The medical field is changing at a rapid pace, from new trends in practice consolidation to the growing ubiquity of AI and growing administrative burdens facing clinical teams.
Three physicians recently joined Becker’s to share their advice to incoming medical students in 2026.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What advice would you give a prospective medical student today?
Susan Baumgaertel, MD. Practice Owner and Patient Advocate at myMDadvocate (Seattle): Stay true to the real reason you decided to go into medicine. Along the way, you’ll experience many detours: You may be enticed by a lucrative monthly salary, discouraged by enormous financial debt, excited by relocation opportunities, overwhelmed by family and social changes. It may be impossible to project where you’ll be in 10 or 20 years, but I guarantee that the business of medicine in our increasingly challenging system will weigh heavily on your future happiness. Never forget that personal autonomy is an excellent antidote to moral injury and burnout.
Prince Singh, MD. Nephrologist at Kidney Solutions Pro (Minneapolis): Focus on learning the science and mechanisms of disease and treatment through both clinical experience and literature. Stay humble and always remain receptive to learning. Most importantly, do not look for shortcuts early in your training.
Roy Small, MD. Cardiologist in Lancaster, Pa.: The disruptions coming to healthcare, and specifically physician participation, will be fast and furious in the era of AI. I used to tell folks that there was nothing I did in the [catheterization] lab that didn’t change over five years. That dynamic has evolved exponentially such that there will be major changes in drug/device and logistics on the scale of 12-18 months. It’s hard to imagine the impact that will have on physicians. But it will be a rocky road. So choose a field you love because all the other parameters of success will change.
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