't get 6 attacks of rhabdo in one year). "But that disorder is so rare, why do they think you have that?" (because whatever specific enzyme defect it is, we have a lot of lab and family history info that most closely fits the mitochondrial disorders, and we aren't done with the workup yet, and my SPECIALISTS who actually know about this stuff think that's what it is).

It would be awesome if I could find a doc who not only knows what mitochondrial disorders are and how to treat them, but who knows what it feels like to live with the uncertainty and disability they cause. A sympathetic doc who would actually get it when I describe living in my body.

Anyway, just wanted to reply again. Are you applying this year? If you are and you have questions about the application process, certain schools, etc, feel free to PM me.