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Sigh, it's a point made in the extreme. The level of literal thinking sometimes. . .Oy.
It means that people have made it through hard things--Holocaust or something else. Really? Residency is the end-all/be-all of hard things in life? Come on already.
You can also say that many people don't have the choice for lots of bad stuff and hard stuff in life. Every single day this is true, with billions, the world over. My God. There are even, dare say, people that have gratitude about the hard things they didn't choose to do; b/c they became totally different people b/c of the experiences.
There are also people that have gone into things and done things that were hard and very stressful of their own choosing. They've had their feet to the fire many times and walk on, living lives of purpose without whining about it.
And you could also say that people that have so much to give--and should give it in medicine--have been, were, or will be obstructed by attitudes like some of the ridiculous ones above. The attitude broaches upon being somewhat pathological. Again, it is shameful if that happens.
A number of others 40+ and I can, have, and do kick butt in many ways compared with some that are not of the same chronological age. Dealing with hard crap in a profession is a reality of life. Some people can somehow skirt their way through; but eventually the hard stuff of life catches up with them in one way or another.
The overall point is that people get through hard stuff--all the time--young, middle, even those that are truly elderly.
People need to get over this.
BTW, as a surgical RN in ICU, I have felt this strongly as a 20 year old. I saw the age thing even then for what it is, bias, pure and simple. You have to look at people holistically, and until you can do that, you really can't look at people in a just and sound manner at all. If you can't really embrace what it means to be truly holistic, well, you probably cannot even look at yourself in the right manner at all.
Two issues. One: "too old." Two: "residency is so horrible, only 20 to 30x's (not sure where the end of "x" is) can go through it and get through it well. Holy crap.
Still finding the thread fun though. Just have to do some work for a while so. . . .
Have at me, them, whomever!
Yes, the hard parts of life can be dealt with. Yes, they can be overcome with grace and perseverance.
That doesn't mean you have to do something because it's hard.
There's plenty of the crap parts of life to go around, why seek out more unnecessarily?
On the other hand, I'm not totally without optimism or anti-dream pursuit (I am signing up for this med school madness after all). And I do appreciate the brand of optimism that exists here on the non-trad forum (i.e. it's a long road and you have to shovel xyz piles of **** to get there, but it's possible). I just prefer to know about the **** piles in advance.
But, I think we can all agree (maybe? can we?) that no one, of any age, should go into medicine on a whim. After all, the resounding chorus greeting any newbie poster here is "Have you smelled the patients? No? Go smell the patients! Know what you're getting into!"
Because fantasy-land ("I'm a noble, smart person. I will help people!") may survive into med school for the most head-in-the-clouds pre-med, but it for sure won't survive the clinical years or residency.
And to get so far into debt and obligation only to discover then that you can't stand it, is a terrible thing.
The OP, who seems to have been scared away, has so far only exhibited this fantasy-land mentality. And by the time she can experience enough to know for sure that this is the thing for her, she may have reached the point where it is neither a practical nor beneficial path to follow.
To be blindly optimistic about her chances of doing this, I think is to do her a disservice. If she's one to power through and shovel the **** necessary to get to the end of the road, then more power to her. But to fail to warn her that those piles exist, I think is just cruel.