Need opinion of doctors/med students in residency please

[circulus vitios]

great attitude. one you've been voicing for some time now.

I'm not the only one with this attitude. I can't remember the author's name, but someone wrote a popular book on choosing medical specialties. He wrote that lifestyle should be the largest factor in one's choice.

Funny how the cushiest specialties also have the lowest measures of burnout, too.

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[RogueUnicorn]

I'm not the only one with this attitude. I can't remember the author's name, but someone wrote a popular book on choosing medical specialties. He wrote that lifestyle should be the largest factor in one's choice.

Funny how the cushiest specialties also have the lowest measures of burnout, too.

Indeed, far from it. But already going in with the attitude of "just a job" probably predisposes you to burnout etc. We'll see.

 

[mvenus929]

I keep reading that choosing a specialty based on lifestyle is stupid. I have no idea what people are thinking. I'd rather do something I hated for 40-50 hours a week then something I 'love' for 60-70 hours a week. Medicine is just a job. I work to live, not the other way around.

Props to you, but I've been at a 40-hour week job that I hated, and I enjoy the 50-60 hours per week as a third med student sooo much more. To each his own, but in my experience, you're much more likely to enjoy your off time if you enjoy your job as well.

 

[QuinnTheEskimo]

Delayed gratification, as noted above, is a big problem for a lot of people. Even once you have that gratification, many physicians had less fun in college, less fun during their 20s, delay starting a family, have a lot of debt which then largely puts a downer on the increased income for a number of years. Depending on the work environment, there can be many stresses. Contrary to what you might hear about psych or rads etc, there are no free lunches in medicine. Everyone is working. I like my job, I like patient care, and I do believe in medicine. But being honest I probably wouldn't do it again.

Like someone above said, the grass is always greener.

As someone who had wayyyy too much fun in college/in my 20s, I am excited to finally buckle down and do something with my life. When you are on your deathbed, you want to be able to look back and say that you contributed to society in a positive way, that you helped people and made the world a better place, as cheesy as that sounds. That's more powerful than reminiscing about all those drunken nights, $$$$ and hot chicks, in my opinion.

 

[circulus vitios]

Like someone above said, the grass is always greener.

As someone who had wayyyy too much fun in college/in my 20s, I am excited to finally buckle down and do something with my life. When you are on your deathbed, you want to be able to look back and say that you contributed to society in a positive way, that you helped people and made the world a better place, as cheesy as that sounds. That's more powerful than reminiscing about all those drunken nights, $$$$ and hot chicks, in my opinion.

It's all about balance, but if we're talking about extremes I'd rather blow through my 20s and 30s partying and banging hot chicks than slaving away in a library or a hospital.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

why can't you party and bang hot chicks while simultaneously studying during the day

 

[circulus vitios]

why can't you party and bang hot chicks while simultaneously studying during the day

Because I'm a smart dumb person or a dumb smart person.

 

[happygilmore]

Where are you getting your numbers? None of them seem realistic to me, or am I missing something here?

I've been watching income levels and also looked at training time required for the past 3 years. They are realistic.

1/3 of school and 1/2 the effort seems right on the mark actually

Yup.

The 75% income wasn't across the board, but look at anesthesia. The mean salary of a nurse anesthetists is 150k. The mean for a FM or generalist is around 200k. Some NPs can get equal pay to primary care physicians and have nearly the same scope. They can also get near the 75% income level.

Guess what, it's exponentially more difficult + expensive to become a physician than a nurse anesthetist. See MCAT, Step 1, Step 2 CK/CS, medical school tuition, IM/Surgery rotations, 3-5 year residency w/ 80 hr work weeks, etc.

Could you explain the 1/3 the length of school part to me? Internal medicine is a 3 year residency, Psychiatry is four I believe. Many specialties are around this mark (neurology, anesthesiology) and even general surgery is only an additional year. Is that poster including fellowships? Those aren't exactly like school are they (and you are paid more realistically, correct)? Or did I misread/misinterpret his comment about 1/3 of school?

Don't only think of school in terms of years. Think of school in terms of effort and time. For example:

Student A: 3 years training. 40 hrs/week
Student B: 7 years training. 70 hrs/week

Student B didn't have around double the training, they had four times the training invested. People who are making these decisions shouldn't always think in years - it's what you put into each year.

Is residency school/training or work? It's both. Yet, you may be paid $15/hr if you max out your resident hours. That's not a lot for a doctorate.

Rads, haha. I should have included derm, ophtho, anesthesia, and rad-onc right? If you are referring to literal free lunches, then there are lots.

It is the scariest thing. People wait and wait and say, if I can just get through this then it's going to be great! They say that when CV plumping in high school. They say it during orgo. They keep saying it. That part doesn't stop in medical school, and it doesn't stop during residency. And for a lot of physicians, it's still happening. Hence >50% regret.

Exactly, which is why I think people should seek gratification early in the process.


Oops. Didn't realize this was a pre-med thread.

I remember being a pre-med. It's all roses and you just want to get accepted. The guys all want to be orthopedic surgeons and the ladies want to be dermatologists. You think medicine is about helping people and learning interesting things, only to later find it's about memorization, politics, and profitability and paperwork. It's like the elusive incredibly attractive super model wife. Looking in from the outside, everyone is amazed and thinks being married to them would be great. In a few years there's a bitter divorce. Med school is like that.

 

[gumdrops]

I remember being a pre-med. It's all roses and you just want to get accepted. The guys all want to be orthopedic surgeons and the ladies want to be dermatologists. You think medicine is about helping people and learning interesting things, only to later find it's about memorization, politics, and profitability and paperwork. It's like the elusive incredibly attractive super model wife. Looking in from the outside, everyone is amazed and thinks being married to them would be great. In a few years there's a bitter divorce. Med school is like that.

Despite the jarring cynicism, the sinking sense of recognition many will feel when reading this wins you the prize for "Best Analogy of the Week" on SDN. Kudos.

 

[punkedoutriffs]

I remember being a pre-med. It's all roses and you just want to get accepted. The guys all want to be orthopedic surgeons and the ladies want to be dermatologists. You think medicine is about helping people and learning interesting things, only to later find it's about memorization, politics, and profitability and paperwork. It's like the elusive incredibly attractive super model wife. Looking in from the outside, everyone is amazed and thinks being married to them would be great. In a few years there's a bitter divorce. Med school is like that.

You could say that about most aspects of life.