Career change

[Chevalier]

Long story short.

After 6 years of med-school (MBBS) + 2 year MSc in Neuroscience + Currently in a combined Neurology PhD/Residency Program. I've come to the realization that I don't care about human health anymore and just want to jump ship.

Seriously considering on starting over and doing something along the lines of Marine Biology/Ecology/Environmental Science.

Does anybody have experience with drastic career changes? Does having an MD/PhD hinder my chances?

This isn't a troll post. I regret (some) life choices. Time isn't a concern, I love learning and can see myself back in school. Money isn't an issue either.

Looking back at something I posted in this site 5 years ago:

"I just recently realized that I hate medicine ... I would be miserable if I had to practice clinical medicine the rest of my life ... To be fair I don't even know why I went into medicine ... Knowing that I liked basic sciences like Biology and Chemistry I just randomly chose the career."

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[feather125]

Im sorry your feeling so dissatisfied! I don’t know anything about career changes like you describe... but i wanted to offer my support. Good luck with everything! For what its worth you clearly have a great work ethic and can probably make anything happen if you put your mind to it.

 

[Stitching_Along]

Long story short.

After 6 years of med-school (MBBS) + 2 year MSc in Neuroscience + Currently in a combined Neurology PhD/Residency Program. I've come to the realization that I don't care about human health anymore and just want to jump ship.

Seriously considering on starting over and doing something along the lines of Marine Biology/Ecology/Environmental Science.

Does anybody have experience with drastic career changes? Does having an MD/PhD hinder my chances?

This isn't a troll post. I regret (some) life choices. Time isn't a concern, I love learning and can see myself back in school. Money isn't an issue either.

Looking back at something I posted in this site 5 years ago:

"I just recently realized that I hate medicine ... I would be miserable if I had to practice clinical medicine the rest of my life ... To be fair I don't even know why I went into medicine ... Knowing that I liked basic sciences like Biology and Chemistry I just randomly chose the career."

Hi Chevalier,

I just saw your post and, strangely, I am in a somewhat similar situation. I loved chemistry as an undergraduate and had a personal motivation to pursue a dual-degree program in medicine/research. Yet in my 6th year, my dissatisfaction has become more and more obvious. I have also been seriously considering quitting and starting a new career path.

I thought I might be the only one who feels this way after all the time, money and efforts invested in this path. But I came across this article on op-med about that caused me to reconsider quitting. Essentially, there are external factors that do not align with the personal values of the author of this article which led to her feeling unfulfilled and toying with suicidal ideation in addition to quitting her job. She did a lot of soul searching and realized that it is not that she did not love medicine, but that the way she was practicing it was not right to her heart. She then found a way to carve out a practice that is consistent with her values, which enabled her to find joy in being a doctor. Reading her article, I saw myself in a similar situation of getting torn by my own values and what is preached to me. Also, ​

knowing that I am chronically exhausted, I do not want to make a decision without being able to contemplate with a clear and open mind about the why's, what's, how's. So I decided to "grind" through for lack of a better word. If you are in a similar boat to me in this respect, I hope you would reconsider. But then at the end of the day, if your passion lies elsewhere, I hope you would pursue your dream whether the passion is newly rekindled or freshly discovered.

We took the oath to do no harm, yet we often forget that this oath also implies doing no harm to ourselves. ​

Whatever your choice is, I hope it will enable you to live your life to the fullest.

All the best.

 

[yaboy]

Become a Navy Doc. Nothing allows a free soul like yours to really stretch out like a pension.