Considering leaving med school. Looking for different viewpoints.

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I work in the ED but there are many medical fields you can work part time and still make a middle class+ salary. Thankfully I don’t hate my job so I work much more than that.
Serious question here. Could you really work 3/4 shifts per month and still retain the necessary skills needed to treat patients safely? I would imagine that it would be quite easy to forget things working that little?

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Serious question here. Could you really work 3/4 shifts per month and still retain the necessary skills needed to treat patients safely? I would imagine that it would be quite easy to forget things working that little?
right out of residency? Maybe. Few years out of residency? Definitely.

Also, keep in mind: the more you work, the more likely you are to blow something off. When you’re on your 6-7th shift in a row, you tend to get annoyed more easily and miss subtle things.
 
I feel for you OP. I was in the exact same mindset of you at the end of my second year, stuck around til end of third year, but couldn't take it anymore and dropped out before step 2.

Bottom line is that I don't regret it at all and if anything I wish I got out sooner. However, I did have good options for tuition repayment and jobs outisde of healthcare when I had to make the choice, which made it a somewhat easier for me

The thing to understand is that most people on this forum will tell you to stay because they did and are now doctors or still in med school. You have to make what decision is best for you and only you can make that decision.

Best of luck to you though. I'd be happy to PM with you if you want to chat.

Hello everyone! I am currently an M2 and am strongly considering leaving med school. My reason is primarily because I really have no interest in clinical medicine. I first realized this about a year ago upon coming back from winter break. I would like to precede any further comment by saying that I have multiple years of clinical experience working in a hospital. I have also grown up in a family involved in medicine, which has given me the opportunity to shadow many specialties. Prior to med school I spent extensive time shadowing surgeons, anesthesia, pathologists, rads, medicine, OB, etc. I feel I am very aware of the options and what life as a doctor is like.

I entered medical school with a pretty good idea that I wanted to do Pathology or Diagnostic Radiology. Both fields interest me more than any other field of medicine, and have minimal patient interaction. I am an extroverts introvert in the sense that I interact well with people, but do not particularly like being around people.

I also entered medicine realizing that for me it was not my passion. I have many interests and hobbies, but none of them are the type of activities I can make a living off of, so for me medicine was something I figured could be intellectually stimulating enough to be bearable as a job, but would mainly be what I do to allow me to partake in the things I am really passionate about. Yet another reason Path and Rads interest me.

That being said, I am encountering the same lack of initiative and interest after this winter break as I did last year, which has really continued since then. This has been exacerbated by having to learn the physical exam and beginning work with patients, since I have no interest in any of it. I am doing just fine in all my classes, but focusing and studying is quite the chore.

My language makes it sound like I am decided, but my dilemma mainly comes from what my other options are. At this point I have the debt for 1.5 years of med school, and my previous degrees offer no job opportunities (I have a humanities background). I have considered looking into another field entirely, assuming it would allow me to finish school and begin working sooner than med school would. I am also curious about options an MD degree would offer if I did not pursue a residency.

Regardless, I need some plan to get to a career if I leave medicine. I have always really enjoyed math and have strongly considered CPA. Pharmacy seemed like a possibility, but from talking to some administrators it seems like that would still be 4 more years.

As I said at the beginning of this post, I am looking for realistic opinions and ideas. I appreciate everyone taking the time to read this, as I know we all have busy schedules.
 
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Med school and residency suck complete ass if you compare them to being an attending. It’s like night and day. This is one of the more frustrating things about this profession. Med school is nothing like being a resident which is still very different (but more similar) to being an attending. All that freedom and ability to pursue interests outside of work, yeah you get that along with a nice paycheck but it’s all at the end. None before. Sorry you bailed but I honestly believe you don’t know what you have missed out on. For instance, if I hated my job, I could make over $100,000 a year working 48 hours a month. That would leave about 26 days a month I’m out of work to do whatever I wanted. Very few professions allow this type of freedom.

This is a very rational response to the OP’s recent update.

@MedTG, your sanity and happiness comes first. As long as you’re paying your bills and able to support yourself and your family then I feel you made the right move. At the end of the day you still have your MD and a medical license - you have at least something to show for the previous five years that you could put on your CV and utilize if you’re ever inclined to in the future. The power of choice is the greatest thing we have in our one lifetime.
 
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