Anybody else seriously considering getting another degree and getting out of medicine?

[ems2doc]

So let me get this straight. You are going for Neurosurgery just because you did well on your steps and your classwork, not because of a love of neurosurgery. You probably are looking at money as well. As in your original post, your love was for peds, but you were turned off by the compensation. You will likely not enjoy neurosurgery, will get burned out if you do make it through training, and will be generally unhappy in life. Also, you are limiting yourself to a small geographical area for a field as competitive as neurosurgery. You have a strong chance of not matching by doing that.

I think you need to have a serious discussion with your fiance and a good amount of introspection into your own desires. Don't let friends, family, and others try and tell you which fields you should or shouldn't do. You need to listen to yourself on that one, otherwise you will never be happy.

No. I had mentioned before that I would be competitive for neurosurgery. I mentioned that because it is one of the specialties I'm interested in.

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[ThoracicGuy]

No. I had mentioned before that I would be competitive for neurosurgery. I mentioned that because it is one of the specialties I'm interested in.

Your original post sure made it seem like Pediatrics was your top love. Peds and Neurosurgery are two totally different fields of medicine. It's rather odd to be deciding between those. From the context of your posts, it makes it sound like you are interested just for the money aspect. For your sake, I hope thats wrong. If you are going for Neurosurgery, do yourself a favor and apply widely, not just in the Boston area.

 

[darklabel]

The compensation is on the lower end, but you can try for competitive subspecialties if you want to. Honestly, only do neurosurg if you truly want to, not because of money and prestige. I can't imagine going into something so intense and hating it.

 

[Meh.meh]

No. I had mentioned before that I would be competitive for neurosurgery. I mentioned that because it is one of the specialties I'm interested in.

I'm confused how in the last two months you went from "I'm not sure about medicine" to "sign me up for a grueling seven year residency," followed by what even fellow MDs consider a high-intensity specialty.

It's your decision and your life though. Good luck.

 

[Jabbed]

I think that you should've just gotten a JD at Harvard with your girlfriend.

gl with brain surgery.

 

[Cytarabine]

What about peds neurology? Trying not to hear about a Nsurg resident kamikaziing after realizing spending 366 days a year (every year is leap year for nsurg) working ain't all that great for 7 years

 

[moop]

Aiming for a residency in Boston just because the fiancé is a 3L there doesn't make any sense. Unless she's planning on staying to work at a firm in Boston, she's going to ship off to her clerkship or biglaw associate position somewhere else. What do you do when she's off to her [highly unstable] fresh post-JD years and you're stuck for 3-5 years in a residency you don't even like besides its compensation?

Your head's not on straight.

 

[bronx43]

... Somehow, for the sake of the OP, I hope that he is trolling hard.

 

[ems2doc]

I have to decide soon and I'm worried I will make the wrong choice. I have no idea what to do. My therapist says I should go for a lifestyle specialty and work locum tenens. Lol

 

[Meh.meh]

I have to decide soon and I'm woried I will make the wrong choice. I have no idea what to do. My therapist says I should go for a lifestyle specialty and work locum tenens. Lol

I certainly don't pretend to understand your circumstances. I can only comment based on the extremely limited information available, from my own limited experience.

I would not advise anyone who is not dedicated to a specialty (especially a surgical specialty) to pursue those specialties. If you were a pre-med having second thoughts, I would advise you to consider other options.

Since you are actually further into this meat-grinder than I am, you are misshapen enough that you probably can't escape without paying your dues. However, you can control whether you head to the boxing ring or the woodchipper next.

I know nothing about your therapist, but if I were you I would speak with an advisor you trust at your medical school (a current practitioner). They will be able to give you a more informed viewpoint.

If your therapist is also a psychiatrist, I suppose they may have valuable personal experience to contribute to the conversation. Otherwise, they still certainly know more about you than I do, but even your therapist or an advisor cannot make this decision for you.

I hope you find something that makes you happy.

 

[KHE]

Well for the past year I've been thinking about neurosurgery and I do have some neurosurgery research (plus most of the neurosurgeon profs know me and know that I'm top of my class). Maybe I should go that route. The 7 year residency isn't too appealing though.

Peds and neurosurgery seem like they are almost polar opposites. If you go into neurosurgery for the money, you're going to have a miserable career because what will happen is that you'll get the money but then what will you do for motivation?

If peds is truly what you want, I would do that.

 

[bronx43]

Lol, y'all being trolled, folks. "My therapist says I should do locums..." hhahhahaha. Well done, sir.

 

[Microglia]

Update: I'm sticking to medicine (honestly I think at this point it wouldn't make any sense to switch careers all together), and going for neurosurgery. This is all much to the displeasure of my fiancé. I think I have a good shot at neurosurg. I might do a pediatric fellowship in the future. My main problem is that my fiancé is going to law school in Cambridge, MA so I need to find a residency within ~1.5 hours of Boston.


*Update 2: There are only 3 neurosurg residencies in mass:
-Tufts
-Mass General
-Brigham and Women's/Boston Children's

Total of 7 positions.

There's also brown in Rhode Island which would add another one.


She graduates in a year so maybe it wouldn't be as hard as I think. We were 3 hours long distance in undergrad so maybe one year apart wouldn't be so bad. We've been together since we were 17.

Just finished my first year long distance (5th year of our relationship). We plan on 2 or 3 more, and honestly it's not too bad most of the time. Solid communication makes anything possible.

 

[MedWonk]

Update: I'm sticking to medicine (honestly I think at this point it wouldn't make any sense to switch careers all together), and going for neurosurgery. This is all much to the displeasure of my fiancé. I think I have a good shot at neurosurg. I might do a pediatric fellowship in the future. My main problem is that my fiancé is going to law school in Cambridge, MA so I need to find a residency within ~1.5 hours of Boston.


*Update 2: There are only 3 neurosurg residencies in mass:
-Tufts
-Mass General
-Brigham and Women's/Boston Children's

Total of 7 positions.

There's also brown in Rhode Island which would add another one.


She graduates in a year so maybe it wouldn't be as hard as I think. We were 3 hours long distance in undergrad so maybe one year apart wouldn't be so bad. We've been together since we were 17.

But, wasn't peds your schtick? At least with peds you would have way more options with re: to residency options around here. Why go into neurosurgery if you have no love for it?

 

[Mad Jack]

Thanks for the replies.

@DermViser Did well on boards. I don't know. There's also dermatology. Haha

@GoSpursGo Peds is my dream. All things being equal I would choose peds.

Debt was ~$150,000 last year. I estimate it will end up at about ~$210,000 not including interest.

Haha. I have a fiancé.

210k is an extremely manageable debt level. People pay off 500k homes on 100k salaries- I'm pretty sure you can pay off a 210k debt with a 210k salary.

 

[Mad Jack]

Update: I'm sticking to medicine (honestly I think at this point it wouldn't make any sense to switch careers all together), and going for neurosurgery. This is all much to the displeasure of my fiancé. I think I have a good shot at neurosurg. I might do a pediatric fellowship in the future. My main problem is that my fiancé is going to law school in Cambridge, MA so I need to find a residency within ~1.5 hours of Boston.


*Update 2: There are only 3 neurosurg residencies in mass:
-Tufts
-Mass General
-Brigham and Women's/Boston Children's

Total of 7 positions.

There's also brown in Rhode Island which would add another one.


She graduates in a year so maybe it wouldn't be as hard as I think. We were 3 hours long distance in undergrad so maybe one year apart wouldn't be so bad. We've been together since we were 17.

Neurosurg? Welcome to Misery City, population you.

 

[Microshaft]

why dont u just open up a margin account
dump some money in there
ride the stock market like it owes you money
do peds
???
profit

 

[ems2doc]

One thing I could consider is going for peds and then if I feel like doing a fellowship I could apply for one. I also have some family members who do Emergency Medicine and I'm very interested in that. I used to be an EMT back in the day and was set on going into emergency medicine. I could do pediatrics and then an EM fellowship or EM residency and peds felowship.

 

[xffan624]

why dont u just open up a margin account
dump some money in there
ride the stock market like it owes you money
do peds
???
profit

I wouldn't touch the market with a ten foot pole right now. My mutual funds have dropped like a rock in the past week or so.

 

[moop]

I wouldn't touch the market with a ten foot pole right now. My mutual funds have dropped like a rock in the past week or so.

Only one week? Wow. So lost. Much sad.

Markets are not meant to be viewed on a weekly basis. Your mutual find doesn't care about last week. It cares about the past 2 years. pls

 

[xffan624]

Only one week? Wow. So lost. Much sad.

Markets are not meant to be viewed on a weekly basis. Your mutual find doesn't care about last week. It cares about the past 2 years. pls

Yeah, I've returned to what the level was about 2 years ago in about 2 weeks. That's how rapid the drop was. Mutual funds shouldn't drop that fast, especially when both of them are a bit conservative. Oh well. No point in jumping ship now. Just gotta ride it out.

 

[ems2doc]

This is why you should learn about the market and hand-pick your portfolio with due diligence. I was up 7% last quarter and I'm up 3% so far this quarter... but I was a finance minor so yeah.

 

[MU420]

So you like peds, but feel that the compensation is not high enough for you. So you considered ortho, the second highest paying specialty. Then you worried about decreasing reimbursements in medicine, so you considered law. Eventually, you settled on neurosurgery, the highest paying specialty in medicine.

I think I can see where your priorities are. Well, if you feel that is truly going to make you happy, go for it. Just be aware of how grueling neurosurgery is.

 

[Successful BM]

One thing I could consider is going for peds and then if I feel like doing a fellowship I could apply for one. I also have some family members who do Emergency Medicine and I'm very interested in that. I used to be an EMT back in the day and was set on going into emergency medicine. I could do pediatrics and then an EM fellowship or EM residency and peds felowship.

Someone (or several someones) posted this exact suggestion over a month ago. And then you, over a month later...

Every M4 I know is neurotic about getting in their residency apps asap. How are you not if you're -thinking- about neurosurg?

Just do peds. If you do neurosurg you might make more money, but you can't take it with you when your misery puts you in an early grave.

 

[ThoracicGuy]

I wouldn't touch the market with a ten foot pole right now. My mutual funds have dropped like a rock in the past week or so.

Just think of it as a chance to buy low.

 

[100111]

... Somehow, for the sake of the OP, I hope that he is trolling hard.

lol c'mon that became kinda obvious on the first page after his 'update'. brb changing mind from peds to ortho to nsurg within a month of having to submit ERAS. Then decides I only wanna do it near boston..

people rip their hair out because: their 10 publications in neurosurgery, LOR's from neurosurgeons, and country-wide applications may not be enough to match. op is a god among med students.

 

[Etorphine]

Just think of it as a chance to buy low.

Just have to wait. If you're in it for the long-term, it really shouldn't matter. Even after 08, it was just a matter of time before portfolio was on the up and up.

 

[Pacna]

In addition, there is so much bureaucracy and stress that I'm not entirely sure if medicine is worth it.

 

[DermViser]

What is that from?

 

[tiedyeddog]

You're going to solve your student debt problem by adding more student debt? Good luck.

 

[DermViser]

I have to decide soon and I'm worried I will make the wrong choice. I have no idea what to do. My therapist says I should go for a lifestyle specialty and work locum tenens. Lol

Hard to tell if you're serious or if this is just one good troll job.

 

[ems2doc]

Well ortho it is I guess.



lololol

 

[DermViser]

Well ortho it is I guess.



lololol

So now it's Ortho? Nice trolling job but we got it.

 

[Dr. Retractor]

What's the next specialty going to be? I'm putting my money on plastics, and he will only want to do a residency in California near Beverly Hills.

 

[ems2doc]

What's the next specialty going to be? I'm putting my money on plastics, and he will only want to do a residency in California near Beverly Hills.

Nah. Imma run a concierge practice in the Hamptons.

 

[What up doc]

LMAO why are ppl feeding this troll...you are obviously not even a medical student...

 

[Microshaft]

jakes on u nobody here is a med student

 

[touchpause13]

Trolling for sure.

If he wasn't:

 

[PikminOC]

Too funny!