*What do you LIKE about being a MD?*

[2BAnIDrNoMore]

To help those of us who are considering, or in the process of applying to medical school, what do you like about being a physician besides your future salary (or current salary if you're a practicing physician)!? I'm sure the majority of SDNers have read the cons about interning, residency and practicing; let's hear some positives. When you respond, please let us know your speciality.

If "nothing" is your answer, feel free to let us know!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[medicinesux]

Top ten things I love about being a MD:

1. I exude prestige...it seeps out of every pore of my very being...all those around me can sense it and bow down in my presence

2. I am a total chick magnet....So many girls crawl all over me I literally have to push them away and pluck them off me one by one

3. I rake in the dough...with one small withdrawal my bank will literally go into default

4. I am so smart...smarter than lawyers, bankers, ceos and computers

5. I am stylish...I get to wear clothes of only the very best quality...my suits are all imported from Italy and I am to die for in my pearly white coat

6. I am powerful...my power rivals that of the czars of Russia and the emperors of empires long past....those under me tremble in fear and piss in their pants

7. I am important...if i call in sick the hospital I work at will come to a screaching halt and all my patients will die a gruesome death

8. I am respectworthy...no other job out there comes close to that of being a physician. The public is so appreciative of my efforts and will never spite me.

9. I am happy...my life is so great (because of all the above) that I beam ecstasy; my smile is infectious and instills joy into all the wonderful nurses and dedicated residents I get to work with each and every day

10. I am amazing....simply amazing! Don't cha you wish you could be like me?

[youtube]bswpx5BTeHk[/youtube]

 

[maxbaner]

Ouch! I am correct to read what you posted with keeping your sn- medicinesux in mind right?

 

[billydoc]

Top ten things I love about being a MD:

1. I exude prestige...it seeps out of every pour of my very being...all those around me can sense it and bow down in my presence

2. I am a total chick magnet....So many girls crawl all over me I literally have to push them away and pluck them off me one by one

3. I rake in the dough...with one small withdrawal my bank will literally go into default

4. I am so smart...smarter than lawyers, bankers, ceos and computers

5. I am stylish...I get to wear clothes of only the very best quality...my suits are all imported from Italy and I am to die for in my pearly white coat

6. I am powerful...my power rivals that of the czars of Russia and the emperors of empires long past....those under me tremble in fear and piss in their pants

7. I am important...if i call in sick the hospital I work at will come to a screaching halt and all my patients will die a gruesome death

8. I am respectworthy...no other job out there comes close to that of being a physician. The public is so appreciative of my efforts and will never spite me.

9. I am happy...my life is so great (because of all the above) that I beam ecstasy; my smile is infectious and instills joy into all the wonderful nurses and dedicated residents I get to work with each and every day

10. I am amazing....simply amazing! Don't cha you wish you could be like me?

[youtube]EjT6uVJbSdg[/youtube]

LOL!!!!!!

 

[smq123]

5. I am stylish...I get to wear clothes of only the very best quality...my suits are all imported from Italy and I am to die for in my pearly white coat

When you become an attending, I heard that they give you a white coat flecked with glitter. And then, when you become head of the department, they spell out "S-U-P-E-R-S-T-A-R" in sequins and pearls on the back of your coat. I can hardly wait!

 

[smq123]

To help those of us who are considering, or in the process of applying to medical school, what do you like about being a physician besides your future salary (or current salary if you're a practicing physician)!? I'm sure the majority of SDNers have read the cons about interning, residency and practicing; let's hear some positives. When you respond, please let us know your speciality.

If "nothing" is your answer, feel free to let us know!

Dear OP -
I'm sorry, we're not being very helpful are we?

From the limited perspective of an MS3, what I liked were:

• Laughing and joking around with the residents and interns. Some of the residents are some of the funniest and coolest people that I've met.
• Joking about the attending's idiosyncrasies with the other med students. One attending had a habit of randomly breaking into a mini-dance (sometimes humming "Shake your Bon-Bon" under his breath), which never failed to silently crack me up.
• Getting to know the other med students in my class. I go to a large school, and while I have met and talked with almost everyone, I don't hang out with everyone all the time. On a rotation, you get to know people that you might not be that close to otherwise.
• I like working with patients. Some patients try my patience (heh), but, for the most part, many of them are incredibly nice people. It's always a nice feeling to walk into a patient's room and see them start smiling, because you're their "favorite person on the team." I saw one patient, in particular, everyday on my surgery rotation, and then she was discharged a week before my rotation ended. A few weeks later, I was on another rotation, but I happened to be walking by a room and saw her name on the door. So I walked in, and her face lit up in a huge smile when she saw me. That's a nice feeling.
• You DO learn a lot. Much more than you would have thought possible.

I didn't love everything, though.

• I really hated the first year of med school in particular. I just didn't find a lot of the material very interesting, for some reason. Some of my classmates were fascinated, for example, by the different transporters in the kidney tubules, but I could never get into it. I DID like 2nd year a lot better.
• If you don't have a good sense of humor, especially if you lack a sense of self-deprecating humor, you will not do well during third and fourth year. You'll make a lot of mistakes, and if you can't laugh at some of them, then you'll be in for a rough time.
• Some of the studying can be a tremendous pain in the butt. Studying for Step 1 wasn't that much fun.
• Some of the personalities ARE toxic, and there's not always a lot that you can do about it. Sometimes you just don't WANT to do anything about it - it's easier just to forget about it, rather than think about it and complain.
• It's kind of irritating how your resident's bad day can make your day miserable as well. I know that this can happen in a "real" job, but it's annoying as a med student because you can't get away from it. If you don't stick by your resident's side all the time, you don't know what's going on, and then you have to *page* the resident to find out where the team is. I hate paging cranky residents....

This is just the stuff in med school. Hopefully residents and attendings will chime in about residency....

 

[2BAnIDrNoMore]

WOW! Did you really take the time to type all of that garbage? Sad. But, by looking at your screen name, I'll take a wild guess and assume your answer would be "nothing". Maybe someone else has a mature response...

Top ten things I love about being a MD:

1. I exude prestige...it seeps out of every pour of my very being...all those around me can sense it and bow down in my presence

2. I am a total chick magnet....So many girls crawl all over me I literally have to push them away and pluck them off me one by one

3. I rake in the dough...with one small withdrawal my bank will literally go into default

4. I am so smart...smarter than lawyers, bankers, ceos and computers

5. I am stylish...I get to wear clothes of only the very best quality...my suits are all imported from Italy and I am to die for in my pearly white coat

6. I am powerful...my power rivals that of the czars of Russia and the emperors of empires long past....those under me tremble in fear and piss in their pants

7. I am important...if i call in sick the hospital I work at will come to a screaching halt and all my patients will die a gruesome death

8. I am respectworthy...no other job out there comes close to that of being a physician. The public is so appreciative of my efforts and will never spite me.

9. I am happy...my life is so great (because of all the above) that I beam ecstasy; my smile is infectious and instills joy into all the wonderful nurses and dedicated residents I get to work with each and every day

10. I am amazing....simply amazing! Don't cha you wish you could be like me?

[youtube]bswpx5BTeHk[/youtube]

 

[medicinesux]

Maybe someone else has a mature response...

I was being mature

 

[smq123]

To help those of us who are considering, or in the process of applying to medical school, what do you like about being a physician besides your future salary (or current salary if you're a practicing physician)!? I'm sure the majority of SDNers have read the cons about interning, residency and practicing; let's hear some positives. When you respond, please let us know your speciality.

If "nothing" is your answer, feel free to let us know!

Oh, one more thing that I didn't like. I didn't realize before just how annoying the practice of medicine can be. Constantly having to worry about billing and insurance and malpractice and things like that. You're really sheltered from issues like that when you shadow, and even as an MS1 and MS2 these issues don't come up much. So you spend undergrad and the first 2 years of medical school thinking about how you'd like to practice medicine...and then become a third and fourth year and realize that your ideal is practically impossible nowadays.... There's a bigger atmosphere of fear than I realized, and it's kind of irritating to have to practice with that in mind.

I also hate the social work and "touchy-feely" aspects of medicine much more than I'd thought. Spending 2 hours on the phone with various nursing homes and social workers is MUCH worse than spending 2 hours in the OR driving the camera for 2 consecutive lap choles. And arguing with patients why they shouldn't take their "ginseng" tablets or their favorite nutraceutical (imported from China) - "But a 'doctor' prescribed them!" - is frustrating and tiring.

 

[2BAnIDrNoMore]

I was being mature

LOL Oh ok. Sorry

Smq, thanks for the responses Couldn't leave out the negatives huh? This is supposed to be a thread spewing sunshine and sprinkles ; jk but you get my drift. From what I've read, there aren't too many pros (that don't include salary) when it comes to getting a MD. Hmmm...

 

[smq123]

Smq, thanks for the responses Couldn't leave out the negatives huh? This is supposed to be a thread spewing sunshine and sprinkles ; jk but you get my drift. From what I've read, there aren't too many pros (that don't include salary) when it comes to getting a MD. Hmmm...

Well, a lot of the negatives I mentioned had more to do with the negatives of being a medical student - although youo do need to survive those negatives in order to become a doctor. (Not everyone does survive those negatives - I do know of people who couldn't and dropped out.)

I do maintain, though, that if you don't have a strong sense of self-deprecating humor, you won't survive third year, fourth year, OR a career as a physician. And some of the personalities are toxic, but if they're not directly overseeing you, then I guess that they're more tolerable...maybe.

 

[swpm]

To help those of us who are considering, or in the process of applying to medical school, what do you like about being a physician besides your future salary (or current salary if you're a practicing physician)!? I'm sure the majority of SDNers have read the cons about interning, residency and practicing; let's hear some positives. When you respond, please let us know your speciality.

If "nothing" is your answer, feel free to let us know!

Chicks, money, power, and chicks.

 

[nima123]

Chicks, money, power, and chicks.

To the OP,

If you don't wanna get into medicine for the same 4 reasons everybody else does, you'll hate your job and yourself for the rest of your life.

Whatever you've read so far (including medicinesux's humorous response) are kinda true and "mature" answers.

Let me just warn you that medicine is NOT for people with no sense of humor (those folks mostly become scientists).

 

[2BAnIDrNoMore]

To the OP,

If you don't wanna get into medicine for the same 4 reasons everybody else does, you'll hate your job and yourself for the rest of your life.

Whatever you've read so far (including medicinesux's humorous response) are kinda true and "mature" answers.

Let me just warn you that medicine is NOT for people with no sense of humor (those folks mostly become scientists).

I was waiting for a comment of this sort. I have a sense of humor...trust me; normally, I end up laughing @ everything and looking like a fool b/c I'm the only one laughing. With that being said, medicinesux's response wasn't funny . I had a feeling it was supposed to be funny but it wasn't. Perhaps the people in medicine have a different sense of humor? Kind of like the people who try out for American Idol think they can sing; people in medicine think they're funny! See...now THAT was a good one! lol Gee, I crack myself up.

About the chicks, money, power and chicks comment, I really hope your kidding and that was supposed to be another "medicine joke". If not, I guess I can understand why most people are miserable and unfulfilled

 

[yippyskippy]

I think what most people that I know like about medicine is that they get to do something decent for someone else on a daily basis, they are forced to think and learn and keep up to date, they are in some way interested in the science of medicine, and they are surrounded by intelligent, like-minded people (for the most part), and they can get a steady, well-paid job that can take almost anywhere, or they can pursue a huge variety of other career options if clinical medicine isn't what they thought it would be (though this is often limited by debt).
But when you're exhausted, it's all you can do to remind yourself of why you are doing this, and when someone asks "what do you like besides your salary?", it just sounds condescending and it is hard to be serious. Some people may be in it for the eventual salary. Most are carrying a huge amount of debt currently and your question comes off as a bit ridiculous.
If you are already applying to medical school, they will definitely ask you "why" in interviews. And it is definitely NOT worth doing if you aren't sure you want it. 7 years, probably more like 9 total training -- it's a lot of your life.

 

[sunlioness]

Actually the salary isn't all that great either. At least not in most specialties and when measured against the massive amount of educational debt most of us accrue. I'm now collecting interest on my interest! Yikes!

But to be perfectly honest, I love my job. I love my job for the same cheesy reasons I applied to med school. I really like helping people. And yeah, it sounds cheesy and cliched, but at the end of the day it's the honest truth.

 

[2BAnIDrNoMore]

I think what most people that I know like about medicine is that they get to do something decent for someone else on a daily basis, they are forced to think and learn and keep up to date, they are in some way interested in the science of medicine, and they are surrounded by intelligent, like-minded people (for the most part), and they can get a steady, well-paid job that can take almost anywhere, or they can pursue a huge variety of other career options if clinical medicine isn't what they thought it would be (though this is often limited by debt).
But when you're exhausted, it's all you can do to remind yourself of why you are doing this, and when someone asks "what do you like besides your salary?", it just sounds condescending and it is hard to be serious. Some people may be in it for the eventual salary. Most are carrying a huge amount of debt currently and your question comes off as a bit ridiculous.
If you are already applying to medical school, they will definitely ask you "why" in interviews. And it is definitely NOT worth doing if you aren't sure you want it. 7 years, probably more like 9 total training -- it's a lot of your life.

I'm sorry you feel that way but there is NOTHING ridiculous about my question. Especially when you read thread after thread about how everyone hates medical school, interning and residency. This is really cliche' but I'd be rich if I had $1 for everyone who told me, "Don't do it! It's not worth it these days!"

I said anything "besides your salary" b/c people shouldn't make their career choices solely on their future salary. Now, I wasn't implying that most went into this profession for the eventual salary. If that's what you (or other readers) assumed, and therefore couldn't take this question seriously, I can't help that. Geez people, calm down, no one was pointing the "shallow" finger . We all know the MD salary is pretty decent so I didn't want to add that to the list of pros; that's why I posed the question in that manner. No one was being condescending or...ridiculous.

To all of the real responses, thanks. I figured there were people out there who loved their job (despite the hell you have to go through) so I figured I'd start a positive thread seeing as all I could find were negative ones. We all know there are pros and cons to every career so I wanted to hear a couple of pros.

 

[2BAnIDrNoMore]

Actually the salary isn't all that great either. At least not in most specialties and when measured against the massive amount of educational debt most of us accrue. I'm now collecting interest on my interest! Yikes!

But to be perfectly honest, I love my job. I love my job for the same cheesy reasons I applied to med school. I really like helping people. And yeah, it sounds cheesy and cliched, but at the end of the day it's the honest truth.

Ha ha ha...that's a bummer about the interest on interest.

That's good you love your job; that's great! I hope to make the right decision so I can have a job I'm truly happy to go to on a daily basis.

 

[yippyskippy]

I did give you a real response. I think you missed the whole first part of my post. I love medicine, because there is a sense of satisfaction I don't feel I would get elsewhere for the above reasons... however, I would not have made it through the grueling first year had I not been 100% psyched about medicine. I would never say "don't do it".
Anyway, just trying to help because you seemed confused as to why you didn't get the responses you wanted.

 

[2BAnIDrNoMore]

I did give you a real response. I think you missed the whole first part of my post. I love medicine, because there is a sense of satisfaction I don't feel I would get elsewhere for the above reasons... however, I would not have made it through the grueling first year had I not been 100% psyched about medicine. I would never say "don't do it".
Anyway, just trying to help because you seemed confused as to why you didn't get the responses you wanted.

Darn, I knew I should have worded that differently; sorry...your post was included in my thanks. Also, thanks for clearing up the confusion; I was definitely a tad confused by the responses I was getting. Perhaps I should work on wording things differently

 

[yippyskippy]

and perhaps I should too

 

[swpm]

people shouldn't make their career choices based on their future salary.

That's awfully close to implying that decent folk don't give much weight to something as shallow and crass as a paycheck. This is absurd.

Choosing a career is all about finding a job that will support the lifestyle you want without sapping your will to live and crushing your spirit. Money and lifestyle are critical to making a decision you will be happy with.

Take a great big grain of salt when you read SDNers' whining and bitching about how dysfunctional their lives are during school and residency, and how a decade of 80+ hour weeks is too high a price to pay for the privilege of treating uninsured obese smoking alcoholic drug-seeking ER-clogging ingrates with BO and bad breath. These are extremes, and generally not the norm.

To answer your original question more seriously, I love my job. I'm a CA-2 anesthesia resident (ie, PGY3) and every single day I get to meet a few new patients, usually for the first time. I take great pride and satisfaction from being able to quickly establish a rapport, gain their trust, ease their fears at a very stressful time in their lives. And then I get to drill great big needles into their spines, or push drugs into their bodies before sticking tubes through their vocal cords, followed by manipulating their physiology with more drugs on a minute-to-minute basis to keep them safe, comfortable, and still enough for the surgeon to gracefully assault them (or not-so-gracefully assault them if it's a fellow resident doing the cutting). It's intellectually stimulating. I work with a host of incredibly intelligent people in a modern, tastefully decorated, climate controlled building. The food court kinda sucks, though.

I'm going to get paid a fortune to do this for the next 20 years. What's not to like?

And about the chicks, money, power, and chicks line ...

Well gosh, I guess I became a doctor because, ever since I was a little boy, I just wanted to help people. I don't... tell this story very often, but I remember when I was seven years old, one time I found a bird that had fallen out of its nest. And so, I picked him up, and I brought him home, and I made him a house out of an empty shoebox, and -- [starts laughing] oh my God! I became a doctor for the same four reasons everybody does: chicks, money, power, and chicks.

 

[2BAnIDrNoMore]

That's awfully close to implying that decent folk don't give much weight to something as shallow and crass as a paycheck. This is absurd.

I meant to say "solely (not based) on their future salary"; I corrected my previous statement. One word can change the entire meaning of a sentence...ooppss. I agree, salary is definitely a big part of choosing a career. If not, I'd be a scuba diving instructor on an awesome hawaiian beach! (Hhhmmm...maybe that can be my side job ) About the "chicks, money, power and chicks"...yah...that flew right around me head

 

[typeB-md]

2BAnIDrNoMore

Interests:
Basketball, soccer, running, surfing, scuba diving, skydiving, boogie-boarding...awesome stuff like that!

Those are very compatible with the hours of medical school and residency.

The learned pre-Med; like bambi, only more loveable.

 

[2BAnIDrNoMore]

Those are very compatible with the hours of medical school and residency.

The learned pre-Med; like bambi, only more loveable.

They're called hobbies; do you have any or does your life revolve around medicine and residency? I don't get you're "bambi post" but I guess that flew over my head also. Off to sky dive!

 

[Doowai]

When you become an attending, I heard that they give you a white coat flecked with glitter. And then, when you become head of the department, they spell out "S-U-P-E-R-S-T-A-R" in sequins and pearls on the back of your coat. I can hardly wait!

Can they make it like Elvis' white sequined jumpsuit? If so, then WOW..... medicine is a much better career choice than I even dreamed.

Ladies and gentlemen, Dr.DooWai has left the building.

 

[typeB-md]

They're called hobbies; do you have any or does your life revolve around medicine and residency? I don't get you're "bambi post" but I guess that flew over my head also. Off to sky dive!

Basically, you have no idea what kind of time commitment medical school and residency are. You are doe-eyed and naive at this point and can't possibly fathom how much time you will put into studying and working in the hospital.

And have fun playing sports, skydiving, and surfing on your 1 day off in 7 when you're pulling 80-100 hour work weeks (that's 13-16 hours/day if you're counting). But, but, but... the RRC limits us to only 80!

And fwiw, I set my college's record in the 110 meter high hurdles. Enjoy skydiving (for now... mUAHHAH!!!)

 

[2BAnIDrNoMore]

Basically, you have no idea what kind of time commitment medical school and residency are. You are doe-eyed and naive at this point and can't possibly fathom how much time you will put into studying and working in the hospital.

And have fun playing sports, skydiving, and surfing on your 1 day off in 7 when you're pulling 80-100 hour work weeks (that's 13-16 hours/day if you're counting). But, but, but... the RRC limits us to only 80!

And fwiw, I set my college's record in the 110 meter high hurdles. Enjoy skydiving (for now... mUAHHAH!!!)

I don't think I'm naive (yes I know, most people who are naive never "think" they're naive ); but seriously, I don't think I am . I think I'm well-informed of the road ahead and that's why I haven't 100% commited to pursuing medicine; I'm still in the deciding/researching phase (trying to see if I can give up my skydiving, surfing and scuba diving...probably not )

About the "have fun playing sports..." comment, good point...I think I'll take off my SDN "pre-med" status. I mean, I figured I should bless the healthcare system w/ my soaring science GPA and fascination with medicine and apply...oh well. jk

Best wishes everyone!

 

[VentdependenT]

I like the Hep C and HIV needle sticks!

 

[2BAnIDrNoMore]

P.S.

...Enjoy skydiving (for now... mUAHHAH!!!)

 

[fuzzyerin]

I agree with the previous poster on how it's really hard to understand this from the outside perspective. For example:
I got up at 4:30 AM. Made my way to the hospital at 5 AM. Had to get a new pager, then started rounding at 5:30 AM. Team rounds at 6 AM. Off to the OR at 7 AM. Back from Ambulatory Surgery Center at 11 AM, time to run around on the floor for 20 minutes before going to the Main OR from then til 6 PM. Got to tell the family that surgery went well after, which was a highlight of the day. Once that was done, signed out to the night resident and headed home at 7 PM, but then had to print/photocopy/research two patient presentations tomorrow for oncology conference. God only knows what they'll ask me tomorrow. I meant to go to the gym, but this research took me longer than expected. Now I'm going to bed (1030 PM) to start the cycle again - only to do the same tomorrow, with some time at the gym. If you do that for two months or two and a half years as a resident, you get TIRED. And that's where the bitchiness/irritation/cynicism comes from.

I love what I do. I love my patients and the trust that they put in me to help them. I love being in the operating room. There is nothing cooler than cutting into a living person and taking out another living person from inside! I'm often told by nurses and staff that "I'm always so happy!" But that doesn't mean I'm sometimes not tired, fed up and depressed.

Did I mention tired? Off to bed...

 

[Dr Serenity]

Actually the salary isn't all that great either. At least not in most specialties and when measured against the massive amount of educational debt most of us accrue.

Add on top of that...

Malpractice insurance- God help you if you live in a state that hasn't enacted some form of tort reform.

Your government wants to tax the hell out of you because you're "wealthy"--you already sacrifice 30-40% of your paycheck, but there are those out there that want you to sacrifice more...

AND you don't get a lot of the deductions that most Americans get because you're too "rich".

ALSO, you can take a guess as to the direction doctors' salaries will go if/when our country's medical system becomes socialized.

/rant

ON the bright side, if you do have a heart for serving others (apologize for the cliche) (or if you just want chicks, money, power, and chicks), medicine can be a great profession if you can "tolerate" all the politics and regulatory BS that comes with the package.

I have no regrets about going into medicine, even after everything I've learned and seen in medical school. I would do it again if I had a second chance to redo my life. I will say, though, that I was a bit naive when I first enrolled in the class of 2008 at my med school. This is a career in which I think you would do yourself a service if you did your homework and a bit of soul-searching before you took the plunge. There ARE other fulfilling ways of serving others.

 

[Trisomy13]

i'm in it for the code browns.

nothing beats the aromatic blend of antibiotics and bed poop.

 

[VentdependenT]

i'm in it for the code browns.

nothing beats the aromatic blend of antibiotics and bed poop.

Quite right my astute friend.

You know what else is totally awsome!? Getting a face full of bilious vomit in a full stomach VRE isolation precaution morbidly obese dude in the unit during emergency intubation!

Sweeeeeeeeeet! Plus if your wearing fancy ICU getup with tie and collared shirt you can kiss that $hit goodbye.

 

[armonia]

To the OP-

Your inquiry is very reasonable. I think the reason you got "why medicine sucks" responses is that it's very hard for those of us already well along into the path of training to come up with the relatively few "why I love medicine" items without sorting through a plethora of "why medicine sucks" items. I wish things were different. At the end of the day whether you do medicine should depend on how much you value the aspects you like and how much you can stand the aspects you dislike. I would still go back and do medicine if I were to start over, but there are days that make it very tempting opt out. And, honestly a lot of the rest of your life will be on hold for at least some of your training. Don't give up your interests; I, like you, have many and I do them when I can as often as I can and sometimes that means less sleep, but I'm happier for it.

I love medicine for that same cheesy potential to help people in a very basic and meaningful way. Now, that doesn't necessarily happen every day, but when it does, the high is truly quite high. Sometimes you have to fight very hard (against insurance companies, adverse social situations, uncooperative ancillary staff) in order to achieve a good outcome, and there are days when you have to decide that you can't fight the good fight on every front. For me, I am beginning to slowly realize and accept that in order to keep medicine personally fulfilling, I may have to embrace a practice model that I used to turn my nose up at; I find that unsettling, but helping people means being able to spend time with your patients, and I don't see that improving in either our current system or a socialized one. Apart from the helping others aspect, I also love the complexity of the human body; there's enough there to keep my mind going, and going, and. . .

 

[2BAnIDrNoMore]

To the OP-

Your inquiry is very reasonable. I think the reason you got "why medicine sucks" responses is that it's very hard for those of us already well along into the path of training to come up with the relatively few "why I love medicine" items without sorting through a plethora of "why medicine sucks" items. I wish things were different. At the end of the day whether you do medicine should depend on how much you value the aspects you like and how much you can stand the aspects you dislike. I would still go back and do medicine if I were to start over, but there are days that make it very tempting opt out. And, honestly a lot of the rest of your life will be on hold for at least some of your training. Don't give up your interests; I, like you, have many and I do them when I can as often as I can and sometimes that means less sleep, but I'm happier for it.

I love medicine for that same cheesy potential to help people in a very basic and meaningful way. Now, that doesn't necessarily happen every day, but when it does, the high is truly quite high. Sometimes you have to fight very hard (against insurance companies, adverse social situations, uncooperative ancillary staff) in order to achieve a good outcome, and there are days when you have to decide that you can't fight the good fight on every front. For me, I am beginning to slowly realize and accept that in order to keep medicine personally fulfilling, I may have to embrace a practice model that I used to turn my nose up at; I find that unsettling, but helping people means being able to spend time with your patients, and I don't see that improving in either our current system or a socialized one. Apart from the helping others aspect, I also love the complexity of the human body; there's enough there to keep my mind going, and going, and. . .

Thanks for your response. About the dislikes vs the likes...that's what I'm working on right now. I'm really, really, really interested in orthopaedic sports medicine but I'm not sure if I'd end up kicking myself b/c that's 10 VERY long years of my life .

Honestly, I can't see myself doing anything else so that's where the dilemma comes in. Shall I commit 10 yrs of my life (I'll be 27 when I matriculate; I don't want to be stuck in the library and hospital 24/7 for the next 10 yrs of my 'not that' young life. Geez...dilemma!) or try to get creative and think of something else I'd be interested in. Unfortunately, I've been thinking for almost a year and I seem to always end up on the MD route. Oh well, we'll see what happens...

 

[Doowai]

Lots and lots of reasons.

You will have accomplished something most can't. It is a Mt.Everest to climb.

You have the opportunity to help so many people. The potential of this is only limited by your ability to open your perception to how much need and suffering there is around you.

I seriously can get my family into the doctors faster. I literally called as my daughters dad, and tried to get an appointment and was given one 2 weeks away - which I declined. I called back just a little bit later. introduced myself as Dr."doowai" , described what I observed and had a same day appointment.

 

[LADoc00]

........
reason#231- Making more $ than my ex-college roomate who is still not partner at his law firm
reason#232-being able to surf the internet at will
reason#233-being able to fall asleep in scrubs and wake up, and walk into work claiming I had a rough night on call
.......

 

[2BAnIDrNoMore]

........
reason#231- Making more $ than my ex-college roomate who is still not partner at his law firm
reason#232-being able to surf the internet at will
reason#233-being able to fall asleep in scrubs and wake up, and walk into work claiming I had a rough night on call
.......

That's awesome! Who needs to worry about what to wear to work...bust out the scrubs (or in your case, roll out of bed w/ your scubs! ) and hit the road!