Should I go to med school?

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Here is a question made by a querent who has already finished his bachelor and has a Master of Arts degree. He has a good career and likes what he does, but he also feels attracted by the medical "arts" and is pondering if he should go to med school and get a second diploma.
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The querent is Venus, exalted and in the 5th house (not per se a house of study, and not of hard study, like a med school would require).

The ninth house, ruled by Mercury, has its significator in a Cadent house (that of study, for the matter) and Capricorn, showing that the study would require a lot of effort and would not be so productive as maybe the querent wants it to be.

Moon, co-ruler of the querent, is in the 12th, maybe showing the doubts of the querent and his uncertainty on what direction to take.

Mars seems to be important as a natural ruler of doctors, and although it is in its trip, term and face, it is not connected to either Venus, Moon or Mercury (if it were not by Saturn, it would be peregrine).

My final answer would be that the querent should not go to med school, because he will find an environment which requires a lot of him, much more than what he is expecting, and he is much more "connected" to the fifth house and pleasures. Maybe he should study the topic as a hobby, but not go to the school.

Contributions are much appreciated and welcome.
Yair Alon
Kabbalist

2
This is the kind of question for which I think a natal chart would be more helpful than a horary in seeing whether someone has "the right stuff" to be a doctor.

I would point out that the 12th house rules hospitals, so in this instance it isn't horrible for the moon; although the moon is in the via combusta. The 5th house would not be a bad placement for a future pediatrician. The 5th is also the traditional house of "good fortune." The querent is ruled by Venus, exalted in Pisces, so he's in a strong position as an applicant.

I would use the 9th house for higher education, and it is ruled by Mercury. Mercury applies to a sextile with Venus. I'm having trouble reading the degrees on this chart, but it looks like Venus applies to a conjunction with Mars, which rules physicians and surgeons.

I wouldn't discourage this person. Medical school is difficult for everyone, so far as that goes.

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Hi Yair:

Thanks for posting this - it's an interesting chart.

Please keep in mind that I am new to horary. :)


The chart is radical with the planetary hour ruler, the Moon, matching the triplicity of Venus, ASC ruler.

The ASC is very late.


My first concern is the condition of the sixth house which is afflicted. This could mean the querent is ill or about to be OR could "relate to all matters relating to the health industry and those who work in it: dentists, doctors, nurses." I don't have the experience to discern which.

http://www.skyscript.co.uk/temples/h6.html

I think it might be useful to find out what Jupiter signifies as it rules the 3rd and 6th and is in mutual reception with his significator. Both the Moon and Venus are separating from an aspect with Mercury in 3 (and Venus, in addition to ruling the ASC, rules the 8th house.)


My first thought when I looked at the chart was that a very Venusian (exalted in Pisces and in the house of her joy) significator doesn't really seem to match up well with the sometimes very harsh realities of being a doctor.

This seems to be confirmed by the ruler of 10, the Moon, which is the only peregrine planet and found in the 12th house of sorrow, undoing, etc., in a partile square with the MC and a partile opposition to Uranus in 6. It has some protection by being near Spica but I think that perhaps its position and aspects might refer to how the querent would find the career of doctor: it might be "doable" but there may be a heavy emotional cost and he might feel not well matched to the tasks or environment (peregrine).

As well, his significator is conjunct Neptune, which, in my opinion, is always capable of obscuring, misleading, confusing things, even when well dignified.

So, my actions might be to suggest to the querent that he makes sure to really "reality check" what being a doctor is actually like and whether he is suited to it and also take a really good inventory of his current skills and education.

If he finds that being a doctor is not what he thought it was there are many "doctor-like" jobs in health care that he may be better suited to such as chiropodist, audiologist, speech-language pathologist, prosthetics, medical social work/psychology, etc. As well, there's complementary health care such as acupuncture, naturopathy, osteopathy, etc. which may interest him and suit him better tempermentally if he is strongly Venusian. Because he has a lot of education already, he may well be able to build on his current skills and learning to segue into one of these careers even more easily than medicine.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

Re: Should I go to med school?

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Yair Alon wrote:Here is a question made by a querent who has already finished his bachelor and has a Master of Arts degree. He has a good career and likes what he does, but he also feels attracted by the medical "arts"and is pondering if he should go to med school and get a second diploma.
Image
The querent is Venus, exalted and in the 5th house (not per se a house of study, and not of hard study, like a med school would require).

The ninth house, ruled by Mercury, has its significator in a Cadent house (that of study, for the matter) and Capricorn, showing that the study would require a lot of effort and would not be so productive as maybe the querent wants it to be.

Moon, co-ruler of the querent, is in the 12th, maybe showing the doubts of the querent and his uncertainty on what direction to take.

Mars seems to be important as a natural ruler of doctors, and although it is in its trip, term and face, it is not connected to either Venus, Moon or Mercury (if it were not by Saturn, it would be peregrine).

My final answer would be that the querent should not go to med school, because he will find an environment which requires a lot of him, much more than what he is expecting, and he is much more "connected" to the fifth house and pleasures. Maybe he should study the topic as a hobby, but not go to the school.

Contributions are much appreciated and welcome.
Becoming a Medical Illustrator or a writer on community medical issues would solve most of his problems and satisfy his interests without the need for a new medical Diploma.Masters in Psychology would not be far away either.

5
Excellent insights, thank you!

I liked your interpretation, pankajdubey... The Venus in Pisces also mentioned by Moonbright really connects way more to art than to medicine.

Just for the sake of it, waybread mentioned the natal chart as maybe more helpful than the horary one. Here it is, then, if you also want to check something.
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What I see here is Mars ruling the 10th as a good sign of profession in the medical area. Notice, however, Mars is in Libra (again this sign) and also that the ninth is again Pisces. There seems to be a stronger connection to Venus, Pisces, Jupiter for this native than to any other thing.

BEST
Yair Alon
Kabbalist

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Yair, the problem I have with all of this is that sometimes a horoscope shows what kind of a doctor a person would become (or insert some other profession.) If you look at the charts of famous doctors, you won't often find the ideal Mars (rules physicians and surgeons.) Similarly, the charts of people famous in some other profession are often "all over the map."

Moreover, admission to medical school is highly competitive, so just getting admitted to medical school would suggest that someone has the capacity to succeed. We have a good friend who is a MD. When he realized early in his career that he found an ordinary office practice to be too stressful, he switched to working for his state department of public health, where he did very well.

Are you familiar with the Astro-DataBank? www.astro.com It includes horoscopes of 713 doctors. I just briefly scanned the charts of names I was familiar with in the first three pages.

Christiaan Bernard had a 9th house Mars in Aquarius, in-sect but otherwise with no essential dignity that I could determine.

"Patch" Adams, 4th house Mars in Aries (domiciled,) Virgo on MC.

Alois Alzheimer, 11th house Mars in Aries (domiciled,) Aquarius on MC.

Berry Brazelton, 7th house Mars in Virgo, Sagittarius on MC.

Helen Caldicott, 1st house Mars in Leo (combust,) Taurus on MC

Nicholas Culpeper, 8th house Mars in Leo, Scorpio on MC

Howard Dean, 6th house Mars in Sagittarius, Pisces on MC (Jupiter falls in Capricorn)

Jung, Carl, 10th house Mars in Sagittarius, Sag. on MC

Ben Maimon, Moses, 10th house Mars in Taurus (detriment,) Taurus on MC.

I would rather suggest to someone unfamiliar with what it takes to be a MD that he truly look seriously at what is required to get through all of the rigorous training and the demands of a practice, than I would to discourage someone who may wonder for the rest of his life if he missed his vocation.

I think both the horary and the natal chart suggest that this person might make a good pediatrician. Beyond this, I'd look for someone with a huge amount of persistence and the ability to succeed academically.

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Yair

What do you think is the significance of the really late rising degree? It's been mentioned by Moonbright but have you included it in your interpretation? What information did the querent give that would account for it? It should be matched to what the querent is presenting and needs to be used to guide the interpretation of the horary. The Sun (natural significator of honours) is also at the last degree. The question is probably not revealing the full situation.

The Moon and hour-ruler (Jupiter) conjunct in the 12th, with Moon ruling 10th and showing the focus of the question shows that this person's career is not going as satisfyingly as they're letting on, as does Venus square Saturn. They could be feeling trapped or ignored and dreaming of escape. Venus exalted in 5th does not, as has already been said, suggest that someone's mind is on study or work.

Moon's last aspect was to Mercury (ruling 9th of study) but there was a long gap after it. What's been happening that led up to this question? Have they gone through a long period of feeling like they're going nowhere? Did someone/something plant an idea in their mind a while back that they were very receptive to, but which came to nothing and they're now getting their hopes up about it? It could be that Mercury shows that their qualifications were satisfying to get but led to a period of time that felt like going nowhere and now they're wanting to make a radical change.

Cardinal signs (rising, MC, Moon's sign) show swift changes, and Moon opposite Uranus can be sudden ruptures or diversions, so the querent might feel sorely tempted to do something rash or unconsidered as a reaction to things like Venus square Saturn. That late degree rising suggests things have already progressed or the querent might have taken actions already they haven't told you about, or just not confessing their heart's desire. Dig a bit deeper, I'd say.

MW
"As thou daily conversest with the heavens, so instruct and form thy minde according to the image of Divinity" ~ William Lilly

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Waybread, I agree with you... but then how to say if he should go to med school or not? The natal chart will always bear some conection with medical school, as you say, but maybe this is not THE thing for the native.

I agree the charts show he can be a good pediatrician, but is this a good option for him? To enter this stressful and competitive world?

Mwastrology, regarding your question, I haven?t thought about the late rising degree. But If I had to judge it, I would say that maybe it is too late for the native to enter this kind of study, in the sense that he already has his profession, primary study area etc.

As I mentioned in the first post, the querent has a BA and MA already, and is successfull in his carrer already (this is what he says, at least). Maybe this is what the late degree shows. I agree that there may be dreamings of escape. When I talked to the querent, he gave me that impression.

Wonderful analysis of the chart, by the way! From what I know, when the querent was 18 he tried to enter med school, but then dropped it to go study what he studied (and has the BA and Ma). He went to language, linguistics and literature area. Today he works as a translator and language teacher.

So I think the idea is planted in his mind since then. Recently he started to date a girl who is going to med school, and I think this had an influence on him and prompted him to maybe try this area. Maybe this is what Venus exalted in 5th shows. He is listening more to his girlfriend and dreaming about this new life than really willing to enter the school and study hard as one must to be a doctor.

I don?t use Uranus in my analysis so I did?nt even notice it. But very interesting the opposition to the Moon and doing something rash. As Moon is also significator for woman, again it can indicate the influence of the girlfriend in this "dramatic" and "sudden" change.

If I discover something new about the case, I will tell you!

BEST!
Yair Alon
Kabbalist