Physicians, please help..

[dgutie17]

Hello, this is my first post on the Forums but I'll try to keep this concise.
I'm a:
1) 1st generation college student I don't know anyone who's even been to college and my parents didn't graduate high school...so I feel so lost....and I feel the pressure to succeed

2) I will be entering my senior year of college with a 3.7 GPA and trying to decide whether to take the DAT vs MCAT

3) I have shadowed 7 physicians (3 of them for several months) and several supporting health fields such as PA, Optometrists, chiropractor.

4) EC: summer of hands-on research
President of 3 clubs
Assistant Manager at work
Volunteer tutor for underclassmen in Chem, anatomy, physio, physics and micro.
Several community service events

Problem: out of the 7 physicians I have shadowed 6 have discouraged me from entering the medical field. I was heartbroken.

They blamed their misery on insurance companies and loss of physician autonomy.

One physician cited medicine as the source of his failed marriages.

My main reason for wanting to go into medicine is quite personal to my heart. I had two love ones pass away from cancer during my senior year of high school. At the time I was a dishwasher at the time and i was finishing up the dishes late one night. Then it just clicked for me... I just knew that there had to be more to life than just making money and then dying..
It was crippling to watch two healthy individuals deteriorate into skin and bones...
Being the oldest and a 1st generation college student, I have been feeling the weight to succeed since my early childhood...I want to show my younger brothers what the possibility of an college education can do...

Sorry for the cliche...

I'm just feeling so lost right now...

Some physicians recommended looking at dentistry claimed that's where I should go.

This is what I want for my life:

1. To do meaningful work/1.my family

2. I don't want to be a cog in a machine.(complaint by physicians)
I would like to be self employed.

3. I want to see how far I can go, I'm not afraid of hard work and am fully willing to plow ahead. (Medicine or dentistry)

I've been blessed that I love to learn and have always been naturally curious.

And so naturally, medicine seemed like a perfect choice.

However, due to the circumstances my family
(Younger Brothers) are equally as important to me.

The physicians said medicine was a strain on their marriage and other relationships their hours were long and some said they missed their children grow up...

I don't want to get to the end of this journey with regrets...

If I went the dental route,I would have always wondered "what if"

And I don't want to complete medical training with a disastrous personal life.

If I went the dental route, I would have the business aspect and sciences In one career..but I don't know how fulfilling it would be...

Best advice from the only physician who loved his job:
" When you die, it's over....meet God exhausted with nothing left to give."- a family physician.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[teacherman84]

It is what you make it. Yes it's hard, yes you have to give thing up ..but that's for you to decide.
I stared med school with a wife and 1 kid...had another in med school, a third itern year. I work long hours (last year of residency now) but all my free time is with my wife and kids. ..yes my hobbies have suffered, but family is a priority and they see that.
I often joke I wish I had been a dentist...but I'm truly happy with my job.
I'm finishin training with a great marriage and 3 cute kids... I wouldn't call it disasterous on my personal life

 

[mabinante]

I second what teacherman says. I am 32, just finished FM residency. I have a great marriage and 3 little kids. Just find joy in the journey!

The beauty of medicine is that you still have a lot of options when you come out. If you want sit in a high rise, you can. If you want to sit in front of a slide, you can. If you want to be a speaker, you can. You will have the credentials and can make your life however you choose. Personally, I was like you and wanted to have my own business; to call my own shots. I went into medicine to go into DPC. You can say it was my "calling" but to me, giving great care the way I choose is the only way to practice medicine.

Unfortunately, there are too many docs that make good money, start to get comfortable and live to the full extent of their income and get stuck in a rut. From where I'm sitting, the docs that are all out there and burned out need to make a change for their own well-being! It is never too late to pursue your passion.

With that being said, you should really look into DPC. It is changing the entire "healthcare" landscape.

 

[JustPlainBill]

Recall that everything is what you make of it --- I can get moody and turn into a whiny little punk with ease --- just look at some of my posts --- but it's all about perspective ---

I would think it safe to say that the majority of these attendings you've shadowed were part of the pipeline -- meaning they were high school to college to medical school to residency to practice -- so they've got no idea what it's like to work in other fields. Most of the time, these selfsame med students/residents have a very distorted idea of what it takes to live comfortably and if they're not making upwards of $350K/year right out of residency, "it sucks" ....

So contrast that with someone making $36K/year as a fireman who lives within their means, enjoys their job and has a nice life/family.

The difference? perspective and expectations.

Having been an engineer, then making the transition to medicine at 42 while having to work 2 and sometimes 3 part time jobs while taking prereqs/studying for the MCAT, suffering through medical school, and doing a toxic residency to become part of a practice that's being corporatized, I can tell you that it's all about the same, you just have a higher salary and more student loan debt as a physician -- the difference -- as a physician, you have the opportunity to seize more control of your own destiny than you do otherwise -- going into the corporate world, you're at the mercy of the corporate bean counters.....

 

[cabinbuilder]

,

Hello, this is my first post on the Forums but I'll try to keep this concise.
I'm a:
1) 1st generation college student I don't know anyone who's even been to college and my parents didn't graduate high school...so I feel so lost....and I feel the pressure to succeed

2) I will be entering my senior year of college with a 3.7 GPA and trying to decide whether to take the DAT vs MCAT

3) I have shadowed 7 physicians (3 of them for several months) and several supporting health fields such as PA, Optometrists, chiropractor.

4) EC: summer of hands-on research
President of 3 clubs
Assistant Manager at work
Volunteer tutor for underclassmen in Chem, anatomy, physio, physics and micro.
Several community service events

Problem: out of the 7 physicians I have shadowed 6 have discouraged me from entering the medical field. I was heartbroken.

They blamed their misery on insurance companies and loss of physician autonomy.

One physician cited medicine as the source of his failed marriages.

My main reason for wanting to go into medicine is quite personal to my heart. I had two love ones pass away from cancer during my senior year of high school. At the time I was a dishwasher at the time and i was finishing up the dishes late one night. Then it just clicked for me... I just knew that there had to be more to life than just making money and then dying..
It was crippling to watch two healthy individuals deteriorate into skin and bones...
Being the oldest and a 1st generation college student, I have been feeling the weight to succeed since my early childhood...I want to show my younger brothers what the possibility of an college education can do...

Sorry for the cliche...

I'm just feeling so lost right now...

Some physicians recommended looking at dentistry claimed that's where I should go.

This is what I want for my life:

1. To do meaningful work/1.my family

2. I don't want to be a cog in a machine.(complaint by physicians)
I would like to be self employed.

3. I want to see how far I can go, I'm not afraid of hard work and am fully willing to plow ahead. (Medicine or dentistry)

I've been blessed that I love to learn and have always been naturally curious.

And so naturally, medicine seemed like a perfect choice.

However, due to the circumstances my family
(Younger Brothers) are equally as important to me.

The physicians said medicine was a strain on their marriage and other relationships their hours were long and some said they missed their children grow up...

I don't want to get to the end of this journey with regrets...

If I went the dental route,I would have always wondered "what if"

And I don't want to complete medical training with a disastrous personal life.

If I went the dental route, I would have the business aspect and sciences In one career..but I don't know how fulfilling it would be...

Best advice from the only physician who loved his job:
" When you die, it's over....meet God exhausted with nothing left to give."- a family physician.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

Way more practical to have private practice as a dentist.
There is a huge dental need in this county. The number of people I see with bad teeth in urgent care is ridiculous.
Being self employed as a physician I think is extremely difficult. Yes, folks talk about DPC but you really need to be debt free to do this and most doctors are not. Remember if you do private practice then you really are married to the practice because you have to have call coverage, etc for evenings, weekends, and when you need to go out of town for CME or vacation. May be hard to have that if you are not part of a larger group.
Being a doctor is rewarding at times but that's after you sift through the broken down, non-compliant, drug seeking, people who want a quick pill to fix it all but don't want to take ownership of their own health.
There are lot of physician jobs that are shift work, you do your shift and you are done.
Marriage is always a gamble. I just got divorced but I don't blame being a doctor for that - far from it.

On the plus side, I am no longer in poverty, I can always make more money, My kids have everything, I have the luxury of travel, I will always have a job.

 

[JustPlainBill]

Way more practical to have private practice as a dentist.
There is a huge dental need in this county. The number of people I see with bad teeth in urgent care is ridiculous.
Being self employed as a physician I think is extremely difficult. Yes folks talk about DPC but you really need to be debt free to do this and most doctors are not. Remember if you do private practice then you really are married to the practice because you have to have call coverage, etc for evenings, weekends, and when you need to go out of town for CME or vacation. May be hard to have that if you are not part of a larger group.
Being a doctor is rewarding at time but that's after you sift through the broken down, non-compliance, drug seeking, people who want a quick pill to fix it all but don't want to take ownership of their own health.
There are lot of physician jobs that are shift work, you do your shift and you are done.
Marriage is always a gamble. I just got divorced but I don't blame being a doctor for that - far from it.

On the plus side, I am no longer in poverty, I can always make more money, My kids have everything, I have the luxury of travel, I will always have a job.

Very, very true -- way after -- and that's a big pile to sift through.... I once asked a senior physician how he dealt with all that sort of patient stuff -- his answer -- start drinking heavily or take valium....he was only slightly kidding.