I quit medicine for an entry-level corporate job. I felt behind but didn't have the passion to become a low-paid doctor.

• Salaha Ashraf spent her last few years of medical school feeling stressed and anxious.
• She said hospital wards were under-resourced and busy, and she knew she wanted to quit. 
• After graduating, she applied for a corporate grad scheme, embarking on a new career path.

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Salaha Ashraf, 28, from Bolton, a town in the northwest of England. Ashraf went to medical school in 2014 but pivoted into a corporate career after deciding she didn't want to be a doctor. The following has been edited for length and clarity.