Is being a doctor really that cool?

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C. Ronaldo

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Hello. I would like to be a doctor. But I am also caught in two minds on whether I would like to be a doctor or an Electrical Engineer. I know they both are two very different jobs. Being a doctor seems really cool because of the prestige and and the way you get to understand all of the human body. It would also give me a kick to make someone feel better or save someones life. But Engineering is also cool because you get to build cool stuff. I am worried that the huge stress of being a doctor will take away all the enjoyment out of the career? Anyone got anything to say ?
 
C. Ronaldo said:
Hello. I would like to be a doctor. But I am also caught in two minds on whether I would like to be a doctor or an Electrical Engineer. I know they both are two very different jobs. Being a doctor seems really cool because of the prestige and and the way you get to understand all of the human body. It would also give me a kick to make someone feel better or save someones life. But Engineering is also cool because you get to build cool stuff. I am worried that the huge stress of being a doctor will take away all the enjoyment out of the career? Anyone got anything to say ?

no being a doctor isn't that cool. for the most part, it sucks. you rarely save lives, plus many of your patients will die regardless of what you do. engineering doesn't pay quite as well, but it's a more interesting job, you'll use your brain more, and it looks like there'll be jobs for engineers for many years to come. plus you can always get an mba and work in a management capacity for a tech company -- way cooler than being a physician. good luck.
 
doc05 said:
no being a doctor isn't that cool. for the most part, it sucks. you rarely save lives, plus many of your patients will die regardless of what you do. engineering doesn't pay quite as well, but it's a more interesting job, you'll use your brain more, and it looks like there'll be jobs for engineers for many years to come. plus you can always get an mba and work in a management capacity for a tech company -- way cooler than being a physician. good luck.


ALL of you patients will die regardless of what you do . . . eventually.
 
for the most part, it sucks. you rarely save lives, plus many of your patients will die regardless of what you do.
I have to agree with you there. My dad is currently being treated for stage 4 lung cancer in MD anderson. apparently some of the best lung cancer doctors are working with him, i dont want to mention names but they are easy to find out. so far everything they have done hasnt worked. in fact the extensive chemo therapy has done more harm than good, as he has had to have fluid drained from his heart and his lung as a result of the chemo. he would have been better off if he hadnt gone in. ah well, we didnt know that before hand. out of all the doctors we have seen i have been impressed with only 2, a russian doc and a german doc. actually i just checked - one got his degree in romania, the other buenos aires (he just has a german last name). we have seen probably about 15 since he was diagnosed last august.
 
in the end, it's all about finding what you will enjoy the most (or hate the least). to get a better handle on this, go find a doc and follow him or her around all day in the clinic, ER, OR, ICU, whatever. do this a few times with a few different types of docs and ask them all the questions you can think of. then go follow an ee around at a company you think you may enjoy working for and repeat. this is what i did, as i was also interested in ee and medicine my freshman year of college. i soon discovered that ee and the engineering profession in general were not what i thought they were. on the other hand--to make a long story short--medicine just seemed to fit. thanks to those shadowing experiences, i got a better sense of what the profession was about and i realized that this was what i wanted to devote my life to. there were a lot of other reasons that tipped me to go this route and they vary for everyone. you will need to figure these reasons out for yourself. imo, shadowing, while not perfect, is the best way to gauge interest and understand what you're going into. hope this helps and good luck.

C. Ronaldo said:
Hello. I would like to be a doctor. But I am also caught in two minds on whether I would like to be a doctor or an Electrical Engineer. I know they both are two very different jobs. Being a doctor seems really cool because of the prestige and and the way you get to understand all of the human body. It would also give me a kick to make someone feel better or save someones life. But Engineering is also cool because you get to build cool stuff. I am worried that the huge stress of being a doctor will take away all the enjoyment out of the career? Anyone got anything to say ?
 
doc05 said:
no being a doctor isn't that cool. for the most part, it sucks. you rarely save lives, plus many of your patients will die regardless of what you do. engineering doesn't pay quite as well, but it's a more interesting job, you'll use your brain more, and it looks like there'll be jobs for engineers for many years to come. plus you can always get an mba and work in a management capacity for a tech company -- way cooler than being a physician. good luck.


I wonder why people on this website are so negative about being a doctor. I assume you are here because you are a premed or a med student, then why are you pursuing medicine if you think being a doctor "sucks"?

I constantly meet these annoying premeds who complain about how difficult it is to be a doctor, then DO NOT become a doctor.

I believe the real reason for all these negative talk is that you want to discourage other people from becoming a doctor. I met so many doctors who constantly complain how terrible their jobs are, and I say well you should quit then. Why are you lecturing me about my life?

Back to the OP's question, yes being a doctor is not easy, and there are a lot of lawsuits and all, but it is truly a great job, it pays well, a great job security, and you get to help people. You should definitely try volunteering to see if it is right for you.
 
I just have to say I love the title of your post. I've been in a foulish mood all morning and this just made me smile. 🙂
I suppose what the more important question is is being a doc really that cool for you? Do you think it is something you yourself would enjoy doing. Independent of the prestige (which I think has been declining in recent years, and is not that much in certain specialties anyway) and the money, do you think you'd like doing the work a doctor does? My advice, do some shadowing and some volunteering and then you should be able to decide if it's really for you. Also, consider the amount of time you will be in school and residency along with your goals in terms of a family and social life. Do you want to get married when you're 25, or are you okay waiting till you are 35? Do you want to have kids when you're in your 20s or 30s or maybe even 40s?
 
doc05 said:
no being a doctor isn't that cool. for the most part, it sucks. you rarely save lives, plus many of your patients will die regardless of what you do. engineering doesn't pay quite as well, but it's a more interesting job, you'll use your brain more, and it looks like there'll be jobs for engineers for many years to come. plus you can always get an mba and work in a management capacity for a tech company -- way cooler than being a physician. good luck.


This all seems to be a matter of opinion. I'm an engineer transferring over to the medical field. From my experiences working in both fields, I'd say that medicine is a lot more interesting. But maybe that's because of my personality, etc.

If you became a surgeon, you could save lives quite often.

You should just go for what interests you most - that's where you will be happiest.
 
I have a lot of engineers in my mba program, can't say the same about dr's. I think long term is how you need to think. It seems like engineers get tired of doing their work, get their mba to get into management or even investment banking. Some types of engineers can get their mba and maybe get into Venture Capital and make tons of money!!!!
 
C. Ronaldo said:
I have to agree with you there. My dad is currently being treated for stage 4 lung cancer in MD anderson. apparently some of the best lung cancer doctors are working with him, i dont want to mention names but they are easy to find out. so far everything they have done hasnt worked. in fact the extensive chemo therapy has done more harm than good, as he has had to have fluid drained from his heart and his lung as a result of the chemo. he would have been better off if he hadnt gone in. ah well, we didnt know that before hand. out of all the doctors we have seen i have been impressed with only 2, a russian doc and a german doc. actually i just checked - one got his degree in romania, the other buenos aires (he just has a german last name). we have seen probably about 15 since he was diagnosed last august.


Well I hope you guys find your miracle. It can happen- my mom was given all of 4 months to live 4 years ago because of brain cancer that had spread from her breast. Two operations, several radiation treatments, and a life-long sentence of chemotherapy--- she is still alive. Certainly her quality of life is not the best, but it would be much worse without her docs.
 
ummm Do what makes you happy. This is never easy - so if you are considering medicine, volunteer or shadow as mentioned.

I know now, working with sick people is where I need to be.

It's not whether it's cool or not, just if you love doing it - most of the time. Everyone has hard days, and engineering crap days may be better than MD crap days; again, the selection is up to you.
 
Who says that saving lives is the best part about being a doctor anyway? I mean, lots of doctors never directly save patients' lives, but still make a huge difference in their patients' lives and in their communities. Another cool thing about being a doctor is if you like to be challenged, it's always part of the field, you constantly get to learn new things. Personally, I think the absolute worst thing I can imagine about a job is the boredom factor. But the thing is, if you personally don't think it's that cool of a job, I'd say do something else, because the pre-med/med process is terrible if you don't enjoy at least some of the actual process.
 
Another cool thing about being a doctor is if you like to be challenged, it's always part of the field, you constantly get to learn new things.

I have to admit one of the main reasons I am attracted to medicine is the fact that I know absolutely about Biology and the human body. It seems very mysterious and attractive to me. I have grown up being a math/computer person so Engineering seemed like a natural choice. But after reading a book about what Ebola can do to the body, it seemed very interesting thing to learn how different diseases take their toll on the human body and how to stop them. It is a book most people have read on here no doubt - "The Hot Zone".
 
Doctors are the "rock stars" of the medical field. So I guess they are cool.
 
C. Ronaldo said:
I have to admit one of the main reasons I am attracted to medicine is the fact that I know absolutely about Biology and the human body. It seems very mysterious and attractive to me. I have grown up being a math/computer person so Engineering seemed like a natural choice. But after reading a book about what Ebola can do to the body, it seemed very interesting thing to learn how different diseases take their toll on the human body and how to stop them. It is a book most people have read on here no doubt - "The Hot Zone".

"The Hot Zone" is a really good book--I agree.
 
doc05 said:
and it looks like there'll be jobs for engineers for many years to come.

Yeah, most people dont mention this, but, jobs for physicians are going to be gone in years to come.
 
im getting my electrical & computer engineering degree this may and then im off the medschool...

you DO NOT want to become an electrical engineer... its just too boring... sitting in front of a monitor or protoboard the entire day. trust me, medicine is more interesting (perhaps not during the first 2 yrs of medschool though)

oh, and the job market for EEs is terrible. several ppl i know who are graduating arent able to get decent jobs.
 
It's your choice on what career you'll chose. If you have an intrest in both, then I suggest you getting an internship, or doing futher research on both fields. Both careers are demanding of your time. I have always wanted to pursue a degree which would put me on the path to medical-school. I am currently a Science major, and also I began hospital rotations (4 months ago) with a cardiologist (just to observe the patient-doctor interaction), and I love it.

Try shadowing a physician at your local hospital over the summer (unless you plan to attend summer classes). Being a physician is not a matter of cool/un-cool, it's about having an intrest in health care, the classes for premed are not at all cool (unless you love science/math), which I do so I know it's a perfect fit for me.

Good Luck!
😉
 
C. Ronaldo said:
Hello. I would like to be a doctor. But I am also caught in two minds on whether I would like to be a doctor or an Electrical Engineer. I know they both are two very different jobs. Being a doctor seems really cool because of the prestige and and the way you get to understand all of the human body. It would also give me a kick to make someone feel better or save someones life. But Engineering is also cool because you get to build cool stuff. I am worried that the huge stress of being a doctor will take away all the enjoyment out of the career? Anyone got anything to say ?

Do you like the idea of working with people who are sick, and in pain and trying to help them feel or get better? Do you mind the idea of having to examine the patients and see and touch nasty diseases? Maybe you would like being a doctor! 🙂 Being a surgeon is very different from being a Radiologist or Family Practitioner so make sure you investigate before deciding.
 
C. Ronaldo said:
Hello. I would like to be a doctor. But I am also caught in two minds on whether I would like to be a doctor or an Electrical Engineer. I know they both are two very different jobs. Being a doctor seems really cool because of the prestige and and the way you get to understand all of the human body. It would also give me a kick to make someone feel better or save someones life. But Engineering is also cool because you get to build cool stuff. I am worried that the huge stress of being a doctor will take away all the enjoyment out of the career? Anyone got anything to say ?

there is stress in both careers. i currently work as an electrical engineer. i design electrical systems for buildings in construction both new and old. the drawings i put to paper have to follow city rules, national standards, meet cost requirements both of my time and for the project installation, and i have to coordinate all of that with everyone else on the project. the one im on now has been in design for over 2 years with part of the project already in construction. changes that come down from the owner get pretty hairy at this point in the process. deadlines are real killers. there is a lot of prestiege with this position i have. i walk in a room of maybe 30 ppl who are all probablly multimillionaires that look to me for how to design a project. my knowledge of cutting edge technology or who i know in putting things together can make a project run smooth or shut it down. i can walk onto a construction site and i tell 50 guys what to do or not to do. my name is on the plans as the guy who designed them. questions go back to me when something is changed or they dont understand something. even so i could be much better and get a little farther than i have now.

i have decided to walk away from all of this now however, because i dont feel that feeling of being fulfilled. i love working with people - something that doesnt happen as much as i would like in engineering where most of my time is spent going over books and codes and typing on a computer. i that is fine and all, but i need the interaction. i need to feel like i actually helped someone today. i am planning on going into emergency medicine. i love the multitasking and teamwork. and i can really say i saved someones life. that to me is the highest point you could achieve in a job i think. and to enjoy doing it is icing on the cake.

i think engineering is harder and more challenging than what i have seen in medicine. the differential equations and derivations of filters and neutral computations in complex systems is pretty amazing. i can do that, and do it well. i then turn around and walk into a organic chem class, gee did i memorize the chapters for the test today? yep... guess im set. just no comparison in difficulty, but the subject matter is different to me - like it just sticks with you.... like this is something i was born to learn. in the ER i think there is a lot of problem solving going on though and i really like that. i need to learn more about the areas, i have not even started medical school yet, i am still mr double e. but i cant wait to start.

i went into my calculus class one day, a junior in high school among all seniors. i got up in front of class to demonstrat a different way of solving a problem that the teacher didnt even know. blank expressions from most of my peers. my teacher said that whatever i do, it should be in math. at this point i had no idea what i wanted to do, i was leaning toward medicine because of some past experiences i had, but i hated the idea of more than twice the amount of schooling, so with my teachers thoughts in mind, i go into engineering, and i choose electrical because my aerospace prof said it was the hardest area in engineering he knew. i graduated with honors to keep my scholarships and start work. all this time i was doing all of this because someone thought this or that. i had done little personal thought at all. whatever you do, do it because you like it. it is your life. life is not about the end goals being achieved, it about the journey in achieving them. my learning and experiences thus far put me so strongly in medicine, i wish i had had them long ago. im 24 now, but if i had started a different path, i would probablly be a doctor right now. but maybe i wouldnt understand things like i do now. who knows... i think im rambling too much now... so...
 
Without Wax said:
I wonder why people on this website are so negative about being a doctor. I assume you are here because you are a premed or a med student, then why are you pursuing medicine if you think being a doctor "sucks"?

I constantly meet these annoying premeds who complain about how difficult it is to be a doctor, then DO NOT become a doctor.

I believe the real reason for all these negative talk is that you want to discourage other people from becoming a doctor. I met so many doctors who constantly complain how terrible their jobs are, and I say well you should quit then. Why are you lecturing me about my life?

Back to the OP's question, yes being a doctor is not easy, and there are a lot of lawsuits and all, but it is truly a great job, it pays well, a great job security, and you get to help people. You should definitely try volunteering to see if it is right for you.

Well what it is is incongruity b/w what people expect being a doctor will be like compared to what it really is like. Although prestige is there, it's not as big as you might think, and the respect factor mostly comes from people who respect doctors, not neccessarily general public. Hours can be pretty brutal, and you need to be on all the time although that depends on your specialty. I think a lot of docs who complain about their job, liked the money and the prestige aspects of the job, but not the hours and constant presence of the pager. Why don't they quit, I have a simple reason, money and also the time they put in. If you are already an attending and making 160 grand a year, it's kinda hard to quit, plus they get used to a certain lifestyle.

To the OP I would suggest that medicine is cooler than engineering, but that's my biased pt of view, I never found engineering particularly stimulating. Being a doctor can be exciting, depending what type of a doctor you are. If you are working in a field where most of your pts are gonna die, like oncology, your job won't be too exciting. But some procedural oriented fields, like plastics, interventional rad, urology, can be more exciting and less depressing in terms of pts dying. Trauma can be very exciting, but at the same time the hours are simply brutal and you have to have a hard stomach, cuz you see the worst of the worst. But I think that ability to enjoy medicine will be realized if you really really enjoy medicine above anything else. On the other hand if you prefer hangin out with freinds and family and having other interests outside of the medical field, medicine will be a pretty miserable endavour for you. Not to say that you can't have other interests, however medicine will take up most of your time.

Also don't focus on people who talk negatively about either field and why it sucks. You should listen to their pt of view, but also listen to people who really enjoy medicine or engineering, and ask them why do they feel this way. Also keep in mind that all medicine is not the same, and some fields are easier than others, better well paid, have better lifestyle and more prestige associated with them than other fields in medicine.

In the end you make your own destiny. Do what you feel is best fit for you and although you should listen to what others say, use it as points of views to formulate your own opinions. But don't take anyone's opinion as the ultimate source of truth. Listen to people and formulate your own views.

Best of luck.
 
Ross434 said:
Yeah, most people dont mention this, but, jobs for physicians are going to be gone in years to come.

Am I missing something?
 
C. Ronaldo said:
the sarcasm perhaps?

Its true...who needs doctors when they're the ones who always have their nurses and PA's doing all the work for them, while they're golfing in fiji? 🙂
 
you know going back to the whole respect thing, I know someone who knows I avidly want to be a doctor, and yet this person constantly bashes medicine and anything to with doctors and their methods for healing. He thinks he is so friggin smart its ridiculous. He constantly says these docs dont know what theyre doing to my face and Im thinking ...hmmm...ok thanks alot for basically bashing my dreams in my face. I want to be a doctor despite the fact that the system and lifestyle is no where near perfect or ideal. I constantly try to remind him that somethings are not even in a doctors hand, doctors are humans too they cant solve all the problems in the world. I have a long history with medical related problems not only myself but my close and extended family, I have been in and around hospitals since the age of 8 and for him to start knocking the people who have helped my family for so long really bothers me, sure I've had my share fair of bad experiences, one doctor prescribed enough meds to really harm my mother en ough so that she needed multiple blood transfusions. Have i been disillusioned and angry toward doctors, no. because just as many have helped to save my mom and for that im grateful and employ my common sense. It really drives me up the wall sometimes.

Srry for the rant just needed that out there.
 
Ross434 said:
Yeah, most people dont mention this, but, jobs for physicians are going to be gone in years to come.

Yes, when Skynet and the evil robots unleash Judgement Day, all physicians jobs will be taken over by vicious cyborgs. What the hell are you talking about?
 
@ Flobber/ I wonder the same thing myself, what are you talking about? For some reason I've ran into a few folk's who seem to think computers will take over the health-care profession.


🙄



Flobber said:
Yes, when Skynet and the evil robots unleash Judgement Day, all physicians jobs will be taken over by vicious cyborgs. What the hell are you talking about?
 
doc05 said:
no being a doctor isn't that cool. for the most part, it sucks. you rarely save lives, plus many of your patients will die regardless of what you do. engineering doesn't pay quite as well, but it's a more interesting job, you'll use your brain more, and it looks like there'll be jobs for engineers for many years to come. plus you can always get an mba and work in a management capacity for a tech company -- way cooler than being a physician. good luck.


Don't forget your life is yours in that capcity, your not slave to others. If your are not ready for this, don't enter medicine.
 
there is a lot of prestige with being a doctor. Most people are VERY impressed but try to hide it with "that's cool" or something negative about how being a doctor sucks because of this or that.

I wouldn't say just be a doctor because of prestige, but if you are comparing engineering and medicine, you should probably go with medicine. Engineers don't make much for the fact they are a dime a dozen. Sure, if you are an innovator and a businessman, you can make more with a SUCCESSFUL engineering business, but if not, you're not making much more than a public HS teacher. Doctors make more money.

As far as things being cool, i am sure both professions have their ups and downs. One that about medicine that is cool is that you always will have a job, especialy if ur in a specialty. That basically means that once u find something u like to do, you can always do it. Unlike engineering, where jobs very alot based on where u work, not just what u do. And engineers are disposable in this day and age, when everyone goes to college to get at least a BA or BS. Also, the outsourcing of jobs to china and india effect the engineering field more than anyone, considering its in big business's best interest to get work done cheaply, even with lower quality. It's the american way, as u should be noticing how rapidly the quality of products have declined recently since Bush F'ed up the economy. I like the way all the prices are going up.

NP's are too dumb to do anything more complicated than telling u what OTC medicine u should take. I have seen more than my fair share of NP's, and I'll be damned if they didn't misdiagnose everything i had, or gave me a throat culture when i clearly had an allergy. Therefore, they won't be replacing specialists anytime soon. However, HMO's will find a way to make them replace internists in some areas.

So yeah, doctors have job security, prestige, and enough flexibility with work that you can find something you like doing and then be able to do it.

However, becoming an engineer is much easier, since its only 4 years, plus the 2 years it will take u to find a decent job.
 
~~premed82~~ said:
@ Flobber/ I wonder the same thing myself, what are you talking about? For some reason I've ran into a few folk's who seem to think computers will take over the health-care profession.


🙄

Even if technology does begin to take over in doing some procedures... someone will have to understand and utilize the technology. My guess is that those people would be doctors. Doctors who have better jobs because they do jack-**** except operate robots. Until the robots unite and rebel...
 
If computers can replace doctors, they'll be replacing alot of other things too. Automation is restricted to controlled environments, where they interact with materials, not people.

Claims of doctors not being necessary in the future are just ways people try to make themselves feel less inferior to doctors. Just like when people justify their own failure to achieve or afford something.

Doctors are, in general, completely useless to people until someone gets sick. Then, people want to see the doc, not the NP, or phys assistant, or the RN. They want the best possible care at that point.

The OP was contemplating engineering vs. medicine. I am sick of people claiming that being a doctor is SOOOO hard. The difficulty of it is what gives its prestige and salary. You can always quite being a doctor, but few do it. Wonder why?

Everyone is being a doctor for the same reasons. A balance of prestige, fun, respect, freedom, authority, and compensation. An engineer, on average, will have less of all those factors. Unless sitting in front of a computer all day is more fun than BSing with patients and going through charts.

I want to hear someone who complains about being a doctor actually quit. Or get into med school and not go. Or stop after a year or two. One girl at JHU didn't do a residency and worked at a mexican restaurant, and it was like a huge controversy. You never hear about that in other fields.

The truth is, everyone likes to complain, but you have to hear which complaints are more significant. "I hate my hours" is alot better than "i can't get a job because some 23 year old in India can do it for 13k a year and is more than happy to do so".
 
medstyle said:
If computers can replace doctors, they'll be replacing alot of other things too. Automation is restricted to controlled environments, where they interact with materials, not people.

Claims of doctors not being necessary in the future are just ways people try to make themselves feel less inferior to doctors. Just like when people justify their own failure to achieve or afford something.

Doctors are, in general, completely useless to people until someone gets sick. Then, people want to see the doc, not the NP, or phys assistant, or the RN. They want the best possible care at that point.

The OP was contemplating engineering vs. medicine. I am sick of people claiming that being a doctor is SOOOO hard. The difficulty of it is what gives its prestige and salary. You can always quite being a doctor, but few do it. Wonder why?

Everyone is being a doctor for the same reasons. A balance of prestige, fun, respect, freedom, authority, and compensation. An engineer, on average, will have less of all those factors. Unless sitting in front of a computer all day is more fun than BSing with patients and going through charts.

I want to hear someone who complains about being a doctor actually quit. Or get into med school and not go. Or stop after a year or two. One girl at JHU didn't do a residency and worked at a mexican restaurant, and it was like a huge controversy. You never hear about that in other fields.

The truth is, everyone likes to complain, but you have to hear which complaints are more significant. "I hate my hours" is alot better than "i can't get a job because some 23 year old in India can do it for 13k a year and is more than happy to do so".


Preach on brother!
 
medstyle said:
If computers can replace doctors, they'll be replacing alot of other things too. Automation is restricted to controlled environments, where they interact with materials, not people.

Claims of doctors not being necessary in the future are just ways people try to make themselves feel less inferior to doctors. Just like when people justify their own failure to achieve or afford something.

Doctors are, in general, completely useless to people until someone gets sick. Then, people want to see the doc, not the NP, or phys assistant, or the RN. They want the best possible care at that point.

The OP was contemplating engineering vs. medicine. I am sick of people claiming that being a doctor is SOOOO hard. The difficulty of it is what gives its prestige and salary. You can always quite being a doctor, but few do it. Wonder why?

Everyone is being a doctor for the same reasons. A balance of prestige, fun, respect, freedom, authority, and compensation. An engineer, on average, will have less of all those factors. Unless sitting in front of a computer all day is more fun than BSing with patients and going through charts.

I want to hear someone who complains about being a doctor actually quit. Or get into med school and not go. Or stop after a year or two. One girl at JHU didn't do a residency and worked at a mexican restaurant, and it was like a huge controversy. You never hear about that in other fields.

The truth is, everyone likes to complain, but you have to hear which complaints are more significant. "I hate my hours" is alot better than "i can't get a job because some 23 year old in India can do it for 13k a year and is more than happy to do so".

yea, there is no way ill ever believe that medicine is harder than engineering. there may be more to MEMORIZE but your thinking skills are like nonexistant compared to electrical engineering phd;s.

in my field it is common to be at work at 730am and go home at about 6pm. and repeat for 5 days. no call, no weekends normally. sometimes you will do out of town trips to meet with clients to like say Alaska.

also, i think salaries are a little on the low side. this is an employeers market. there are many more job applicants than jobs. i think the survey i saw, it excluded medical doctors and said the highest ranked field for grads and employeers combined was accounting, and then specifically electrical engineering. in the usa, a big change is going across the nation. dont be fooled into thinking otherwise. salaries relatively are going down. the cost to big business is going down. this is not just to make them more profits, but allows them to compete with other global companies. this is the job outlook across the board. i think you will see more small businesses pop up in the near future. it is just too difficult to support yourself on minimum wage. you have to live at home with mom and dad or in groups in crowded apartments, etc. it seems to me that doctors are basically small businesses, some of which that join together, but basically small businesses....
 
Yeah, so what's the point of taking a job where you work hard for little pay? People act like having a job where you solving math problems is more difficult than medicine, but doctors have to have an enormous skill set that you don't need as engineer. Namely, working with people and having VERY little room for error. Many doctors do not work with problems that are complex FOR THEM, but they do have to be completely competent and work with ALL kinds of people. You need to be a very stable and strong person in addition to being intelligent.

I don't know if you guys have noticed this, but I am starting to see that most people in the world are not "normal". They are not practical nor do they even possess common sense or curtesy. It is not going to be so easy working with people at their worst and dealing with the BS from families, insurance companies, and red tape.

Anyone can become an engineer. You go to nearly any University and you major in engineering. Due to the sheer sample size and ease of entry, no way engineers can be smarter than doctors on average. Sure some are brilliant, but there are plenty of Rhodes scholars in medicine too. And finalists (I know two). Engineers solve more math and CS problems, but that is their skill set. It is limited. Majoring in engineering does not make you into a genius all of a sudden. All it takes to be an engineer is passing your classes.

The world is full of professionals, and in the overall scheme engineers are on the low end of the totem pole. Above them are the management that exploit them and the businessmen who control it all. Engineers are needed for society, but their individual contributions are obscurred and their compensation and position reflect that.

The ideal job should allow you to think when you want, allow you to slack when you want, while giving you respect and high pay. The further you move from that ideal, the less perfect the job is. A job that puts nothing but pressure on you is not something you can do without tremendous sacrifices over a 30-40 year span.
 
medstyle said:
Everyone is being a doctor for the same reasons. A balance of prestige, fun, respect, freedom, authority, and compensation.
I really hope this is not true. somewhere out there, there has to be some people who want to be a doctor not for what the career can over them, but with a true desire to help people and make peoples lives better. to be honest, i think they are quite rare though. with each passing day the doctors i am seeing remind me more and more of cockroaches who feed off other peoples illnesses.

medstyle said:
Anyone can become an engineer. You go to nearly any University and you major in engineering. Due to the sheer sample size and ease of entry, no way engineers can be smarter than doctors on average. Sure some are brilliant, but there are plenty of Rhodes scholars in medicine too. And finalists (I know two). Engineers solve more math and CS problems, but that is their skill set. It is limited. Majoring in engineering does not make you into a genius all of a sudden. All it takes to be an engineer is passing your classes.

I dont think this is true. Engineering is HARD. I think theres a reason the stereotypical engineering student is a total nerd, and thats because you have to be to get through it. the math is very difficult, even if your good at math, some of the things in calculus and diff eq are hard to get your mind around. same with physics. i cannot say for more advanced engineering classes because i havent taken them yet. from this point of view, i truly doubt anyone could be an engineer. and in the same way, all you have to do is pass your classes (in med school) and you have an MD.

medstyle said:
The world is full of professionals, and in the overall scheme engineers are on the low end of the totem pole. Above them are the management that exploit them and the businessmen who control it all. Engineers are needed for society, but their individual contributions are obscurred and their compensation and position reflect that.

perhaps what you are saying is that engineers dont get the recognition their position in salary deserve. without engineers, we would be without the transistor, and then most of the day to day technology we use wouldnt be here. being a doctor is a much more prestigous career than an engineer, but does this mean that they are more value to society than an engineer? its a stupid question, both do totally different things. a lot of medical advances have been brought about by engineers so they both work hand in hand.

medstyle said:
People act like having a job where you solving math problems is more difficult than medicine, but doctors have to have an enormous skill set that you don't need as engineer. Namely, working with people and having VERY little room for error.

I watch doctors flounder around everyday i go to the hospital. in fact with their massive responsibility on their shoulders, i find it fascinating to ponder the reasons they dont look at a patients file when they come in. countless doctors have come in and asked my dad (who is morphined out of his mind) "Oh are you taking such and such drug?". then they turn to us, like we are qualified doctors and say "do you know if he has been taking xenomethotrobril?". Like we have any F***ing idea. why dont they just look at the file?!?! this is at one of the "best" cancer hospitals in the country.

please note, i am not saying being an engineer is better than being a doctor, because i have been neither. but i am disturbed by these doctors continually changing their minds, stating one thing and then claiming another, ect. it makes them seem like they have no idea what they are doing, and i think they dont.
 
C. Ronaldo said:
I really hope this is not true. somewhere out there, there has to be some people who want to be a doctor not for what the career can over them, but with a true desire to help people and make peoples lives better. to be honest, i think they are quite rare though. with each passing day the doctors i am seeing remind me more and more of cockroaches who feed off other peoples illnesses.



I dont think this is true. Engineering is HARD. I think theres a reason the stereotypical engineering student is a total nerd, and thats because you have to be to get through it. the math is very difficult, even if your good at math, some of the things in calculus and diff eq are hard to get your mind around. same with physics. i cannot say for more advanced engineering classes because i havent taken them yet. from this point of view, i truly doubt anyone could be an engineer. and in the same way, all you have to do is pass your classes (in med school) and you have an MD.



perhaps what you are saying is that engineers dont get the recognition their position in salary deserve. without engineers, we would be without the transistor, and then most of the day to day technology we use wouldnt be here. being a doctor is a much more prestigous career than an engineer, but does this mean that they are more value to society than an engineer? its a stupid question, both do totally different things. a lot of medical advances have been brought about by engineers so they both work hand in hand.



I watch doctors flounder around everyday i go to the hospital. in fact with their massive responsibility on their shoulders, i find it fascinating to ponder the reasons they dont look at a patients file when they come in. countless doctors have come in and asked my dad (who is morphined out of his mind) "Oh are you taking such and such drug?". then they turn to us, like we are qualified doctors and say "do you know if he has been taking xenomethotrobril?". Like we have any F***ing idea. why dont they just look at the file?!?! this is at one of the "best" cancer hospitals in the country.

please note, i am not saying being an engineer is better than being a doctor, because i have been neither. but i am disturbed by these doctors continually changing their minds, stating one thing and then claiming another, ect. it makes them seem like they have no idea what they are doing, and i think they dont.


engineering is a hard science, and medicine is not. Solutions to complicated problems are not easy to find or treat. In the end, everyone's body acts differently.

I stand by my claim that its far easier to become an engineer. Get into med school, then tell me which is easier. Most people who are premed don't even make it to apply, and most people who apply don't get in. 2003 was like the high when 50% of applicants got into one school, with 1996 being the low at like only 33% getting in.

I know, engineers have done much to save the world. I am not talking about prestige as relative contributions. hell, even trash collectors contribute to society, because without them, we'd all be disease ridden. I am talking prestige as in what is more respected by society. When you meet someone and say, "i am an electrical engineer", no one cares about the legacy of all the inventions EE's have brought. They think, "not bad, i my cousin/uncle/ex is an engineer too".

Some things in society are viewed as prestigious. Generally, MD's, CEO's, senators and representatives, judges, etc. automatically let people think "this is guy is someone to be respected". That's all i am saying. Respect in society exists, and it varies by profession just as it does by individual. Some professions get more respect than others. For whatever reasons, doctors have it and engineers don't. Engineering is viewed as a professional job, not a prestigious job. There is a difference.

I am sorry you have such a poor opinion of doctors because of your unique experience. Most likely, the doctors are doing the best they can, but because this is their everyday job, their nonchalance comes off as lack of concern. You have to understand, a physician does not really care about most patients, but he most likely still competent.

Hope ur father is well or gets better soon.
 
cooldreams said:
yea, there is no way ill ever believe that medicine is harder than engineering. there may be more to MEMORIZE but your thinking skills are like nonexistant compared to electrical engineering phd;s.


Wait, I thought you weren't even in medschool yet? How do you know what it's like to practice medicine? How can you be prepared to make any sort of comparison to ee when all you've had is some organic chemistry? Isn't it a bit arrogant to try to judge a profession you have no experience with whatsoever?

cooldreams said:
. i got up in front of class to demonstrat a different way of solving a problem that the teacher didnt even know. blank expressions from most of my peers.

Oh wait, I didn't realize you were Will Hunting. . .
 
Enough long posts already! Doctors are cool.
 
pakidoc said:
im getting my electrical & computer engineering degree this may and then im off the medschool...

you DO NOT want to become an electrical engineer... its just too boring... sitting in front of a monitor or protoboard the entire day. trust me, medicine is more interesting (perhaps not during the first 2 yrs of medschool though)

oh, and the job market for EEs is terrible. several ppl i know who are graduating arent able to get decent jobs.


I've co-oped in EE and seen what they have to offer. It is actually pretty fun, althought there is a lot of sitting in front of the monitor. it really just depends on what you do with the degree. As far as jobs, I have about 15 friends graduating this semester and all but 1 has a job! This is is the south, maybe you aren't from down here.
 
John Becker
John Becker
He's going to lead the revolution for the doctors
John Becker
John Becker
He's going to get rid of all the Foctors
John Becker
John Becker
This song makes no sense at all
John Becker
John Becker
Died because he wasn't a very cool at all.
John Becker
John Becker

(Repeat)
 
Crake said:
Wait, I thought you weren't even in medschool yet? How do you know what it's like to practice medicine? How can you be prepared to make any sort of comparison to ee when all you've had is some organic chemistry? Isn't it a bit arrogant to try to judge a profession you have no experience with whatsoever

i suppose you are right, it is a bit arrogant. but i feel somewhat justified:

1) talking with friends who graduated in ee ugrad with me that are currently in med school
2) test to get into med school is not equivalent to an iq test, but the engineering test to get into engineering grad is equivalent to an iq test.
3) chemistry and biology classes ive taken are compared to med school classes by others, perhaps not on level of memorization, but on level of difficulty in comprehension of material. these classes have all been much below the level of graduate engineering classes.
4) average iqs of doctors compared to engineering phds is lower.


on other news, the average IQ of bush voters were 3.5 pts higher than the average kerry voter... yay.... 🙄
news here...
 
"First you get the money, then you get the power.... then you get the woman!!" 👍
 
Hm... seems to me that these two careers are very, very different! Are you creative? Do you like creating new things? Because as a doctor in regular practice, you will never have that opportunity... ever. You will have to follow standard-of-care or be sued, fired, or both. Or do you like puzzles and putting things together? An engineer's process is creating a solution that fits parameters, and a doctor searches for a solution/diagnosis that may or may not even exist based on messy, incomplete, contradictory clues... then searches for treatment that may or may not exist based on the particular patient's contraindications, other meds, compliance with lifestyle changes, etc. If you read that nice description above about the engineer having total control over the design process and liked it, don't be a doctor-you'll always feel that you SHOULD have total control over the diagnosis and treatment process, because, after all, you're The Doctor-but you never will. The patient doesn't want to take the drug, the insurance company won't cover the procedure, etc.
So, would you rather write a crossword or solve one?

Personally, I want to be a doctor because I love working with sick people. I'd probably be very happy as a genetic counselor or similar, but I also like having responsibility and authority, and I just love making decisions-genetic counselors, nurse practitioners, etc, really only communicate the physician's decisions to the patient, rather than making any of their own.
 
t33sg1rl said:
Hm... seems to me that these two careers are very, very different! Are you creative? Do you like creating new things? Because as a doctor in regular practice, you will never have that opportunity... ever. You will have to follow standard-of-care or be sued, fired, or both. Or do you like puzzles and putting things together? An engineer's process is creating a solution that fits parameters, and a doctor searches for a solution/diagnosis that may or may not even exist based on messy, incomplete, contradictory clues... then searches for treatment that may or may not exist based on the particular patient's contraindications, other meds, compliance with lifestyle changes, etc. If you read that nice description above about the engineer having total control over the design process and liked it, don't be a doctor-you'll always feel that you SHOULD have total control over the diagnosis and treatment process, because, after all, you're The Doctor-but you never will. The patient doesn't want to take the drug, the insurance company won't cover the procedure, etc.
So, would you rather write a crossword or solve one?

Personally, I want to be a doctor because I love working with sick people. I'd probably be very happy as a genetic counselor or similar, but I also like having responsibility and authority, and I just love making decisions-genetic counselors, nurse practitioners, etc, really only communicate the physician's decisions to the patient, rather than making any of their own.

yeah, doctors never use thinking skills. Engineers are just thinking machines. They love problem solving.

Most people on earth work jobs for money. That's it. The guy at subway and the people at AOL. Probably your parents and your parent's parents. Most engineers don't "want" to solve problems, they do it to earn money. Most docs do it for money. It's a job. Every job has aspects you like and hate. So, just pick the one that pays more, offers more stability, as long as you can do it and handle it.

Hey, I've wanted to be a doctor since I was a kid, but i mean, i could do something else if it paid more and was also prestigious. I mean, if i could be a president or a senator, I wouldn't be a doctor. That doesn't make me less committed to medicine.

I hate when other people try to convince people do something other than medicine based on trivial analogies ("would you rather build a crossword or solve one"). Give me a break. Everyone is a prestige *****, whether you live in a nice neighbor hood, or buy name shoes, or drive (or want to) drive a nice car. And if you want to go to better name med school.

Medicine is so diverse there is some part in it for everyone.

A man has to make a living doing something. It's not your right to tell him if its wrong or right for him, or for anyone really. If someone is making money, that means he has a place on this planet that other people appreciate enough to compensate him for. Even a drug dealer is doing what his environment allows him to do and providing a service that toher people appreciate. I doubt anyone is paying you to spew BS. In fact, I taking time out of my morning to address your post.

So in conclusion, the OP was comparing engineering to medicine. You basically put everything in medicine in a negative light, so I'll assume you're going to engineering school. If fact, i'll go too, since I like having control and its clear from your posts that doctors have little control over anything.
 
I think a lot of you are oversimplifying the job of the MD. The MD has to think just like an engineer, but on a completely different type of problem. The MD has to have problem solving skills as does an engineer. The MD has to be able to pick out relevant clues from an extensive list of possibly irrelevant information and reason out the likely implications of those clues. It is far from mindless work. Yes, I agree that being a good engineer could require a higher level of scientific intelligence but an engineer can do his or her work without any heart. Being a doctor takes a lot of heart unless your Will Hunting, in which case I wouldn't want you as my doctor. I also think that comparing medical school to organic chemistry is a silly idea. Ochem is like 'Chopsticks' compared to the Rachmaninoff of med school...
 
cooldreams said:
i suppose you are right, it is a bit arrogant. but i feel somewhat justified:

1) talking with friends who graduated in ee ugrad with me that are currently in med school
2) test to get into med school is not equivalent to an iq test, but the engineering test to get into engineering grad is equivalent to an iq test.
3) chemistry and biology classes ive taken are compared to med school classes by others, perhaps not on level of memorization, but on level of difficulty in comprehension of material. these classes have all been much below the level of graduate engineering classes.
4) average iqs of doctors compared to engineering phds is lower.


on other news, the average IQ of bush voters were 3.5 pts higher than the average kerry voter... yay.... 🙄
news here...

???

1) Yeah, friends and friends of friends... I'm sure everyone everywhere can get friends to say whatever they'd like supported.

2) What ARE you going on about? Engineers take the GRE to enter graduate Engineering programs. That's no closer to an IQ test than the MCAT - more like a bloody vocabulary test coupled with insanely easy mathematics. No wonder you engineers think its an IQ test - you'd pass with flying colours. Newsflash: even Economics and Biology students get 800 in Math. And both the GRE and MCAT have a writing sample, by the way.

3) Comparing undergrad chemistry and biology to graduate engineering? Right. Of course the undergrad courses are easier. I'd like to see you do graduate Advanced Organometallic Synthesis while I take undergrad Calculus I. Them engineers must be idiots, I tell you - look at Calc I! If *that's* easy I'm sure graduate engineering's easy too! Apparently Electrical Engineers don't take logic at your University... how DID you learn your AND, OR, NOT, and XOR gates?

4) Got proof? You'd better not be going to an engineering grad school, that statistic might just disintegrate when you join and pull the average down. Assuming, of course, you get the doctorate.

And in other news... just because more African-Americans voted Kerry instead of Bush means Kerry voters are dumber in general? More Asians voted Kerry, and they're in the top IQ bracket. Do the Math.

Now go and jack off to breadboards or sine waves or whatever it is you engineers get off on. People who think they're Gods based on their course of study really irk me.
 
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