Satisfaction with medicine

I'd be interested in hearing feedback on this as well.

However, I think you'd have better luck asking it in the "Physician / Resident Forums [ MD / DO ]" forum.

If you post it there, will you put a link to it on this discussion post. Thanks.

Started medical school at 38, IM residency at 42 and currently an intern at a great program. I do not regret my decision and love what I am doing albeit being quite tired

sirius08 said:

Hi everyone,

I'm not sure if there's another thread like this one, but I didn't find one with a quick search, so my apologies if this is repetitive. I'm wondering whether there are any current nontraditional medical students or physicians on SDN who came to medicine after another career and who look back on that decision with happiness. We hear so much about a pervasive sense of dissatisfaction within medicine today and see so many posts about how "one shouldn't pursue medicine if there's anything else you could see yourself doing", so I thought it might be refreshing to hear some success stories.

Thanks!

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what about the nontrads who went for it and now dislike it...any of those

There are so many residents and attendings on here that are dissatisfied.

It felt great to run into an ENT today who loved every second of his job. He told me that he felt that anyone who pursues medicine for a reason other than money will enjoy themselves.

Additionally, someone may have already sent you there but recently there was a non trad posting in the pre-allo forum about a week ago about losing his residency...it was vague about why, maybe he did something bad, but he was disenchanted as hell after having started his residency after 40...worth looking up.

bigpharmD said:

what about the nontrads who went for it and now dislike it...any of those

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In general there is going to be more satisfction amongst nontrads, bcause they usually spent more time thinking thru their dcision to change paths, and because they actually know what life is like on another path and dont worry as much as to whether they would be happier doing something else. A number of med school profs have said they like nontrad students because they are some of the only ones in class not wishing they were elsewhere. When you go straight thru from college, it's hard not to look at more school as a chore, something to be endured. But if youve been in the rat race for a while, having someone teach you new cool stuff is a bit more of a treat. So because nontrads research their decisions better and know better whatto expect, I think it will be a lot hrdr to find folks who are disappointed.

Law2Doc said:

In general there is going to be more satisfction amongst nontrads, bcause they usually spent more time thinking thru their dcision to change paths, and because they actually know what life is like on another path and dont worry as much as to whether they would be happier doing something else. A number of med school profs have said they like nontrad students because they are some of the only ones in class not wishing they were elsewhere. When you go straight thru from college, it's hard not to look at more school as a chore, something to be endured. But if youve been in the rat race for a while, having someone teach you new cool stuff is a bit more of a treat. So because nontrads research their decisions better and know better whatto expect, I think it will be a lot hrdr to find folks who are disappointed.

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Agreed. I went to college at the start of age 23. I took classes with a bunch of 18-21 year olds and the majority of them bitched about having to read assigned readings, write a little simple 3 page paper, bitching about having to go to class at 9am, etc. I hated going to school with these people.

I went to college to better my life and to become a doctor in the subject that I love (human genetics). If I were to get into medical school, and if there are a bunch of straight through college kids, I will ignore all of the bitching they will be doing about having to study on a friday night, being busy all day, etc.

For gods sake, medical school is a job. Not some three classes a week thingy you get at times in undergraduate school.

I started med school at 36 (oldest in my class ) , now an intern at 41 and I have no regrets. Intern year is hard work, but still interesting and challenging, and I can't wait to get into my specialty next year. I'm excited about being able to do something I really want to for a living.

The hardest part so far was 3rd year, with long hours and rotations through specialties that aren't that interesting to me (not all of them, just some of them). I also got really tired of living off student loans and trying to scrape by with a family of 3. But it feels really good now to have an income again.

sirius08 said:

I'm not sure if there's another thread like this one, but I didn't find one with a quick search, so my apologies if this is repetitive. I'm wondering whether there are any current nontraditional medical students or physicians on SDN who came to medicine after another career and who look back on that decision with happiness. We hear so much about a pervasive sense of dissatisfaction within medicine today and see so many posts about how "one shouldn't pursue medicine if there's anything else you could see yourself doing", so I thought it might be refreshing to hear some success stories.

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I'm a third year med student who was a chemist before med school. I've been thinking about your question, and I have to say that it's hard to answer for several reasons.

First, right now I'm in the thick of things, and like bjolly mentioned, some of the rotations I'm doing make me about want to shoot myself. (Cough, OB/gyn, cough.) Others are really fun and cool, and I've even been pleasantly surprised to enjoy certain things I expected to dislike (i.e., surgery).

Second, it's easy to look back on your former life and romanticize (or demonize) it. I tend to be a romanticizer, especially when I'm feeling miserable in med school. Maybe a lot of other nontrads are too, especially if you gave up a good job (and a good income) to become a student again. But we all know that it's impossible to conduct an experiment where we try out two or more different pathways through life and then pick the one we like best. It's also easy to forget the things you hated about your previous life once you're a few years removed from it.

Third, there's no point in dichotomizing the decision. It's neither all good nor all bad to switch to medicine from your other career. Basically, you have to make the best decision you can at each fork in your road, and then you hopefully don't waste too much time looking back and wondering what if. There will be some things you love about medicine/medical school, and others that you detest. How the overall balance tilts will depend on the person you ask. So far, I'd say I'm tilting overall positive.

I am 32 and a MSIV. I am much happier now than I was as an attorney. I plan to enter residency in emergency medicine in July and will turn 33 as an intern and will finish residency at 35.

All of the older students in my class (several in our 30s and several in their 40s) seem content with the decision to switch to medicine. All the non-trads doctors I know and have worked with are very happy with their decision. That being said, most of us switched for a reason other than $$$$.

If $$$ is your motivator, unless you go into plastic surgery or some other of the most competitive fields, you will not be happy. Keep in mind even if you want to be a plastic surgeon, you need the grades and the step scores to accomplish that task and should plan accordingly before starting medical school.

Remember that there are always alternative opportunities if you don't find medicine to be personally satisfying. There are ways to make significant public health impacts without directly being involved in patient care.

WAY happier now that I've gone to med school... however, now that I'm a little more clear on why I love medicine, I probably would have also been happy as a hairdresser-meet & get to know people all day long, use your detailed knowledge and skills to help them out. There is a pay difference though.