I am a non-traditional student interested in becoming a genetic counselor. I just happened to visit this thread and wanted to add my .02.
I grew up in a very rural area in the Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin area. Most of my relatives and family have either owned a farm, work for a farmer, or work for a company that fix farm equipment. My parents were farmers for 25 years (both mom and dad grew up on a farm as well). When I was 18 years old my parents finally called it quits on farming and have moved onto working for companies that fix farm equipment. So this past year my dad racked in $53,000 by working hard, working long hours, and being a great employee. My dads base salary for a base 40/hr/wk per year is $32,000. My dad almost doubled his base salary by working long hours.
I have lived a whole life of living of just the basics. I have never had an expensive car, never had the expensive meals, and never have spent a thousand dollars to spend a week in some exotic location. Myself, and my family have worked really hard for what we have.
I have some relatives who have a college education and struggle to make it in life finically as well.
When I came home for Christmas break this winter, I learned that were 6 surgeons leaving the local clinic because they were not making enough money. So I asked one doctor that I have a connection with at the clinic and I asked him why they were leaving and where they would go and when they would leave? He said back to me They dont know when or where they will go. He also said that these surgeons were only making ~100,000 dollars (in a very low cost of living area). But the real clicker for why they are leaving the local clinic, its because they dont have enough patients to make it.
So I said back to the doctor, well they can go to Chicago then and have more patients but they will be stuck working longer hours and have to pay a MUCH higher cost of living.
A lot of his unhappiness comes from a person being unhappy about themselves. This unhappiness can come from having to work long hours, low pay, not enough family time, not enough patients, not a enough variety of difference types of cases, etc. Every pre-med should come to the realization that being a doctor is JUST A JOB. It is nothing more.
I have worked a factor job, lab assistant, tutor, grocery store, farming, feed mill, and have worked in a hospital for 3 years. At every job I have worked there were people who hated what they were doing and a couple of people who were happy what they are doing. You will find this no matter what career you go into. The career Im going to go into some of the negatives is lack of support, the hard work, very emotionally draining, lack of respect in the medical field, etc.
I have spent more hours shadowing then any other application that has ever applied to the graduate program I will be applying to (director stated that as a fact). So I have been able to witness the wide range of situations that I will be facing in the future.
While Im an undergraduate student I am working more then 40 hours per week to pay back my student loans while going to school. Im working my ass off while I go to school because it will help me financially in the future. I work Friday and Saturday 3rd shift and Monday night 3rd shift. I then work Monday, Tuesday, Wed, Thursday, and Friday night after school. I dont care about missing out on the parties. I care more about my future then drinking 3 beers this coming Friday night. Im already engaged and in love with my SO.
When I become a genetic counselor, I will have the highest base pay of everyone in the family. However, I will also have the most stress to deal with, the longest hours, the fewest free time hours, and have a lot more responsibility (beyond being a parent) then any other person in my family.
I think what a lot of people do wrong when they chose a career is where they take the job. You wont have much money at all being able to live in San Fran, New York, Boston, Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia, and other big cities when you have a wage lower then $70,000. Since I know this (I have a friend who works for the Department of Treasurer), I wont be looking for employment in the biggest of the big cities because of the high cost of living.
A mistake a LOT of pre-med doctor wannabes make is they make the mistake of not knowing what they are getting themselves into. Let me give you an example of 3 students who were in one of my classes this past semester:
Me: Why do you want to become a doctor?
Student 1: because I think its interesting.
Me: Why do you want to become a doctor?
Student 2: I dont know, I just want to make a lot of money.
Me: Why do you want to become a doctor?
Student 3: because I want to help people. His reason for this is what took place in India a couple of years ago (the huge water waves
cant think of what it is called at this very second)
Here are my analyses on the students:
Student 1: she is genuine, needs to mature mentally though, and actually is looking at all types of careers in medicine and not just being a doctor. I can see her getting a job in the medical field; most likely not a doctor
Student 2: this girl is 25 years old and has not worked a single job since graduating high school. She lives of her mom and dad (they pay rent, bills, tution.etc). I told her that she might end up in 250k debt and if that bothered her. She said it dont matter, dad will just pay the debt off for me. So I ask her what area of medicine she is interested in. She said anything in medicine that doesnt involve working with icky people. She is bound for failure.
Student 3: this guy is smart, but lacks common sense. His wife is a nurse. But he has not worked a single job in 2 years now. He is only taking 1 class this spring semester so he can concentrate on the MCAT. Next year when he applies he said he wont get a job either and just hope he gets in some where. His wife is paying for his education, his MCAT pre-class, his gas, food, bills, rent, and med school applications.
A couple of other students that I had class with last semester also want to go into medical school but one student is a total bitch with a capital B and another student has trouble understanding very basic concepts but does work as a pharmacy assistant. I can see the latter student making it into medical school because he is black (yes, I know it is mean to say that).
In another class I had this past semester we had a guess speaker who was a physician and one student asked when the best time is to have a baby and the guess speaker said she left academic medicine to work in a rural clinic so she could have a family. This student is no longer applying for medical school but will get a degree in another field in medicine.
Of all of my friends, guess who will be the most successful? My friend who is an economics major. He will be the most successful because he knows his field inside out, is working really hard at making connections, reads up on his field, learning what it takes to be a success in the field, learning about career option in the field, and already has ideas of what he wants to do and is making connections to make it happened. But then you go to the pre-med students that I mentioned above and all they do is spend all night staring at page 211 in their Organic Chemistry textbook and wishing for an A so they can get into medical school.
