US News The most overrated careers: Physician

pharmacist . .. good???

i don't think so. especially not after the 2 years I spent as a pharm tech.

*whiny, ungrateful people blaming you for not giving them more narcs or for "denying" their insurance claims or refusing to give them an unapproved refill on oral contraceptives that they should have thought about before an imminent departure on a bahamian honeymoon
*zero autonomy, zero decision making power
*work with a bunch of high school kids or comm college dropouts (in retail anyways)

I think a ghostwriter usually writes for someone else and isn't credited, or writes under a different name, or something like that.

Ummm...a ghost writer doesn't write about ghosts. They are professional writers and/or musicians that are paid to create their art but know that it will be officially credited to someone else. Celebs use them all the time....

Wow, the description for physician is awful. After reading the dentistry description, however, I am still glad I didn't go into that field.

doinmybest5840 said:

Wow, the description for physician is awful. After reading the dentistry description, however, I am still glad I didn't go into that field.

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I agree completely. The physician description mostly (if not only) talks about the negatives. It kinda downplays the fact that they save a life every once in a while. Not to say dentists aren't important, but I would much rather be a physician than a dentist.

Another overrated career:
Writing for a crappy news organization such as US News.

meh, in periodical publications sometimes there are articles that don't really need to be written but come to exist because the writers need to produce something to keep their jobs and the advertisments have to go somewhere.

Pinkertinkle said:

Another overrated career:
Writing for something a crappy news organization such as US News.

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Good call.

what are you guys talking about... a ghostwriter is a brightly colored spirit that helps pre-pubescent 80's teenagers solve mysteries... thats my backup plan.

SigurRos said:

what are you guys talking about... a ghostwriter is a brightly colored spirit that helps pre-pubescent 80's teenagers solve mysteries... thats my backup plan.

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Did you know samuel L jackson was in that tv show?

Pinkertinkle said:

Another overrated career:
Writing for a crappy news organization such as US News.

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Possibly, but they sure nailed the description of Teacher. Great, going from one overrated career to another. Whoo hoo! Can't wait to see what's next!

Someone didn't get into medical school...

a recent barron's article said that berkshire hathaway is overvalued by at least 10%. the stock dropped shortly after, and i used the opportunity to buy some. i hope trying to get into a career while it's being bashed is also wise. after all, one must be greedy when others are fearful.

Pinkertinkle said:

Another overrated career:
Writing for a crappy news organization such as US News.

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lol lmao lmfao

SigurRos said:

what are you guys talking about... a ghostwriter is a brightly colored spirit that helps pre-pubescent 80's teenagers solve mysteries... thats my backup plan.

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LOL......this thread is cracking me up

darn it!! i knew i should have went to beauty school

I wouldn't say it's inaccurate to say so. Being "overrated" means just that: people think something is better than it really is. I would say if you are the typical layperson who watches Grey's Anatomy and thinks doctors still make serious bank, you might rate being a physician higher than if you knew the truth. That doesn't make it a bad career.

These are the same people that are responsible for medical school rankings, just FYI.

HAHAAHA the medical scientist one is great...

Alternative: Medical Librarian. Most people choose to become medical researchers because they'd enjoy solving science puzzles that could lead to medical discoveries.Your chances of doing that are probably greater as a medical librarian because every day, whether you're employed at a university, a hospital, or a pharmaceutical company, you're solving lots of people's problems by unearthing the resources they need. Bonus: Each request exposes you to some new aspect of medicine—unlike as a researcher, where you're probably plowing away at similar things for years. And the training is shorter and easier to complete: A career in medical librarianship requires only a master's in library science. Further boosting your odds of success, it's an under-the-radar career, so you'll have less competition for job openings.

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the medical librarians at my school play on the internets all day!

Over and under-rated careers?

US News & World Report has jumped the shark.

I guess if saving people's lives is overrated.

Napoleown said:

HAHAAHA the medical scientist one is great...

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So medical librarian is like a glorified pubmed?

Are you kidding me? "Physician" is an overrated career, while "Investment Banker" is under "Best Careers?"

Ha. I'd beg to differ.

yeah ....i think an actual PHYSICIAN shold comment on his own career and whether or not its overrated, rather than a paper pushing journalist for US news who doesnt know any more about the medical feild than a 2yr old

Thank you, U.S. News! Reducing competition is never a bad thing.

Overrated, US News has definitely all lost credibility with me. Marky Nemko is obviously one smart man

Honestly, anything in the business world is at the top of the overrated list....investment banker

Police officer is overrated right, so no one be a cop and protect the streets....it's overrated. Police officers and teachers already don't get respect so how in the hell can they be overrated

etf said:

a recent barron's article said that berkshire hathaway is overvalued by at least 10%. the stock dropped shortly after, and i used the opportunity to buy some. i hope trying to get into a career while it's being bashed is also wise. after all, one must be greedy when others are fearful.

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TeeHeHe said:

Thank you, U.S. News! Reducing competition is never a bad thing.

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Amen, fellas.

Well, apparently I jumped from one sinking ship to another. Advertising Executive ---> MD I think I'll enjoy both. But MD more of course.

being a physician is overrated?

who's doing the rating? people who dont have the mental and physical stamina to take on a medical career? or feel that medicine's negatives outweigh its positives?......well, duh, thats why these people shouldnt choose medicine.

correct me if im wrong, but just about every occupation has negatives and positives. its up to you to CHOOSE the career that you most appreciate the positives for, and are fine with the slight negs. in fact, if you look at the list of careers originally posted....every single one of those but medicine is overrated in my opinion. why? bc i cant see myself doing them. duh...its a personal preference.

there is a good reason why only about 35K people apply to med school each year....they are attracted to the rewards of the profession, and are fine with the tiny sacrifices.

next time i get my haircut from my "hairstylist" ill inform her that shes got it made.

What a stupid article.

Notice that the "alternatives" are stripped-down less prestigious versions of the said "overrated" career. It seems as though this article is meant to cheer up those who took the 'easy way out' when getting a job.

...

LMAO at medical librarian. How exactly is that anywhere near an equivalent to a medical scientist? The writers at US News don't know what they're talking about.

F12 said:

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LMAO at medical librarian. How exactly is that anywhere near an equivalent to a medical scientist? The writers at US News don't know what they're talking about.

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Don't you know the first author on breakthrough scientific publications is usually the medical librarian?

If I had to pick any job off of that list other than physician, it would have to be librarian. They have it made. And books all day? Hell yes.

I used to be a librarian, and actually it wasn't so pleasant. There are a whole lot of problems and problem people in the field. I only stayed with it a couple of years.

poor job security and the biting knowledge that you are relatively small in the scheme of things

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if you don't already have that knowledge you arent thinking hard enough.

doinmybest5840 said:

Wow, the description for physician is awful. After reading the dentistry description, however, I am still glad I didn't go into that field.

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Actually, I think the physician description is right in line with what you'll get from most physician blogs out there- and that includes ones that are happy with their career choice. There are a lot of negatives about being a physician, and I don't think the article overstates this. The positives are a little skimpy, but the author touches on 1) helping others 2) curing the sick 3) prestige, and 4) pay. How many others can you think of? Physician is one of the highest regarded professions in society, and it's also one of the highest-paying. On the other hand, being a physician has enormous negatives that are deal-breakers for many people including training length, lifestyle, ridiculous legal risk/liability, "bad" patients, and pay per hour (as opposed to just looking at annual salary). I think the job of a physician is perfect for an "overrated careers" list.

Is it a scientific research study? Of course not....it's an opinion piece. Agree or disagree with it as you will, but I for one agree that being a physician is overrated by society. The only major issue I don't see is pitiful Medicare reimbursement rates forcing physicians to stop accepting Medicare patients, but you could wrap all that up in the problems with a "national health insurance." Is it the right profession for me? Absolutely! But a little objectivity never hurts....

Slightly unrelated note- the opening sentence during one of my interview days was "You're applying to start a career in a field that is broken, and will probably get worse." If a medical school can be this objective....why can't SDNers?

Marty Nemko said:

Fewer and fewer patients see their physicians as godlike, especially those whose first instinct is to go online for medical information. Doctors are spending less time than ever with patients and more on paperwork. Insurers keep hacking away at physician costs. And if a Democrat is elected president, some form of national health insurance may be enacted. That could reduce physicians' pay and increase their workloads as the nearly 50 million uninsured people in the United States will need to be cared for by the existing cadre of physicians.

And those are just the new problems. This career has long had other liabilities. The training spans more than a decade, including four years of science-heavy college coursework, four demanding, expensive (often $200,000) years of medical school, followed by an internship year of 90-plus hours a week, and capped by a few years of residency. After completing all that, there's usually the ongoing stress of managing your office, trying to care for noncompliant patients, giving unsuspecting patients bad news, and seeing some get sicker and die.

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eikenhein said:

I guess if saving people's lives is overrated.

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Haha, careful there.

While I agree that the whole Overrated underrated thing is very sophomoric, I have to agree with their sentiment. I don't get a lot of Gray's Anatomy fans asking me about careers in medicine, but I do get a TON of "Is it realy like Scrubs!?" or "You should be the type of doctor that House is".

To each his own.

From US News:

And if a Democrat is elected president, some form of national health insurance may be enacted. That could reduce physicians' pay and increase their workloads as the nearly 50 million uninsured people in the United States will need to be cared for by the existing cadre of physicians.

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Guess who US news wants you to vote for.

wisconsindoctor said:

The median salary for a Usability/User Experience Specialist is $100k. Wow!

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Yup, I was offered 80k starting with a bachelors.

I wonder how a teacher is overrated. Yes, low pay, obnoxious students, and constant disrespect is tremendously overrated.

newsflash: there are good and bad parts to life.