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I think that's a complicated and very important question for pre-meds to answer.
I've spent 10 years preparing to get into med school. I'm so thrilled to finally submit my app and get a shot at being a physician. Right now, I'm happy.
That being said, a lot my identity as a person has been wrapped up with a life practicing medicine. It is utterly terrifying to think that, regardless of my stats or how long I volunteered doing X, Y, or Z, I may not get the chance to go to med school. I may not be accepted. That thought makes me very unhappy.
Hopefully, it will all work out, but I am not sure how I'll feel if it doesn't.
Its a crazy way to think, but everyone receives happiness, love, and fulfillment in different ways. I am the most miserable when I am unproductive and the happiest when I have a million things going. I definitely feel the same way about the last 2 years since I returned to school.Over the last 5-6 years I've been happier than I've ever been in my life.
I have a wife, two cats and baby on the way. If digging ditches was the way I had to support them, I'd still be happy. If you believe your career defines your happiness in life, then you don't have much of a life.
I never said it doesn't play a role. I just said it shouldn't be the defining part of your happiness. Will it influence your day-to-day? Absolutely, I'm not naive.There was a time in my life where I spent years at a job I did not like for various reasons, and it definitely impacted my overall happiness. To think that you would still be as happy as you are now with children on the way, to digging ditches 15 years down the line when you are probably in pain, have nothing for yourself because you either make nothing or have a family to support? Thats something that would likely have an effect on overall happiness. Im not saying that we should allow our careers to dictate happiness, because I agree with you on some level - as I said in my previous post we all receive happiness in different ways. But to say that jobs or careers don't play a role when it is something you do almost every day of your life is oversight. Being accepted to medical school and well on your way to your goal also make it much easier to say what you have.
10 years wtf?
Could take toll on one's happiness.Becoming a physician doesn't make you happy (or unhappy). It makes you a doctor.
Only the very fortunate have the opportunity to derive satisfaction from work.Could take toll on one's happiness.
If you believe your career defines your happiness in life, then you don't have much of a life.
Yeah
Affirmative
I don't think a career alone can make a person happy, but it can definitely make a person unhappy.
At this very moment, no. I have a horribly painful hangover.
Other than that, yes.
Fixed lol.I just got accepted after an agonizing cycle so I'm certainly happier than this time last year. I have family, friends, food and a job that is meaningful.
I was unhappy as a premed but I am happy now as a sub-specialist, working 8-5 and making ~ 400k.
I am very happy, but my few friends + family and great life doing what I love (learning/being challenged) make me happy. Don't want it to change.OP are you happy?
Quarter system?Im happy that I am graduating this week. Man... past several years in college has been a wild ride but it was all worth it. I learned so much and became much more disciplined because of all the classes that I took, MCAT and ppl who inspired me. As of now, I am happy.
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I am very happy, but my few friends + family and great life doing what I love (learning/being challenged) make me happy. Don't want it to change.
That's what I mean tho. Will I have a child my parents will get to meet? Will I spend enough time with them? :/I have a wife, two cats and baby on the way. If digging ditches was the way I had to support them, I'd still be happy. If you believe your career defines your happiness in life, then you don't have much of a life.
Quarter system?
I feel you. Last final tomorrow.
Congrats!I just had an exhausting failed application cycle, submitted my reapplication last night, all my money from my minimal AmeriCorps stipend is being spent on my application fees. I can honestly say that I am happy. Probably happier than this time last year. I have family, friends, food and a job that is meaningful.
Updating this. I was accepted about an hour after I wrote this. Yes I am very happy!
The physician I work with in just diagnosed a patient with a brain tumor, and a patient that was clinging on to life died, both in one day. Two families had their lives changed in one day. I saw the pain in the face of the son and father, realizing that their time may be shorter than they had ever imagined, and the sadness of a grandchild realizing a treasured grandparent is gone.
Most days aren't like this, it's usually just routine checkups for patients with a little bit more of a cough or a small flare-up of a chronic illness. Or on another day it's a patient finding out they have a chronic illness like diabetes, parkinson's, or MS. Never thought two things like this would happen in one day, and they usually don't. Days like this remind me of what I have to be happy about.
So yes. Despite all the typical "premed problems" that are complained about, all the hoop jumping, "box checking," and neuroticism, I am happy. Happy because I have the opportunity to achieve my goal of becoming a physician, continue exploring the depths of musicianship, examine deeper into my scientific understanding, and help people come to grips with what may be happening to them all at the same time. It will take awhile, but what the hell. It'll be worth it.
So I'm a cancer doctor and this is fairly routine for me. Obviously it's different for a PCP. I honestly feel pretty numb to the pain of my patients when they find out they have uncurable cancer or that their family member has dying/died. If I let that stuff get to me I won't be able to do my job which is to cure those who can be cured. The things that I enjoy the most and make me happy are in order:
1. Getting to go home at a reasonable time
2. Gratitude of a patient
3. Satisfaction with curing someone
4. Money
I felt like I just read the first draft of a secondary essay.The physician I work with in just diagnosed a patient with a brain tumor, and a patient that was clinging on to life died, both in one day. Two families had their lives changed in one day. I saw the pain in the face of the son and father, realizing that their time may be shorter than they had ever imagined, and the sadness of a grandchild realizing a treasured grandparent is gone.
Most days aren't like this, it's usually just routine checkups for patients with a little bit more of a cough or a small flare-up of a chronic illness. Or on another day it's a patient finding out they have a chronic illness like diabetes, parkinson's, or MS. Never thought two things like this would happen in one day, and they usually don't. Days like this remind me of what I have to be happy about.
So yes. Despite all the typical "premed problems" that are complained about, all the hoop jumping, "box checking," and neuroticism, I am happy. Happy because I have the opportunity to achieve my goal of becoming a physician, continue exploring the depths of musicianship, examine deeper into my scientific understanding, and help people come to grips with what may be happening to them all at the same time. It will take awhile, but what the hell. It'll be worth it.
SHUT UP CYRIL. (Just finishing S5 of Archer, I had to.)I felt like I just read the first draft of a secondary essay.