Anyone wish they did not go into med school and if so what would you wished you did

[erasable]

I toyed with this idea, especially since this summer I'm taking a course teeming with pre-nursing, pre-pharmacy, and pre-dental hygeine, (no pre-meds/pre-dental). All summer I've been having it hammered into my head that "Nurses will make almost the same salary as doctors/dentists with a heck of a lot less student debt for their trouble"
It seems unreasonable but hearing it or hearing versions of it over and over can be trying.
But I'm stubborn as a mule, and I'm happy with my med sch. *glomp*

Anyone wish they did not go into med school and if so what would you wished you did instead. No trolls, just honest answers and dont be harsh on those who answer honestly. I ask this because I remember when I was interviewed for med school back in the days, I was interviewed by a diagnostic radiologist. He told me that after his last year of residency, him and his 4 friends graduating at the same hospital and they all asked each other sitting just conversating, if they will do it all over again, 100% of them said NO. Kind of suprised me.

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[NonTradMed]

I toyed with this idea, especially since this summer I'm taking a course teeming with pre-nursing, pre-pharmacy, and pre-dental hygeine, (no pre-meds/pre-dental). All summer I've been having it hammered into my head that "Nurses will make almost the same salary as doctors/dentists with a heck of a lot less student debt for their trouble"
It seems unreasonable but hearing it or hearing versions of it over and over can be trying.
But I'm stubborn as a mule, and I'm happy with my med sch. *glomp*

It does seem the nursing profession is kind of gravitating toward the 'just like a doctor' stance these days. I had a friend whose sister just became an NP and they were both saying that she was 'just as good as a doctor' (mainly because she could prescribe certain pills now). So I guess, if medicine is too much, nursing is a possibility.

 

[Requiem]

Yes, Nurses are "just like doctors" and nurses "know a lot about drugs".

Frankly, nurses are the first profession to learn every conceivable topic related to health care in the shortest amount of time while doing the least amount of work. You may ask yourself: "How requiem, how can this be?" Well I say to you, they are all so ****ing brilliant they do not share their secrets, but let it be known they are equivalent to every expert on any field.

I think nurses are kind of at the bottom of an inverted triangle, where you have doctors on one top point and pharmacists on the other. They are at the bottom, and struggle to find an identity so they try to prove continually they know just as much, or more than you.

 

[Tori's dad]

Being "just a dentist" is an absolute dream job for those who love it. And, Tori, most of them will be more intelligent and more secure than you will be when you finally become "just a physician".[/QUOTE]


Hey, now, settle down. I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers. I apologize for the just a dentist crack that was stupid. I guess I just see so many dentists where I live that it seems difficult for any of them to make a significant amount above the salaries that I posted, though I know a few of them do. I certainly do wish physicians could have thier hours!!

 

[star22]

Yes, I often wonder if I am doing the right thing. There are times when I am depressed from too much studying and not enough (read: any) time with my friends, the pool, a neighbor's friendly dog, etc. I feel like cr@p. Or when there is some weirdness at school and I just think, why am I doing this? Isn't it supposed to get much, much worse in third year when some total nut of an attending will give me a poor eval even tho I never even met him/her? And my future is on the line? And I will be pimped and scutted within an inch of my life, my classmates will do anything to look better than me. Yep, I just love medicine.

It's easy to loose persepctive. I really do love it but sometimes the bs drags me down.

As for dentists, people!! let me tell you. The dental residents I know are looking at 1) NO CALL, 2) 35 hour work weeks, 3) NO MALPRACTICE, ok, but like $90 a year, and the kicker: 4) salaries of about $300,000 - 400,000.

I doubt that this is correct. See:
http://www.payscale.com/salary-survey/vid-7900/fid-6886
It looks like the average dentist makes $100,000-130,000

 

[WildcatDMD]

I doubt that this is correct. See:
http://www.payscale.com/salary-survey/vid-7900/fid-6886
It looks like the average dentist makes $100,000-130,000

Perhaps the year after I graduate. Don't post if you haven't read the entire thread. I already addressed this, homie. If I make this much after 2 years out, I will personally mail you my entire yearly income.

 

[star22]

Perhaps the year after I graduate. Don't post if you haven't read the entire thread. I already addressed this, homie. If I make this much after 2 years out, I will personally mail you my entire yearly income.

Sweet!!

Since when did yearly income and salary become mutaully exclusive? Many MDs also own their practice and don't earn a "salary", but they still show up in surveys about their annual income. I am not saying that dentistry is not a great job, only that I really doubt the average dentist is making 300K (or even the dentist in the 80th percentile):
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/snapshots/43.html

 

[bigfrank]

Sweet!!

Since when did yearly income and salary become mutaully exclusive? Many MDs also own their practice and don't earn a "salary", but they still show up in surveys about their annual income. I am not saying that dentistry is not a great job, only that I really doubt the average dentist is making 300K (or even the dentist in the 80th percentile):
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/snapshots/43.html

This is a reasonably well-done article. I just got my first filling (after a $150 cleaning/X-rays) and it was $300.

Perhaps the overhead of running a dental practice is very high???

 

[MD2b20004]

This is a reasonably well-done article. I just got my first filling (after a $150 cleaning/X-rays) and it was $300.

Perhaps the overhead of running a dental practice is very high???

No its more perhaps that you should not talk about stuff you know nothing about and stop wasting thread space with your useless speculations.

 

[rainking]

Asking pre-meds/first/second years if they would go to medical school again is probably not going to give you the kind of insight you want. To be fair, they really have no perspective on it since they haven't finished the process. It's like asking someone if they would enlist in the military again after boot camp or how applying to medical school is during freshman bio. You're on the right track, but are too deep into the here and now to look at the experience as a whole. I think the thread someone posted a link to in the general residency forum is much more enlightening and representitive of the whole picture than asking folks who are at the beginning of the process.

Your outlook is going to change from 1st to 2nd to 3rd to intern year, practice, etc.

This has been my observation, at least.

funny

Ive been feeling like i am being kicked in the balls since first year of medical school.. and you know what.. it hasnt changed 7 years later.. and im an attending now... Just gets worse.. stakes get highter... work harder.. people dont respect you.. they just want want want..and want.. and im not talking about just patients.. you have to have some tough ass skin not to be furious all the time..

 

[RandomGuy]

chemical engineer

 

[bigfrank]

No its more perhaps that you should not talk about stuff you know nothing about and stop wasting thread space with your useless speculations.

1. Stop sending me cowardly PMs.
2. Make sense.

P.S. On the bright side, for once, at least you used 'your' correctly!!!

 

[Jonesie]

My only regret so far is I wish I hadn't been a science major, but a piano major. That would've been so great, but too late. I'll settle for taking lessons one day though.

Johnny

This made me smile. I was a music major in undergrad, and while it's taken awhile to make the shift towards science, I wouldn't trade my degree for anything.

 

[tupac_don]

The biggest question is if there is anything that ANYONE could say to keep you from going to medical school.

I honestly think that the AMA could release a statement approved by 90% of its members saying, "medicine is crap, do anything with your life other than this" and there would still be 30,000 premeds across the country convinced that a) it was going to be different for them and b) that they were going to change everything.

What can I say? Medicine gets into you blood. Also, the people that say they wouldn't do it again probably are the sort of people that also would say "what if?" for the rest of their lives if they had decided not to do medicine.

I wish I wasn't in medical school, I just want to be a doctor and they made you do this first.

Exactly medicine is one of those things, damned if you do, and damned if you don't. You won't really know if you don't do it. Now you have people who right off the bat select out of the profession, they just have no interest in it or the ability. However, out of those who have interest and ability, there are those that will like it and those that will hate it. You really gotta love it and always love learning. But it's one of those things until you are knee deep in it, that you just don't know if you like it or not. But once you are knee deep in it, for the most part you gotta push forward. But you really gotta love what you do, otherwise you might not see it as being worth it.

But you gotta also understand one thing, that fun part about being a doctor is when you become an expert and your job becomes eazy. Training in anything is hard and tough, it's important to see one self as the finished product (MD at the top of his game), but unfortunately that takes a lot of time, dedication and sacrifice. If you are willing to pay the price, then its worth it.

 

[QCkid]

This is a reasonably well-done article. I just got my first filling (after a $150 cleaning/X-rays) and it was $300.

Perhaps the overhead of running a dental practice is very high???

Average overhead at a general dentist's office is 60-70 percent.

Why do we make good money? It because we spend four years in undergrad, then we go through 4 years of hell in D-school. We don't start making a lot of money until we have been out for a few years and have established our practices. Generally, it takes 2 - 3 years after graduation as an associate or in a residency before your skills are sufficiently honed to make the hihger salaries. A specialist doesn't often make 350k right out of residency, I'd say that on average a pedo employee will make arround 250 the first couple of years.

A general dentist can easily make more then the quoted salary in a year with his own practice. Just the hygeine alone at a busy practice can bring in more then the quoted salary. Think about it. When you go in for a "cleaning", the hygenist can usually efficiently do it in half an hour. You or your insurance just paid $100 for that cleaning. The hygenist gets about 40 an hour and so the the dentist uses the remaining to pay overhead and pockets the leftovers. In a busy practice the dentist can have two hygenists going part time and treat roughly 100 patients a week. That puts about 2k to 3k in the dentists pocket a week. A busy dentist can generate about 60k to 80k a month in revenue. Minus 60% overhead, thats still 24k to 32k a month, now add in about 12k in profits per month from hygeine and you can start to understand what a busy dentist can make in a year. By busy, I mean working about 40 to 50 hours per week.

Why don't we take medicaid? Its because its a slap in the face. The reimbursement doesn't even cover our overhead.We would actually be paying to treat a medicaid patient.

 

[bigfrank]

Average overhead at a general dentist's office is 60-70 percent.

Why do we make good money? It because we spend four years in undergrad, then we go through 4 years of hell in D-school. We don't start making a lot of money until we have been out for a few years and have established our practices. Generally, it takes 2 - 3 years after graduation as an associate or in a residency before your skills are sufficiently honed to make the hihger salaries. A specialist doesn't often make 350k right out of residency, I'd say that on average a pedo employee will make arround 250 the first couple of years.

A general dentist can easily make more then the quoted salary in a year with his own practice. Just the hygeine alone at a busy practice can bring in more then the quoted salary. Think about it. When you go in for a "cleaning", the hygenist can usually efficiently do it in half an hour. You or your insurance just paid $100 for that cleaning. The hygenist gets about 40 an hour and so the the dentist uses the remaining to pay overhead and pockets the leftovers. In a busy practice the dentist can have two hygenists going part time and treat roughly 100 patients a week. That puts about 2k to 3k in the dentists pocket a week. A busy dentist can generate about 60k to 80k a month in revenue. Minus 60% overhead, thats still 24k to 32k a month, now add in about 12k in profits per month from hygeine and you can start to understand what a busy dentist can make in a year. By busy, I mean working about 40 to 50 hours per week.

Why don't we take medicaid? Its because its a slap in the face. The reimbursement doesn't even cover our overhead.We would actually be paying to treat a medicaid patient.

I appreciate your time in writing this. You do sound like you have a chip on your shoulder regarding your length of schooling, however.

I won't annoy YOU by condescending to inform you of the time it takes to become a diagnostic radiologist.

//

 

[QCkid]

I appreciate your time in writing this. You do sound like you have a chip on your shoulder regarding your length of schooling, however.

I won't annoy YOU by condescending to inform you of the time it takes to become a diagnostic radiologist.

//

Sorry Big guy, no chip here. But while were comparing apples and oranges, a dentist is actually a generalist much like a pcp, not a diagnostic radiologist. Dental specialties run from 2- 6 years.