Why did you choose medicine?

[Arijos0222]

Why did you choose medicine? I hear all the time from the pre med students at my local state U always say how they are choosing medicine because their parents want them to become doctors, or because they heard that specialists make above 300K. That they want to help people.

I think those answers are too general. So I just wanted to hear from other people from all walks of the medical life, to share why they chose medicine as their calling.

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[Planes2Doc]

Because I knew I wanted to do this since I was a kid, and even though I took a long convoluted road as a non-traditional student, I could not stop thinking about medicine along the way.

 

[Arijos0222]

Because I knew I wanted to do this since I was a kid, and even though I took a long convoluted road as a non-traditional student, I could not stop thinking about medicine along the way.

How did you end up as a nontraditional student? if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Planes2Doc]

How did you end up as a nontraditional student? if you don't mind me asking?

I worked for a major corporation and found that it wasn't glamorous like I thought it would be. Doing the same crap day in and day out, and nothing meaningful to tell my family or friends at the end of the day. The salary (sorry, it's kind of taboo here in pre-allo) was also low, and saw many people who were close to retirement that only went up to a senior analyst position and were still making under $100k.

I quit, did a post-bacc full-time, and now I'm a medical student! I couldn't do it without having a supportive family (who I also live with again), friends, and girlfriend.

 

[cheechootrain]

It is my dream to be a doctor. But I think the environment I grew up in, poor and surrounded by medicine, was ultimately the artist that modeled my dream.

 

[angemon89]

Cause NY Med was awesome.

JK. I have the same "since I was a kid" story. But documentaries like NY Med definitely keep me going as an undergrad.

 

[mimelim]

My parents told me that I would hate Physics in the real world. I gave them the finger and spent a year in the lab before realizing that I was more interested in the problems than the mathematics. Medicine seemed to have a lot interesting problems to solve, so I went to medical school.

In retrospect, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't know what the MCAT was until I pretty much took it, never paid attention to grades etc. Probably kept me sane through undergrad. If I was a part of the pre-med crowd at Wash U instead of the Physics crowd, I probably wouldn't have gone to medical school.

 

[Arijos0222]

My parents told me that I would hate Physics in the real world. I gave them the finger and spent a year in the lab before realizing that I was more interested in the problems than the mathematics. Medicine seemed to have a lot interesting problems to solve, so I went to medical school.

In retrospect, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't know what the MCAT was until I pretty much took it, never paid attention to grades etc. Probably kept me sane through undergrad. If I was a part of the pre-med crowd at Wash U instead of the Physics crowd, I probably wouldn't have gone to medical school.

How do you feel now about becoming a physician? With 19 million people going on Medicaid? And physician salaries dropping? How can you love what you are doing and still be a general practitioner paying off 200K in loans? Or how can you be an OB/GYN and pay 200K in malpractice and still go to work everyday with a smile on your face? I heard that Obamacare will cause 46 percent of doctors to retire within the next 5 years, and that there will be a shortage of 90,000 Physicans by 2020.

 

[Planes2Doc]

My parents told me that I would hate Physics in the real world. I gave them the finger and spent a year in the lab before realizing that I was more interested in the problems than the mathematics. Medicine seemed to have a lot interesting problems to solve, so I went to medical school.

In retrospect, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't know what the MCAT was until I pretty much took it, never paid attention to grades etc. Probably kept me sane through undergrad. If I was a part of the pre-med crowd at Wash U instead of the Physics crowd, I probably wouldn't have gone to medical school.

It's funny how life can work things out like that. Sometimes we get things that we least expect. I'm glad that you weren't part of the pre-med crowd at Wash U then!

 

[CuttingCorneas]

I have awful handwriting, so it seemed like a good fit.

 

[Ost3oclast]

I have awful handwriting, so it seemed like a good fit.

+1 hahahaha

 

[mimelim]

How do you feel now about becoming a physician? With 19 million people going on Medicaid? And physician salaries dropping? How can you love what you are doing and still be a general practitioner paying off 200K in loans? Or how can you be an OB/GYN and pay 200K in malpractice and still go to work everyday with a smile on your face? I heard that Obamacare will cause 46 percent of doctors to retire within the next 5 years, and that there will be a shortage of 90,000 Physicans by 2020.

Well, my general philosophy... Certainly not saying it is a good idea, at least not for everyone...

I treat the finances like I did my grades, I just ignore them. They don't impact what I physically do day to day, so why should it bother me? I know a couple of things. First, I will be able to pay off my loans. I will take home more than 90% of the rest of the population. Second, I'm doing exactly what I want to do because I chose my specialty, I chose my location. Few people can say that about their job. Even making 52k a year as a resident, I can make my mortgage, pay my IBR loan and save a little for emergencies. When my wife graduates from law school next year, even if she were to make 30k a year (which is highly unlikely given the summer internships that she has had), we will be able to pay off our loans and live well. To be blunt, we are too busy to care. We are too busy to 'need' more money than we have.

If you enjoy what you do, finances drop out of the picture very quickly.

 

[487806]

I like medicine because it's interesting.

How do you feel now about becoming a physician? With 19 million people going on Medicaid? And physician salaries dropping? How can you love what you are doing and still be a general practitioner paying off 200K in loans? Or how can you be an OB/GYN and pay 200K in malpractice and still go to work everyday with a smile on your face? I heard that Obamacare will cause 46 percent of doctors to retire within the next 5 years, and that there will be a shortage of 90,000 Physicans by 2020.

Way to bring politics into the discussion.

 

[DrSnips]

My parents told me that I would hate Physics in the real world. I gave them the finger and spent a year in the lab before realizing that I was more interested in the problems than the mathematics. Medicine seemed to have a lot interesting problems to solve, so I went to medical school.

In retrospect, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't know what the MCAT was until I pretty much took it, never paid attention to grades etc. Probably kept me sane through undergrad. If I was a part of the pre-med crowd at Wash U instead of the Physics crowd, I probably wouldn't have gone to medical school.

Ah yes, the Wash U pre-med crowd, also known as half the freshmen plus anyone who passed orgo.

 

[Tots]

Thread moved to hSDN as the OP is in high school

 

[jhuskp]

Ah yes, the Wash U pre-med crowd, also known as half the freshmen plus anyone who passed orgo.

Still better than the Hopkins pre-med crowd = 85% of freshman + 45% of sophomores + 10% of juniors + .1% of seniors

On the other hand, why do I want to be a doctor? Because the work of the doctors in Scrubs emotionally moved me.

 

[Arijos0222]

I like medicine because it's interesting.



Way to bring politics into the discussion.

Well politics has to do a lot with medicine. Medicine is a business, just like anything else. It's a topic to discuss because every physician is affected by politics, such as 1/3rd of doctors saying that they're going to deny new medicaid patients.

Medicine is turning into something that is making doctors not doing what's in patient's best interests.

So yes, I would think that politics and medicine would a pretty viable discussion.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Anything my family was not interested in ----> I was interested in.

No one in my family is remotely involved in healthcare. As a matter of fact, they used to pretty much hate doctors and believed lots of myths (until I was a resident my brother believed that doctors got paid for every prescription they wrote). Most of that sort of familial behavior was prompted by my mother who has odd ways of handling disease and death (basically by ignoring them). My career has been a learning experience for them, but I still struggle to get them to get mammograms, colonoscopies etc. But in general, if my mother doesn't like it: I like it (there's probably some psychopathology in there for someone to figure out.)

As a kid I was a reader. Back in the day, every family used to have a set of encyclopedias. I read those things cover and cover and was fascinated by the color plates of the human body, so I was drawn to read more about the human body.

Over the years other careers attracted me but I always came back to medicine.

Since my other choice would have been to have been a movie producer/entertainment reporter or somehow involved in the TV/Film industry, medicine seemed an easier choice.

 

[mmmcdowe]

You might say that I was born into it. This, of course, immediately brings to mind the negative view of being forced into it, but this was not the case. In fact, in my whole childhood my parents, a physician and a nurse, never voiced an opinion for or against going into medicine. What I mean by being born into it is that from a very early age I was placed into an environment infused with medicine (dinner conversation every night) and with the values that both of my parents held dear in their own decisions to enter medicine (compassion, intellectual curiosity, etc) and in the actual environment (spending nights in the call room with dad). I did explore other careers and professions, but nothing ever came close to resonating with me as much as medicine. I did consider veterinary medicine for a long time too, but then my allergies surfaced

 

[Arijos0222]

Anything my family was not interested in ----> I was interested in.

No one in my family is remotely involved in healthcare. As a matter of fact, they used to pretty much hate doctors and believed lots of myths (until I was a resident my brother believed that doctors got paid for every prescription they wrote). Most of that sort of familial behavior was prompted by my mother who has odd ways of handling disease and death (basically by ignoring them). My career has been a learning experience for them, but I still struggle to get them to get mammograms, colonoscopies etc. But in general, if my mother doesn't like it: I like it (there's probably some psychopathology in there for someone to figure out.)

As a kid I was a reader. Back in the day, every family used to have a set of encyclopedias. I read those things cover and cover and was fascinated by the color plates of the human body, so I was drawn to read more about the human body.

Over the years other careers attracted me but I always came back to medicine.

Since my other choice would have been to have been a movie producer/entertainment reporter or somehow involved in the TV/Film industry, medicine seemed an easier choice.

I guess easier in the sense that there's a guarantee of success at the end

You might say that I was born into it. This, of course, immediately brings to mind the negative view of being forced into it, but this was not the case. In fact, in my whole childhood my parents, a physician and a nurse, never voiced an opinion for or against going into medicine. What I mean by being born into it is that from a very early age I was placed into an environment infused with medicine (dinner conversation every night) and with the values that both of my parents held dear in their own decisions to enter medicine (compassion, intellectual curiosity, etc) and in the actual environment (spending nights in the call room with dad). I did explore other careers and professions, but nothing ever came close to resonating with me as much as medicine. I did consider veterinary medicine for a long time too, but then my allergies surfaced

Any particular specialty you're looking into and why?

 

[Winged Scapula]

I guess easier in the sense that there's a guarantee of success at the end

Yes, making a living in the TV/Film industry is difficult, more difficult than getting into medical school and of course, less predictable and stable a profession. Medicine is also kinder to an aging woman.

 

[Funke]

Honestly I never thought about it until senior year of college. I tried a bunch of different things and was never satisfied. Started looking into medicine, shadowed some doctors, and loved every minute of it. It fit me perfectly, and I don't want to do anything else.

 

[Arijos0222]

Yes, making a living in the TV/Film industry is difficult, more difficult than getting into medical school and of course, less predictable and stable a profession. Medicine is also kinder to an aging woman.

And out of curiosity, how do you have so much time to post on the forums if you are an Attending General Surgeon? I thought those guys (and girls) worked immense hours. How was it hard for you to match into a US general surgery program from Flinders?

 

[Winged Scapula]

And out of curiosity, how do you have so much time to post on the forums if you are an Attending General Surgeon? I thought those guys (and girls) worked immense hours. How was it hard for you to match into a US general surgery program from Flinders?

I have time because I'm not a general surgeon. While my residency training is in general surgery I am fellowship trained as a sub specialist.

I typically work around 50 to 55 hours per week which includes paperwork. I do not take any ER call or other general surgery call which allows me to have enough time for a life outside of the operating room and to spend time here on SDN.

 

[j814wong]

How do you feel now about becoming a physician? With 19 million people going on Medicaid? And physician salaries dropping? How can you love what you are doing and still be a general practitioner paying off 200K in loans? Or how can you be an OB/GYN and pay 200K in malpractice and still go to work everyday with a smile on your face? I heard that Obamacare will cause 46 percent of doctors to retire within the next 5 years, and that there will be a shortage of 90,000 Physicans by 2020.

And then people will blame doctors for wanting too much money. Well they put in loads of effort ot study to become a doctor in teh first place. It's an elite profession. One can't walk through undergrad and medical school and expect to become a doctor. With that mindset, you won't ever become a doctor. And when there is a shortage of doctors in 2020, I somehow doubt people will look back and blame Obama for it.

 

[I'm No Superman]

How do you feel now about becoming a physician? With 19 million people going on Medicaid? And physician salaries dropping? How can you love what you are doing and still be a general practitioner paying off 200K in loans? Or how can you be an OB/GYN and pay 200K in malpractice and still go to work everyday with a smile on your face? I heard that Obamacare will cause 46 percent of doctors to retire within the next 5 years, and that there will be a shortage of 90,000 Physicans by 2020.

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

 

[mmmcdowe]

Any particular specialty you're looking into and why?

I'm applying into neurosurgery. I like neurological disease, enjoy working with my hands, etc, but I also enjoy the prospects for great innovations in the field within my lifetime that I can strive to be a part of. I also think a core part of choosing a specialty is based on the people within the specialty. I like a lot of fields, but I resonate really well with my mentors who broke a lot of preconceptions that I had about neurosurgeons.

 

[Arijos0222]

I'm applying into neurosurgery. I like neurological disease, enjoy working with my hands, etc, but I also enjoy the prospects for great innovations in the field within my lifetime that I can strive to be a part of. I also think a core part of choosing a specialty is based on the people within the specialty. I like a lot of fields, but I resonate really well with my mentors who broke a lot of preconceptions that I had about neurosurgeons.

Can you break some preconceptions that I may have about neurosurgery? Neuro-S and Neuromuscular neurology are my main interests in pursuing medicine.

 

[Arijos0222]

I have time because I'm not a general surgeon. While my residency training is in general surgery I am fellowship trained as a sub specialist.

I typically work around 50 to 55 hours per week which includes paperwork. I do not take any ER call or other general surgery call which allows me to have enough time for a life outside of the operating room and to spend time here on SDN.

Are you fellowship trained in Oncology?

 

[Arijos0222]

And then people will blame doctors for wanting too much money. Well they put in loads of effort ot study to become a doctor in teh first place. It's an elite profession. One can't walk through undergrad and medical school and expect to become a doctor. With that mindset, you won't ever become a doctor. And when there is a shortage of doctors in 2020, I somehow doubt people will look back and blame Obama for it.

I was having a debate with a Pharmacist about health care + politics, and all he said was "So what if doctors get paid a little less. 99% of them are Upper-Middle class."

He then walked away with a look of his distain on his face and muttered

"Stupid pre-meds."

 

[Winged Scapula]

Are you fellowship trained in Oncology?

Surgical oncology to be specific (typically when you simply say Oncology the medical community assumes you mean Medical Oncology: a subspecialty of Internal Medicine) .

 

[mmmcdowe]

Can you break some preconceptions that I may have about neurosurgery? Neuro-S and Neuromuscular neurology are my main interests in pursuing medicine.

There are a lot of negative personality traits associated with neurosurgeons. They have a reputation as being egotistical, quick to anger, and derogatory towards other specialties. I can't say there isn't some of that in some members of the field, but my overall experience (in academic neurosurgery) has been with individuals that are hard working, extremely team oriented, and highly interested in establishing mentorships. Spontaneous teaching is seem as a way of honing their own knowledge and skills.

Many neurosurgeons are consumed with neurosurgery, but not all. Many are family folks that work reasonable hours and have other past times. Many neurosurgeons are also very cautious about taking patients to the OR. One of my mentors sees about 10 patients for every one he operates on.

 

[Arijos0222]

There are a lot of negative personality traits associated with neurosurgeons. They have a reputation as being egotistical, quick to anger, and derogatory towards other specialties. I can't say there isn't some of that in some members of the field, but my overall experience (in academic neurosurgery) has been with individuals that are hard working, extremely team oriented, and highly interested in establishing mentorships. Spontaneous teaching is seem as a way of honing their own knowledge and skills.

Many neurosurgeons are consumed with neurosurgery, but not all. Many are family folks that work reasonable hours and have other past times. Many neurosurgeons are also very cautious about taking patients to the OR. One of my mentors sees about 10 patients for every one he operates on.

Is the lifestyle as bad as everyone really says? I know it depends on a lot of factors, but in general, if you are not working at a Level-1 Trauma center, or you have your own practice, with office hours from 7-5?

 

[mmmcdowe]

Is the lifestyle as bad as everyone really says? I know it depends on a lot of factors, but in general, if you are not working at a Level-1 Trauma center, or you have your own practice, with office hours from 7-5?

As I said, I know neurosurgeons with good lifestyles.

 

[khatz]

Are most neurosurgeons like Sanjay Gupta?

 

[mmmcdowe]

Are most neurosurgeons like Sanjay Gupta?

Maybe? I've only met him once for a couple seconds. I've heard though he is pretty cool and buys lunch for residents and medical students that operate with him on a fairly regular basis.

 

[I'm No Superman]

Maybe? I've only met him once for a couple seconds. I've heard though he is pretty cool and buys lunch for residents and medical students that operate with him on a fairly regular basis.

Are most mentors like Dr. Cox?

 

[mmmcdowe]

Are most mentors like Dr. Cox?

Some are tough love, but it isn't a neurosurgery thing in my experience. The toughest mentor I had was an ultra-old school neurologist.

 

[Arijos0222]

As I said, I know neurosurgeons with good lifestyles.

Well "good" is subject to opinion

Do the Neurosurgeons you know with a "good" lifestyle usually work in private practice or academia?

 

[mmmcdowe]

Well "good" is subject to opinion

Do the Neurosurgeons you know with a "good" lifestyle usually work in private practice or academia?

Private practice.

 

[Arijos0222]

Private practice.

Group or solo? Rural, suburban or city? Do they accept all patients? How about patients that have Medicaid?

 

[mmmcdowe]

Group or solo? Rural, suburban or city? Do they accept all patients? How about patients that have Medicaid?

Probably mostly group, but seriously dude things will change so much in the next 20 years that I don't think I'd worry about this stuff yet...

 

[greatnt249]

Well politics has to do a lot with medicine. Medicine is a business, just like anything else. It's a topic to discuss because every physician is affected by politics, such as 1/3rd of doctors saying that they're going to deny new medicaid patients.

Medicine is turning into something that is making doctors not doing what's in patient's best interests.

So yes, I would think that politics and medicine would a pretty viable discussion.

That would be because the "powers that be" are laying down groundwork for how medicine is "supposed" to be practiced when, in reality, they have no business dictating how physicians should be doing their jobs to begin with. Perverse incentives created by meddling outsiders (read, government) create situations where the best interests of the patient get lost in the mix.

 

[BabyDoc86]

Because I love patients. I love walking into a hospital and getting to lend a hand. Because the technology is freaking amazing. Because there is so much opportunity to do good with my time. Because when I'm working in research at the bench, I'm bored as hell and can't wait to get back into the hospital. Because the human body is the coolest thing I've ever studied.

......and the list continues.

 

[Life Sucks]

I want to be a doctor just because it intrigued me at a young age. I don't have a average reason like to better society or help patients, but I like it because of what the job can do for me such as, a better living, applying science, and reading cool books and doing research and affecting people's lives. Sorry if this isn't good enough, but I don't have that rainbows and sunshine feeling illuminating from me.

 

[pntibbi]

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was ten. For the first 5 years, it was a little bit hard to deal with. I didn't understand why I had this condition? I didn't understand why I was more overweight than all of my friends and couldnt eat the same things as them, etc. I mean when you think about it, middle school is already a hard enough. And I really didn't know how I was going to be able to take medication on a daily basis for the rest of my life, at the time it just seemed like a task too difficult to comprehend, now its much, much easier.
To continue, I grew up in a rural town and I am first generation undergrad, out of my whole immediate and extended family. So I didn't have anyone there to explain to me what hypothyroidism was and how it affected my body. I had to try to figure it out on my own. It was that process, and a desire to know more, that kind of set me up to keep wanting to figure out more about health and disease. Through that, I learned that I am a problem solver and I love figuring out how the body works.

In addition, when I was in high school I was hospitalized for 5 days. It was the lonliest and scariest time of my life. I felt as though none of the doctors or nurses actually cared to help me and that they were just there to do their job. Honestly, none of them came to check on me to see if I was ok. I had a really bad kidney infection and fell asleep every night convulsioning and crying, none of them just stuck their head in. I had no idea what was happening to my body, why I was uncontrollably shaking. They only came in to take my vitals or to talk to my mom when she was there. Because of that, I just want to try my best to make the hospital experience better for patients.

So I think my personal experiences with medicine (and or lack there of) are really what drives me today, when things get hard. Also, knowing how much it means to my family for there to finally be a) a college graduate and b) a doctor in the family just makes everything seem so much easier.