What am I missing?

[Dr. Bob Doe]

They say if you go into medicine say goodbye to your twenties. I understand that statement implies the large time and financial commitment associated with Med school/residency. But what will I really be missing out on?

Weddings, parties..anything?
I did not have much of a social life before pursuing medicine in the first place, I'm not interested in using my twenties to get drunk every night (which I doubt most non-med school 20 year olds do anyways) or partying.

Perhaps traveling, hobbies, and spending time with friends and family but those things aren't impossible while in medical training. Even if they are there is no law saying I have to stop having fun or living life at 30+.

Most twenty year old friends I know if not all, after college go work for some jerk Monday-Friday 9-5 in a cubicle, or they get married and raise a family, which is fine. But at the end of the week they are too exhausted or too busy to party. But hey they don't have 200K in loans and the have an income. Other than that what am I really missing?

Don't get me wrong guys I want to be a physician for the right reasons and med school/residency is no walk in the park by no means BUT what will I miss out on?

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[Pacna]

I feel like people who are single lose out on more. If you're in a committed relationship, the only real negative is that you aren't able to put as much time into that compared to someone who had a typical 9-5. If you're lucky (like me) and find someone patient who loves you, I think the med route is a fantastic option. You work your butt off for a few years and start making bank by the time you have kids.

I'm with you 100%.

 

[woltej1]

pretty much you'll be missing out on having limited responsibilities in your 20s. You will be meeting people in med school that you'll probably know or at least occasionally catch up with for the rest of your life. You will go out with them plenty during med school, but you'll always have something to be doing. You won't be like your friends with a 4 year degree who go to a job, then once they live they don't have to worry about it until the next time they go back. There's always a test or exam coming up for you and there is no such thing as good enough in medicine. You may miss out on having the time to do stuff, but you will have time to do stuff, just not all the time. Think of it is quality over quantity, work hard play hard. You bust your ass and will have to stay in nights when your friends go out or at least take it easy most nights, but there will be times to have fun, go on trips, etc.

 

[type12]

The answer is nothing. You learn a ton of stuff you are interested in, and you secure a job where supply is kept artificially low so wages are high, and unemployment is basically zero. Let's not forget you are basically saving lives, or at least helping your fellow man, for a living!

Trading in your twenties to learn stuff you are interested in, and then have a 100% chance of employment (post-residency)... Who WOULDN'T want to be a doctor?

 

[Dr. Bob Doe]

Thanks guys for your inputs/perspectives. Keep them coming.

 

[Dr. Bob Doe]

The answer is nothing. You learn a ton of stuff you are interested in, and you secure a job where supply is kept artificially low so wages are high, and unemployment is basically zero. Let's not forget you are basically saving lives, or at least helping your fellow man, for a living!

Trading in your twenties to learn stuff you are interested in, and then have a 100% chance of employment (post-residency)... Who WOULDN'T want to be a doctor?

Apparently people who are interested in law, business, humanities and social sciences or people who want to stay 22 forever. I vote high six figures salary, 0 unemployment rate and the rush of saving lives any day.

 

[487806]

They say if you go into medicine say goodbye to your twenties. I understand that statement implies the large time and financial commitment associated with Med school/residency. But what will I really be missing out on?

Weddings, parties..anything?
I did not have much of a social life before pursuing medicine in the first place, I'm not interested in using my twenties to get drunk every night (which I doubt most non-med school 20 year olds do anyways) or partying.

Perhaps traveling, hobbies, and spending time with friends and family but those things aren't impossible while in medical training. Even if they are there is no law saying I have to stop having fun or living life at 30+.

Most twenty year old friends I know if not all, after college go work for some jerk Monday-Friday 9-5 in a cubicle, or they get married and raise a family, which is fine. But at the end of the week they are too exhausted or too busy to party. But hey they don't have 200K in loans and the have an income. Other than that what am I really missing?

Don't get me wrong guys I want to be a physician for the right reasons and med school/residency is no walk in the park by no means BUT what will I miss out on?

"4 Yonko of Medicine" eh? How do you feel about the current Dressrosa situation?

I feel like people who are single lose out on more. If you're in a committed relationship, the only real negative is that you aren't able to put as much time into that compared to someone who had a typical 9-5. If you're lucky (like me) and find someone patient who loves you, I think the med route is a fantastic option. You work your butt off for a few years and start making bank by the time you have kids.

I'm with you 100%.

Pretty much spot on

 

[Dr. Bob Doe]

"4 Yonko of Medicine" eh? How do you feel about the current Dressrosa situation?

Straw hats + heart + kids pirates = no more kaido

 

[487806]

Straw hats + heart + kids pirates = no more kaido

Not sure with the Big Mom pirates chasing Sanji and co. around... And dat recent mayhem

OT: not sure someone mentioned this, but you can enjoy social life during preclinical years by enjoying post-exam parties with friends.

 

[Dr. Bob Doe]

Not sure with the Big Mom pirates chasing Sanji and co. around... And dat recent mayhem


*SPOILER ALERT* Big mom eats too much of her crew members and has a myocardial infarction

OT: not sure someone mentioned this, but you can enjoy social life during preclinical years by enjoying post-exam parties with friends.

Yes, 100%. It's all about moderation, time management and patience.

 

[terp720]

I feel like people who are single lose out on more. If you're in a committed relationship, the only real negative is that you aren't able to put as much time into that compared to someone who had a typical 9-5. If you're lucky (like me) and find someone patient who loves you, I think the med route is a fantastic option. You work your butt off for a few years and start making bank by the time you have kids.

I'm with you 100%.

definitely read this as "find some patient who loves you"

I can agree with this. It can make it a bit more difficult if it ends up being long distance but that's ok.

 

[487806]

definitely read this as "find some patient who loves you"

I can agree with this. It can make it a bit more difficult if it ends up being long distance but that's ok.

You have the weirdest misperceptions

Yes, 100%. It's all about moderation, time management and patience.

Lol idk about that with Big Mom. She's pretty acidic! Wonder what'll happen with Doffy pwned...

Of course, although MS3 is less forgiving unfortunately. But the vacation MS4 year = best time to socialize. So you'll have time for social life in med school.

 

[Pacna]

definitely read this as "find some patient who loves you"

I can agree with this. It can make it a bit more difficult if it ends up being long distance but that's ok.

I kept looking at that word like "am I sure it's not spelled different..."

My lady and I did long distance for 4 years. No more.

 

[Dr. Bob Doe]

You have the weirdest misperceptions



Of course, although MS3 is less forgiving unfortunately. But the vacation MS4 year = best time to socialize. So you'll have time for social life in med school.

Yes I heard MS3 horror stories but MS4 is like the vacation we never had. Everything balances out.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

They say if you go into medicine say goodbye to your twenties. I understand that statement implies the large time and financial commitment associated with Med school/residency. But what will I really be missing out on?

Don't get me wrong guys I want to be a physician for the right reasons and med school/residency is no walk in the park by no means BUT what will I miss out on?

It's all about priorities, trade-offs, and delayed gratification. What good is free time in your 20's if you don't have money to go travel or party it up? Even if you could, would you want to piss your life away like that and never work hard to achieve a goal? You're working hard now to have more freedom in the future if you so choose. What good is a life where you always take the easy path and never challenge yourself or strive to make a difference, even though you know your impact may be limited?

**Drinking alcohol in excess and listening to loud music are not good for you, so probably good that you chose a route where you'll be doing less of that.**

 

[Boolean]

I don't think you're missing out. I think it is more of you're receiving a different view of your 20's. Time isn't wasted if it is something you enjoy.

 

[armybound]

Medicine will cause you to miss out on a lot. If you're single and have no hobbies/interests then sure, you won't be missing much if you weren't going to do anything interesting anyway.

If you were hoping to spend time with your loved ones, watch your kids grow up, have free time to travel/relax/have fun, you'll be giving a lot of that up during medical school but especially residency.

 

[Espadaleader]

NEW PIRATE ERA! q

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

You don't lose anything because if you were the kind of person that wants to prioritize things other than medicine then you would. Society spend too much time putting people in categories and boxes unable to see that perhaps people are more complex and may want things contradictory to what others Steptoe, including the observer.

 

[alpinism]

Medicine will cause you to miss out on a lot. If you're single and have no hobbies/interests then sure, you won't be missing much if you weren't going to do anything interesting anyway.

If you were hoping to spend time with your loved ones, watch your kids grow up, have free time to travel/relax/have fun, you'll be giving a lot of that up during medical school but especially residency.

Pretty much this.

While you certainly can have a normal life during med school, it will come at a price and most students choose not to go down that path.

After spending the last 4+ yrs working your butt off trying to get into med school, most people aren't satisfied being in the bottom 50% of their class or risking not matching into their 1st choice residency. Because of this, instead of focusing on having a balanced life with weekends off (i.e. 9-5 weekday hours) most med students will focus on school and will study for 3+ hrs nearly everyday including weekends (i.e. 8-6 weekday hours when you add on lecture, small group, and doctoring classes).

The week before exams you'll likely be spending all day studying just trying to review all the material. When M2 rolls around many students will start studying for step 1 on top of studying for classes. During M3 for surgery and medicine rotations you'll be in the hospital all day for 6 days a week then you'll have to go home and study for shelf exams.

The bottom line is that nearly every med student ends up missing out on a significant amount of time with friends and family.

Residency is even worse.

 

[medic86]

Well, shiz.

Good thing my twenties are nearly over, eh?

 

[Blizzard18]

I feel like people who are single lose out on more. If you're in a committed relationship, the only real negative is that you aren't able to put as much time into that compared to someone who had a typical 9-5. If you're lucky (like me) and find someone patient who loves you, I think the med route is a fantastic option. You work your butt off for a few years and start making bank by the time you have kids.

I'm with you 100%.

Very true. I am lucky enough to have someone entering pharmacy at the same school as I am entering medicine so we will share similar study responsibilities. Will make living together easier and less stressful knowing you aren't letting the other down and worrying if they are bored while you study.

 

[Microglia]

You're not really missing out on anything. You have a class of potential friends, time to go out, and you learn cool topics. Plus, at the end of the training you can help people while also making a good living.

If you want to make a 6 figure income in business at this age: welcome to investment banking (if you can get that job), where they work far more hours than us, are typically more socially adept, and smarter than us on average (this part is anecdotal extrapolation), while having no real job security.

If you want to work a 9-5: well, your income will probably never be as high as the physician route, and it can be just as stressful if you don't like what you do.

No one said medicine was easy, but neither are the alternatives. At the very least you will have a secure income that can support a good living with a family.

 

[Dr. Bob Doe]

It's all about priorities, trade-offs, and delayed gratification. What good is free time in your 20's if you don't have money to go travel or party it up? Even if you could, would you want to piss your life away like that and never work hard to achieve a goal? You're working hard now to have more freedom in the future if you so choose. What good is a life where you always take the easy path and never challenge yourself or strive to make a difference, even though you know your impact may be limited?

**Drinking alcohol in excess and listening to loud music are not good for you, so probably good that you chose a route where you'll be doing less of that.**

Exactly

 

[Dr. Bob Doe]

You're not really missing out on anything. You have a class of potential friends, time to go out, and you learn cool topics. Plus, at the end of the training you can help people while also making a good living.

If you want to make a 6 figure income in business at this age: welcome to investment banking (if you can get that job), where they work far more hours than us, are typically more socially adept, and smarter than us on average (this part is anecdotal extrapolation), while having no real job security.

If you want to work a 9-5: well, your income will probably never be as high as the physician route, and it can be just as stressful if you don't like what you do.

No one said medicine was easy, but neither are the alternatives. At the very least you will have a secure income that can support a good living with a family.

I love it when people say there are easier ways than medicine to making money, like those routes are easier. Everything good takes sacrifice and hard work.

 

[ponyo]

I'm currently not a student and in my twenties, so I'm viewing my current life as what I will be giving up during medical school:

- Income for sure. I won't be making more than what I make now until after residency, and if I stayed in consulting in 4-5 years I would be making what an attending makes. And probably loans on top of this.

- Travel opportunities. I am still hopeful that I'll be able to do rotations abroad, etc., but in general there is little chance you'll be able to just schedule a vacation and go blow off steam abroad somewhere, and you probably can't afford it even when you have the time. E.g. this summer I'll be spending a few months in Scandinavia, and I expect this will be the last expensive trip I take for pure leisure for a while.

- Energy to read and write and think about things that are not related to medicine. I'm a bit of a philosophy nerd and I love to just sit around in a cafe on the weekend and ponder. It isn't that I don't think I can spare a few hours to do that in medical school, but I won't necessarily have the mental energy to do so. I probably won't want to read as many books since I'll be studying all the time.

- The mental energy to fully care about your friends and SO. I'm not saying medical students don't care about their SOs, but there is a big difference between caring abstractly and caring and thinking about someone consistently. I've found that when I'm really busy, I won't want to text someone throughout the day and think about how I can help solve their problems and help make their day better. I won't want to surprise them with little cute things. I won't want to come home and make them dinner or bake them cookies and generally spoil them, because I'm too tired to even take adequate care of myself. This puts a huge strain on relationships both romantic and friendly. I think this problem is exacerbated when you are not only busy, but busy with emotionally draining work in the clinical environment. If you come home from a tough day in the hospital, there is no way you are going to just magically switch to the supportive gf/bf/wife/husband who wants to hear your SO bitch and moan about their long day at the office.

- Time to just relax and go to the museum or art gallery or long concerts just to enjoy yourself. I think this can still happen when you're busy, but you have to have the self-awareness and knowledge to not feel guilty about all the **** you're supposed to be doing. But this is not a medicine problem; it's a growing up problem which universally exist for all people with responsibilities.

I've never wanted to be a full time parent (or even a part-time parent really), so that's not an issue for me, but I can certainly see time with your children as the biggest sacrifice for someone in medicine. Again though, this is not a medicine thing but rather a problem shared by everyone who has professional ambitions.