Question for current medical students- Did you make the right decision?

[Medschoolready95]

This question is for current medical students. How do you feel about your career choice now that you have experienced medical school? Are you more confident of your decision or have regrets?

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[wanderingorion]

Yes. Sometimes you waver, but at the end of the day, this really is a privilege.

 

[sella.turcica]

This question is for current medical students. How do you feel about your career choice now that you have experienced medical school? Are you more confident of your decision or have regrets?

Once I see the big $$$ in my bank account, I'll stop regretting.

 

[mehc012]

Nothing I have ever done has fit me as well as surgery, and I have never enjoyed my life more or made more progress towards being a happy, healthy person as I have in medical school. I have great friends here, I have fun outside of school, I get to study cool things, and I get to go to work every day and learn how to actually make decisions that others will listen to, or take control of situations that are critical moments to peoples lives...and sometimes, those decisions and those moments will turn out better because I was there, and that's the coolest thing on the planet.

 

[watermelon master]

yes

 

[Kuratz]

No. I liked engineering, should have done that. But luckily found radiology so it’s all good

 

[differentiating]

Third year made me doubt, but now that the end is in sight, I feel pretty damn happy with my choice. I love my specialty and can’t imagine doing anything else.

 

[deleted746658]

Third year made me doubt, but now that the end is in sight, I feel pretty damn happy with my choice. I love my specialty and can’t imagine doing anything else.

specialty choice?

 

[themoonman2]

I love being in medicine and don't regret it at all. There are lots of really tough days, but it's been an incredible journey that I feel privileged to experience.

My SO on the other hand would have liked to have done something else...

 

[Hopeful101]

Regret. If you're not totally into it, don't do it.

 

[differentiating]

specialty choice?

I’d prefer not to share, as I’m afraid it would be too identifying. It’s a non-surgical subspecialty, is all I’ll say. But everyone will find their own preferred field; there’s no one right answer.

 

[WildcatS11]

I’d prefer not to share, as I’m afraid it would be too identifying. It’s a non-surgical subspecialty, is all I’ll say. But everyone will find their own preferred field; there’s no one right answer.

You’re kidding. This is ridiculous.

 

[mehc012]

You’re kidding. This is ridiculous.

I'm putting money on Heme-Onc.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Nah. This is balls.

 

[differentiating]

You’re kidding. This is ridiculous.

?

I’ve been very forthcoming about what school I attend and my year, so revealing my specialty choice would narrow it down to only a handful of people in my class. I’m not sure why that’s so difficult to believe.

 

[differentiating]

Dude who cares lol your full name, specialty and what med school you went to will be all over the internet someday for the world to see after you match and are a resident. it goes on the website of most programs and then after that it will be on healthgrades etc. just embrace it not a big deal

I’m fine with that - I’m proud of my match and my school. But that’s a completely separate topic.

My issue is that I know people in my med school’s admin who browse sdn for various reasons, and stating my specialty would give them (and my residency) enough information to identify me. I’d rather my SDN account not be linked to my identity, as otherwise I wouldn’t feel comfortable giving honest opinions to applicants.

 

[Deecee2DO]

Love med school even though at times its insanely difficult and feel burntout. At the end of the day i feel extremely privileged to be chosen as someone with whom people can trust with their life. Medicine is an incredibly rewarding field. Everytime I study I study for my future patients which makes me feel like it is all worth it despite the tough times. It is also a very challenging profession that keeps you on your toes-what is life without a challenge? it keeps me intrigued

 

[Goro]

This question is for current medical students. How do you feel about your career choice now that you have experienced medical school? Are you more confident of your decision or have regrets?

At graduation, our students are given a survey asking if they'd do it all over again, go MD, or do something else. At htis point in thier careers, they have no reason to lie, embellish or prove anything to someone.

80-90% say they do exactly the same
5-10% say they'd go MD
5-10% say they'd do something else.

 

[Rekt]

At graduation, our students are given a survey asking if they'd do it all over again, go MD, or do something else. At htis point in thier careers, they have no reason to lie, embellish or prove anything to someone.

80-90% say they do exactly the same
5-10% say they'd go MD
5-10% say they'd do something else.

Must be a flawed survey or it would be >90% would go MD.

 

[Goro]

Must be a flawed survey or it would be >90% would go MD.

Applying Occam's Razor, maybe my students aren't self-hating DOs.

 

[Deecee2DO]

At graduation, our students are given a survey asking if they'd do it all over again, go MD, or do something else. At htis point in thier careers, they have no reason to lie, embellish or prove anything to someone.

80-90% say they do exactly the same
5-10% say they'd go MD
5-10% say they'd do something else.

Thanks for the number Goro! for what its worth im still only a lowly first year but I love my career switch so far and I couldnt see myself doing anything else. Very fortunate to be in med school and I hope other med students know how lucky they are

 

[anon6134]

This question is for current medical students. How do you feel about your career choice now that you have experienced medical school? Are you more confident of your decision or have regrets?

Go to med school only if you cannot live with yourself if you do anything else.
You will miss the normal milestones everyone your age celebrates, you'll miss all their weddings, bachelor/ette parties, family events, college reunions, vacations. You name it and you'll miss it.
You'll pay money you don't have to do all this while spending the majority of your time studying in your apartment alone. Once that's over, you'll live month to month not knowing your schedule until you show up, not being able to take time off for months at a time to do normal human things.
You'll study for exams that stress you out permanently, new rotations, the ever looming Match, moving for residency while still having no money.
You will have relationship tensions and you'll find out if your spouse/SO is in it for the long haul or not. You will have minimal control over this.

If you're lucky, you'll go to school nearby a support system where some of this can be mitigated. Unfortunately you'll find out that just like the next decade of your life, you don't have much control over that either. No use regretting something you can't change, but be honest with yourself and what you want out of your life. You can lie to admission committees but you cannot lie to yourself

 

[700825]

I'll be 100% honest, medical school is terrible. You're poor, stressed, and you will miss out on so many social things (due to lack of money, lack of time, or both). Yes, the material is interesting, but when you're pounding an absurd amount of minutiae into your head that interesting goes away fast. Add in constant high stakes testing and your life is going to be generally pretty crappy for at least 4 years.

On the other hand, being a physician is not terrible. You make great money, have great job stability, and have a chance to profoundly impact someone's life every day. There is not many (if any) jobs that provide that.

My personal advice, look at your life right now, and determine what draws you to medicine (the more I've been in medical school the less convinced I am that what this is matters) and if you're willing to sacrifice most of what you enjoy (and your financial stability) for that. If the answer is yes, go.

 

[You shall know the Truth]

I say not worth it, finance or law would have been hands down better. Also we have no idea what the compensation/legislation will be in 7 to 11 years.

 

[Deecee2DO]

I say not worth it, finance or law would have been hands down better. Also we have no idea what the compensation/legislation will be in 7 to 11 years.

Law? seriously? Do you know how many lawyers there are and how many lawyers make nothing? I know a good amount of lawyers that complain they are underpaid (which many are) and they hate their job. The floor for law is quite low financially and they work like dogs. At least in medicine in the end it pays off and job security is one of the highest of any profession

 

[deleted436726]

As an AMG MD M4 who went unmatched in EM this year and had to scramble into a transitional year residency with uncertain prospects of being able to match EM next cycle or ever again, I can now say that I greatly regret going to medical school. If you're like me and were dead set on a specialty at the beginning of M1, the gravity of an adverse match outcome (i.e. not matching into your preferred specialty or not matching at all) doesn't really hit you until fourth year, and by then it's way too late. While I enjoyed the journey of medical school nothing really prepares you for the bitterness, disappointment, and feeling like the last four years were a waste that results from a bad match. If I don't match into an EM residency next cycle I'm probably going to quit medicine altogether. Had I known this would happen I would have definitely NOT gone to medical school and made use of my background in tech and/or pursued a career in law enforcement.

If you're a flexible person, perhaps unsure about your preferred specialty and can honestly see yourself happy in more than one specialty then go for it. But if you're like me, stubborn, and can only see yourself happy in one specialty and your plan is to go through 4 years of medical school to only practice said specialty I would seriously, seriously think twice about jumping into the abyss that is an MD/DO as that plan can easily blow up in your face. You've been warned.

 

[afib123]

I don't think medical school itself is that hard. If you want to go into or will be fine going into community IM, FM, peds, pathology, low tier gen surg, ob-gyn, med school will be a piece of cake. On the other hand, if you want to go into ortho, plastics, neurosurg, med school will be one of the hardest things. Know what you want to get into and how hard you are willing to work.

What sucks actually is the debt burden. You simply cannot make any mistakes while or med school or can't escape it like other professions. Once you are in, you are in for a lifetime. Choose wisely.

When I say piece of cake, I mean in relative sense. If I only wanted to get 210-220 on step 1 and just wanted to pass all my rotations to get into FM or community IM somewhere, I could have taken a lot of weekend evenings off, have few hours down time to relax most days of medical school. It would have been like most jobs.

 

[DO2015CA]

When I take everything into account I probably regret it. I enjoy the specialty I’m going into and the people I have met but looking back I sure did miss a lot of events. Especially with another 3 years of not being close to family. I think I enjoyed my life a lot more before Medschool. I loved my city, loved my job, loved my friends but I chose to seek out a childhood dream. Doing that lost mostly all 3 lol. I did still retain friends that I’m not ever able to see.

I don’t think I (and a lot of premeds) grasp what we are getting ourselves into. Not only financially but just the path to train a physician. There are no stops and there is no getting off for a break.

 

[anon6134]

When I take everything into account I probably regret it. I enjoy the specialty I’m going into and the people I have met but looking back I sure did miss a lot of events. Especially with another 3 years of not being close to family. I think I enjoyed my life a lot more before Medschool. I loved my city, loved my job, loved my friends but I chose to seek out a childhood dream. Doing that lost mostly all 3 lol. I did still retain friends that I’m not ever able to see.

I don’t think I (and a lot of premeds) grasp what we are getting ourselves into. Not only financially but just the path to train a physician. There are no stops and there is no getting off for a break.

The reality of this is really hard to grasp until years later. Everyone you know will move on with their lives and you'll live in a bubble that no one in your former life will be able to or care to grasp

 

[DO2015CA]

The reality of this is really hard to grasp until years later. Everyone you know will move on with their lives and you'll live in a bubble that no one in your former life will be able to or care to grasp

the bold can not be stated enough. And we shouldn’t expect them to work to grasp it.

 

[You shall know the Truth]

Law? seriously? Do you know how many lawyers there are and how many lawyers make nothing? I know a good amount of lawyers that complain they are underpaid (which many are) and they hate their job. The floor for law is quite low financially and they work like dogs. At least in medicine in the end it pays off and job security is one of the highest of any profession

I do, there is also a difference in school length and student loan burden. There are different types of law from domestic to international. You can work in business law, finance law, medical malpractice, immigration, you can advocate for people who are trafficked (which is so sad to hear their stories), you can go into constitutional, criminal, etc. Also the potential for being a judge carries tremendous responsibility. I understand few lawyers become judges, but to establish precedent and interpret law for an entire county/city/state/nation is huge.

Hopefully money is not you motivation in pursuing medicine. I can give you anecdotal evidence about physicians that complain about being over worked and underpaid. Not the greatest argument, but I understand your point. Most of the crap that physicians deal with every day is to circumvent being sued. So we need reform to TORT.

I also mentioned finance like equity trading, FOREX, wealth management, options, commodities, etc. is that more palatable to you?

 

[Medschoolready95]

Damn this thread quickly went from "med school will be worth it in the end" to "DON'T DO IT! IT SUCKS!". From the comments, it seems like it depends on what you make of it (i.e., stressful --> competitive specialty OR not too bad --> noncompetitive specialties). Maybe accepting the fact that it's going to suck, trying my best to find a balance between school and my social life, and most importantly being honest with myself about why I am doing this will help.

 

[Splenda88]

You don't need to love your job; you just need not to hate it... After 5+ years, a job is a job.

 

[You shall know the Truth]

When I take everything into account I probably regret it. I enjoy the specialty I’m going into and the people I have met but looking back I sure did miss a lot of events. Especially with another 3 years of not being close to family. I think I enjoyed my life a lot more before Medschool. I loved my city, loved my job, loved my friends but I chose to seek out a childhood dream. Doing that lost mostly all 3 lol. I did still retain friends that I’m not ever able to see.

I don’t think I (and a lot of premeds) grasp what we are getting ourselves into. Not only financially but just the path to train a physician. There are no stops and there is no getting off for a break.

I agree, I miss traveling and looking for a wife is more challenging. Keep working hard.

 

[anon6134]

Damn this thread quickly went from "med school will be worth it in the end" to "DON'T DO IT! IT SUCKS!". From the comments, it seems like it depends on what you make of it (i.e., stressful --> competitive specialty OR not too bad --> noncompetitive specialties). Maybe accepting the fact that it's going to suck, trying my best to find a balance between school and my social life, and most importantly being honest with myself about why I am doing this will help.

No one is saying it "sucks", you just don't have the capacity to understand what's being said here yet. Unless you are going to school in your home town you have to understand the bolded is just not going to happen the way you think it is right now. It's not impossible and plenty of people get through it fine, but what you think is going to be hard prior to starting isn't what actually turns out to be the difficult stuff

 

[DO2015CA]

I agree, I miss traveling and looking for a wife is more challenging. Keep working hard.

Ya it is what it is. I am pretty happy overall and enjoy medicine, but the thread asked for a reflection. As for a career, I cant think of a more fulfilling one but a career was never meant to be the cornerstone of my life.

 

[Chibucks15]

Everyone that says law or finance doesn't take into account that you still have to work insane amounts. Finance for example. I have a buddy who spent the first 3 years out of college working 100+ hour weeks. Now he's down to 80 hour weeks. He makes good money but it ain't sunshine and rainbows. And he had to be a rockstar in order to get with that company. The other finance people I know are toiling away at jobs they hate for 60k. Sure its okay-good money, but I'll gladly give up my 20s for a secure 200-250k minimum in a job I can't lose unless I royally mess up. Meanwhile business people change jobs like 6 times on average for a variety of reasons.

One of my friends did the math and even with my massive debt burden and delayed start I will still out earn him by 10%. And he's got a cushy corporate real estate job in a large city. You hear about all these great gigs in tech, finance, etc, but its not like everyone just waltzes into these situations. They gotta put in the work too (not as much as us, but still). I'd do this 9/10 times over.

 

[Splenda88]

Med students think that if they did not go to med school, they would have a job making 100k+/yr working 8-5pm M-F, having all the holidays off etc... True that we are a bunch of smart people, but most of us weren't going to have a job at 25 making 100k+/yr..

 

[camng11]

Regretted it so much. You lying on your death bed regreting how you didn't work hard enough? I don't think so. How many doctors have good relationships with friends? Probably not a lot considering the amount of time spent alone studying/working, when all your friends move on with their lives.

 

[Chibucks15]

Regretted it so much. You lying on your death bed regreting how you didn't work hard enough? I don't think so. How many doctors have good relationships with friends? Probably not a lot considering the amount of time spent alone studying/working, when all your friends move on with their lives.

If this is happening you're doing something wrong. Treat it as a career and not an all consuming monster and you find the time. Sure you miss stuff but so does every other successful person making 250k+. IT seems to be a weird thing on here that med students believe making a bunch of money with regular hours is a thing. Its extremely rare.

Prioritize things differently if you aren't happy with the situation. I know plenty of docs that have great outside relationships with non-medicine people because at the end of the day this a job, and a damn good one at that

 

[Splenda88]

There is a reason why med school is competitive... It's not just a coincidence. It's competitive because once you are done, you can get a job almost everywhere in the country that will put you into the top 2-3% in term of salary with great job security...

Just ask the people who are in law, finance, engineering, etc... how they feel when there is a downturn in the economy. The grass is always greener...

 

[afib123]

I don't disagree with the above comments. People in tech etc can pull good money these days IF they are hard working, have good social skills, went to big undergrad institutions etc.

If they were to make similar money as a doctor, they probably have similar challenges to the medical student and work as hard as doctors. We study more, spend more time by ourselves, etc. They need to network more, impress people, and whatever other things their job requires.

But what differentiates these jobs from medicine is debt. People in other fields have the freedom to do things without a crushing debt if they fail. Med students don't have that option. You have that massive debt looming all the time.

 

[WedgeDawg]

literally don't know what else I would / could do

 

[chemdoctor]

Must be a flawed survey or it would be >90% would go MD.

Lol no dude

 

[libertyyne]

A decision was made and here I am. I cant think of another thing I would want to be doing for the rest of my life so there is also that.
Even in school there are days when it sucks.
It will suck after.
It will continue to suck even after becoming an attending.
But the alternatives would suck more.

 

[700825]

I don't disagree with the above comments. People in tech etc can pull good money these days IF they are hard working, have good social skills, went to big undergrad institutions etc.

If they were to make similar money as a doctor, they probably have similar challenges to the medical student and work as hard as doctors. We study more, spend more time by ourselves, etc. They need to network more, impress people, and whatever other things their job requires.

But what differentiates these jobs from medicine is debt. People in other fields have the freedom to do things without a crushing debt if they fail. Med students don't have that option. You have that massive debt looming all the time.

Not only do they have no debt, but they are making money (even if not great) at 22. We will not make money (and actually lose money every year) until at best 26.

 

[Splenda88]

Not only do they have no debt, but they are making money (even if not great) at 22. We will not make money (and actually lose money every year) until at best 26.

You will surpass most of them in your early 40s... a 40-60k/year can only pay the bills. You have no room (extra $$$) to invest.

The Top 1 Percent: What Jobs Do They Have?

Explore the occupations and industries of the nation's wealthiest households.

archive.nytimes.com

 

[jhenj529]

Not only do they have no debt, but they are making money (even if not great) at 22. We will not make money (and actually lose money every year) until at best 26.

Umm I'm not sure what world you live in, but there's so many people with student loan debt out. I think the wealthier the bracket you were born in, the harder it is to see what average americans live like

 

[camng11]

Are rich people happy? Work all your life and make 6 figures or make 60k a year and hang out with your friends/enjoy life?

 

[700825]

You will surpass most of them in your early 40s... a 40-60k/year can only pay the bills. You have no room (extra $$$) to invest.

The Top 1 Percent: What Jobs Do They Have?

Explore the occupations and industries of the nation's wealthiest households.

archive.nytimes.com

That is a fair point, but at the same time I won't be 22. Not saying it isn't worth it (I think it is or I would drop out), just saying it's a pretty significant factor to consider.