In-Coming Freshmen in need of advice

[Nite]

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Hi, I have recently graduated high school and plan to study microbiology at the university I am going to attend. There was a wonderful "medical" program at my high school which I was a part of. I can safely say that medicine is the thing that I most love to study, every lesson teaches me something new and I hardly encounter a subject that I find boring. My dream is to become a physician and take my studies to the highest level possible, perhaps a neuro surgeon. I would love to have the opportunity to use my knowledge to help people and to possibly save lives. I understand the path and the dedication that it takes to get there, however the main thing that is giving me second thought is that i have been researching the field, and it seems like physicians have almost no life outside their careers. Sorry if this offends someone but from some of the things I've read and watched, that certainly seems to be the case. I want to focus on my career but the prospect of working 24 hours and then going home, barely having enough time to sleep, frankly scares me. I also read and deduced that physicians have little family lives. I would like to ask this community if what I have read is true and what your suggestions would be.

Thanks in advance! 🙂

 

[da8s0859q]

What you have read is both true and untrue.

The fact of the matter is that some specialties -- radiology, anesthesiology, ophthalmology, emergency medicine, dermatology, some subspecialty fields, and part-time work in a variety of specialties -- tend to have working hours and schedules which are conducive to having a life outside of medicine. I am an emergency medicine doc in my first year of residency.

Similarly, there are other specialties -- neurosurgery, obstetrics/gynecology, general surgery, others -- which are traditionally much less forgiving.

Some -- outpatient internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, others -- can be molded into what you want them to be, especially if you're in the right working environment. I know FM docs who used to kill themselves pushing >60 hours a week even years after residency, others less, and still others who just put in two or three days a week and did the part-time thing in clinic.

Maybe some of the other senior med students, residents, and attendings who look at hSDN from time to time can chime in for you.

Oh, and you will eventually run into people who will condemn you for not being willing to kill yourself for your work as a physician, especially here on SDN. Ignore those people.

 

[Nite]

What you have read is both true and untrue.

The fact of the matter is that some specialties -- radiology, anesthesiology, ophthalmology, emergency medicine, dermatology, some subspecialty fields, and part-time work in a variety of specialties -- tend to have working hours and schedules which are conducive to having a life outside of medicine. I am an emergency medicine doc in my first year of residency.

Similarly, there are other specialties -- neurosurgery, obstetrics/gynecology, general surgery, others -- which are traditionally much less forgiving.

Some -- outpatient internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, others -- can be molded into what you want them to be, especially if you're in the right working environment. I know FM docs who used to kill themselves pushing >60 hours a week even years after residency, others less, and still others who just put in two or three days a week and did the part-time thing in clinic.

Maybe some of the other senior med students, residents, and attendings who look at hSDN from time to time can chime in for you.

Oh, and you will eventually run into people who will condemn you for not being willing to kill yourself for your work as a physician, especially here on SDN. Ignore those people.

Thanks for the good information!

It's not that I'm not willing to go all the way, I just think that there are other things in life that are important as well, not necessarily fun things.