Who here actually loves med school/residency/being a doctor?

Why not just wait and experience it yourself? Can't really make any conclusions based on someone elses experiences. Just doesn't make any sense.

Everyone will like something different. I enjoyed the first 2 years of med school. Not so much the 3rd year. 4th year is fun b/c I made it that way. I like inpatient medicine (hospitalist) and teaching. I despise the clinic. I'm sure you will find a dozen people say the opposite of what I like.

You can find some aspect of medicine that you enjoy.

ForeignBody said:

You can find some aspect of medicine that you enjoy.

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That's the key. Almost everyone will find a field they are passionate about or, at the very least, enjoy. Studying sucks, but with the exception of biochem, I enjoyed what I was learning. And the vast majority of my rotations were in fields I could not see myself doing (there are several I would leave medicine completely before doing), but I personally never felt like I didn't belong here. It was just a matter of finding the field for me.

Everyone's experiences are different. People use an anonymous internet forum to bitch and complain (myself included), so most of what you'll read is negative. But it's really not all bad.

I'm having a pretty good time as a first year.

...probably because I don't go to campus anymore. I sleep late, go the the gym, watch TV, and spend the rest of the day alternating between studying/Facebook/hanging out/whatever. I actually end up studying way more than when I went to class (got up early, didn't really pay attention, was sleepy/took a nap in the afternoon, felt like I did more than I actually did).

Sure, it's a ton of work, but I'm rarely required to be anywhere. I recognize the value of this and appreciate it.

Don't be discouraged by SDN. I'd say the majority of students love medical school. They just aren't gonna come on here and start threads saying so. Threads are generally people having problems or complaining. Med school is really cool.

ya don't take what's said here to heart. I'm a pretty normal dude and I'm happy in medical school. Still totally excited about medicine and I can't see myself doing anything else (course there's a still LONG road ahead..).

Juni -

I'm on my way out of medical school, and about to embark on residency.

I had the same concerns entering medical school - it seemed like a full 50% of the physicians that I spoke with (a LOT of docs, since I was an occupational therapist in a hospital) before medical school told me NOT to go - to do anything else but medicine. Then I got to medical school, and a few of the upper classmen seemed to be saying that they made a mistake coming to medical school...

That said: I've LOVED it. Loved it! Absolutely it's a challenge. Absolutely there are physicians and students that are strongly disturbed by personality disorders that are untreated/undertreated. But I'm a glass half-full kind of guy, and leaving a good career for a great one has been the right choice, absolutely. I've loved it.

Keep your head up, form your own opinions, and look for the good in things.

Congrats on your acceptance, good luck in school, and enjoy the ride!

dc

cpants said:

Don't be discouraged by SDN. I'd say the majority of students love medical school. They just aren't gonna come on here and start threads saying so. Threads are generally people having problems or complaining. Med school is really cool.

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I second that. If my entire perception of medicine was based off the posts I read on SDN, I would have placed my acceptance letter into a flaming bag of poo and used my biology degree to get a job as a park ranger.

JuniperK said:

I realize that I'm new here, but I've been reading a lot of threads about how much they dislike med school, or residency or being an attending or the whole job. I'll be in the class of 2013 and I was wondering if anyone had positive experiences because if not, I need to think about alternatives. Thanks!

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Best advice that I can give you: come in expecting to hate med school, and you will most likely be pleasantly surprised.

Inuranic said:

... but I'm rarely required to be anywhere. I recognize the value of this and appreciate it.

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This is precisely the attitude that might make you hate third year, though, where your time is not your own and you are expected to be places at all hours of the day. And even worse, residency.

OP- I actually think many people have more good days than bad in med school, and a lot of the happier people simply have a better attitude toward the less enjoyable stuff. Find yourself someone like this to model yourself after and you are often better off than whining about the negative stuff. There will be things you don't enjoy in med school. Residency is basically hardcore boot camp medicine training and most people tolerate it in order to learn, more than "like" it. But with the right attitude you'll make it through.

Med school has been a rollercoaster for me. Hated first year, alternated between liking and disliking 2nd year. I really liked third year, but it was stressful at times. Now that I'm a fourth year the rollercoaster STILL hasnt' ended (residency apps, interviews, the match, etc.) but I found a field I really like and am TOTALLY excited about doing residency in.

Overall, I'd make the same choice again if I had the chance.

JuniperK said:

I realize that I'm new here, but I've been reading a lot of threads about how much they dislike med school, or residency or being an attending or the whole job. I'll be in the class of 2013 and I was wondering if anyone had positive experiences because if not, I need to think about alternatives. Thanks!

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I am pretty sure you are not going anywhere, you will be chilling in the library come fall. Just like this guy



you have started chasing the 'precious', you are about to get the life sucked out of you, and there is nothing you can do about it. Welcome.

I think the better you do in medical school, the more you will like it. By
doing better I mean, really understanding the material, being able to apply it
and of course, being able to prove it on tests.

If you plan to do well, then also plan to enjoy.

Law2Doc said:

This is precisely the attitude that might make you hate third year, though, where your time is not your own and you are expected to be places at all hours of the day. And even worse, residency.

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Oh, no, I'm painfully aware of what's to come. That's why I find this so tasty. Undergrad? 10 million places I had to be. A year and a half from now? 20 million places I have to be.

I'm going to savor these two years for all they're worth.

To be fair Inuranic, you still have four years until rotations. !!!!


Not the rest of us mere mortals.

If it makes any of you feel better about your future in medicine, I have had a good overall experience so far. I'm doing a preliminary year in Internal Medicine and am going onto Radiation Oncology starting in July. I think if you got into medicine for the right reasons you will have a rewarding experience. If not, you will most likely struggle. There are a lot of annoying and frustrating things about medical training and practicing medicine afterwards. But in the end, if you enjoy what you do for the pure sake of being a doctor, those bad things won't outweigh the good. Even being an intern hasn't been too bad! I hope this gives you a positive outlook on your future careers.

You'll have your good days and bad days. The endless testings can be a drag, but by third year you stop stressing as much (once you take Step 1, you don't really have the energy to stress about test anymore). Third year is when it really comes together - you actually see the stuff you've read about. The best part of med school is when a patient asks you a question, and you know the pathophys and the pharm well enough to explain what's going on and how you and the Dr. are going to treat it. And when you realize that your whole job (even with all of the paper work, "low" pay, etc.) is to use your brain to make people healthy, its pretty sweet.

SoCuteMD said:

Med school has been a rollercoaster for me. Hated first year, alternated between liking and disliking 2nd year. I really liked third year, but it was stressful at times. Now that I'm a fourth year the rollercoaster STILL hasnt' ended (residency apps, interviews, the match, etc.) but I found a field I really like and am TOTALLY excited about doing residency in.

Overall, I'd make the same choice again if I had the chance.

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That about sums it up for me, although I don't know exactly how I'll feel about 3rd/4th year, but this sounds pretty close to how I imagine I'll feel. 1st year was so hard b/c it was an adjustment and such a long road ahead and you hadn't accomplished/completed any of it yet... but then you finish one year and say, wow, only one year left of BS courses! Then you struggle through 2nd year b/c the material, while infinitely more interesting than 1st year, is much more difficult and much more of it. Then towards the end of 2nd year you realize oh crap... I've got to take the boards. Somewhere in here you remind yourself that you can get into the field you want to with the level you are performing at and you just need to relax and enjoy as much as possible. We've got exams next week so I'm pretty much in hate with school right now, but I'll be back to baseline come Feb 20th. Ultimately, I feel this will be worth it and overall I am happy with my life. Just not during the week before / week of exams.

MedMan25 said:

I second that. If my entire perception of medicine was based off the posts I read on SDN, I would have placed my acceptance letter into a flaming bag of poo and used my biology degree to get a job as a park ranger.

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Thanks, I needed that laugh after typing up my 28 day crunch month schedule for Step 1 this summer. It's still a few months away and it scares the heck out of me.

That being said, I love med school. Sure, tests every 2-3 weeks can be tiring but overall it is a good experience. First year was a little boring since it was basic sciences, but since entering M2 and systems based courses its been really interesting. I can't tell you what I think of M3 yet but I'm really looking forward to it.

That being said, if you ask me if I like med school after 28 days of 12 hr/day studying for Step 1, I might not feel so warm and fuzzy toward med school. Heck, I might not be able to form a coherent sentence because my brain will probably be a lumpy blob of goo after that many days of solitary confinement. I think SDN just makes it look awful because a lot of people post when they need to vent or need advice. If we all hated med school and medicine all the time the dropout rates would be very high I suspect.

JuniperK said:

I realize that I'm new here, but I've been reading a lot of threads about how much they dislike med school, or residency or being an attending or the whole job. I'll be in the class of 2013 and I was wondering if anyone had positive experiences because if not, I need to think about alternatives. Thanks!

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I'd say if you think there's a chance you might not like medical school/medicine, you shouldn't do it.

Sometimes people on SDN say, "if you can see yourself doing anything else, do that instead; only do medicine if it really truly honestly is your primary passion." I even had a disgruntled doc say that to me once while I was in a post-bacc. I discounted this advice because it was so cliched that I didn't want to admit it could be true. I papered over my deep, dark feelings and told the world, and myself, "of course I want to do this, don't be silly."

Now, approaching the end of 2nd year, and having to remediate a block because I didn't study enough because I've HATED medical school so much, I wish I'd listened. If you know, deep in your heart of hearts, that you don't actually, truly, REALLY want to be a doctor, you will be miserable. You might be tempted to ask yourself, "well, what else am I going to do with my life? At least medicine is a stable job with a good income, right?" That's where the other SDN cliche I didn't want to admit the truth of comes in: if your'e smart enough to get into medical school, you're smart enough to do something else. You might doubt that now, but it really is true. If there's something else you're interested in, but haven't attempted because you don't think you're capable enough, just tell yourself "I'm smart enough to get into medical school" and do it. Medicine is only worth it if it really is your primary passion.

Trismegistus4 said:

I'd say if you think there's a chance you might not like medical school/medicine, you shouldn't do it.

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There's a chance you might not like anything.

Pinkertinkle said:

There's a chance you might not like anything.

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Yes, but medicine is unique because of the time commitment involved and the huge workload. There's a chance you might not like being a bartender, either, but if you think you might be interested in that I'd encourage you to just do it, because if you don't like it it's easy to quit and move on. If there's a chance you might not like being in the military, then I wouldn't suggest joining the military, because once you do you've signed your life away.

Note, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with becoming a doctor or joining the military, if that's what you really want to do. But if you have a nagging thought at the back of your mind that it's not, don't do it.

JuniperK said:

Thats the thing, there of course is a chance i wont like med school, and i have doubts all the time about whether its the right thing for me. BUT then again, its in my nature to doubt things and its also in my nature to go ahead with it anyway. So far, this has ALWAYS worked out for me. And yes there are things i can see myself doing and loving, like public health or medical anthropology, but if i get a phd in anthro or a mph, then its ALSO the same problem, am I going to enjoy it?

I'm passionate about medicine and science and i love LOVE working with people. I love intellectual challenges and working really hard. I love feeling just on the brink of being overwhelmed but still in control.

What I'm worried about is that even though all these things point towards medicine as a good career choice, I'm afraid that generally people dont have good experiences in med school and later as residents and attendings, they regret their choices. I was wondering if there were people out there, who continuously question their place in med school but are always pleasantly surprised by their experience and amazed by the experience.

So even if i do understand the concept of "if you can think of anything else that would make you happy other than medicine than do that instead", i find it depressing. I want to find people in med school who are passionate and interested in other things besides medicine, but chose medicine and love it.

but maybe im a naive idealist.

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You sound like the kind of person who'd be happy in medicine. I say that because of your interest in medical anthropology and public health, and because you love working really hard. The only reason you might not be happy is if you're such a naive idealist liberal that you're going to become disgruntled by the fact that we don't have socialized medicine, or if we get it under President Obama that it's not funded well enough, that you're going to see all these patients with STDs and blame it on not enough sex ed in schools and religious fundamentalism and get all disgruntled about that, that you're going to be unhappy because you think medical research is in a poor state because so many Americans don't believe in evolution and global warming, etc.

I'm the opposite; I probably would have been happy in medicine in its golden age, when it was still the old boys' network. If you're worried about that, rest assured that the cultural left has successfully conquered the profession, expunged the much-maligned intolerant, paternalistic "dinosaurs," and turned it into no place for people like me.

Prior to entering medical school, I had really wanted to be a professional musician. However, I was afraid that as a musician, I wouldn't be able to survive on my own, let alone with a future family. So, I went to college where I found that I loved science. Becoming a doctor seemed like the most useful thing I could do with my knowledge to help others in some concrete way. To be honest, I hated medical school. Sure, there were moments of laughter and triumph. But during the first 2 years, I personally felt like everything that made me unique - all of my personal interests and relationships - fell by the wayside. I felt like I had lost my personality. The third year was also really rough. I dreaded being "pimped" by my attendings, and I never felt like I knew what I was doing. I really started to question whether or not I would ever be happy in medicine. Finally, in my 4th year, I started to feel like I had something to contribute to my patients' care. I began taking pride in what I was doing as I gained confidence, and I felt more respected by the attendings. Med school was tough for me personally because of feelings of inadequacy. For those who may be struggling with similar feelings, I would encourage you to hang in there. We will NEVER feel like we know everything. However, as you keep learning and keep seeing patients, your confidence will grow. When you step back and really think about what an honor it is to be able to help people through medicine, all of the trials are worth it. At least that's how I see it! I can't say that I'm always happy in medicine, but I consider it a true honor to be a physician.

I absolutely love it so far. I keep thinking that will change just because of all of the horror stories I've heard. I'm only in 1st year, so we'll see if that changes in future years.

schmootz said:

Prior to entering medical school, I had really wanted to be a professional musician. However, I was afraid that as a musician, I wouldn't be able to survive on my own, let alone with a future family. So, I went to college where I found that I loved science. Becoming a doctor seemed like the most useful thing I could do with my knowledge to help others in some concrete way. To be honest, I hated medical school. Sure, there were moments of laughter and triumph. But during the first 2 years, I personally felt like everything that made me unique - all of my personal interests and relationships - fell by the wayside. I felt like I had lost my personality. The third year was also really rough. I dreaded being "pimped" by my attendings, and I never felt like I knew what I was doing. I really started to question whether or not I would ever be happy in medicine. Finally, in my 4th year, I started to feel like I had something to contribute to my patients' care. I began taking pride in what I was doing as I gained confidence, and I felt more respected by the attendings. Med school was tough for me personally because of feelings of inadequacy. For those who may be struggling with similar feelings, I would encourage you to hang in there. We will NEVER feel like we know everything. However, as you keep learning and keep seeing patients, your confidence will grow. When you step back and really think about what an honor it is to be able to help people through medicine, all of the trials are worth it. At least that's how I see it! I can't say that I'm always happy in medicine, but I consider it a true honor to be a physician.

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Great post! Did your clinical grades suffer during your 3rd year? I'm quite shy and very quiet, and wonder if this will hinder me from getting a good clinical evaluation.

JasonS said:

Great post! Did your clinical grades suffer during your 3rd year? I'm quite shy and very quiet, and wonder if this will hinder me from getting a good clinical evaluation.

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My clinical grades (narratives from the attendings/residents) did suffer because of my timidity. I did not get bad grades, but the narratives were not as shining as I know they could have been if I had been more confident. I think in retrospect, I should have spent less time worrying about all that I didn't know, and more time actually learning it! The other regret I have is not asking more questions. I felt like I was expected to know make the diagnosis and create the perfect plan. I was ashamed when I didn't know the proper workup, or even a good differential. Instead of asking questions and learning, I just withdrew in shame. That's obviously not what being a medical student is about. Just learn as much as you can and realize that you're not expected to know everything. Try to enjoy learning.

I'd say my feelings towards med school are slightly positive. I really, really like physiology. Micro is okay but sort of tedious, biochem and cell were mostly just college+, and ICM is a joke. Gross, however, is the scourge of all things good in this world. Words cannot express how much I hate that class. I feel like dying every time I walk into the lab, and I find the material insipid and numbing. The fact that it requires an insane amount of work doesn't help matters at all. Without gross, I'd say I actually like med school a lot. The lifestyle sucks, but I'm not too terribly jealous of my free time. I enjoy most of what we learn, so in a sense, it's just a different outlet for all the time I would otherwise squander reading stuff online or playing video games.

sirus_virus said:

I am pretty sure you are not going anywhere, you will be chilling in the library come fall. Just like this guy

you have started chasing the 'precious', you are about to get the life sucked out of you, and there is nothing you can do about it. Welcome.

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Hahaha, that's pretty funny to a rather cynical bastard like myself. Although I'm enjoying the process so far, there is a small part of me that can relate with this post.

schmootz said:

My clinical grades (narratives from the attendings/residents) did suffer because of my timidity. I did not get bad grades, but the narratives were not as shining as I know they could have been if I had been more confident. I think in retrospect, I should have spent less time worrying about all that I didn't know, and more time actually learning it! The other regret I have is not asking more questions. I felt like I was expected to know make the diagnosis and create the perfect plan. I was ashamed when I didn't know the proper workup, or even a good differential. Instead of asking questions and learning, I just withdrew in shame. That's obviously not what being a medical student is about. Just learn as much as you can and realize that you're not expected to know everything. Try to enjoy learning.

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Sounds like you would make an awesome teaching resident (and attending in the future of course).

I may be a weirdo, but I actually love med school. I love learning mechanisms and how things work, and I'm detail oriented. Maybe it's just me.

That being said, I also really love the time I spend with patients and my preceptor as well. It's awesome to see what I'm learning in "real life". I try not to focus on what I don't know and try to expand on what I do know by asking questions about cases where I have some knowledge. I also try not to get bogged down in the awkwardness of practicing clinical exams on patients.

I think the biggest thing that will help you get through med school (I know I'm just a first year) is knowing that you can't know everything and that you're going to make mistakes. The best advice I could give is to put in your best effort and don't let yourself dwell on failures or mistakes. Strive to do better the next time.

Love is such a strong word. I love my family, love chilling at the beach ... so no, I wouldn't say I love med school but I think medicine is a very good profession and have never once regretted my decision to apply to med school (I'm only a 2nd year student). One thing that is really nice about medicine is that it opens alot of doors for you. If you love public health, there's no reason why you can't combine that with medicine. Tons of people split their time 50/50 between practicing medicine and public health research.

Inuranic said:

I'm having a pretty good time as a first year.

...probably because I don't go to campus anymore. I sleep late, go the the gym, watch TV, and spend the rest of the day alternating between studying/Facebook/hanging out/whatever. I actually end up studying way more than when I went to class (got up early, didn't really pay attention, was sleepy/took a nap in the afternoon, felt like I did more than I actually did).

Sure, it's a ton of work, but I'm rarely required to be anywhere. I recognize the value of this and appreciate it.

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ha ha
a radiologist in the making

umm your life will drastically change during third year for the worst. Your time will be micromanaged from the time you walk into the hospital at 530 am to the time you leave which is whenever. and you will constantly be hearing , " where were you???

JuniperK said:

Thats the thing, there of course is a chance i wont like med school, and i have doubts all the time about whether its the right thing for me. BUT then again, its in my nature to doubt things and its also in my nature to go ahead with it anyway. So far, this has ALWAYS worked out for me. And yes there are things i can see myself doing and loving, like public health or medical anthropology, but if i get a phd in anthro or a mph, then its ALSO the same problem, am I going to enjoy it?

I'm passionate about medicine and science and i love LOVE working with people. I love intellectual challenges and working really hard. I love feeling just on the brink of being overwhelmed but still in control.

What I'm worried about is that even though all these things point towards medicine as a good career choice, I'm afraid that generally people dont have good experiences in med school and later as residents and attendings, they regret their choices. I was wondering if there were people out there, who continuously question their place in med school but are always pleasantly surprised by their experience and amazed by the experience.

So even if i do understand the concept of "if you can think of anything else that would make you happy other than medicine than do that instead", i find it depressing. I want to find people in med school who are passionate and interested in other things besides medicine, but chose medicine and love it.

but maybe im a naive idealist.

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Let me explain something to you; There are not that many intellectual challenges in medicine. Its all meatball stuff. There are some..... but its not like there is an overabundance of stuffwhere you sit and say wow and ponder this and that . I mean you have to KNOW stuff.. but its not like it is overly intellectually stimulating. You mentioned control... you will rarely feel you are in control.. I was never in control in med school. for all four years. and most med students are not in control The closest I came to be in control was when i was on my way to the bar. You like working with people.. I mean LOVE. Well by your 3rd or 4th rotation it will hit you hard the culture. . Its a rough environment to be in.. Even now. Im done with residency and all that and it is a constant fight about everything in medicine. but im here already might as well make the best of it.. You sound like you would make a great PHD. and this is coming from a guy who before he started medical school was sooo enthusiastic. There was zero doubt in my mind about what i wanted to do.. But then again there wasnt this board

How much harder are the first two years in comparison to the Pre Req sciences? I have heard mixed accounts

The difficulty is increased a little bit, but the volume of info per time is quintupled or so.

schmootz said:

But during the first 2 years, I personally felt like everything that made me unique - all of my personal interests and relationships - fell by the wayside. I felt like I had lost my personality.

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As a resident, do you still feel this way? And if you do, do you feel that it was worth it?
Thanks

BORNagainSTDENT said:

How much harder are the first two years in comparison to the Pre Req sciences? I have heard mixed accounts

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Conceptually, I would actually say the difficulty is less than the pre req sciences. Almost nothing you learn is as difficult conceptually as a lot of the chemistry and physics. The material is comparable to the intro level bios for the most part. The difference is pure volume. You are expected to know everything you learn cold, including the details, and there is a mountain of material. For example, while there is nothing difficult about knowing a drug's mechanism, dosing, side effects, and interactions, it can be really tough when you need to know all of these things for 100+ drugs on the test. Add to that the fact that the question will not be like "Which of these is a side effect of vancomycin?", but rather a clinical scenario in which a patient is having symptoms of a reaction to an antibiotic, and you have to name which antibiotic could have caused the presentation. Does that make sense?

I'm a second year student and I like most aspects of med school and the clinics. I particularly like the people I meet in this business. I would say that I like the experience more than most students because I don't really work as hard as they do (keep a work-life balance), have a supportive family, and I am able to put the experience into perspective. Right now I'm in clinics (peds) and I particularly like being around patients and their families.

muireinin said:

As a resident, do you still feel this way? And if you do, do you feel that it was worth it?
Thanks

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I think the third year can be very busy. Most of my classmates were working crazy hours trying to shoot for honors. They didn't have time to pursue their interests outside of medicine. I wasn't even trying for honors at that point (because I was so unhappy), so I had extra time to pursue my own hobbies. That is to say, the third year is what you make of it. If you're compelled to get honors or you're inefficient (like me), then you may still feel like you don't have time for the things that make you unique.
The fourth year, however, absolutely rocked. You'll be focusing on the electives you're interested in, you'll be doing interviews, you'll probably have some extra time to spend on your hobbies. I got married in my fourth year, spent time with friends, etc. It was great.
I want to be very clear, for me personally, staying the course and going on to residency was indeed worth it. Med school gives you such little autonomy. Residency is kind of that way too, I guess, but at least I finally feel like I'm contributing something concrete to my patients' care.

OncoCaP said:

I'm a second year student and I like most aspects of med school and the clinics. I particularly like the people I meet in this business. I would say that I like the experience more than most students because I don't really work as hard as they do (keep a work-life balance), have a supportive family, and I am able to put the experience into perspective. Right now I'm in clinics (peds) and I particularly like being around patients and their families.

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I find this very true. Basically you can make yourself as miserable as you want to. You will never be done studying. You will never know everything. Setting limits and budgeting time for self-maintenance and fun stuff is the key to enjoying yourself in school.

cpants said:

I find this very true. Basically you can make yourself as miserable as you want to. You will never be done studying. You will never know everything. Setting limits and budgeting time for self-maintenance and fun stuff is the key to enjoying yourself in school.

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I agree with this.

MS3 - overall I love it, still as passionate about medicine as I was in the beginning, and don't regret my decision at all. I do miss following some of my major interests from undergrad though.

Med school sucks I hate it blah blah blah blah blah blah blaaaaaaaaaah!!!

Now I will go home and cry.

Another MS3 here; I truly like med school. Yes, there are times when it has sucked (studying for anatomy exams...), but when I look back, the good times far outweigh the bad.

I've made great friends in my class, learned a lot, and love working in the hospital. I'm even the rare odd duck that liked the OB/gyn rotation (despite having no desire to actually go into OB). I've learned a lot, and gotten a lot of experience this year; it's pretty amazing to look back and see how far I've come.

I think this is the best way to answer your question.

Is medicine the thing I love the most? No. Video game design and comuter artwork sound much more interesting than medicine to me.

However, as a mature individual in the modern society, profession choice is done by weighing "what you like" and "what will make you happy finanically and lifestyle-wise." I don't hate medicine. I enjoy it occassionally, but definitely not always. I rarely arrive at the hospital every morning and be like "HOORAY another day of fun!"

Does that answer your question? I think if your profession is "I can surely bare with it and make enough money to make me/my family very happy," it's a wonderful choice.

To OP, i think most people would love med school after its over simply because looking back it seems like a breeze compared to your current lifestyle. However, as a current med student the pressure of boards, looming assignments, course work can def impact your mindset and how you feel about every day?!? I have to say that it may never seem satisfying until you have convinced yourself of the life you are going to be a part of is normal. I may miss school after i am done with boards this year but i sure as heck will be happy to spend more time with my family and friends.

Good Yeast said:

I think if your profession is "I can surely bare with it and make enough money to make me/my family very happy," it's a wonderful choice.

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Definitely one of the saddest statements I've seen on SDN.