- Joined
- Aug 26, 2015
- Messages
- 20
- Reaction score
- 10
I was once a prolific SDNer nearly 10 years ago. I retired when most people started talking on FB instead, taking many of my SDN friends with me.
I am taking some time to reflect on much of the discourse that used to be commonplace.
What follows is based on med school, residency, fellowship, and practice in a competitive specialty.
1. Where you go to medical school is not nearly as important as people on SDN seem to think it is. I forgot 90% of what I needed to get through med school years ago. I have been in residency and fellowship with people from all over, and we were not that different from each other.
2. Caveat to #1--I have bumped into many who have had a rougher road with licensing boards and moonlighting privileges because they went to medical schools that were not accredited by the AAMC. I don't want to spread any hate or spark some debate. I am just reporting what I saw. After you are completely done with training, this doesn't matter a whole lot after you are settled.
3. Most medical schools do not need your tuition, and what they charge is absolute robbery for what you get in return.
4. Don't depend on any "public service" loan forgiveness program you read about to necessarily apply to you down the road. Very few things that politicians are responsible for have affected my life, but student loan policy is one of them.
5. If it is really about "helping people," you can do that as a mid-level. Salary is no longer a good reason to go into medicine. The reason to become a doctor is that you want to be called doctor and not much else. I admit that being called doctor is still pretty cool. Whether it is worth the pricetag is another story.
6. Training, for a tough specialty, takes a LONG time. You will lose time with your children. You will burn away your healthiest years. You will miss out on important things. I look at my friends who I went to college with, and many have great jobs, happy families, paid off student loans, and enough cash to be happy. I am nearly 40 and still have never had much of a "real job."
7. Not every doctor gets to work where he or she wants, and you may be forced to sign a non-compete agreement that will keep you in a bad practice. Almost no other profession stands for BS like this.
Feel free to comment if you would like. If SDN is how it used to be, I am sure a lively discussion is possible. I'm just too old to enjoy the banter I used to get into here anymore.
I am taking some time to reflect on much of the discourse that used to be commonplace.
What follows is based on med school, residency, fellowship, and practice in a competitive specialty.
1. Where you go to medical school is not nearly as important as people on SDN seem to think it is. I forgot 90% of what I needed to get through med school years ago. I have been in residency and fellowship with people from all over, and we were not that different from each other.
2. Caveat to #1--I have bumped into many who have had a rougher road with licensing boards and moonlighting privileges because they went to medical schools that were not accredited by the AAMC. I don't want to spread any hate or spark some debate. I am just reporting what I saw. After you are completely done with training, this doesn't matter a whole lot after you are settled.
3. Most medical schools do not need your tuition, and what they charge is absolute robbery for what you get in return.
4. Don't depend on any "public service" loan forgiveness program you read about to necessarily apply to you down the road. Very few things that politicians are responsible for have affected my life, but student loan policy is one of them.
5. If it is really about "helping people," you can do that as a mid-level. Salary is no longer a good reason to go into medicine. The reason to become a doctor is that you want to be called doctor and not much else. I admit that being called doctor is still pretty cool. Whether it is worth the pricetag is another story.
6. Training, for a tough specialty, takes a LONG time. You will lose time with your children. You will burn away your healthiest years. You will miss out on important things. I look at my friends who I went to college with, and many have great jobs, happy families, paid off student loans, and enough cash to be happy. I am nearly 40 and still have never had much of a "real job."
7. Not every doctor gets to work where he or she wants, and you may be forced to sign a non-compete agreement that will keep you in a bad practice. Almost no other profession stands for BS like this.
Feel free to comment if you would like. If SDN is how it used to be, I am sure a lively discussion is possible. I'm just too old to enjoy the banter I used to get into here anymore.