Good things about becoming physician?

[deleted74029]

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I actually posted this in another forum, but I figured it would fit more in this one considering most of the people here are further along in their careers than the other forums.

I read a another thread that asked "Would you do it all over again" in which many of u said u wouldn't. I am a pre-premed major lol just about to start my freshmen year and reading that thread, which emphasized alot of the bad things about going to med school and doing your residency really helped me understand what I am getting myself into by choosing this career path, yet I understand that I truly will not comprehend the hard work involved until I experience it for myself.

Now that I know a few of the bad things about doing this, I was just wondering what are some of the better things, if any, about the road to becoming a doctor. I'm not trying to use this to convince myself to stay in the field, because I won't if I have any feeling that this may not be for me. I just want to know what are some of the things one will appreciate in medical school and beyond.

 

[GenSurg]

For me, the best thing about medicine and surgery, besides helping people when they are most vulnerable, is having the chance to do things that most people don't get to do. I get to cut open living people, remove pathology, and help them recover.

For all the bad that is medicine, having the chance to touch someone and really help them is quite powerful.

http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=20049323

 

[NinerNiner999]

Medicine is truly a very rewarding field in many aspects. There are life-long habits learned in the training process that simply cannot be gained in other fields. Self-discipline, learning your limits, advance planning, organizational management, individual/personal communication skills, fast decision-making, and more importantly, the balance needed to temper self-sacrifice with personal goals. In a sense, the training to become a physician can be likened to the regimented lifestyle of military work (without of course the physical requirements), and the personal/professional benefits can be similar as well. You will learn more about yourself over the training period for the MD than probably any other field. Business professionals will work the occasional all-nighther to deliver their product, but you will experience the regular all-nighters to deliver your standard of care. While it seems like a hard road from the beginning, each year does get easier as your knowledge base and skills improve. I say if you think you want to be a doc, go for it, put your head down, push forward, learn your field, and gain from it. Your patients will reward you every day...

 

[GoPistons]

wasn't my own words... but the guy who said medicine is the only field that gives you a "balanced" profession... meaning you have respect, prestige, money, helping others, and job security all in one... I challenge you to find a profession that can give you all of those things from your work... most people have to substitute outside charity, etc. to get all of those things in their lives... we have it all in one profession...

 

[OldPsychDoc]

I figure I save about one life a week, on average.
And I'm just a psychiatrist...

 

[TommyGunn04]

It's easy to get a negatively biased picture of medicine from overworked residents, but when push comes to shove, I figure most people are in medicine because they actually care about people (or at least they did at one point...maybe it was "trained out of them"). As others have said, there's something really special and privileged about medicine insofar as it allows you to use your skills to actually help people in their weakest moments, when they really need aid. I also think medicine is unique in the relationships it allows one to develop with patients. It's amazing how much someone will tell you, just because of that white coat, and if you really care to listen you can learn a lot from your patients, and grow personally while caring for them. Sadly, so many of these true joys of medicine get overshadowed by the annoyances of medical training, which are so often recounted on these boards. It's often human nature to emphasize the negative, and many seem to get an overly negative perception of medicine as a result. So I'm glad you asked this question, because now you'll hopefully get to see what really motivates so many of us to pursue a career in medicine, DESPITE some of the negatives (like all the loans, and the fact that you won't make much money until you're 30!). For me, medicine is an optimal mix of intellectual stimulation, hands-on work, and interpersonal contact. I can't imagine myself doing anything else!

 

[docB]

One benefit is that you understand the very esoteric field of medicine and can use that info to protect yourself and your family. No one in my family will be allowed to suffer as a trach and peg nursing home vegetable. No one will undergo unnecessary, painful tests mandated by defensive medicine. No one will be dumped in the ER because the clinic was full.

 

[blue2000]

I actually posted this in another forum, but I figured it would fit more in this one considering most of the people here are further along in their careers than the other forums.

I read a another thread that asked "Would you do it all over again" in which many of u said u wouldn't. I am a pre-premed major lol just about to start my freshmen year and reading that thread, which emphasized alot of the bad things about going to med school and doing your residency really helped me understand what I am getting myself into by choosing this career path, yet I understand that I truly will not comprehend the hard work involved until I experience it for myself.

Now that I know a few of the bad things about doing this, I was just wondering what are some of the better things, if any, about the road to becoming a doctor. I'm not trying to use this to convince myself to stay in the field, because I won't if I have any feeling that this may not be for me. I just want to know what are some of the things one will appreciate in medical school and beyond.

I'm a surgery intern. One of my jobs every day is to inject 40-50 cc of lidocaine into a very large abdominal wound in a morbidly obese patient who is being treated for this open wound. After that, I take a scalpel and remove all the dead tissue on the wound. In many ways, its a disgusting, time consuming task. It's been delegated to me because it's not particularly fun, and I'm the one who's on the floor every day to do it.

On the other hand, as I'm injecting and debriding, we're talking about his life, and my life, and in many ways, it's an intensely personal, private relationship, because he has to trust me not to hurt him, and because I hold that trust tightly to me.

The patients we take care of are often intensely vulnerable -- that is one reason I chose surgery. They are vulnerable to illness, infection, malnutrition, but they are also vulnerable to loneliness, fear and anxiety. Relieving that, whether it be by going to the OR, or injecting a wound, or standing and listening, is one of the most rewarding and awe-inspiring aspects of my young career.

And now I need to go to bed, so I can remember my humanity tomorrow when I'm on call.

 

[GMO2003]

I'm a surgery intern. One of my jobs every day is to inject 40-50 cc of lidocaine into a very large abdominal wound in a morbidly obese patient who is being treated for this open wound. After that, I take a scalpel and remove all the dead tissue on the wound. In many ways, its a disgusting, time consuming task. It's been delegated to me because it's not particularly fun, and I'm the one who's on the floor every day to do it.

On the other hand, as I'm injecting and debriding, we're talking about his life, and my life, and in many ways, it's an intensely personal, private relationship, because he has to trust me not to hurt him, and because I hold that trust tightly to me.

The patients we take care of are often intensely vulnerable -- that is one reason I chose surgery. They are vulnerable to illness, infection, malnutrition, but they are also vulnerable to loneliness, fear and anxiety. Relieving that, whether it be by going to the OR, or injecting a wound, or standing and listening, is one of the most rewarding and awe-inspiring aspects of my young career.

And now I need to go to bed, so I can remember my humanity tomorrow when I'm on call.

I can see someone cutting and pasting this and using it as part of their general surgery personal statement

just kidding buddy