Torn on career decision (fam med vs path vs jazz singing)

[JazzPath]

Hi there,

I'm a 25 yo European med student in my 7th year of med school (basic medical education takes 7 years here). In 1,5 months I have to apply for residency and I'll have my interviews in 2,5 months.

Problem is: I'm torn about what to do with my life! My options are:

1. Start path residency: I love intellectual challenge, am a very visual person, love to diagnose. Have always liked the scientific and theoretical side of medicine. But I find - with all respect - the people at our path department - or at least some of them - a bit socially awkward and I like to be around fun, sociable people - sorry, honestly, no pun intended. I am also afraid of missing patient-contact and I genuinely like patient-contact.

2. Start fam med: I like the 'more cosy' patient-contact, the controlable-ness of one-on-one contact without the disturbing hospital sounds/stress/noise/1000s of phonecalls, etc. and love the meaningfullness of doing something for people and giving advice, I like the independence, the variety and relatively satisfying intellectual challenge, but I'm very sensitive and tend to get 'overwhelmed' by people's problems if I work too long and much. I'm also afraid I won't really be able to practice my love of diagnosing things and am afraid the intellectual challenge will be very small once I 'master' the field after 5-10 years.

3. Quit medicine for at least a year and find out what my true passion is: I've always been a creative/artistic person and started out studying graphic design after high school but decided I found it too shallow - sorry, again, no pun intended - and wanted to pursue bigger dreams. As a child I've always wanted to be a painter/dancer/singer/musician/writer/actor... I've always pursued creative hobbies aside of medicine and have been in love with jazz singing since 3 years. I think I'd love to write my own music if I could ever be able to do that one day. I could always go back into family med if I wanted to.

I was set on quitting medicine for a year to go for option 3, because during my education I have always doubted to continue and have never felt 100% in place, but now that I've started my path rotation since 2 days, I'm reconsidering. I'm the only applicant and most of the pathologists at our department kind of like me and are trying to persuade me to go into path. In all honesty, there is a shortage of residents and I am the only applicant up to now, but even if other people decide to do path I'm probably in the best place to walk into it right away (top 20 % of my class and only person to have done 2 path rotations prior to applying, other candidates would have done none at all). Our department is also 1 of, if not the best, academic educational center for pathology in my entire (although relatively small) country. If I'd quit medicine now, I'm probably never going to be in this luxury position again.

I am aware that I need to make this decision by myself, but does anyone have any advice or experience to share? Thanks very much for any of your input!

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[Real Name]

Hi there,

I'm a 25 yo European med student in my 7th year of med school (basic medical education takes 7 years here). In 1,5 months I have to apply for residency and I'll have my interviews in 2,5 months.

Problem is: I'm torn about what to do with my life! My options are:

1. Start path residency: I love intellectual challenge, am a very visual person, love to diagnose. Have always liked the scientific and theoretical side of medicine. But I find - with all respect - the people at our path department - or at least some of them - a bit socially awkward and I like to be around fun, sociable people - sorry, honestly, no pun intended. I am also afraid of missing patient-contact and I genuinely like patient-contact.

2. Start fam med: I like the 'more cosy' patient-contact, the controlable-ness of one-on-one contact without the disturbing hospital sounds/stress/noise/1000s of phonecalls, etc. and love the meaningfullness of doing something for people and giving advice, I like the independence, the variety and relatively satisfying intellectual challenge, but I'm very sensitive and tend to get 'overwhelmed' by people's problems if I work too long and much. I'm also afraid I won't really be able to practice my love of diagnosing things and am afraid the intellectual challenge will be very small once I 'master' the field after 5-10 years.

3. Quit medicine for at least a year and find out what my true passion is: I've always been a creative/artistic person and started out studying graphic design after high school but decided I found it too shallow - sorry, again, no pun intended - and wanted to pursue bigger dreams. As a child I've always wanted to be a painter/dancer/singer/musician/writer/actor... I've always pursued creative hobbies aside of medicine and have been in love with jazz singing since 3 years. I think I'd love to write my own music if I could ever be able to do that one day. I could always go back into family med if I wanted to.

I was set on quitting medicine for a year to go for option 3, because during my education I have always doubted to continue and have never felt 100% in place, but now that I've started my path rotation since 2 days, I'm reconsidering. I'm the only applicant and most of the pathologists at our department kind of like me and are trying to persuade me to go into path. In all honesty, there is a shortage of residents and I am the only applicant up to now, but even if other people decide to do path I'm probably in the best place to walk into it right away (top 20 % of my class and only person to have done 2 path rotations prior to applying, other candidates would have done none at all). Our department is also 1 of, if not the best, academic educational center for pathology in my entire (although relatively small) country. If I'd quit medicine now, I'm probably never going to be in this luxury position again.

I am aware that I need to make this decision by myself, but does anyone have any advice or experience to share? Thanks very much for any of your input!

In America, our medical education is graduate education. So all of us did four years of a bachelor's degree before we came to medical school. So by the time we apply to residency, if we went straight though, it is 8 years.

I think most people here had the ability to "soul search" during college, before medical school, a chance that it sounds like you didn't have. I think you should go for the jazz singing.

 

[Enkidu]

Hi there,

I'm a 25 yo European med student in my 7th year of med school (basic medical education takes 7 years here). In 1,5 months I have to apply for residency and I'll have my interviews in 2,5 months.

Problem is: I'm torn about what to do with my life! My options are:

1. Start path residency: I love intellectual challenge, am a very visual person, love to diagnose. Have always liked the scientific and theoretical side of medicine. But I find - with all respect - the people at our path department - or at least some of them - a bit socially awkward and I like to be around fun, sociable people - sorry, honestly, no pun intended. I am also afraid of missing patient-contact and I genuinely like patient-contact.

2. Start fam med: I like the 'more cosy' patient-contact, the controlable-ness of one-on-one contact without the disturbing hospital sounds/stress/noise/1000s of phonecalls, etc. and love the meaningfullness of doing something for people and giving advice, I like the independence, the variety and relatively satisfying intellectual challenge, but I'm very sensitive and tend to get 'overwhelmed' by people's problems if I work too long and much. I'm also afraid I won't really be able to practice my love of diagnosing things and am afraid the intellectual challenge will be very small once I 'master' the field after 5-10 years.

3. Quit medicine for at least a year and find out what my true passion is: I've always been a creative/artistic person and started out studying graphic design after high school but decided I found it too shallow - sorry, again, no pun intended - and wanted to pursue bigger dreams. As a child I've always wanted to be a painter/dancer/singer/musician/writer/actor... I've always pursued creative hobbies aside of medicine and have been in love with jazz singing since 3 years. I think I'd love to write my own music if I could ever be able to do that one day. I could always go back into family med if I wanted to.

I was set on quitting medicine for a year to go for option 3, because during my education I have always doubted to continue and have never felt 100% in place, but now that I've started my path rotation since 2 days, I'm reconsidering. I'm the only applicant and most of the pathologists at our department kind of like me and are trying to persuade me to go into path. In all honesty, there is a shortage of residents and I am the only applicant up to now, but even if other people decide to do path I'm probably in the best place to walk into it right away (top 20 % of my class and only person to have done 2 path rotations prior to applying, other candidates would have done none at all). Our department is also 1 of, if not the best, academic educational center for pathology in my entire (although relatively small) country. If I'd quit medicine now, I'm probably never going to be in this luxury position again.

I am aware that I need to make this decision by myself, but does anyone have any advice or experience to share? Thanks very much for any of your input!

I guess I recommend doing your residency now and try to do some jazz singing afterward. Maybe you can take some jazz singing lessons or do some performances while you're in residency. I probably wouldn't risk my career to try to make it big in show business.

All in all, it's probably better to be a pathologist with a passion for singing than a singer with a passion for pathology.

 

[Ombret]

You just have to sleep on the decision and trust your gut feeling, because your gut is what will be with you at 2 a.m. when you are awake contemplating your life. All three of these would be outstanding occupations, for the right person.

Most pathologists like what they do, and with more exposure you will have a better idea of whether you would like it too. Many of us enjoyed patient contact, but you can't have everything. And you know what, pathology is deceptively patient-oriented. You have to have a very good understanding of patient care to be a good pathologist. You are going to encounter some strange personalities in pathology but that is true of any area of medicine. Or life.

Arguing against applying for residency, I have many colleagues who have taken time out at some point in their career (usually prior to medical school, in the U.S.) and I am not aware of any who regret it. Just make sure there is some concrete way you can pursue your artistic interests, otherwise you may find you are just chasing a pie in the sky.

 

[mlw03]

I'd recommend thinking hard about the patient contact issue. I've known people for whom this is a deal-breaker. If you need daily patient contact to be satisfied as a doctor, do not become a pathologist.

 

[KCShaw]

Welcome to life.

I know numerous people in medicine who do some part time work in the arts -- singing, writing, etc. One person I started med school with got permission from the Dean to take a year off to pursue a music career with their band, did fairly well, asked for another year off and didn't get it -- but stuck with the music anyway and ended up doing very well for a while (cover of Rolling Stones, performed on Letterman, etc.), which of course is not going to be the norm. No idea if he ever has regrets. The question for any individual is whether they want that to be their life, or they simply want it to be a -part- of their life. At the conclusion of training, many jobs in either pathology or family practice, at least in the U.S., have fairly predictable schedules and would allow for some time to do other things.

As for "diagnosing", it all depends on what you mean and what trips your trigger. Clinicians come up with clinical diagnoses all the time, or use lab (&/or radiologic) findings to synthesize a clinico-pathologic diagnosis all the time. It's different from histologic diagnosis, sure, but it depends on what you like more.

 

[JazzPath]

Hey guys,

Thanks so much for your replies!

@Ombret: thanks for your sincere and honest views. Gut feeling is the most important thing, but I do have the tendency to be very dreamy, and that's what I'm afraid of a bit. I do have an idea how the next 5 years will look like: I'll put a 100% into jazz class this year and will try to apply to conservatory this summer. However, if I don't get accepted, I don't know what I'll do. If I do get accepted, things will get complicated too. I'll have to work in a bar and study very hard just to make ends meet, while my friends will be making gradually bigger money as doctors. I'll be 31 when I graduate and I will never be financially very well off unless I'd do some medical work aside. But maybe the fact that I'm even considering these crazy things proves that it means that much to me.

@mlw03: you're very right. I do need to consider the need of patient contact for my happiness very carefully. I think family med is one of the most beautiful professions one can practice. However, I know for a person like me, it will be a lifelong stressful, although rewarding job. On top of that I'm liking my pathology rotation more and more, esp. microscopy. But I do fear that in 5-10 years I will regret not working with patients, not having the personal satisfaction that comes from helping a young guy educate about soa's after he's had unprotected sex, taking care of the young mom who is worried her child might have hip dysplasia, listen to the lonely old lady and make her feel a little better about her day. I just need to imagine myself at that point in 10 years. But then again, I guess I can never totally predict my feelings in 10 years. Life is about decisions, and decisions always, by definiton, have risks attached, and one can only try to assess these risks to their best abilities.

@KCShaw: I'll be replying the same to you, I'll definitely need to do some more soul searching. I like 'diagnosing' in a clinical way too, but in pathology, you get that extra bit of satisfaction because it's the most objective you can get, and it's the most puzzle-solving-kind-of-diagnosing there is in medicine.

Conclusion: If I'm really true to myself, I think I have to choose the tough road and pursue my artistic ambitions. That means no money, complicating my family and gf ambitions, but I think I need to know for myself. I'm just afraid that I might throw away a very good chance of doing something I would sincerely like (and get myself financial security with and therefore also more chances of a secure relationship). But on the other hand, I've never been a fearful person. I like adventure, I like doing my own thing, and in the end I never truely listen to anyone but myself lol .

But I'll be glad to listen to any more advice you guys would have . Thanks again!

 

[Leukocyte]

Hi there,

I'm a 25 yo European med student in my 7th year of med school (basic medical education takes 7 years here). In 1,5 months I have to apply for residency and I'll have my interviews in 2,5 months.

Problem is: I'm torn about what to do with my life! My options are:

1. Start path residency: I love intellectual challenge, am a very visual person, love to diagnose. Have always liked the scientific and theoretical side of medicine. But I find - with all respect - the people at our path department - or at least some of them - a bit socially awkward and I like to be around fun, sociable people - sorry, honestly, no pun intended. I am also afraid of missing patient-contact and I genuinely like patient-contact.

2. Start fam med: I like the 'more cosy' patient-contact, the controlable-ness of one-on-one contact without the disturbing hospital sounds/stress/noise/1000s of phonecalls, etc. and love the meaningfullness of doing something for people and giving advice, I like the independence, the variety and relatively satisfying intellectual challenge, but I'm very sensitive and tend to get 'overwhelmed' by people's problems if I work too long and much. I'm also afraid I won't really be able to practice my love of diagnosing things and am afraid the intellectual challenge will be very small once I 'master' the field after 5-10 years.

As a Family Medicine doctor who is now applying to Pathology, my answer is obvious and might be biased. For me the answer would be Pathology, but Jazz singing seems good too but I do not know much about it. As a FM doc I can tell you, there is not much "independence" in FM, unless you own your own practice (which is getting less and less popular now with the rising costs). Also, if you are employed by a medical group, you will not have much say in how many patients you will see, and you will be pushed to see as many patients the administrators can fit in your tight scheduled. Also the PAPER WORK in FM never ever ends. I can go on and on and on about the negatives of FM (or clinical medicine in general), but FM is an important field and I am glad that there are people who can stand doing it.

Frankly, I do not see any similarities between FM and Pathology for a person to be deciding between the two. There is a difference between what you can do, and what you really CAN do EVERY day after day and never get sick of it. As people who went to medical school, any of us can do any field of medicine. But it is about what you LOVE, and see your self doing day after day after day. Everyone of us medical professionals is "made" for a specific medical field. Which one? That is sometimes not an easy question to answer, but deep down all of us know the answer.

Good luck

 

[CLR2303]

Leukocyte I am wondering how you can say they are such different fields, yet you were obviously drawn to both, were you not? You have to know a great deal in both fields to do your job properly, really they are the only two fields that cover basically everything in medicine.
Personally I am having a difficult time deciding whether to apply to Family Med (I have always just assumed I would do Family because it is admirable, wanting to help the underserved, lots of other romantic ideas about serving the community) or Pathology, because I had an amazing rotation and had never considered it until recently.
Both fields offer different but very positive attributes, and both have negative aspects I wish I could ignore (job market, pay, lack of patient interaction, productivity model, etc)
How does one decide which of these things are higher in priority for them, short of being able to actually practice one or the other for a year? My Path preceptor did his intern year in Family before deciding it wasn't for him and choosing Path. I'd like to avoid wasting a year if possible, but I worry I will regret my decision either way.

 

[pathstudent]

If you can make it as a jazz singer, that's they way I would go. There's no substitute for a career in the arts.

I know quite a few pathologists that switched into it from family medicine. For the most part they all were too introverted to be able to hack it in the clinic. They don't say that's why they got out of medicine, but that's my guess judging from their personalities.

 

[deleted314957]

After 4+years I think OP has made up his/her mind.

 

[VenuSN]

While I can't say much about jazz or other artsy careers, I think a medical specialty test can objectively help you choose between two very different specialties (yes, you found some similarities, but there are way more differences!), although deep inside yourself you must know which one of these two you prefer.
One option would be Uni of Virginia's Medical Specialty Aptitude Test (https://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/specialties/) and the second SDN's Med Specialty Selector. I did both of them, the former 2-3 times during med school, the latter only recently. Each and every time the results reflected what I guessed were the best&worst specialties for me: pathology would be best, and FM and surgical specialties the worst haha. For example, SDN's test found a 95% personality match for pathology, an 85% for medical genetics and endocrinology, with only a 35% match for FM!
I also had several colleagues that did this test either before or after entering residency - they also found the results accurate.
So I'd also suggest trying these out as well.

 

[Torsed]

Family Medicine. All the way.