In all honesty, what are the main reasons why you chose to pursue a career in medicine?

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ValPak00per

ValPak00per

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Looking for some varied answers.......
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Honestly, I kind of fooled myself into going into it. 2008 financial crisis is still fresh in my head, as well as the current nonsense about a BS/BA being equivalent to a high school degree 20 years ago. I wanted job security, not to be a millionaire. However, if I had to do it all over again, I would have listened closer to doctors who recommended against medicine. I also don't come from a rich family, and even my state school is awfully expensive.
 
Officer Farva said:
Honestly, I kind of fooled myself into going into it. 2008 financial crisis is still fresh in my head, as well as the current nonsense about a BS/BA being equivalent to a high school degree 20 years ago. I wanted job security, not to be a millionaire. However, if I had to do it all over again, I would have listened closer to doctors who recommended against medicine. I also don't come from a rich family, and even my state school is awfully expensive.
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No, it's even more worthless than that.
 
allantois said:
No, it's even more worthless than that.
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I applied to data science jobs at major corporations in the past. MS required, PhD preferred. Despite looking at the job description and seeing that the job is not more complex than what i am used to.
 
A combination of many things.

An interest in science and the human anatomy/physiology. I deeply enjoy learning, the lifetime of constant learning is not a negative for me.

An interest in communicating and building relationships with a wide diversity of patients/people. Socializing is fun. It's fun to have a job where you talk to other humans.

An interest in taking on a responsible role and making thoughtful decisions. A mentally stimulating and high pressure job means I won't get bored. Sounds fun.

An interest in helping others. Not just saving lives, but alleviating pain and enhancing the quality of lives for many. Having a job in which I have a positive contribution to society is important for me.
 
I was good at Physics, but not the best and the mathematics was getting to the point that I just wasn't enjoying it as much as I wanted to. My father told me that I should go to medical school to buy time to figure out what to do (like he did 30+ years ago). Happened to work out. Sometimes we get a little lucky.
 
mimelim said:
I was good at Physics, but not the best and the mathematics was getting to the point that I just wasn't enjoying it as much as I wanted to. My father told me that I should go to medical school to buy time to figure out what to do (like he did 30+ years ago). Happened to work out. Sometimes we get a little lucky.
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Thats a unique aspect of medicine. It heavily utilizes every area of study. You really wont feel left out regardless of what you did prior to entering medicine
 
mimelim said:
I was good at Physics, but not the best and the mathematics was getting to the point that I just wasn't enjoying it as much as I wanted to. My father told me that I should go to medical school to buy time to figure out what to do (like he did 30+ years ago). Happened to work out. Sometimes we get a little lucky.
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That's one of the real things that drew me to medicine- you get to do applied science, rather than the theoretical stuff, and you get to work with a good mix of biology, math, physics, and chemistry, but not to the level that you need to be a master of any of said fields. I'm good at integrating information, but not the best at being a master of one specific area of information- medicine really capitalizes on my ability to integrate disparate concepts. I'd never be a superstar PhD because breadth, not depth, is my thing.
 
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Because I'm a glutton for pain and for some reason I'm crazy enough to think I can blend my engineering skills with applied science and really improve patient outcomes. I'll see in about 15 yrs if it was worth it but hey gotta enjoy the ride one day at a time.
 
bananafish94 said:
Write your own essay 😉
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After watching an episode of ER when I was a kid, I knew I wanted to be a surgeon. I wanted to heal with my hands and perform miracles. My time studying the human body as a biology major left me too disconnected from the patient. I did not care about molecules and cells. I want to treat the whole patient. TLDR; medicine
 
I'm competitive, I love to learn, I love the subject matter, I want to have a meaningful career that makes a difference in the life of others, I want to be a role model for those in my family and community, I want job security and I want to challenge myself. There are many reason why I want to be a physician but simply put,..... I can't imagine being satisfied with any other profession.

This may sound really really really REALLY corny, but I honestly believe that doctoring is something I was born to do.
 
member000000000 said:
I'm competitive, I love to learn, I love the subject matter, I want to have a meaningful career that makes a difference in the life of others, I want to be a role model for those in my family and community, I want job security and I want to challenge myself. There are many reason why I want to be a physician but simply put,..... I can't imagine being satisfied with any other profession.

This may sound really really really REALLY corny, but I honestly believe that doctoring is something I was born to do.
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It's ok buddy, you can tell the truth. It's an anonymous forum 🙂
 
Officer Farva said:
I was recently accepted and I already have tons of financial regrets lol, strongly considering now taking a nice job as a software engineer.
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You are still not in medical school. You can still bail. Honestly doesn't sound like you're very excited about it
 
Lucca said:
You are still not in medical school. You can still bail. Honestly doesn't sound like you're very excited about it
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I might and open up an acceptance for someone 🙂. I have a few doctors in my family and they are truly miserable by all the nonsense. I would totally go to med school if they gave me a sizable scholarship, but the debt and uncertain salary in the future is making me hesitate. Not to mention, I never really fit in with the premed group in school and hung around my finance and pre-law friends. As of now, I am so happy I have a software engineering background.

I am kind of turned off by the "fakeness" in the field. People who preach compassion as if they are saints. The "high school class president" type of people who are in every med school class who go beyond the typical studying and research by being in 100 clubs. I want to be with normal people who value their work who are not special snowflakes.
 
Officer Farva said:
I was recently accepted and I already have tons of financial regrets lol, strongly considering now taking a nice job as a software engineer.
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Listen to your gut. I presume you haven't started med school yet, so you still have time to back out.

It will only get worst amidst the endless studying, political indoctrination, and professionalism and team work BS that is shoved down your throat in medical school...lol only half kidding...not really GTFO before it's too late
 
Officer Farva said:
I might and open up an acceptance for someone 🙂. I have a few doctors in my family and they are truly miserable by all the nonsense. I would totally go to med school if they gave me a sizable scholarship, but the debt and uncertain salary in the future is making me hesitate. Not to mention, I never really fit in with the premed group in school and hung around my finance and pre-law friends. As of now, I am so happy I have a software engineering background.

I am kind of turned off by the "fakeness" in the field. People who preach compassion as if they are saints. The "high school class president" type of people who are in every med school class who go beyond the typical studying and research by being in 100 clubs. I want to be with normal people who value their work who are not special snowflakes.
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I've met some of those people and sure some are not genuine but many of those people "who preach compassion" are genuine and they are extraordinary but not totally uncommon. I feel like if you don't feel you are one of those people or want to become like them, learn from them then there is no point in doing medicine.

Tbh your posts kind of remind me of @circulus vitios
 
TaroBubbleTea said:
Listen to your gut. I presume you haven't started med school yet, so you still have time to back out.

It will only get worst amidst the endless studying, political indoctrination, and professionalism and team work BS that is shoved down your throat in medical school...lol only half kidding...not really GTFO before it's too late
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haha I will listen to my gut! I still love the science behind medicine, and will only hold onto this acceptance if I can get a nice scholarship. Otherwise, I am happy in the job market.

Lucca said:
I've met some of those people and sure some are not genuine but many of those people "who preach compassion" are genuine and they are extraordinary but not totally uncommon. I feel like if you don't feel you are one of those people or want to become like them, learn from them then there is no point in doing medicine.

Tbh your posts kind of remind me of @circulus vitios
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I truly value people who are compassionate and I have enjoyed some volunteer work. But there is something kind of unsettling around people who always say how good they are. It is difficult to explain, but I would rather be around "honest" people who claim their goals in life are to provide for themselves to the best of their abilities (I am kind of suspicious of Mother Theresa types, especially after they destroyed my orgo experiment haha).

And also, I guess a lot of my feelings stem from being a reapplicant, although I was successful. It gave me the time to really evaluate what i want out of life.
 
Officer Farva said:
haha I will listen to my gut! I still love the science behind medicine, and will only hold onto this acceptance if I can get a nice scholarship. Otherwise, I am happy in the job market.


I truly value people who are compassionate and I have enjoyed some volunteer work. But there is something kind of unsettling around people who always say how good they are. It is difficult to explain, but I would rather be around "honest" people who claim their goals in life are to provide for themselves to the best of their abilities (I am kind of suspicious of Mother Theresa types, especially after they destroyed my orgo experiment haha).
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You would love patients then. It's what most of them want
 
Officer Farva said:
And also, I guess a lot of my feelings stem from being a reapplicant, although I was successful. It gave me the time to really evaluate what i want out of life.
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I feel this sentiment is the result of having time in between before medical school. Ever since I was little, I've wanted to be a doctor. I am sure that I would not have had so many thoughts about not wanting to be a doctor had I gone straight into medical school. It's a stupid thought and one that only drags you away from spending time wisely. The only reason I thought about not wanting to be doctor in my gap year is because I was creating this idealistic situation where I could get a PhD instead and automatically become some big shot. This allusion only exists up till the point you are in your twenties...after that everyone's reality sinks in and whether we end up being doctors/scientists/barrista we all deal with the same family shmucks that make our lives to some extent equal. So just do whatever you want to do when you have the time, after that we all will be worrying about the same things like kids, family, retirement.
 
Officer Farva said:
haha I will listen to my gut! I still love the science behind medicine, and will only hold onto this acceptance if I can get a nice scholarship. Otherwise, I am happy in the job market.
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You're still in the post-acceptance honeymoon phase too! If you aren't super excited now it's only going to get worse. Good on you for picking a major that's extremely relevant in the current job market though!
 
JustAPhD said:
You're still in the post-acceptance honeymoon phase too! If you aren't super excited now it's only going to get worse. Good on you for picking a major that's extremely relevant in the current job market though!
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I came to the conclusion that my only goals in life were to pay the rent, have great friends, and have a family. I am not so gung-ho about anything, but I do love science and I love computation. In the words of fight club:
"you are not your job, you're not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet."
 
I had a big save as a life guard in high school and knew that I enjoyed studying science and interacting with people. As I began to learn more upper level sciences and interacting with patients at my current clinical job, I knew that I wanted to use my training to make seemingly complicated situations more understandable to patients while also helping to alleviate their conditions.
 
The reason will vary from person to person, but a primary the reason why medicine was always in the back of my mind was related to the "integrator" mindset that many people above have mentioned here. I love applying theories to specific situations and seeing where they work.

A lot of interesting discussions about compassion and service here and what it means. I think that I likely would have chosen a different profession if I couldn't relate to that core of medicine--to help a person with his/her needs in the best way possible, even when it seems the odds are stacked.

I'm sure once I'm in the system, reality will hit me hard, but from experience I know that seeing work as a service first is something I can stand. Having really good mentors helped to cement that view too.
 
amazing tekkers said:
I would've done CSCI if I was a freshman again 🤔
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Never too late. A certain amount of my CS classes were filled with non-degree students (postbacs) who were looking to gain skills for a career change. You don't necessarily need a CS degree to get one of these jobs, just a skillset. I have seen history majors and chemistry majors get jobs because they can code. However, if you want to get a bigger and better job, I highly recommend a MS/PhD.
 
Officer Farva said:
I was recently accepted and I already have tons of financial regrets lol, strongly considering now taking a nice job as a software engineer.
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Going through the same thing. Gonna have $500K by the time I finish residency, which is disgusting. I was really excited after being accepted, but that excitement is waning. So many doctors are miserable and they don't even have half the debt I will have
 
Mansamusa said:
Going through the same thing. Gonna have $500K by the time I finish residency, which is disgusting. I was really excited after being accepted, but that excitement is waning. So many doctors are miserable and they don't even have half the debt I will have
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I feel like in premed/medicine, there is a lot of pressure to make it so you are not one of the people who "didn't make it". I have had reservations for a while about cost and money, but I wanted to be one of these people who made it due to psychological pressure, which is why I pushed through with a second application cycle at age 22 and got accepted the second time around. Part of me did not want to be one of those guys who didn't make it, like the guy with Cs in gen chem and bio who left to study something else, or the person who flunked the MCAT and decided to study something else. Some premeds in my class viewed people like that as quitters, so i guess I felt pressure to perform. However, the people who left premed were all extremely bright in their own way. Some went the wall street route, others went the engineering route, etc.

Not to sound like a hippy, but never compare yourself to other people and listen to your heart. My heart says debt is bad lol. Most importantly, you are not a quitter for wanting to do something else in your life, you are a thinker.
 
Officer Farva said:
I feel like in premed/medicine, there is a lot of pressure to make it so you are not one of the people who "didn't make it". I have had reservations for a while about cost and money, but I wanted to be one of these people who made it due to psychological pressure, which is why I pushed through with a second application cycle at age 22 and got accepted the second time around. Part of me did not want to be one of those guys who didn't make it, like the guy with Cs in gen chem and bio who left to study something else, or the person who flunked the MCAT and decided to study something else. Some premeds in my class viewed people like that as quitters, so i guess I felt pressure to perform. However, the people who left premed were all extremely bright in their own way. Some went the wall street route, others went the engineering route, etc.

Not to sound like a hippy, but never compare yourself to other people and listen to your heart. My heart says debt is bad lol. Most importantly, you are not a quitter for wanting to do something else in your life, you are a thinker.
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Yeah, the problem is that I cant really see myself doing anything else at this point- like if it were an option I would go to a med school in a different country and practice there for the rest of my life rather than do a non-physician job in the US. I just can't believe that if I pay 10% of my pre-tax income towards my loans each month (assuming a $250K salary), I won't even be paying off the interest that's accruing. Its hard to wrap my brain around how crappy this system is and to really get myself to accept what a bad idea this may be
 
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Job stability, great rewards (in terms of serving others), has the "science" I'm looking for.

Also, being the oldest in my "clan", it was kind of an expectation that I would go into medicine. I'll be the first in the 5th generation of a legacy of physicians.
 
Officer Farva said:
I came to the conclusion that my only goals in life were to pay the rent, have great friends, and have a family. I am not so gung-ho about anything, but I do love science and I love computation. In the words of fight club:
"you are not your job, you're not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet."
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oh dear, here we go. Man, if you really are contesting the value of an MD, I say do computer. Medicine is not a 4 year bachelors where you get to dip here and there to settle your mental health. At the end of the day, I see you using family experience as a push for medicine and your love of sciences. Two points that are not really helpful in identifying you specifically as wanting to be a physician. You need to decide fast; maybe in your instance, I'd defer for a year and grab a job. This will really affirm which field you should go into. I am not a good supporter for gap years but in your case, this should straighten things out immensely.
 
Petrichor1 said:
oh dear, here we go. Man, if you really are contesting the value of an MD, I say do computer. Medicine is not a 4 year bachelors where you get to dip here and there to settle your mental health. At the end of the day, I see you using family experience as a push for medicine and your love of sciences. Two points that are not really helpful in identifying you specifically as wanting to be a physician. You need to decide fast; maybe in your instance, I'd defer for a year and grab a job. This will really affirm which field you should go into. I am not a good supporter for gap years but in your case, this should straighten things out immensely.
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Having applied twice, I have had plenty of time to consider my career and know this is the right choice, unless I can get a full ride at my one acceptance, however that is quite unlikely as your average dude.
 
Officer Farva said:
Having applied twice, I have had plenty of time to consider my career and know this is the right choice, unless I can get a full ride at my one acceptance, however that is quite unlikely as your average dude.
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I hear yah, debt is a crippling pain and to add to the pressure, you won't really be netting a good salary until your 30s...I hope my poor partner can work around that pain and then my constant absence.
 
@Petrichor1 Would med schools be down with deferring an acceptance for a year to work? I was under the impression that you generally need a very compelling reason to defer.
 
It's the best out of a bad situation.
 
Officer Farva said:
I am kind of turned off by the "fakeness" in the field. People who preach compassion as if they are saints. The "high school class president" type of people who are in every med school class who go beyond the typical studying and research by being in 100 clubs. I want to be with normal people who value their work who are not special snowflakes.
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I feel that. A lot of unappealing and boring personalities in the field.
 
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