Hello everyone,
Many months ago I posted a thread regarding my life events and failures the pushed me back to pursue medicine as a non traditional student. Well after working for 40k a year I thought I should perhaps consider going back to University of Louisiana at Lafayette to study biology as a pre-med. I work in the field of industrial automation as a PLC programmer and electronics technician. Since the market of oil has plunged I am paid much less, and I do not see the glorified life of the oil field ever returning to how it was a few years ago. Service companies like my family's have had to cut their prices by 25% and this lowers revenue substantially. Now, oil companies realize they can get the same service for much less, and this will make returning to normal prices difficult if you want to stay competent in the industry.
Anyways, enough of that. Back to medicine.
I am a very dedicated person and know that once I choose medicine and start my studies, there is no turning back for me. However, research is key. I have been researching the different medical specialties ( I know it is pointless because everyone clearly states that you cannot know what you really want to do until you are actually in medical school) and I have found that nearly everyone hates their lives for the most part. I am aware of the reform that causes doctors to do more, make less, and not have the respect they used to have.
As someone who constantly lives the middle class, financial stress life, I am aware that I personally do not want to live like this forever. Through a series of events these past few years, I have had to grow up quickly, and at 22 years old, I feel like I should have a house and kids with the amount of stress I endure. I handle it well, but why am I financially stressed all of the time and still have an engineer's stress level on a 40k salary.
Going back into medicine, I have 20k in student loans now. Hypothetically speaking, I may accumulate up to 80k total by the time I finish undergraduate studies. By the time I finish medical school (I'll give a worst case example) I will have 250k in student loans. Interest will accrue on these loans in residency, and let's say I specialize in general surgery. I will finish residency at 36 years old. My fiance is currently one year away from dental school so let's say she is a dentist by the time I am a year or so into medical school, will all of this be worth it in your eyes? Will the loans be that big of a deal if I were a general surgeon? I personally don't see why a debt such as that should be the actual reason someone doesn't pursue medicine. Maybe a factor, but not the reason.
Can any doctors or current med students give me some advice here? I work long and hard now. Sometimes waking up at 4 am to go offshore and return to work and arrive home at 6-8 pm, sometimes with no days off, and then repeat. I'd feel much better doing that if I knew I had a career as a physician awaiting me instead of the same grind every day. I know what it is like to work hard under stress. The work load doesn't bother me. I find purpose in medicine that I can't seem to gather anywhere else.
In advance, thank you all for your time.
Many months ago I posted a thread regarding my life events and failures the pushed me back to pursue medicine as a non traditional student. Well after working for 40k a year I thought I should perhaps consider going back to University of Louisiana at Lafayette to study biology as a pre-med. I work in the field of industrial automation as a PLC programmer and electronics technician. Since the market of oil has plunged I am paid much less, and I do not see the glorified life of the oil field ever returning to how it was a few years ago. Service companies like my family's have had to cut their prices by 25% and this lowers revenue substantially. Now, oil companies realize they can get the same service for much less, and this will make returning to normal prices difficult if you want to stay competent in the industry.
Anyways, enough of that. Back to medicine.
I am a very dedicated person and know that once I choose medicine and start my studies, there is no turning back for me. However, research is key. I have been researching the different medical specialties ( I know it is pointless because everyone clearly states that you cannot know what you really want to do until you are actually in medical school) and I have found that nearly everyone hates their lives for the most part. I am aware of the reform that causes doctors to do more, make less, and not have the respect they used to have.
As someone who constantly lives the middle class, financial stress life, I am aware that I personally do not want to live like this forever. Through a series of events these past few years, I have had to grow up quickly, and at 22 years old, I feel like I should have a house and kids with the amount of stress I endure. I handle it well, but why am I financially stressed all of the time and still have an engineer's stress level on a 40k salary.
Going back into medicine, I have 20k in student loans now. Hypothetically speaking, I may accumulate up to 80k total by the time I finish undergraduate studies. By the time I finish medical school (I'll give a worst case example) I will have 250k in student loans. Interest will accrue on these loans in residency, and let's say I specialize in general surgery. I will finish residency at 36 years old. My fiance is currently one year away from dental school so let's say she is a dentist by the time I am a year or so into medical school, will all of this be worth it in your eyes? Will the loans be that big of a deal if I were a general surgeon? I personally don't see why a debt such as that should be the actual reason someone doesn't pursue medicine. Maybe a factor, but not the reason.
Can any doctors or current med students give me some advice here? I work long and hard now. Sometimes waking up at 4 am to go offshore and return to work and arrive home at 6-8 pm, sometimes with no days off, and then repeat. I'd feel much better doing that if I knew I had a career as a physician awaiting me instead of the same grind every day. I know what it is like to work hard under stress. The work load doesn't bother me. I find purpose in medicine that I can't seem to gather anywhere else.
In advance, thank you all for your time.
