For anyone who's tired of hearing about how medicine isn't worth it

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Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine
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Sc1entific

You might be like me and be sick of being told by jaded people further into their medical careers that "medicine isn't worth it," or to "get out while you still can." I thought I'd share this little nugget of positivity. Keep on keepin' on, everybody.

If anybody wants to share why they don't regret going into medicine, please do! I know I would love to hear your story.

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2016/04/stop-telling-younger-generations-not-to-become-doctors.html
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Sc1entific said:
You might be like me and be sick of being told by jaded people further into their medical careers that "medicine isn't worth it," or to "get out while you still can." I thought I'd share this little nugget of positivity. Keep on keepin' on, everybody.

If anybody wants to share why they don't regret going into medicine, please do! I know I would love to hear your story.

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2016/04/stop-telling-younger-generations-not-to-become-doctors.html
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Medical student (Accepted)

See you in 8 months.
 
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Rekt said:
Agree. But for someone who hasn't gone through any of the process yet, they really have no say. I don't regret it, but I don't really think it's all that worth it.
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I mean it's not like I jump out of bed everyday filled with ecstasy about being a medical student, but it's pretty damn nice knowing that my "job" currently consists of just simply learning. After that, I'm pretty much guaranteed a, well-respected, financially secure job that pays a salary in the 95th+ percentile. Don't get me wrong, medical school is difficult, but we don't have it that bad as some people make it out to be. That's just my personal opinion though, I haven't experienced residency yet.
 
Rekt said:
Agree. But for someone who hasn't gone through any of the process yet, they really have no say. I don't regret it, but I don't really think it's all that worth it.
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Not trying to have a say, or even pretend like I know what it's like, just trying to stay positive about it all. Did you come here simply to disagree?
 
So much of this is relative. Were you a trust fund baby? Yeah, doing the whole medicine thing might not have been the best life decision. Did you love the sciences of biology and biochemistry, and their practical applications in medicine? Well, med school gives you a pretty good bang for your buck relative to options like pursing a graduate degree, which offers no guarantee of academic success or fiscal remuneration.

I tell people that medical school is definitely a great option for those who will perform toward the top of their classes. Generally speaking, they'll have their pick of specialty and/or location of training. For those in the middle or toward the "bottom"... well, they can go for EM or Anesthesia if they want to make enough money to never have to worry about tuition or grocery bills. However for those who just manage to scrape by and hang on by their fingertips, medicine may be more of a headache than it's worth... these student are often "stuck" having to pursue specialties like FM, Path, etc., which either pay too poorly or have markets too dry to justify the time investment.
 
Brorthopedic said:
I mean it's not like I jump out of bed everyday filled with ecstasy about being a medical student, but it's pretty damn nice knowing that my "job" currently consists of just simply learning. After that, I'm pretty much guaranteed a, well-respected, financially secure job that pays a salary in the 95th+ percentile. Don't get me wrong, medical school is difficult, but we don't have it that bad as some people make it out to be. That's just my personal opinion though, I haven't experienced residency yet.
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But would it stay that way for long? The government continues to invade and assault the way physician is compensated and how they practice medicine. It is not far from the realm of possibilities that in the not-so-far future, physicians salary will drop to rock bottom low (how low is anyone's guess) and the debt continues to increase while their jobs become a living hell with admins and governments telling them how to do it. Physician as a whole is a lot less well-respected now than they're used to be and it can only go down in the future. I honestly could not remember the last time somebody I know was impressed by a physician (only exception are the pre-meds). Looking from where I am now (heading to med school in the fall), the job sure looks like one hell of a raw deal but sure, it still has some serious pros compared to many other jobs. But you could also say that for engineers, college professors, pilots, etc.
 
I enjoy it and for me it was worth it. However a lot of my perspective is based on where I've been and the kind of mindset and goals I have; it's definitely not the right job for everybody. In fact I'd say I've read enough posts on pre allo to say it's not going to be the dream job for an awful lot of people on here. A lot of it stems from reality not matching up with the dream. The answer? Shadow more. Ask more questions. Look before you leap.
 
Dr.Smexy said:
But would it stay that way for long? The government continues to invade and assault the way physician is compensated and how they practice medicine. It is not far from the realm of possibilities that in the not-so-far future, physicians salary will drop to rock bottom low (how low is anyone's guess) and the debt continues to increase while their jobs become a living hell with admins and governments telling them how to do it. Physician as a whole is a lot less well-respected now than they're used to be and it can only go down in the future. I honestly could not remember the last time somebody I know was impressed by a physician (only exception are the pre-meds). Looking from where I am now (heading to med school in the fall), the job sure looks like one hell of a raw deal but sure, it still has some serious pros compared to many other jobs. But you could also say that for engineers, college professors, pilots, etc.
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In light of the fact that there aren't really very many 9-5, 5-day-a-week, $150K+ jobs out there, medicine isn't really that bad if you're in the right specialty

M1 and M2: essentially college with an admittedly heavier workload. Enough free time to party every week if one wants to, and certainly enough to live a normal life

M3: tough days, to be sure

M4: normal life

PGY-1: 80-hour weeks not uncommon, but this is just one year

PGY >1: substantially easier workload overall, unless in a surgical specialty or Diagnostic Rads

Fellowship: can resemble intern hours in the more intense fields, but nobody is forcing you to go for Cards or GI

Attending: in non-masochistic fields, I'd estimate 50-55 hours/week is about the average overall (useless metric, of course, but the Medscape and CIM data are out there for anyone who wants to look), but for a salary that is pretty darn good
 
WilliamofOckham said:
In light of the fact that there aren't really very many 9-5, 5-day-a-week, $150K+ jobs out there, medicine isn't really that bad if you're in the right specialty

M1 and M2: essentially college with an admittedly heavier workload. Enough free time to party every week if one wants to, and certainly enough to live a normal life

M3: tough days, to be sure

M4: normal life

PGY-1: 80-hour weeks not uncommon, but this is just one year

PGY >1: substantially easier workload overall, unless in a surgical specialty or Diagnostic Rads

Fellowship: can resemble intern hours in the more intense fields, but nobody is forcing you to go for Cards or GI

Attending: in non-masochistic fields, I'd estimate 50-55 hours/week is about the average overall (useless metric, of course, but the Medscape and CIM data are out there for anyone who wants to look), but for a salary that is pretty darn good
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I think it's worth to mention that there aren't really many jobs out there that require a 12+ years or so of education after high school and a cool 250,000$ in debt.
 
Dr.Smexy said:
I think it's worth to mention that there aren't really many jobs out there that require a 12+ years or so of education after high school and a cool 250,000$ in debt.
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Sure, there's an opportunity cost, but bear in mind that eight of those "12+ years" are paid residency jobs; not years spent in school.
 
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WilliamofOckham said:
Oops, my mistake. Four of the 12.
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Even then, it's not bad at all. I don't think people quite understand how difficult it is going into other fields where, after spending 4 (undergrad) to 6 (mba/masters/etc) years in school, there is still a great deal of uncertainty whether you'll obtain a decent paying job. Hell, even a job at all.
 
Brorthopedic said:
Even then, it's not bad at all. I don't think people quite understand how difficult it is going into other fields where, after spending 4 (undergrad) to 6 (mba/masters/etc) years in school, there is still a great deal of uncertainty whether you'll obtain a decent paying job. Hell, even a job at all.
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Exactly.
 
Brorthopedic said:
Even then, it's not bad at all. I don't think people quite understand how difficult it is going into other fields where, after spending 4 (undergrad) to 6 (mba/masters/etc) years in school, there is still a great deal of uncertainty whether you'll obtain a decent paying job. Hell, even a job at all.
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Having been through another career, I find statements like this kind of a cop out. Lots of people on here making excuses for why medicine is the safest and surest career path. Frankly If you put the same effort on another career path you'd do fine -- I sure did. And medicine is not the guaranteed lifetime job security some people on here like to pretend.
 
Law2Doc said:
Having been through another career, I find statements like this kind of a cop out. Lots of people on here making excuses for why medicine is the safest and surest career path. Frankly If you put the same effort on another career path you'd do fine -- I sure did. And medicine is not the guaranteed lifetime job security some people on here like to pretend.
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Nobody is claiming such extreme statements as medicine is the "safest" and "surest" career path, those are your words, or rather your perception of what people think. There are no guarantees in life, but you would be a fool to ignore the high probability of success, financially speaking of course, that a career as a physician carries as opposed to the numerous other career paths. This isn't even an argument.
 
I've gotta say, I cant possibly imagine myself doing anything else but medicine. Maybe I'm too optimistic or naive, or both. I've got friends in finance / Banking making 6 figure salaries but live miserable and unhappy lives. I think you will find plenty of people like that in every career. At least in medicine you can do whatever you want with an MD. Heck, you can get an office job as an administrator in a hospital and still make doctor money if you get tired of seeing patients (not in my plan, but I like that MDs have that option). And this is coming from someone who gets questioned all the time by family why I chose such a difficult and long career 🙂.
 
Dr.Smexy said:
But would it stay that way for long? The government continues to invade and assault the way physician is compensated and how they practice medicine. It is not far from the realm of possibilities that in the not-so-far future, physicians salary will drop to rock bottom low (how low is anyone's guess) and the debt continues to increase while their jobs become a living hell with admins and governments telling them how to do it. Physician as a whole is a lot less well-respected now than they're used to be and it can only go down in the future. I honestly could not remember the last time somebody I know was impressed by a physician (only exception are the pre-meds). Looking from where I am now (heading to med school in the fall), the job sure looks like one hell of a raw deal but sure, it still has some serious pros compared to many other jobs. But you could also say that for engineers, college professors, pilots, etc.
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Dr.Smexy said:
I think it's worth to mention that there aren't really many jobs out there that require a 12+ years or so of education after high school and a cool 250,000$ in debt.
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There's still time to back out if you're as jaded as you seem already before even starting.
 
Brorthopedic said:
Nobody is claiming such extreme statements as medicine is the "safest" and "surest" career path, those are your words, or rather your perception of what people think. There are no guarantees in life, but you would be a fool to ignore the high probability of success, financially speaking of course, that a career as a physician carries as opposed to the numerous other career paths. This isn't even an argument.
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Law2Doc likes to do that...

Seeing how uncertain my friends with BS and master degrees are about their 50k-60k, and knowing a FM physician who semi retired in his early 40s, I feel pretty good where I am now.
 
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Law2Doc said:
Having been through another career, I find statements like this kind of a cop out. Lots of people on here making excuses for why medicine is the safest and surest career path. Frankly If you put the same effort on another career path you'd do fine -- I sure did. And medicine is not the guaranteed lifetime job security some people on here like to pretend.
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No one is saying that... But if I have to guest, the unemployment rate among physicians is probably <2%. It can't get any better than that. Medicine and many careers in the healthcare industry are almost recession proof... Can't say that for a lot of other careers out there.

Edit: I find a website that says it's 0.8%....

http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/04/news/economy/jobs-lowest-unemployment/index.html
 
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Giovanotto said:
I'm still tired. The comments in that article were depressing as ****.
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I just read some of the comments. Very very depressing. These were well written and were filled with emotions. I felt the commenters' pain while I was reading it. Five months ago during interviews and away rotations, I was so excited to be finishing my last year of medical school and starting residency. Not so much anymore 🙁
 
If the pay stays the same, we have nothing to complain about. By and large, every career this side of being CEO and majority shareholder of a billion dollar company involves being someone's biatch, it doesn't matter whether that means you are beholden to a middle manager, a C-suite executive, the Board of Directors, or hospital admin.

The money makes even the worst parts of medicine be "worth it." If you're working in an urban ED fending off drunks and drug seekers 80% of the time, it's still possible to convince yourself that you're Dr. Billy Badass hotshot miracle worker if you're getting paid $250/hr for your troubles and driving a Maserati to work. The proof of your worth is in the paycheck you receive each week.

If you're fending off drunks for $250 per shift at age 40? You'd still be doing better than "most Americans" but it would be hard to convince yourself that you made the right decision.

I like medicine and consider it inherently cooler than many other professions, but truth be told I went through being money starved growing up and told myself I'd work hard toward a future where money wouldn't be the thing standing between me and the things I'm interested in doing. I'm hopeful that the money will still be there by the time I'm an attending, but for whatever reason I can't shake off that nagging, neurotic concern that it won't be, no matter how hard I work at being a "good" doctor. You can take every career and point to clouds on its horizon, but it just seems that medicine has so damn many of them.

Healthcare is the #1 topic in national politics which directly affects reimbursement, reimbursement keeps getting cut, our future compensation is intricately tied in with the deteriorating American fiscal situation, the insurance companies are out to get us, the corporations are out to turn us into wage slaves, the midlevels are out to take our jobs, several fields are expanding residency slots with reckless abandon, a few states are trying to push through laws making it possible for FMGs to practice without completing residency, etc etc etc. It's like each of these things would be a hugely serious threat on its own, but we're facing not one planet-killing asteroid but a whole cluster of them. It's just hard to feel optimistic about the future, at all.
 
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Brorthopedic said:
...There are no guarantees in life, but you would be a fool to ignore the high probability of success, financially speaking of course, that a career as a physician carries as opposed to the numerous other career paths...
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On SDN it's taken to the opposite extreme very often (more so in preallo but here as well). I apologize if I thought you were hinting at that extreme but I assure you that the real "fools" on here, and there are many, live at that extreme.
 
Brahnold Bloodaxe said:
...
The money makes even the worst parts of medicine be "worth it." ...The proof of your worth is in the paycheck you receive each week...
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And this is the "extreme" I am talking about in the above post. Totally the wrong attitude, the cop out. See how these phrases resonate in pre-allo. This isn't the kind of money meant to offset dealing with aspects of a job you don't like. Don't be the kind of person who says, "I hate doing X but at least I am well paid for it." You have choices in life, and doctors don't earn the kind of money that makes it worth enduring 30 years of a job you don't enjoy. To some extent the money helps offset a crazy long training path and high tuition debt. But if someone asks you "is it worth it" and you have to focus on the financials you've already lost in this game.
 
Brahnold Bloodaxe said:
If the pay stays the same, we have nothing to complain about. By and large, every career this side of being CEO and majority shareholder of a billion dollar company involves being someone's biatch, it doesn't matter whether that means you are beholden to a middle manager, a C-suite executive, the Board of Directors, or hospital admin.

The money makes even the worst parts of medicine be "worth it." If you're working in an urban ED fending off drunks and drug seekers 80% of the time, it's still possible to convince yourself that you're Dr. Billy Badass hotshot miracle worker if you're getting paid $250/hr for your troubles and driving a Maserati to work. The proof of your worth is in the paycheck you receive each week.

If you're fending off drunks for $250 per shift at age 40? You'd still be doing better than "most Americans" but it would be hard to convince yourself that you made the right decision.

I like medicine and consider it inherently cooler than many other professions, but truth be told I went through being money starved growing up and told myself I'd work hard toward a future where money wouldn't be the thing standing between me and the things I'm interested in doing. I'm hopeful that the money will still be there by the time I'm an attending, but for whatever reason I can't shake off that nagging, neurotic concern that it won't be, no matter how hard I work at being a "good" doctor. You can take every career and point to clouds on its horizon, but it just seems that medicine has so damn many of them.

Healthcare is the #1 topic in national politics which directly affects reimbursement, reimbursement keeps getting cut, our future compensation is intricately tied in with the deteriorating American fiscal situation, the insurance companies are out to get us, the corporations are out to turn us into wage slaves, the midlevels are out to take our jobs, several fields are expanding residency slots with reckless abandon, a few states are trying to push through laws making it possible for FMGs to practice without completing residency, etc etc etc. It's like each of these things would be a hugely serious threat on its own, but we're facing not one planet-killing asteroid but a whole cluster of them. It's just hard to feel optimistic about the future, at all.
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I know plenty of independent small business owners that are neither anyone's ***** nor are they struggling. Medicine, for the intelligent and motivated, is not worth it for the financial aspects alone.
 
Law2Doc said:
And this is the "extreme" I am talking about in the above post. Totally the wrong attitude, the cop out. See how these phrases resonate in pre-allo. This isn't the kind of money meant to offset dealing with aspects of a job you don't like. Don't be the kind of person who says, "I hate doing X but at least I am well paid for it." You have choices in life, and doctors don't earn the kind of money that makes it worth enduring 30 years of a job you don't enjoy. To some extent the money helps offset a crazy long training path and high tuition debt. But if someone asks you "is it worth it" and you have to focus on the financials you've already lost in this game.
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I thought I made it pretty clear but in case I didn't, I want to emphasize that I said the money would make even the worst parts of medicine tolerable. Medicine is, by definition, not composed exclusively of only the worst parts of itself, so I'm not saying money is the only thing that makes this field worth pursuing. There are good parts too.

But money is the difference maker, there is no doubt about that. If I could make 300/hr right after college doing data entry or something similarly mundane, would I go to medical school so that I could make the same 300/hr as an EM doctor 7 years later? Hell no. I have enough outside interests that I don't need to be a doctor in order to feel fulfilled assuming I have enough money to pursue them.
 
I thought his article was pretty condescending. For example he characterises every job outside of medicine as - Where your biggest concern is, “If I mess this presentation up I won’t get the sale,” not, “If I mess this up this person could die.” So EMTs and firefighters don't save lives? And what about engineers who design everything from buildings and bridges to cars and airplanes? If they mess up, more people's lives are at risk than any doctor messing up. Even a school bus driver - if they look the wrong way, they could end up with a bus full of dead kids. His post basically just shows how ignorant he is about the world outside of medicine.
 
Brahnold Bloodaxe said:
I thought I made it pretty clear but in case I didn't, I want to emphasize that I said the money would make even the worst parts of medicine tolerable. Medicine is, by definition, not composed exclusively of only the worst parts of itself, so I'm not saying money is the only thing that makes this field worth pursuing. There are good parts too.

But money is the difference maker, there is no doubt about that. If I could make 300/hr right after college doing data entry or something similarly mundane, would I go to medical school so that I could make the same 300/hr as an EM doctor 7 years later? Hell no. I have enough outside interests that I don't need to be a doctor in order to feel fulfilled assuming I have enough money to pursue them.
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I think time is more important than money. Medicine sucks away a lot of your time. I'd rather have more time and less money. Money definitely does not make the worst parts of medicine more tolerable for me. In medicine, work occupies the vast majority of your time, especially if you're not heading into a "lifestyle" specialty (I'm not). If you hate what you're doing for the majority of your time, what does it matter how much you have in your bank account? I'd rather enjoy what I do at work and drive a Camry, than hate my job and drive a Maserati.
 
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chipwhitley said:
I think time is more important than money. Medicine sucks away a lot of your time. I'd rather have more time and less money.
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There is obviously an equilibrium point that differs for different people. Being "free" 24/7 is not that good when you have 0 money. Likewise, it doesn't matter if you're earning 1 quadrillion dollars if you have literally zero time to spend it. For the most part, medicine gives you a pretty good bang for your buck with the ratio of money to time, especially in certain specialties. But overall I agree with your point. I'd definitely rather work 35hr/wk and be off when I'm off as an EM doc for 400k than 80hr/week + call for 2m as a neurosurgeon.
 
Brahnold Bloodaxe said:
There is obviously an equilibrium point that differs for different people. Being "free" 24/7 is not that good when you have 0 money. Likewise, it doesn't matter if you're earning 1 quadrillion dollars if you have literally zero time to spend it. For the most part, medicine gives you a pretty good bang for your buck with the ratio of money to time, especially in certain specialties. But overall I agree with your point. I'd definitely rather work a flexible 35hr/wk as an EM doc for 400k than 80hr/week for 2m as a neurosurgeon.
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Yeah, you're talking about the two extremes. There are plenty of people in the middle who make enough money to enjoy their lives, and also have enough free time to do it in. Most doctors don't fall into that category. EM is definitely a huge exception and an unlikely option for most people going into medicine given how competitive it's gotten. If you're talking about medicine as a whole, you need to look at the average guy - i.e., the FM or IM doc - not the few who end up in "lifestyle" specialties. Of course this is SDN where everyone has 260s on their Steps.
 
chipwhitley said:
Yeah, you're talking about the two extremes. There are plenty of people in the middle who make more than enough money to enjoy their lives, and also have enough free time to do it in. Most doctors don't fall into that category. EM is definitely a huge exception and an unlikely option for most people going into medicine given how competitive it's gotten. If you're talking about medicine as a whole, you need to look at the average guy - i.e., the primary care doc - not the few who end up in "lifestyle" specialties.
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We probably simply have different ideas about what would constitute the "ideal" life, within realistic limits. I have such a life clearly defined in my head, and have a rough idea of how much money it would take to make it happen. To me it is less important that I enjoy doing whatever it is I have to do to finance it, than it is that I actually achieve this life.

But if your ideal life is centered being able to work a job that you like doing, then obviously your priorities are different and you would be absolutely right to pursue such a job even if you had options to work other jobs that you don't enjoy but that pay more.
 
Brahnold Bloodaxe said:
I thought I made it pretty clear but in case I didn't, I want to emphasize that I said the money would make even the worst parts of medicine tolerable. Medicine is, by definition, not composed exclusively of only the worst parts of itself, so I'm not saying money is the only thing that makes this field worth pursuing. There are good parts too.

But money is the difference maker....
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I understood you perfectly. And NO, money is not, should not, and can not be the "difference maker", or you are looking at your career all wrong IMHO. If you need to focus on the $ to make ANY part of your typical work day palatable, you made a bad choice. Money is a nice perquisite, if you get it, but should not a big driving factor in whether you enjoy your job in a time intensive career such as medicine. You have choices in life and it's a cop out to say, "parts of this job really suck but you know what? I'll ignore that for the Benjamin's". Take it from a career changer who actually traded down in income to trade up in personal fulfillment -- the money really isn't as important over the long haul (assuming you can pay your bills.)

you are part of the 5% of students who actually have many choices in life. So you owe it to yourself to pick something you'll be happy doing, most of the time, not something you partly like but think the nice income will help cover up the rest. It won't. It might seem to at first, but once you buy a few toys and realize you don't need more, the parts of your job you mildly dislike will quickly become the bane of your daily existence. I see this pattern all the time.
 
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At the tail end of MS3 here, no regrets (yet haha).

I've had my share of ups and downs, as well as doubts over the years (I still have doubts sometimes, I'm sure that will come and go), but looking back at this point in time, I wouldn't change a thing. It's been a difficult road, more than I ever expected it to be, but I've grown so much more than I thought possible in just 3 years, and experienced some rare but incredibly special moments with classmates, doctors, and patients that makes me glad I stuck it out this far.

So far, med school has changed me a lot, but I genuinely believe it's changed me for the better, and I'm sure I'll grow and change even more as the years go by in this process (hopefully for the better).
I sometimes miss not being able to go out as much with friends, and the lack of free time and flexibility in my life can be really constraining, but overall, the things I've seen and experienced have made it worth it so far.

Not sure what lays ahead, but I don't regret getting to the point I'm at now.
 
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chipwhitley said:
Yeah, you're talking about the two extremes. There are plenty of people in the middle who make enough money to enjoy their lives, and also have enough free time to do it in. Most doctors don't fall into that category. EM is definitely a huge exception and an unlikely option for most people going into medicine given how competitive it's gotten. If you're talking about medicine as a whole, you need to look at the average guy - i.e., the FM or IM doc - not the few who end up in "lifestyle" specialties. Of course this is SDN where everyone has 260s on their Steps.
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Most specialties (except for surgical specialties) can be lifestyle specialties... It's up to the physician to find the right setting.
 
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W19 said:
I have not met many who are excited about going to their jobs everyday... The majority of people I know hate their jobs... and there are surveys that show that.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/06/30/americans-hate-jobs-office-perks/2457089/
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Well there's a difference between the majority of jobs and medicine. Medicine sucks up your life pretty much entirely for about 8+ years to train you. And even after that, the demands on your time are pretty high compared to most jobs. It's not a job that you go home after work and forget about. Your ass is always on the line. You really need to have a lot of drive to do this profession because it's requires such a huge commitment. You can't just cruise through it like you can at most jobs. You can't just sit around at BS meetings and eat donuts and waste away the day. Medicine is a totally different ball game and people always forget that when they say it's a "golden ticket". Yeah, it's a golden ticket if you're ready to give it everything you've got and fight an uphill battle.
 
Slack3r said:
Pretty much any outpatient specialty is like 8-5. Path and rads are also on a similar schedule. Hell, even surgery's clinic days are usually 8-5 as well.
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Just because the schedule is 8-5 doesn't mean the docs are only working 8-5. At the outpatient clinic I worked at, the docs would routinely come early and stay late to finish up their notes, review labs, return phone calls, and do all sorts of administrative stuff that doesn't fit into the 8-5 time frame where they see patients. It's not like they can say - hey it's 5pm, my shift is over - the work needs to get done.
 
chipwhitley said:
Well there's a difference between the majority of jobs and medicine. Medicine sucks up your life pretty much entirely for about 8+ years to train you. And even after that, the demands on your time are pretty high compared to most jobs. It's not a job that you go home after work and forget about. Your ass is always on the line. You really need to have a lot of drive to do this profession because it's requires such a huge commitment. You can't just cruise through it like you can at most jobs. You can't just sit around at BS meetings and eat donuts and waste away the day. Medicine is a totally different ball game and people always forget that when they say it's a "golden ticket". Yeah, it's a golden ticket if you're ready to give it everything you've got and fight an uphill battle.
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I have a solution for you.. Do an FM residency and work for a county health department. 8-5pm/M-F... No calls ...Holidays off. 3 weeks vacation plus sick/personal days off... The caveat is you will make 2/3 (130k-150k) of what FM docs make... I worked with these physicians and they were among the happiest physicians I have worked with.
 
W19 said:
I have a solution for you.. Do an FM residency and work for a county health department. 8-5pm/M-F... No calls ...Holidays off. 3 weeks vacation plus sick/personal days off... The caveat is you will make 2/3 (130k-150k) of what FM docs make... I worked with these physicians and they were among the happiest physicians I have worked with.
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That may very well be what I end up doing. I'm not too concerned about the money as much as having the freedom to do other things I enjoy. It's still more money than most people will ever make.
 
It sucks but it is cool at times. A lot of sucks for sure though. Finishing up my 4th year of residency with another year plus a year of fellowship to go.
 
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