Hey guys, this is going to be my last post on this forum.
I started med school at 26 with a few years of background in public health, which I liked, but it felt like my life was a chase for grants all day, and also it paid like 35k, and I really liked clinical medicine and loved the patients really the most, which I still do love them.
I was an interpreter for awhile, did some classes, and got into a fancy med school.
I finished med school, and it was pretty hard, but overall uneventful. I had gotten married, had babies, and most of my med school friends are PGY3, PGY2 now. I had met a lot of people in medicine, and now have a lot of doctor mommy friends as well, mostly attendings. We are personal friends, we are having playdates and having dinner, so we make fun of the hospital or the job. I am in the brotherhood.
I feel like on this forum, not a lot of people who had gone through medical school ever comment, we are on residency application forums trying to hustle our own stuff. But it seems like if anyone ever say, med school is not super worth it for a lot of people, you will get serious bash on here.
There was resident suicide, who leapt from my apartment building - Someone here said "oh, they are just mentally ill".
There was a medical student suicide - Someone here said "oh, they are just mentally ill".
I have friends who dropped out because they had small children, and had a lucrative job to go back to, so it just ended up not being worth the pain in the ass. He is super happy now - Someone here said "oh, they were in in for the money to begin with" (this is towards me as well)
I have met other older doctors who started med school at 40+ and said they woudln't do it again - What's your comeback? That they didn't think clearly? They were not old enough? They had some personality issue?
I had friends who got kicked out of med school, and you know what? They love their life, and it is pretty fantastic. I was talking to a particular friend the other day, she felt it was terrible at the time, but no she feels she dodged a bullet. -- What do you say to her? Accusing her of not thinking clearly?
I had friends who are attendings who quit because they had small children. One particular one where being an obgyn is just too hard with small children, what would you say to them? - That they obviously can't hack it. .. Sorry, but she hacked it. She graduated from one of the busiest residency in OBGYN in the country, and you are a premed?
I see a psych attending from time to time to talk, and she told me it is pretty common, and maybe 50% of every medical school class has a psychiatrist that the school provides
I don't know what to say, we all went through med school. Some didn't think it was worth it to stay in clinical medicine for a variety of reason, some felt maybe they wouldn't have done it again. I don't understand why this is so hard to hear for premeds, for nontraditional premeds in their 30's, 40's, who are suppose to be old, and wise, and tolerant, who are choosing a different path themselves?
People keep trying to say, it is "those" people who doesn't love medicine anymore, but it is not "me", but the thing is "those people" all loved medicine at some point in their lives. They did med school, most of them finished residency. I had known some of them for many many years now. My obgyn friend I had known since high school, she had put her baby in daycare at 3 months to go back to work, but she just didn't want to do that anymore after awhile. I had seen the change in them through the slog. But "those people" had gone through it, and they now feel differently. They all still love medicine, we all do, nobody went to med school to become an i-banker, but sometimes the other stuff become more important. A lot of my friends are totally burnt out in residency, but they still really like patients (most of them), but they are bored, they are irritated, they are tired. It is a good job and you can mold it to your liking in some way once you are done, but the kind of hate I get, for merely stating that I feel clinical medicine is possibly not worth it for me personally with small children was, well, saddening. I got called, miserable, depressed, money grabbing, etc. It is a bit, ironic, in that when we have dinner together, the mommy MDs, everyone understands the struggle, and nobody blames you if you say this is really tough, I can't do it. They encourage you, and lift you up. Yet the premeds on here, cannot stand it. Most of this kind of talk doesn't go beyond our playdates, nobody want to be a downer, so maybe you haven't heard this kind of talk, but it is there.
In the end, I would say, I did apply for residency this cycle because I really do love patients, and I have a very supportive husband and inlaws and parents. Med school was a really good experience beyond the medical education part even, so even if I do seek beyond clinical medicine in the future, it would have been a really experience. When I was 26, I was a single girl, only slightly older than most, but the calculation might not be the same for you, if you have kids, mortgage, a good job, a good life, a husband or wife that doesn't want to deal with this stuff..
I started med school at 26 with a few years of background in public health, which I liked, but it felt like my life was a chase for grants all day, and also it paid like 35k, and I really liked clinical medicine and loved the patients really the most, which I still do love them.
I was an interpreter for awhile, did some classes, and got into a fancy med school.
I finished med school, and it was pretty hard, but overall uneventful. I had gotten married, had babies, and most of my med school friends are PGY3, PGY2 now. I had met a lot of people in medicine, and now have a lot of doctor mommy friends as well, mostly attendings. We are personal friends, we are having playdates and having dinner, so we make fun of the hospital or the job. I am in the brotherhood.
I feel like on this forum, not a lot of people who had gone through medical school ever comment, we are on residency application forums trying to hustle our own stuff. But it seems like if anyone ever say, med school is not super worth it for a lot of people, you will get serious bash on here.
There was resident suicide, who leapt from my apartment building - Someone here said "oh, they are just mentally ill".
There was a medical student suicide - Someone here said "oh, they are just mentally ill".
I have friends who dropped out because they had small children, and had a lucrative job to go back to, so it just ended up not being worth the pain in the ass. He is super happy now - Someone here said "oh, they were in in for the money to begin with" (this is towards me as well)
I have met other older doctors who started med school at 40+ and said they woudln't do it again - What's your comeback? That they didn't think clearly? They were not old enough? They had some personality issue?
I had friends who got kicked out of med school, and you know what? They love their life, and it is pretty fantastic. I was talking to a particular friend the other day, she felt it was terrible at the time, but no she feels she dodged a bullet. -- What do you say to her? Accusing her of not thinking clearly?
I had friends who are attendings who quit because they had small children. One particular one where being an obgyn is just too hard with small children, what would you say to them? - That they obviously can't hack it. .. Sorry, but she hacked it. She graduated from one of the busiest residency in OBGYN in the country, and you are a premed?
I see a psych attending from time to time to talk, and she told me it is pretty common, and maybe 50% of every medical school class has a psychiatrist that the school provides
I don't know what to say, we all went through med school. Some didn't think it was worth it to stay in clinical medicine for a variety of reason, some felt maybe they wouldn't have done it again. I don't understand why this is so hard to hear for premeds, for nontraditional premeds in their 30's, 40's, who are suppose to be old, and wise, and tolerant, who are choosing a different path themselves?
People keep trying to say, it is "those" people who doesn't love medicine anymore, but it is not "me", but the thing is "those people" all loved medicine at some point in their lives. They did med school, most of them finished residency. I had known some of them for many many years now. My obgyn friend I had known since high school, she had put her baby in daycare at 3 months to go back to work, but she just didn't want to do that anymore after awhile. I had seen the change in them through the slog. But "those people" had gone through it, and they now feel differently. They all still love medicine, we all do, nobody went to med school to become an i-banker, but sometimes the other stuff become more important. A lot of my friends are totally burnt out in residency, but they still really like patients (most of them), but they are bored, they are irritated, they are tired. It is a good job and you can mold it to your liking in some way once you are done, but the kind of hate I get, for merely stating that I feel clinical medicine is possibly not worth it for me personally with small children was, well, saddening. I got called, miserable, depressed, money grabbing, etc. It is a bit, ironic, in that when we have dinner together, the mommy MDs, everyone understands the struggle, and nobody blames you if you say this is really tough, I can't do it. They encourage you, and lift you up. Yet the premeds on here, cannot stand it. Most of this kind of talk doesn't go beyond our playdates, nobody want to be a downer, so maybe you haven't heard this kind of talk, but it is there.
In the end, I would say, I did apply for residency this cycle because I really do love patients, and I have a very supportive husband and inlaws and parents. Med school was a really good experience beyond the medical education part even, so even if I do seek beyond clinical medicine in the future, it would have been a really experience. When I was 26, I was a single girl, only slightly older than most, but the calculation might not be the same for you, if you have kids, mortgage, a good job, a good life, a husband or wife that doesn't want to deal with this stuff..
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