If You Could Do it Again

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iish

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For the more experienced folks on here, if you could do it all over, would you still go into EM? Would you chose another specialty? Would you elect not to go into medicine at all?
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The best and most honest answer to your question is that I'm not planning on switching careers.

I remember in college, when students would say that the Chem 101-102 track was better than the Chem 104-105 track, or that Physics 201-202 was actually harder than Physics 202-203 track, I would wonder, "If you haven't done both (and noone did both), then how do you know?"

I've never been an engineer, an obstetrician or a garbage man. How do I know if I'd like those more or less than EM? I don't.

That all being said. Medicine isn't the goldmine that a lot of premeds think it is. If you're looking to make money, there are a heck of a lot of easier ways to do it.
 
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Let me rephrase, do you ever regret your choice of career to the point you wish you did something else?
 
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There are plenty of frustrating parts of my job, but there is no other specialty that I would ever choose.
 
WilcoWorld said:
That all being said. Medicine isn't the goldmine that a lot of premeds think it is. If you're looking to make money, there are a heck of a lot of easier ways to do it.
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Easier yes, but nowhere near as safely guaranteed.

Even the most lowly FM grad or path monkey will pull more than 100k. No other profession has this guarantee of financial safety.
 
What do you mean "Even the most lowly FM grad or path monkey will pull more than 100k"?
 
I have no regrets about choosing emergency medicine. I love my job but then again, I'd spend 3rd year of med school hanging around the ED.

You have to do what you love
 
iish said:
What do you mean "Even the most lowly FM grad or path monkey will pull more than 100k"?
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Substance is making a generalization about FM and Path. Both fields are not very competitive, that doesn't mean that superstars don't enter those fields because they do, but on average the board scores are lower for those fields. The truth is some people will match into those fields that barely passed their board's, hence the term "lowly".

Doesn't mean that they are bad fields or that people that go into them are bad docs, its just a generalization about the competitiveness of the specialties.

What he/she is saying is true, no matter what field you go into (even the least competitive) if you work full time you're virtually guaranteed to make at least 100K if not significantly more.
 
iish said:
What do you mean "Even the most lowly FM grad or path monkey will pull more than 100k"?
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It means that your biggest hurdle is getting in. Once in medical school, you could be a complete ***** and still land a residency in something(the two fields I illustrated are the least competitive, and therefore have the lowest standards for entry). As long as you don't do something "unprofessional", you'll graduate with an MD.
 
My wife is a Petroleum/Chemical Engineer with a large oil company; shes been out of college 8 years. Her career has been held back by children and me as well. Regardless, she does very well; she makes a third of what I do, which still translates into a great income. Its 8-5 5 days a week technically, but she works from home so we change it up a bit. Plus she has full benefits and retirement. I think its unlikely she could obtain equivalent income to me; possible in 20-25 years in an upper management position, but those are few and far between and far from a guarantee. Such positions have MUCH stress, I would argue more than a physician job.

I think for a non physician job, she has a very doable career for a go getter/intelligent person and her career would likely be obtainable to anyone who becomes an MD.

With that said, I would not change what I have done. I technically put in less hours and make three times+ as much money. I obviously work harder physically at work; she may sit on a 3 hour conference call. There are parts of my job that sucks, but there are parts that are extremely rewarding. My wife could probably easily work full time to 70 years old, I probably couldn't.
 
Take answers to this question with a grain of salt. You don't get to live life over with the knowledge you learned from the future.

You can sit and ponder over what you "would have done if you could do it over," but that's meaningless. You do what seems right at the time and find out what it's really like. There's no way of knowing if you had done what you regret not doing, whether that would have been as perfect as you're dreaming it would have been.

I could sit here and tell you if I had to do it over I would...ah, let's see...... "do Derm" or be a guitar player in a rock band. But do I know Derm would not have bored me? Can I be sure I wouldn't have been driven crazy by paparazzi if I was in a band that made it big?

Could I be sure, if I gave up my dream to be an Emergency Physician that I wouldn't have sat and pondered, "Maybe life would've been better if I had done EM"?

I don't regret choosing EM for a second. I also don't regret leaving to do something that allows me to have a normal life. I wouldn't appreciate what I do now, if I hadn't gone down another road first. My years in the pit made me who I am. I will say, however, that EM is definitely not for wimps.

Go for your dreams despite the fear and uncertainty and have no regrets. Change course if needed, and take what you've learned and grow. No path will be perfect. Each one is meant to be, and has its purpose.
 
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Birdstrike said:
Take answers to this question with a grain of salt. You don't get to live life over with the knowledge you learned from the future.

You can sit and ponder over what you "would have done if you could do it over," but that's meaningless. You do what seems right at the time and find out what it's really like. There's no way of knowing if you had done what you regret not doing, whether that would have been as perfect as you're dreaming it would have been.

I could sit here and tell you if I had to do it over I would...ah, let's see...... "do Derm" or be a guitar player in a rock band. But do I know Derm would not have bored me? Can I be sure I wouldn't have been driven crazy by paparazzi if I was in a band that made it big?

Could I be sure, if I gave up my dream to be an Emergency Physician that I wouldn't have sat and pondered, "Maybe life would've been better if I had done EM"?

I don't regret choosing EM for a second. I also don't regret leaving to do something that allows me to have a normal life. I wouldn't appreciate what I do now, if I hadn't gone down another road first. My years in the pit made me who I am. I will say, however, that EM is definitely not for wimps.

Go for your dreams despite the fear and uncertainty and have no regrets. Change course if needed, and take what you've learned and grow. No path will be perfect. Each one is meant to be, and has its purpose.
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From one of my favorite books of all time, Hagakure:

There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything.
 
WilcoWorld said:
From one of my favorite books of all time, Hagakure:

There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything.
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Thank you.
 
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Birdstrike said:
Take answers to this question with a grain of salt. You don't get to live life over with the knowledge you learned from the future.

You can sit and ponder over what you "would have done if you could do it over," but that's meaningless. You do what seems right at the time and find out what it's really like. There's no way of knowing if you had done what you regret not doing, whether that would have been as perfect as you're dreaming it would have been.

I could sit here and tell you if I had to do it over I would...ah, let's see...... "do Derm" or be a guitar player in a rock band. But do I know Derm would not have bored me? Can I be sure I wouldn't have been driven crazy by paparazzi if I was in a band that made it big?

Could I be sure, if I gave up my dream to be an Emergency Physician that I wouldn't have sat and pondered, "Maybe life would've been better if I had done EM"?

I don't regret choosing EM for a second. I also don't regret leaving to do something that allows me to have a normal life. I wouldn't appreciate what I do now, if I hadn't gone down another road first. My years in the pit made me who I am. I will say, however, that EM is definitely not for wimps.

Go for your dreams despite the fear and uncertainty and have no regrets. Change course if needed, and take what you've learned and grow. No path will be perfect. Each one is meant to be, and has its purpose.
Click to expand...

Birdstrike,
What are you doing now?
 
exi said:
How about now, and now, and now? Inquiring minds want to know.
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What I'm doing right now would definitely gross you out. You'd rather not know, trust me.
 
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