How do you guys justify wasting your 20's by going into medicine?

[luckylee3]

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I keep having these fears that if i go into medicine, the money, prestige, helping people aspect will all be good but im also afraid that im gonna go through my 20's not getting to do things I want, go out and meet more girls, have fun with friends, etc... I will most likely spend mon-sun either studying or in the hospital doing long shifts and be tired to really do anything else. How do you guys justify to yourselves that this is what you really want and not regret it when you are 32 and have no SO and a workaholic

 

[solitarius]

Sounds like somebody's in crisis.

 

[IlDestriero]

There's no reason you can't make time to stay fit and do the things you want to do.
I didn't waste anything.
Now I get to enjoy a very generous lifestyle and a secure financial future.
Money may not buy happiness, but it's one significant thing that you won't have to worry about anymore. Unless you spend and ***** around like a drunken sailor.

 

[luckylee3]

There's no reason you can't make time to stay fit and do the things you want to do.
I didn't waste anything.
Now I get to enjoy a very generous lifestyle and a secure financial future.
Money may not buy happiness, but it's one significant thing that you won't have to worry about anymore. Unless you spend and ***** around like a drunken sailor.

well the thing is if i dont get my sleep i become really tired and lazy person. im afraid that working 80+ hours every week will drive me insane someday or make me not do anything else besides working at the hospital. i feel like medicine wont give me a balanced lifetyle

 

[La Presse]

What else would I spend my 20s doing? 😕

 

[luckylee3]

What else would I spend my 20s doing? 😕

for me it's

making relaitionships
going to places
having fun
working out
going to movies/restaurants
live like a normal person (?)

 

[Medstart108]

I keep having these fears that if i go into medicine, the money, prestige, helping people aspect will all be good but im also afraid that im gonna go through my 20's not getting to do things I want, go out and meet more girls, have fun with friends, etc... I will most likely spend mon-sun either studying or in the hospital doing long shifts and be tired to really do anything else. How do you guys justify to yourselves that this is what you really want and not regret it when you are 32 and have no SO and a workaholic

Because i'm not the type of person who wants to go out and meet girls. I have fun doing other stuff, so not a big problem for me.

 

[IlDestriero]

well the thing is if i dont get my sleep i become really tired and lazy person. im afraid that working 80+ hours every week will drive me insane someday or make me not do anything else besides working at the hospital. i feel like medicine wont give me a balanced lifestyle

Medical school isn't an 80 hr work week, and while some months of residency may push 80 hours, they all won't. Plan, study efficiently, manage your down time and you'll be fine.

 

[Mr Avante]

for me it's

making relaitionships
going to places
having fun
working out
going to movies/restaurants
live like a normal person (?)

😕
you call that life?

 

[RedLightPass]

for me it's

making relaitionships
going to places
having fun
working out
going to movies/restaurants
live like a normal person (?)

Which of these things can you not do in your 30s?

 

[calgirl1234]

from talking to med school students, it seems like they're having tons of fun in medical school. (at least in the first two years). my friends who are doing other things like investment banking or working in tech companies are working 100+ hours/week. i feel like in any profession, you're going to have to work your butt off in your 20s

 

[luckylee3]

you guys are probably right. Just gotta time manage better and hope for the best and do things you like even if it doesnt mean you will get 100 on the next exam

 

[kami333]

for me it's

making relaitionships
going to places
having fun
working out
going to movies/restaurants
live like a normal person (?)

The grass is always greener...

If you're really worried about it, take a couple years off, work a 9-5 job and enjoy life, then go back to school in your late 20s.

The other way to look at it is delayed gratification, you put off your 20s so you can enjoy your 40s and 50s.

 

[487806]

for me it's

making relaitionships
going to places
having fun
working out
going to movies/restaurants
live like a normal person (?)

All those can be done during med school

 

[solitarius]

The other way to look at it is delayed gratification, you put off your 20s so you can enjoy your 40s and 50s.

lol, wut?

 

[PittNeuro21]

Medicine is a calling, you just gotta suck it up or change your major to Business.

 

[Mr Avante]

you guys are probably right. Just gotta time manage better and hope for the best and do things you like even if it doesnt mean you will get 100 on the next exam

Enjoying life is when you can take your wife/gf to these places and realize that you can afford them:

 

[notbobtrustme]

for me it's

making relaitionships
going to places
having fun
working out
going to movies/restaurants
live like a normal person (?)

you can do most of those as a med student.

And be realistic, unless you land a damn good job, you aren't going to be doing most of that.

 

[chill3]

my friends who are doing other things like investment banking or working in tech companies are working 100+ hours/week. i feel like in any profession, you're going to have to work your butt off in your 20s

so true.

 

[Anathema]

I think the only thing worrying is finding a significant other during medical school of even after. I don't even know where you would look.

 

[chillaxbro]

Well for me personally, if I were not going into medicine, I would be going into research
I would probably be pursuing a PhD
In that case, I'd still be working my butt off 80 hours a week

 

[mcloaf]

for me it's

making relaitionships
going to places
having fun
working out
going to movies/restaurants
live like a normal person (?)

You can do all this **** as a medical student, though from what I hear your style is a bit more cramped third year.

I entered with a GF, so that's not a concern for me, but other than that I'm doing all the things you listed.

Medical school will only be a ****ty as you make it for yourself. I'm having a great time so far. Admittedly I'm typing this on a study break at 9PM on a Friday, but I could also have easily changed my schedule for the weekend and could be out drinking with classmates right now.

To be blunt, though, if you view learning medicine as a waste of your 20's then going to medical school would probably be a huge ****ing mistake.

 

[The Kraken]

Alternatives to medicine with a science degree: grad school, then maybe an industry job sub 6 figures with a good chunk of 20s gone.

Other alternative majors:
Business - making a name for yourself in a cubicle 9-5 five days a week. Sounds reallll not exciting.
Teaching - would be much more fulfilling, at 30-40k flat starting. Have fun with that post taxes/retirement/loans.
Professional program like engineering or nursing: best choice, especially petroleum and chemical eng, and CRNA. CRNA's are six figures with less schooling than physicians and graduate with less debt.

 

[pyrrion89]

Anyone else not care as much about doing ordinary things? I'm willing to make sacrifices if it means doing something extraordinary and positive with the one life I'm blessed to live.

 

[gyngyn]

My 20's were enriched by my medical training. I met great colleagues, learned things that most people never know and was honored to have patients who graciously allowed me to become a physician on their backs. We worked hard and played hard and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

[JJMrK]

for me it's

making relaitionships
going to places
having fun
working out
going to movies/restaurants
live like a normal person (?)

You can do all of this. I've realized during light rotations that I'm actually happiest when I'm working hard toward something worthwhile and playing hard during time off.

 

[RuralPhysician8]

I am still pretty early in the pre-med game, but the main thing driving me is my desire to be financially/occupationally secure, excitement, and to help end the suffering I see everyday.

I understand that you might feel a bit compressed, with the whole 4 years+4years+3-12 years=practice...I kind of feel that way too and am thinking of doing an SMP or a plain MS degree prior to med school... you can also just do a plain gap year if you want, but
You have to get the BS first.
Good luck.

 

[ciestar]

Why should you have to give up all of that?
If you really want to do medicine, you wouldn't consider the training a waste.

You should consider other options.

 

[BurberryDoc]

I wouldn't say I'm "wasting" my 20's, but there certainly is a lot that I am missing out on (disclaimer I am applying as a non-trad, so my late 20's will be as a med student if I am accepted this year) but my early twenties were spent saving up $$$$ so I could pay cash for a M.S. degree (managed to borrow ~1/3 less by paying $17,000 cash.) I have learned so much and met so many interesting people through graduate school, shadowing, volunteering, research - but I am very far away from my family, seldom have the money or time to visit them, I am single and am fully prepared for a mid-life crisis when I graduate medical school at 31.

With all that being said, I am able to finance a nice car, I can take scattered visits to interesting places, and fantasy football is a awesome. I live in New York so I've been surrounded by culture and so many interesting people and there is always something going on, even if my life may fall into a lull from time to time. So as much as I am "missing out" there is still a lot that I get to enjoy through this process.


Finally, in the end - if I can become a physician and pursue the field/s I want to, there is a lifetime of professional fulfillment ahead of me - so I'm okay sacrificing a decade of that to secure a happy and promising future for myself, as well as for my family.

 

[gonnamakeit13]

Please don't peruse medicine even if you have the slightest doubt in your mind.Its a long road of commitment and at the end the toughest survives.It can be fun only if you let it to be.However,if you go in with a negative attitude then this might not be the right field for u.

 

[mvenus929]

for me it's

making relaitionships
going to places
having fun
working out
going to movies/restaurants
live like a normal person (?)

You can do all that in medical school and as a resident, even as an attending. Though how exactly do you think a normal person lives? Most people in their 20s are working hard and maybe getting somewhere, or not working hard and not getting anywhere. At least on the medical school track, you're going towards a financially secure job at the end.

 

[jerseybae]

Simple. I don't think of it as "wasting my 20s." It's an experience that I am genuinely excited to pursue for its sake.

 

[KnuxNole]

You need to have balance. If you are studying 7 days a week with no breaks or putting aside time for fun stuff, you are doing it wrong.

 

[KnuxNole]

for me it's

making relaitionships
going to places
having fun
working out
going to movies/restaurants
live like a normal person (?)

All stuff you can do in med school and residency. Being in medicine doesn't mean you can never do these things.

 

[KnuxNole]

you can do most of those as a med student.

And be realistic, unless you land a damn good job, you aren't going to be doing most of that.

Oh and this too.

Remember, college grads in their 20s who work at Starbucks and American Eagle barely have enough money to "have fun" on the weekends anyway. Like others mentioned, the grass is always greener...

 

[The Buff OP]

I have it all figure out. I will become a "sugar daddy."

 

[BurberryDoc]

I have it all figure out. I will become a "sugar daddy."

I'm trying to find a sugar mamma. Who doesn't know that I am financially independent, but just really, REALLY frugal. Hahaha

 

[mcloaf]

Please don't peruse medicine even if you have the slightest doubt in your mind.Its a long road of commitment and at the end the toughest survives.It can be fun only if you let it to be.However,if you go in with a negative attitude then this might not be the right field for u.

Lol. Speaking from experience, of course.

 

[circulus vitios]

I can waste my 20s in school and apprenticing for an secure and respectable $200k/year+ career, or I can waste my 20s working some boring crap job for much less pay and security. Sounds like an easy choice.

 

[BeLikeBueller]

I don't think you are "wasting" your 20's, but you are going to have to give up a lot of extra-curricular, social activities. You can still do most of the stuff you talked about, but you just might not be able to do everything on a daily basis like people who aren't in med school. I think the biggest question for you is whether you want to do medicine for the money or for the fulfillment aspect of it. If you're doing it for the money, you probably won't like it, or so I have heard. And if you end up not liking your job, you'll probably feel like you did actually waste your twenties. So just make sure it's something you're actually going to enjoy and you're not just looking for a fat wallet and a certain social standing.

 

[BLACKMD]

I agree with the "it's a calling" response. Why do you want to study medicine? Usually the answer is some form of "help people". For me, helping people is more gratifying than drinking with sororities and going to the beach. Then again, I'm a non trad and spent my late teenage years and early 20s in Iraq. Best thing I've ever done.

 

[physicsnerd42]

I really don't understand this sentiment. I'm now 29 years old, about to finish my 8-year-long MD/PhD. Do I feel like I've wasted my 20s? No. I actually enjoyed med school, especially third and fourth year. My PhD was fun too. Was it a lot of work? Of course. But, it's also not like I put my entire life on hold. I got married. I've been on some great trips and amazing hikes. I made a lot of new friends and I get to hang out with those friends pretty often. I started running and did a couple of half marathons. I'm learning how to play the ukulele.

I have what I consider to be plenty of free time. I get to study something I love. Even though I'm not exactly making a fortune, I also have a pretty comfortable life.

So, yeah, you can graduate from college and go take that job selling insurance or doing accounting. You'll have more free time and more money (in the short run). You might also look back in ten years and regret not going to med school. Neither choice is sacrifice-free.

 

[BurberryDoc]

I really don't understand this sentiment. I'm now 29 years old, about to finish my 8-year-long MD/PhD. Do I feel like I've wasted my 20s? No. I actually enjoyed med school, especially third and fourth year. My PhD was fun too. Was it a lot of work? Of course. But, it's also not like I put my entire life on hold. I got married. I've been on some great trips and amazing hikes. I made a lot of new friends and I get to hang out with those friends pretty often. I started running and did a couple of half marathons. I'm learning how to play the ukulele.

I have what I consider to be plenty of free time. I get to study something I love. Even though I'm not exactly making a fortune, I also have a pretty comfortable life.

So, yeah, you can graduate from college and go take that job selling insurance or doing accounting. You'll have more free time and more money (in the short run). You might also look back in ten years and regret not going to med school. Neither choice is sacrifice-free.

Very different to the mainstream though - you are a medical student with a sizeable income and do not need to live stringently to minimize your loans...much prop, but your experience is far from what is typical for a 4 year MD student. What field is your PhD in btw? I am physiology grad at the moment...

 

[physicsnerd42]

Very different to the mainstream though - you are a medical student with a sizeable income and do not need to live stringently to minimize your loans...much prop, but your experience is far from what is typical for a 4 year MD student. What field is your PhD in btw? I am physiology grad at the moment...

My wife got an MD the old-fashioned (expensive) way, so I do have loans to worry about and I don't think either of us thinks we wasted our twenties.

Engineering (biomedical) PhD. Good luck with the rest of grad school!

 

[solitarius]

My 20's were enriched by my medical training. I met great colleagues, learned things that most people never know and was honored to have patients who graciously allowed me to become a physician on their backs. We worked hard and played hard and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Unfortunately, that is a foreign concept to most people on SDN.

To be fair, the premed process has beaten the fun out of most people during their formative years.

 

[BurberryDoc]

My wife got an MD the old-fashioned (expensive) way, so I do have loans to worry about and I don't think either of us thinks we wasted our twenties.

Engineering (biomedical) PhD. Good luck with the rest of grad school!

Thanks! These pluripotent stem-cells aren't going to induce themselves....OR WILL THEY #thesis

 

[flynndsx]

i feel like in any profession, you're going to have to work your butt off in your 20s

 

[WaterIsGood]

In my opinion, for the majority of Americans, there are two options;

1) Enjoy your life early (including the 20's) and pay for it later.
2) Work your a** of early and enjoy life later.

Medical students fall under option 2.

 

[Kinch]

from talking to med school students, it seems like they're having tons of fun in medical school. (at least in the first two years). my friends who are doing other things like investment banking or working in tech companies are working 100+ hours/week. i feel like in any profession, you're going to have to work your butt off in your 20s

Very true. I can appreciate this as a nontrad who is a little older than your average pre-med. My ambitious friends in the first few years of their careers in other fields are working as hard as those in medicine IMO. Of course, there are others putting in their 40 hours and making a decent buck, but really aren't heading anywhere too special. No thanks.

Also, I think the lifestyle of a student is pretty nice even when putting in big hours, at least you don't have to do it when and where somebody else tells you to the entire time.

 

[D2thaJay]

Because I know for a FACT that I want to be a physician. Besides I am sure i will have some time to go out and get a drink with friends when I start medical school next year!