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either you read the prior threads or go back and learn English
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either you read the prior threads or go back and learn English
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I'm an MS3 and I'd do what I've done over for sure.
I listened to a lot of the arguments just like this one before going to medical school. I was worried about not having a life etc. like many people have eluded to on the forum. I should have never listened to them (I didn't in the end and thats why I'm here) The whole thing comes down to this: what is you're personal attitude about the situation you're in. If you manage to convince yourself that what you're doing is fun and great, guess what it will be. I'm actually happier now and feel better about my decision than in Undergrad.
With that said here's my advice for any MS1's or Pre-meds
1. After a few weeks of med school (wait for a few tests) look around the classroom and find the people who seem to be the happiest and are passing. Meet them and make them you're friends. The people that hate it in year 10 probably hated it in week 6, avoid them.
2. Drink a glass of beer or wine almost every night
3. Self Confidence is key. There's so many egos flying around medicine if you don't give a hoot what anyone thinks of you you'll be happy.
4. Keep a hobby and make time for it.
I could list on and on but you get the picture. I think the 1st one is the most important. You'll see the group of misery in your med school class. With close observation you can see how they feed off eachother and keep the cycle going.
Its a matter of perspective...
Peace and Love
W
I listened to a lot of the arguments just like this one before going to medical school. I was worried about not having a life etc. like many people have eluded to on the forum. I should have never listened to them (I didn't in the end and thats why I'm here) The whole thing comes down to this: what is you're personal attitude about the situation you're in. If you manage to convince yourself that what you're doing is fun and great, guess what it will be. I'm actually happier now and feel better about my decision than in Undergrad.
With that said here's my advice for any MS1's or Pre-meds
1. After a few weeks of med school (wait for a few tests) look around the classroom and find the people who seem to be the happiest and are passing. Meet them and make them you're friends. The people that hate it in year 10 probably hated it in week 6, avoid them.
2. Drink a glass of beer or wine almost every night
3. Self Confidence is key. There's so many egos flying around medicine if you don't give a hoot what anyone thinks of you you'll be happy.
4. Keep a hobby and make time for it.
I could list on and on but you get the picture. I think the 1st one is the most important. You'll see the group of misery in your med school class. With close observation you can see how they feed off eachother and keep the cycle going.
Its a matter of perspective...
Peace and Love
W
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add another to the "No" category
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=336110
Read the second paragraph in particular
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=336110
Read the second paragraph in particular
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The question is: "If you could do it over would you?" You say "Definitely no!" Then you say that medicine is the greatest job in the world. But you would not do it over again? What's that you were saying about English?
Apparently I wasn't the only one confused by that post. Sacrament was equally confused. The original question was WOULD YOU DO IT OVER AGAIN? His answer was MOST DEFINITELY NO!
So naturally one assumes NO = No I wouldn't do it again, not No I don't regret doing medicine!!!
But thanks for sharing.
Well the original line of the thread was "If you could do it over would you""..therefore my answer is no, so how does that contradict my answer??
I think my answer states in pretty simple English that I do NOT hate medicine and given other career choices out there, there is nothing better than medicine
By the way...I trained in the UK and if you think you guys have it bad here, you should go over there and see how much better the training is here...sure it's a socialized health care systems but it sucks! 90% of doctors are miserable and the training takes forever, you have to apply for new jobs every 6 months and theres no guarantee to become an attending. To be a neurologist or any other specialist you pretty much need to do a PhD and even then will take over 10 years!
Again, the first question was would you do it over again?? You said no. So one would naturally assume that means you were saying NO you wouldn't do it again. Not that you don't regret doing it.
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" ......my answer is most definitely no....I do not regret for one minute my career choice...maybe I was lucky that I relied on my gut feelings and took my chances......."
Seems very clear to me.
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Look, it's obvious what he meant to say, and I didn't think twice about it and was going to let it pass like the gazillion other typos that stream through SDN on a daily basis, until he inexplicably refused to recognize the contradiction in what he so defiantly declared, which I thought was funny enough to comment on. It's not a big deal.
BTW, the sentence "I guess verbal reasoning/logic isnt your strong point" or any variation of it should be automatically ****'ed out by SDN.
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Good post
I think the rest of us non-residents/ rotating med students should keep our comments to a minimum, unless that is we are asking a question.
This ancillary quarelling is doing nothing for us.
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Well the original line of the thread was "If you could do it over would you""..therefore my answer is no, so how does that contradict my answer??
I think my answer states in pretty simple English that I do NOT hate medicine and given other career choices out there, there is nothing better than medicine
By the way...I trained in the UK and if you think you guys have it bad here, you should go over there and see how much better the training is here...sure it's a socialized health care systems but it sucks! 90% of doctors are miserable and the training takes forever, you have to apply for new jobs every 6 months and theres no guarantee to become an attending. To be a neurologist or any other specialist you pretty much need to do a PhD and even then will take over 10 years!
This comment you made is what seems to be confusing people. But i think you just misunderstood the question. "would you do it over again........" was the original question. Obviously no one would ever redo medschool/residency......but the question is given what you know now if you could go back in the past would you still make the same decision to go into medicine.
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Point taken...I see how the confusion arises, my sincere apologies.
I think everyone probably understand what I meant to say and I think we can close the book on that one.
However, it was great to take part in a mini "sparring" contest, my first one on SDN!
I think everyone probably understand what I meant to say and I think we can close the book on that one.
However, it was great to take part in a mini "sparring" contest, my first one on SDN!
4
45408
Looks like they should've taught reading comprehension in med school, big guy!
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i just dug through this entire thread.
If you guys want a synopsis of what's happened here is what i gathered:
you're all miserable ****s who don't like medicine but it's not your fault because it's the ****ed up system that we call managed healthcare that sucks us of our free time and money.
gujudoc is pissed off, elysian is super pissed off, some indian guy named shisvani or something like that has a nervous breakdown on a thread, some people are like HEYYYYY medicine reallys sucks balls but you know what i love it anyway, and then you have some other people who are like **** this **** i switched from engineering to this? omg i am so uber ******!!!
cupla arguments here and there,
but one thing that will always be enjoyed is the poop thread.
If you guys want a synopsis of what's happened here is what i gathered:
you're all miserable ****s who don't like medicine but it's not your fault because it's the ****ed up system that we call managed healthcare that sucks us of our free time and money.
gujudoc is pissed off, elysian is super pissed off, some indian guy named shisvani or something like that has a nervous breakdown on a thread, some people are like HEYYYYY medicine reallys sucks balls but you know what i love it anyway, and then you have some other people who are like **** this **** i switched from engineering to this? omg i am so uber ******!!!
cupla arguments here and there,
but one thing that will always be enjoyed is the poop thread.
You forgot to add the part where mastermood says how he is reading too much into old posts and not learning how to sift through the off topic posts that I and others might have made and get to the point of the important parts of the thread.
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mastermood did all of this in about an hour. Not too shabby if i may say so myself.
I forgot to mention gujudoc gets pissed off at some guy who says he got a 14 on his mcat, and then gujudoc isl iek WTF?!?!?!?!?
andthen he apologizes for being superpissy
and then gujudoc will belike I IS A FEMALE FOOL RESPECT MAH AUTHORITAH!!!
Sanman
O.G.
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Well, as long as this thread hasn't degenerated into personal attacks
What is the point of this thread....many have found medicine isn't everthing they thought it was cracked up to be. Some believe that it is a calling others that it is a job. Depending on the specialty you choose and the role that one wants medicine to take in their lives, there will be differing levels of happiness. Pick your specialty wisely and realize that just cause you got into med school doesn't mean you are garaunteed you a derm residency. You are more likely to be the rule than the exception. Medicine and the process of becoming a doctor is hard and not to be ndertaken on a whim. Do your research figure out if this is the carrer for you, because the debt will likely lock you in later in the process. If after all that you still want to pursue the career, then good luck and god bless. Medicine is not the toughest, most soul sucking profession on earth. Neither is it the panacea for all that is missing in your life. If you end up with a satisfying career, good for you. If you are unsatisfied, back-tracking and changing careers may be difficult. You can continue being misarable to pay the bills or get out and realize that you may never be rich with such debt and a profession that doesn't compensate you as well. That is your decision.
How's that for a summation? I'm out.
What is the point of this thread....many have found medicine isn't everthing they thought it was cracked up to be. Some believe that it is a calling others that it is a job. Depending on the specialty you choose and the role that one wants medicine to take in their lives, there will be differing levels of happiness. Pick your specialty wisely and realize that just cause you got into med school doesn't mean you are garaunteed you a derm residency. You are more likely to be the rule than the exception. Medicine and the process of becoming a doctor is hard and not to be ndertaken on a whim. Do your research figure out if this is the carrer for you, because the debt will likely lock you in later in the process. If after all that you still want to pursue the career, then good luck and god bless. Medicine is not the toughest, most soul sucking profession on earth. Neither is it the panacea for all that is missing in your life. If you end up with a satisfying career, good for you. If you are unsatisfied, back-tracking and changing careers may be difficult. You can continue being misarable to pay the bills or get out and realize that you may never be rich with such debt and a profession that doesn't compensate you as well. That is your decision.
How's that for a summation? I'm out.
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In the interest of full disclosure, I am pre-med (just accepted to UAB Med School) so I can't answer the original question of this thread. However, I am 37 and have worked in sales and consulting over the past 15 years. My husband is a partner in a big law firm. My dad was a professor. My mom is an IT exec. So, suffice it to say that I have been up close and personal with various and sundry professional options (including medicine - other family members are doctors and nurses). I can say with absolute certainty that all of it - every last profession I just referenced - is a bitch and can suck the very lifeblood out of you if you let it.
Bad hours? My husband has billed so many hours in the past four years that our children think a rock star has entered the house in the off chance he gets home before their bedtime (seven days a week, most weeks). I used to fly around the country so much in my consulting job that I got to know the flight attendants on certain coast-to-coast flights. Sad, but true.
Horrendous loans? Georgetown Law was expensive. Very. Golden handcuffs are not unique to medicine.
Working with or for lunatics? The cartoon Dilbert is funny for a reason. The insane garbage that goes on in the corporate world (and the legal and academic worlds for that matter) is enough to make you want to go all Unibomber on people. I distinctly remember a period of time in my consulting days when I cried in the shower almost every morning for a period of almost six months because the execs I worked for and the clients I dealt with were so awful I thought my confidence, dignity and self-respect were a figment of my imagination.
Legal jeopardy? I have been sued 16 times (and counting) for selling a certain pharmacologic product. Can't say much more about it than that but you can only imagine.
My point is this - when you get right down to it, life and work are really freakin' hard. Period. For many of you who do not have partners or children yet, it only gets more complicated. Add exorbitant mortgages to the mix and you get my drift. BUT (the big but!), if you are doing something you feel passionate about, for whatever reason, then you are ahead of the game. And if you make the effort to savor the finer moments of whatever it is you are doing in both life and work, then so much the better. It really is about perspective and what you bring to it. I watched my father die from cancer. He had a lifetime of regrets, the largest of which was missing out on the good times in his life because he was so frustrated by the bad. I vowed to myself not to live that way and I think that having faith (whatever that may be) makes a huge difference. My husband is a good example for me. He really likes his work even though it is so hard on him. Even our neurosurgeon friends (!) cant believe how hard he works, but he is still relatively happy. Stressed out a lot, but happy.
So there you go. Feel free to laugh at me in a few years when I am cursing the day I decided to go into medicine. But know this - the view from the different cowpatches is no better, if you get my drift.
I am now tripping off my soapbox. Yikes!
Happy Thanksgiving. Kiss your loved ones.
(Hedge fund management may be the promised land. They make a c**pload of $$!)
Bad hours? My husband has billed so many hours in the past four years that our children think a rock star has entered the house in the off chance he gets home before their bedtime (seven days a week, most weeks). I used to fly around the country so much in my consulting job that I got to know the flight attendants on certain coast-to-coast flights. Sad, but true.
Horrendous loans? Georgetown Law was expensive. Very. Golden handcuffs are not unique to medicine.
Working with or for lunatics? The cartoon Dilbert is funny for a reason. The insane garbage that goes on in the corporate world (and the legal and academic worlds for that matter) is enough to make you want to go all Unibomber on people. I distinctly remember a period of time in my consulting days when I cried in the shower almost every morning for a period of almost six months because the execs I worked for and the clients I dealt with were so awful I thought my confidence, dignity and self-respect were a figment of my imagination.
Legal jeopardy? I have been sued 16 times (and counting) for selling a certain pharmacologic product. Can't say much more about it than that but you can only imagine.
My point is this - when you get right down to it, life and work are really freakin' hard. Period. For many of you who do not have partners or children yet, it only gets more complicated. Add exorbitant mortgages to the mix and you get my drift. BUT (the big but!), if you are doing something you feel passionate about, for whatever reason, then you are ahead of the game. And if you make the effort to savor the finer moments of whatever it is you are doing in both life and work, then so much the better. It really is about perspective and what you bring to it. I watched my father die from cancer. He had a lifetime of regrets, the largest of which was missing out on the good times in his life because he was so frustrated by the bad. I vowed to myself not to live that way and I think that having faith (whatever that may be) makes a huge difference. My husband is a good example for me. He really likes his work even though it is so hard on him. Even our neurosurgeon friends (!) cant believe how hard he works, but he is still relatively happy. Stressed out a lot, but happy.
So there you go. Feel free to laugh at me in a few years when I am cursing the day I decided to go into medicine. But know this - the view from the different cowpatches is no better, if you get my drift.
I am now tripping off my soapbox. Yikes!
Happy Thanksgiving. Kiss your loved ones.
(Hedge fund management may be the promised land. They make a c**pload of $$!)
hi everyone
i'm an australian optometrist who's considering going into med next year.
i've read all the threads so far (yes, not working very hard as an optom) and it's really interesting to see that doctors everywhere seem to have the same dilemmas.
here, u can either go into med as an undergrad or a postgrad. my bro has just finished his undergrad (6 yrs) and i've been accepted as a postgrad. he thinks im crazy for wanting to do med from being an optom. he wishes that he went to some other field for the same reason as others; better lifestyle, more money, less work/stress) there's been a lot of negative response to me going into med.
it's interesting to see how pharmacy is very lucrative over there. here, it's med or dent, or opotm. pharmacist over here don't really get paid that well and it's hard work, and u can't really eva hav ur own practice cuz it costs like 2 million dollars!
i've noticed how optometry doesn't seem to b very popular amongst people thinking about other health professions. i know it's a post grad over there, however it's an undergrad 5 year course and only 2 states out of 8 that can prescribe therapeutic drugs. very basic ones thou.
i have lot of friends that're in med and from talking to them all my naive pre-med conception about being a doctor has been shattered. i'm very realistic and in a way pessimistic about the medical profession. i don't mind my job as an optometrist but i don't think i'm 'satisfied' so to speak. how every going thru like 15 yrs of hard work/debt doesn't seem to justified it for a little more satisfaction. hence althou i'm pretty certain that i don't wanna be a doctor, i'm still going to go to med school and try it out for a year. i know that uni and working as a doctor is completely different, however i think that i should at least give it a go, because i can't say with 100% certainty that i don't wanna do med and i don't wanna look back in 10 yrs time and wish 'i should've at least given it a chance'
For all the doctors out there, am i just gonna be wasting a year of my life by 'trying it out?'
i'm an australian optometrist who's considering going into med next year.
i've read all the threads so far (yes, not working very hard as an optom) and it's really interesting to see that doctors everywhere seem to have the same dilemmas.
here, u can either go into med as an undergrad or a postgrad. my bro has just finished his undergrad (6 yrs) and i've been accepted as a postgrad. he thinks im crazy for wanting to do med from being an optom. he wishes that he went to some other field for the same reason as others; better lifestyle, more money, less work/stress) there's been a lot of negative response to me going into med.
it's interesting to see how pharmacy is very lucrative over there. here, it's med or dent, or opotm. pharmacist over here don't really get paid that well and it's hard work, and u can't really eva hav ur own practice cuz it costs like 2 million dollars!
i've noticed how optometry doesn't seem to b very popular amongst people thinking about other health professions. i know it's a post grad over there, however it's an undergrad 5 year course and only 2 states out of 8 that can prescribe therapeutic drugs. very basic ones thou.
i have lot of friends that're in med and from talking to them all my naive pre-med conception about being a doctor has been shattered. i'm very realistic and in a way pessimistic about the medical profession. i don't mind my job as an optometrist but i don't think i'm 'satisfied' so to speak. how every going thru like 15 yrs of hard work/debt doesn't seem to justified it for a little more satisfaction. hence althou i'm pretty certain that i don't wanna be a doctor, i'm still going to go to med school and try it out for a year. i know that uni and working as a doctor is completely different, however i think that i should at least give it a go, because i can't say with 100% certainty that i don't wanna do med and i don't wanna look back in 10 yrs time and wish 'i should've at least given it a chance'
For all the doctors out there, am i just gonna be wasting a year of my life by 'trying it out?'
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Slck pack-
inspirational post! sorry to hear about your father. So- after all you have been through at 37 you want to start med school? Wow! Any idea what you want to do in a residency? Sounds like you are at a state university- so you will avoid the huge debt! You are right- lifes a biatch, or can be! There is no easy ride (in most cases)- although I have several relatively wealthy friends who dont do sh-t! and are care free! Medicine is tough and frustrating. I am 34 and have finished med school and an internship, and for complictaed reasons am sitting this year out, while switching specialties. For me- the most frustrating part is the economics of the current healthcare system, and the life altering changes that occur in the pursuit of medicine. The frustrating economics- are the huge debt, the low reimbursement for primary care, and the 12-15 years of lost wages getting to that 150, 000 dollar job! This is a poor investment (objectively speaking)! very poor. If you are lucky enough to get into med school in your home state- good for you! Post graduation (if you are pursuing anything but FM or IM) you will undoubtedly have to move away from your loved ones to finish your training- often times to a city where you will never be able to qualify to own a home. I dont know! Its tough! Sounds like you have thought it through though- good for you! Still interested in your long term plan?! So - do you U have a law degree already?
Good luck
inspirational post! sorry to hear about your father. So- after all you have been through at 37 you want to start med school? Wow! Any idea what you want to do in a residency? Sounds like you are at a state university- so you will avoid the huge debt! You are right- lifes a biatch, or can be! There is no easy ride (in most cases)- although I have several relatively wealthy friends who dont do sh-t! and are care free! Medicine is tough and frustrating. I am 34 and have finished med school and an internship, and for complictaed reasons am sitting this year out, while switching specialties. For me- the most frustrating part is the economics of the current healthcare system, and the life altering changes that occur in the pursuit of medicine. The frustrating economics- are the huge debt, the low reimbursement for primary care, and the 12-15 years of lost wages getting to that 150, 000 dollar job! This is a poor investment (objectively speaking)! very poor. If you are lucky enough to get into med school in your home state- good for you! Post graduation (if you are pursuing anything but FM or IM) you will undoubtedly have to move away from your loved ones to finish your training- often times to a city where you will never be able to qualify to own a home. I dont know! Its tough! Sounds like you have thought it through though- good for you! Still interested in your long term plan?! So - do you U have a law degree already?
Good luck
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SPack and Becky,
Med school is very hard and painful. You will undoubtly begin to become very annoyed by your classmates (especially the gunners) and you will hate yourself forever for choosing this path if you really dont like medicine.
I love medicine and basic sciences and all that stuff and it has been quite easy for me (much easier than my undergrad actually) and I have always wanted to do this. But I see a lot of people going through hell and just hating their lives and themselves for choosing med school and even I (on some bad days) wonder how different my life would have been if I choose maybe an easier and less stressful path.
Make a wise decision, especially you Becky.
D
da8s0859q
I've only a portion of life's experience that you do - I'm 22, still undergrad, yet to take an MCAT even - but right there is why I'm so indecisive these days as to whether I really want to turn in 7ish years and go to med school. I'm pretty scared of waking up one morning and realizing that I made the "wrong" decision that's caused me all that bad stuff.
Sorry about your father, but damn, I hope everyone you've told that to takes it seriously. I, a fellow fence pre-medder, and a few others in my life are firm believers in appreciating the good things - the simple things even - and I refuse to allow myself to get to where I can't even be happy about good stuff, however small, and instead worry myself sick about the concern of the day/week/month.
Belgian also offers some fine advice, in my quite inexperienced opinion.
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I'm a med student smack dab in the middle of third year. If you were to ask me on any day at the hospital the answer would probably be a definate "no." If you ask me post residency it may be different. But right now with the thought of internship and the rest of residency still ahead of me (not to mention the rest of third year) it would be really hard for me to tell you yes. Keep in mind however this is from someone who will run as far as he can from academic medicine and the politics of large hospitals.
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Hold-up Exi. I have a problem with the phrase "turn in 7ish years." Okay, some seriously unbalanced folks do this and perpetuate the persona of the woo-is-me medical martyr, sacrificing all that is good in his/her world to help others. Life's too short. You'll work hard in medical school and residency but you choose whether to have "a life" or not while doing it. Compared to undergrad, I found med school refreshingly straight-forward and spent more than a few weeknights developing a great relationship with the man I hope to marry. He's quite a few years older than me and already an attending . . . whenever I get stressed or narrow sighted about my school or clinical drama, he reminds me that I'm in medicine because I love it. The science, the people, etc. And I really do. So I relax, work hard, and enjoy.
One of the most inspirational people I've known in life was an MD I met the year after he finished residency and came to work in my city. He had been diagnosed with malignant melanoma as an M1, went through some rough treatment, and continued with his education and training disease free. He lived life more actively (and occasionally recklessly!) than anyone because he knew his days were precious and never trusted that he was "cured." Two years after we met, his cancer recurred and a year later he died. All but the last three years of his life were spent in school. I asked him this forum's question when he got sick and he said "no regrets." Your life is what you make it, so make it count.
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Wow thats sad......he spent his entire life but the last three years in school. You gotta make the most of what you got now, bc you never know what u ll have in the future.
D
da8s0859q
Well, I meant it more along the lines of me still trying to make sure that medicine is, in fact, what I want to do over any other professional interest I have. It's a frightening prospect when you're less than sure about it or anything else, you know?
Awesome story about the doc - damn good point
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Most of you are missing the point. Medicine (like most other professions) has a certain culture to it. A lot of us knew what this would entail from the start...and if we didn't then we surely found out along the way as we moved up the years in med school. There's really no excuse for whining about it now. You knew what you signed up for, and if you didn't then you gradually found out. People who use the "I have too much loans to pay back to do something else" usually use it is an easy cop out because (dare I say) they really don't want to do anything else but rather just like to complain. A lot of people are like that...no matter what the situation they'll find something to complain about. Even if a medical career was perfect, they'd still find some angle to complain about. It's called not appreciating the position you have in life and not realizing that it's better than what 99.9% of the population has.
And the culture of medicine is what it is (lots of studying, long hours, lots of responsibility, difficult personailities to deal with, and lawyers just around the corner waiting for you to slip up, etc). It's been like that before any of us here were born and it will remain like that well after we're gone.
There's a very old saying: "The lady doth protest too much". Look it up, because it applies to most people who complain incessantly about their career choice.
Wow that's so sad that your friend did not make it. My heart goes out to you. However, here's one point to make. he was in 3rd year of med school it seems from your post. Hence he had not yet been a full attending much less a resident to judge the answer to this question. I have a good SDN friend who I talk to in another part of the forums. She's a PGY 1 doing residency in pathology and went through the MSTP program at one of the midwest schools. At any rate, a year ago when she was finishing 4th year she was very gung ho about things. Now she didn't yet have an answer as to whether she regrets it but she is more frustrated then I ever heard her being last year. She's constantly tired and overworked and sometimes they put too many med students under her supervision that she feels frustrated rather then like she's able to teach them anything. The impression changes as you go along the road. And then again who knows how views change again after residency. Some may still regret it while others again don't regret once more because residency is over and their hours may have gotten better.
Its pretty hard though to judge the response from someone who was just starting the clinical rounding when he passed away.
But again, I want you to know I'm not saying this to offend you and my heart goes out to you and the student's family and I think its admirable that he went through medical school while suffering a terminal illness because there are many people who wouldn't cope with that very well.
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D
da8s0859q
I use it often, and now that you mention it, it definitely does.
Reading comp gujudoc...he was 3 years out of residency.
Ok you do not need to be so offensive. I misread the post I admit it cuz I just reread it again. I apologize about that but you need to back off and leave me alone. Sorry I was tired and sick yesterday when I read that post and must have been reading it too fast. But again, you can lay off rather then taking every opportunity to insult me.
And having reread that post all I can say is WOW what an inspiration.
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Perhaps you all can help me out here...Im in a bit of a pickle! I was supposed to enter med school this fall but, unfortunately, the summer before I found out that I had cancer and wound up deferring a year. Now, months and rounds of chemo later Ive been given the all clear but now Im totally freaking out about going to med school!! Ive just realized after all of this that I dont want to live a totally stressed out life and want to enjoy reasonable amounts of free time. I think I have a very realistic view of what Im getting in to and thus am concerned about putting lots of demands on my body (stress! sleep deprivation!) that may contribute to the cancer reoccuring.
So here's the deal. I have a scholarship to a top tier med school and would probably be able to graduate with less than 30k in med school debt. Not to shabby. I want to do a MPH too to give me some more options but this will probably add to the debt load. Right now I think the fields of PMR and psychiatry would be best for me. Lifestyle wise and conceptually as well.
Overall Im not totally jazzed to go to med school right now. But honestly I dont know what else to do with myself. So, do you think its worth it to go for it considering i won't take on crazy debt, then perhaps if its not for me I can always option to take the MD and run to something else? Take another year off and explore other options?
Any advice (esp from people in the less time consuming specialties, psych, PMR, rads) would be GREATLY appreciated! Im not trying to be a complete cut-and-run lazy student, but I do realize that I need to take care of myself more now. THANKS!!!
and wound up deferring a year. Now, months and rounds of chemo later Ive been given the all clear but now Im totally freaking out about going to med school!! Ive just realized after all of this that I dont want to live a totally stressed out life and want to enjoy reasonable amounts of free time. I think I have a very realistic view of what Im getting in to and thus am concerned about putting lots of demands on my body (stress! sleep deprivation!) that may contribute to the cancer reoccuring. So here's the deal. I have a scholarship to a top tier med school and would probably be able to graduate with less than 30k in med school debt. Not to shabby. I want to do a MPH too to give me some more options but this will probably add to the debt load. Right now I think the fields of PMR and psychiatry would be best for me. Lifestyle wise and conceptually as well.
Overall Im not totally jazzed to go to med school right now. But honestly I dont know what else to do with myself. So, do you think its worth it to go for it considering i won't take on crazy debt, then perhaps if its not for me I can always option to take the MD and run to something else? Take another year off and explore other options?
Any advice (esp from people in the less time consuming specialties, psych, PMR, rads) would be GREATLY appreciated! Im not trying to be a complete cut-and-run lazy student, but I do realize that I need to take care of myself more now. THANKS!!!
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but I do realize that I need to take care of myself more now. THANKS!!!
I definitely can relate; I haven't gone through what you have, but I do know a few people that have. Sorry to hear, but I'm glad you seem to be doing alright...
As far as your question goes, you're farther along than I am; I haven't even applied yet, and I'm not sure I want to for the same reasons you said - stress, stress, stress.
And more stress. All of that combined with an interest in enjoying myself and having free time, like you mentioned.
It's a pretty scary prospect, so I'm also interested to see what others say. But at the very least, even though it took a round with cancer to make you realize it, I do think it's an awesome thing that you're questioning this before entering - better now than in the middle of MSII or something.
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Perhaps you all can help me out here...Im in a bit of a pickle! I was supposed to enter med school this fall but, unfortunately, the summer before I found out that I had cancer
So here's the deal. I have a scholarship to a top tier med school and would probably be able to graduate with less than 30k in med school debt. Not to shabby. I want to do a MPH too to give me some more options but this will probably add to the debt load. Right now I think the fields of PMR and psychiatry would be best for me. Lifestyle wise and conceptually as well.
Overall Im not totally jazzed to go to med school right now. But honestly I dont know what else to do with myself. So, do you think its worth it to go for it considering i won't take on crazy debt, then perhaps if its not for me I can always option to take the MD and run to something else? Take another year off and explore other options?
Any advice (esp from people in the less time consuming specialties, psych, PMR, rads) would be GREATLY appreciated! Im not trying to be a complete cut-and-run lazy student, but I do realize that I need to take care of myself more now. THANKS!!!
Well I dont know if your school always it.......you could decellerate.
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Perhaps you all can help me out here...Im in a bit of a pickle! I was supposed to enter med school this fall but, unfortunately, the summer before I found out that I had cancer
So here's the deal. I have a scholarship to a top tier med school and would probably be able to graduate with less than 30k in med school debt. Not to shabby. I want to do a MPH too to give me some more options but this will probably add to the debt load. Right now I think the fields of PMR and psychiatry would be best for me. Lifestyle wise and conceptually as well.
Overall Im not totally jazzed to go to med school right now. But honestly I dont know what else to do with myself. So, do you think its worth it to go for it considering i won't take on crazy debt, then perhaps if its not for me I can always option to take the MD and run to something else? Take another year off and explore other options?
Any advice (esp from people in the less time consuming specialties, psych, PMR, rads) would be GREATLY appreciated! Im not trying to be a complete cut-and-run lazy student, but I do realize that I need to take care of myself more now. THANKS!!!
Well I dont know if your school always it.......you could decellerate.
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I am currently JADED hate life and want to kill myself. I really want to be a wife and a mother. I would love to take care of my kids and cook and clean all day. Medical school is NOTHING like what i thought it would be like. Noone here wants to learn- they just want to pass the exams and get into a competative residency, and worse of all the administration encourages this behavior... its a FUC*ING GAME, and it's bull****. Save yourself now, do anything else, cause its not what you think.
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Perhaps you all can help me out here...Im in a bit of a pickle! I was supposed to enter med school this fall but, unfortunately, the summer before I found out that I had cancer
So here's the deal. I have a scholarship to a top tier med school and would probably be able to graduate with less than 30k in med school debt. Not to shabby. I want to do a MPH too to give me some more options but this will probably add to the debt load. Right now I think the fields of PMR and psychiatry would be best for me. Lifestyle wise and conceptually as well.
Overall Im not totally jazzed to go to med school right now. But honestly I dont know what else to do with myself. So, do you think its worth it to go for it considering i won't take on crazy debt, then perhaps if its not for me I can always option to take the MD and run to something else? Take another year off and explore other options?
Any advice (esp from people in the less time consuming specialties, psych, PMR, rads) would be GREATLY appreciated! Im not trying to be a complete cut-and-run lazy student, but I do realize that I need to take care of myself more now. THANKS!!!
Defer one more year and think it over- explore well during that year, last chance...
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Probably not -- and I believe that I have the best job in all of medicine-- I love the work that I do, don't get me wrong -- but the ends do not justify the means in today's practice environment. Until you are out of residency and practicing in "the real world", keep an open mind and stay off of the pedestal -- I can guarantee that your perspective will change once you are away from the University setting.
My brother asked me when he was approaching college graduation whether he should apply or not. I threatened to
1. hold his head under water until he either came to his senses or
2. quit kicking.
My brother asked me when he was approaching college graduation whether he should apply or not. I threatened to
1. hold his head under water until he either came to his senses or
2. quit kicking.
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I like this thread- people are honest. I would like nothing more than to say that I never questioned my decision to go to medical school and that my desire to be a physician sustained me through the entirety of one of the more grueling academic experiences that exist. However, I know that during some points in each year, I was so unbelievably sick of it, if they forgave my massive loans I would seriously consider leaving. Pre-clinical years- I was not ready for the enormity of it. I knew it would be hard, but not stay up till 1 every night, forget your weekends, learn massive amounts with crappy teaching, eat lunch, dinner in front of your books hard. Third year- you're in your mid 20's, intelligent and well read, but in the hospital you rank right below the bedpan. If there is someone who's not a med student, he/she is allowed to yell at you and will definitely take the opportunity to do so. Through it all I see my friends on Wall Street, and even my "less academically inclined" friends not on wall street but still hauling in 70K out of college, and my younger brother who is in a very prestigious undergrad business school and tells me how he's debating internships with Goldman or JP Morgan.
However, as I'm about to graduate and start residency, I'm very excited again about my career, and despite all that I said, I'd go through it again. The bright spots, though few, were when I actually spent time with patients- it was a high that I knew you couldn't get in other fields. And despite the glamorous earnings of all my friends, at the end of the day all they did was make rich people richer, deal with abstract economic policies, completely ignorant of the comman man that they fired to pad their earnings. We can go to sleep at night at least knowing that what we did during the day, even in small amount, made the world better not worse (Hallmark, I know).
One thing I've learned, is that as med students we enjoy whining and complaining about how bad our lives are- deny it but we're all guilty of it. Truthfully, it wasn't all that bad and our lives are fairy tales compared to what they could be.
However, as I'm about to graduate and start residency, I'm very excited again about my career, and despite all that I said, I'd go through it again. The bright spots, though few, were when I actually spent time with patients- it was a high that I knew you couldn't get in other fields. And despite the glamorous earnings of all my friends, at the end of the day all they did was make rich people richer, deal with abstract economic policies, completely ignorant of the comman man that they fired to pad their earnings. We can go to sleep at night at least knowing that what we did during the day, even in small amount, made the world better not worse (Hallmark, I know).
One thing I've learned, is that as med students we enjoy whining and complaining about how bad our lives are- deny it but we're all guilty of it. Truthfully, it wasn't all that bad and our lives are fairy tales compared to what they could be.
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What would you have done instead?
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Really hard to say -- don't get me wrong, I really like my job, I just wish that I did not have to do it for money or worry about making a living doing it. The current medical compensation system rewards bad medicine -- if you have not seen that just yet, you will.
I would probably have gotten a combined JD-MBA (or less likely an engineering-MBA), with an entrepreneurial focus and started a company with the smartest / most tolerable folks from my classes. I would have definitely done something where the labor of others was my primary source of income (i.e. generate positive cash flow even while I sleep).
I would probably have gotten dissatisfied with that and would, at that point, have gone back to get my MD and do something that I consider worthwhile (most likely plastics, augmentations and Operation Smile, but that is just me).
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Not to mention the truly astounding number of tests we order and paperwork we fill out to protect ourselves from being sued. It may be true that the overt cost of medical malpractice suits doesn't add that much to the cost of medicine but the defensive costs, in lost productivity and waste, surely does.
Were not for my military obligation and if it were not for the loan pay back I would have to worry about if I did NOT have a military obligation I would not be a doctor. Honestly, it is difficult for me to even remember why I got into medicine in the first place and being an intern in a maliganant residency doesn't help jog my memory. In my more lucid moments, I think I felt that I wanted to be a service to communities that have little or no access to health care. I've looked at several of the posts and really its great that people still can find joy in their profession and have positive feelings despite being dead tired, being on call q4, dealing with difficult patients, collegues, etc. I really wish I had or could revive some of those feelings. Looking back at four years of medical school and then looking ahead to another several years of residency interacting with several malignant residents and attendings, I can't muster up any enthusiasm. I really do think I made the wrong decision for myself personally, spiritually and professionally. I am unhappy all the time. Probably depressed but then I've had these feelings since 3rd year med school. Even post call days, my apartment which is a 5 minute drive isn't far enough away from the hospital for comfort.
I do agree that medical and school and residency is something that only other medical school students and residents can understand. That being said, anyone out there who has a strong desire to go to medical school and be a doc should still go for it, despite what I or anyone else may say. But as many of the posts pointed out make sure you are not going into it just for the money and prestige or any other superficial reason. Please go into it becasue you love medicine deeply and love to be a service to people and community. Anything less than this is a disservice to you because you will be sacrificing more of yourself than what you are getting in return, not to mention shortchanging the people you will be responsible for taking care of.
peace
I do agree that medical and school and residency is something that only other medical school students and residents can understand. That being said, anyone out there who has a strong desire to go to medical school and be a doc should still go for it, despite what I or anyone else may say. But as many of the posts pointed out make sure you are not going into it just for the money and prestige or any other superficial reason. Please go into it becasue you love medicine deeply and love to be a service to people and community. Anything less than this is a disservice to you because you will be sacrificing more of yourself than what you are getting in return, not to mention shortchanging the people you will be responsible for taking care of.
peace
Were not for my military obligation and if it were not for the loan pay back I would have to worry about if I did NOT have a military obligation I would not be a doctor. Honestly, it is difficult for me to even remember why I got into medicine in the first place and being an intern in a maliganant residency doesn't help jog my memory. In my more lucid moments, I think I felt that I wanted to be a service to communities that have little or no access to health care. I've looked at several of the posts and really its great that people still can find joy in their profession and have positive feelings despite being dead tired, being on call q4, dealing with difficult patients, collegues, etc. I really wish I had or could revive some of those feelings. Looking back at four years of medical school and then looking ahead to another several years of residency interacting with several malignant residents and attendings, I can't muster up any enthusiasm. I really do think I made the wrong decision for myself personally, spiritually and professionally. I am unhappy all the time. Probably depressed but then I've had these feelings since 3rd year med school. Even post call days, my apartment which is a 5 minute drive isn't far enough away from the hospital for comfort.
I do agree that medical and school and residency is something that only other medical school students and residents can understand. That being said, anyone out there who has a strong desire to go to medical school and be a doc should still go for it, despite what I or anyone else may say. But as many of the posts pointed out make sure you are not going into it just for the money and prestige or any other superficial reason. Please go into it becasue you love medicine deeply and love to be a service to people and community. Anything less than this is a disservice to you because you will be sacrificing more of yourself than what you are getting in return, not to mention shortchanging the people you will be responsible for taking care of.
peace
I do agree that medical and school and residency is something that only other medical school students and residents can understand. That being said, anyone out there who has a strong desire to go to medical school and be a doc should still go for it, despite what I or anyone else may say. But as many of the posts pointed out make sure you are not going into it just for the money and prestige or any other superficial reason. Please go into it becasue you love medicine deeply and love to be a service to people and community. Anything less than this is a disservice to you because you will be sacrificing more of yourself than what you are getting in return, not to mention shortchanging the people you will be responsible for taking care of.
peace
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Ah hell, if those were the criteria, only about 25 people a year would graduate from medical school. Trust me, when you start thinking of medicine as a job (a useful and important one, of course) you will like it a lot better. Screw service to the community. Just by doing your job and without even thinking about it you are of more service to the community than any 300 activists combined. You might as well get paid for it.
It is impossible to love medicine, deeply or otherwise.
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Sober realism is important and I agree with most of this post, but not with the highlighted sentences. The second in particular seems like a strange assertion. It is possible to truly love your work, even if you work in medicine. Those who do (in any profession) are in the minority and are very lucky, but they are not so rare as is often imagined. I know an unusual number of doctors, and many of them think as you do, Panda. But I also know many who are very, very content in their jobs, and I know several who truly love what they do. Interestingly enough, the doctors I know who love their job are all in primary care--mostly FPs, and one pediatrician. That's not to say that everyone would be happier if they would just choose FP over EM, of course. I digress. My only point is that medicine can still be a calling for some, not just a good job.
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