being a doctor is easy. don't let anyone here fool you. all it takes is a little discipline. most doctors and med students glamorize the profession like it belongs on the pedestal most lay people have it on. after school and residency, they feel as though they've gotten past the worst hazing ritual ever. in reality, it really wasn't that tough of a challenge. throughout their careers, at least for the majority of physicians, nothing challenging will ever come their way....just a regular routine of following evidence based medicine and a decreasing salary over the next several decades when the public finds out we're overpaid, deservedly so i might add. med school hasn't been intellectually stimulating to say the least...thank god i've got an opt year to pursue my other passion.
there is this quote that goes around the medical community that says, '....about 10 percent of what you learn your first two years of medical school is all you really need for the wards.' it's sickening to me that so many students and physicians actually believe this. usually, these are the people that think 'OMG! med school is sooo like really hard!'. the brightest minds know how wrong that quote really is...and that in fact, most of what you learn is very much relevant in the wards.
in reality, most students will fall into this bracket - disciplined and driven average students who aren't smart enough to create or discover anything in life on their own. very seldom do you find true geniuses in this field. it's true....give them a book to memorize, follow the 'plan' to treating a sick patient, give them an MD. what you get when you become a physician -good money, tough hours, and a shameless self-promotion that the road to becoming a doctor was so intellectually difficult that only the select few are able to do it.
for reference, yes i am a med student. i have one brother who just finished his residency in ophthal. both parents are retired physicians. and a sister who by far is the brightest and most creative out of all of us graduating from grad school in the spring.
i read this quote somewhere here on SDN a long time ago that speaks the truth on so many levels.
"a medical student will tell you how great they are, but a grad student will show you"