Is this a good reason to pursue med school?

[Flippin]

I want to be honest why I would like to pursue med school. I am out of undergrad and working a 30K job with my otherwise useless liberal arts degree from a top school. I would like to do better than my current situation.

I want prestige, I want job security, I want high pay, I am Indian, I don't want to go to law school, etc. The fact is though, I am really indifferent towards helping people, to the point where I REALLY could not care less. I'm also not really into the whole "make the world a better place" mentality. I don't even think I like people, and thus am leaning towards pathology or radiology which have less patient interaction (I assume). Yeah I am accumulating volunteering hours, but they are kind of a drag to be honest. If I could be/do anything in the world, it would probably involve doing nothing (ideally).

I really just want to make money and have a steady paycheck/job security. Working in the corporate world really makes you view the world differently. I am curious if anyone else feels this way or felt this way before matriculating. Thank you.

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[Deekle]

There are WAY easier ways to make a living.

Just watch the news and you'll see how prestigious the "greedy doctors" are.

In short, yes pretty poor reasons for wanting to be a doctor. You won't be happy.

 

[theseeker4]

I want to be honest why I would like to pursue med school. I am out of undergrad and working a 30K job with my otherwise useless liberal arts degree from a top school. I would like to do better than my current situation.

I want prestige, I want job security, I want high pay, I am Indian, I don’t want to go to law school, etc. The fact is though, I am really indifferent towards helping people, to the point where I REALLY could not care less. I'm also not really into the whole "make the world a better place" mentality. I don’t even think I like people, and thus am leaning towards pathology or radiology which have less patient interaction (I assume). Yeah I am accumulating volunteering hours, but they are kind of a drag to be honest. If I could be/do anything in the world, it would probably involve doing nothing (ideally).

I really just want to make money and have a steady paycheck/job security. Working in the corporate world really makes you view the world differently. I am curious if anyone else feels this way or felt this way before matriculating. Thank you.

If you don't want to work hard, you will be miserable for the decade between now and when you can start collecting the doctor paycheck.

If you don't have at least some passion for something related to medicine, be it the science, the problem solving, the helping others, etc., it will be a miserable path.

If you are really as lazy as you state you are, you will be miserable not only during the decade of school and residency ahead of you, but you will be miserable as long as you are working as a doctor.

Use your top-school liberal arts degree to get into a prestigious MBA program, become a mid-level manager somewhere, and while your laziness won't make your advance through the ranks likely, you will have a lot more free time than you would as a doctor, and will have a relatively high salary a lot sooner with a lot less debt.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

I want prestige, I want job security, I want high pay, I am Indian, I don’t want to go to law school, etc. The fact is though, I am really indifferent towards helping people, to the point where I REALLY could not care less. I'm also not really into the whole "make the world a better place" mentality. I don’t even think I like people, and thus am leaning towards pathology or radiology which have less patient interaction (I assume). Yeah I am accumulating volunteering hours, but they are kind of a drag to be honest. If I could be/do anything in the world, it would probably involve doing nothing (ideally).

I think not only would you be unhappy but you are liable to make others around you unhappy and you would have a mountain of debt to boot. There is something for everyone. Engineering and business would probably fit, if you are unhappy at the current company, look long and hard for something else. The beauty of corporations and companies is the culture is different at each one. Good luck.

 

[TriagePreMed]

I want to be honest why I would like to pursue med school. I am out of undergrad and working a 30K job with my otherwise useless liberal arts degree from a top school. I would like to do better than my current situation.

I want prestige, I want job security, I want high pay, I am Indian, I don’t want to go to law school, etc. The fact is though, I am really indifferent towards helping people, to the point where I REALLY could not care less. I'm also not really into the whole "make the world a better place" mentality. I don’t even think I like people, and thus am leaning towards pathology or radiology which have less patient interaction (I assume). Yeah I am accumulating volunteering hours, but they are kind of a drag to be honest. If I could be/do anything in the world, it would probably involve doing nothing (ideally).

I really just want to make money and have a steady paycheck/job security. Working in the corporate world really makes you view the world differently. I am curious if anyone else feels this way or felt this way before matriculating. Thank you.

LOL @ "I'm Indian" as a reason. If you think it's a drag now, imagine how much worse it'll be when you're in med school and residency being unpaid or underpaid. Honestly, it sounds like you've been watching too much TV and don't realize how long and hard this road is. You also sound like a kid that hasn't found his way in life. You think "well, a job it's a job and I'll be rich so it's okay." Wrong. You'll be miserable paying off student loans and then regretting not doing what you want when you find out what it is.

Just do what every other ******* that has nothing to contribute to the world and is only out for himself does: Get an MBA in finance and work for some mega company in Wall St. You'll have the "prestige," a graduate degree and good income.

 

[AshPreMed]

I want to be honest why I would like to pursue med school. I am out of undergrad and working a 30K job with my otherwise useless liberal arts degree from a top school. I would like to do better than my current situation.

I want prestige, I want job security, I want high pay, I am Indian, I don't want to go to law school, etc. The fact is though, I am really indifferent towards helping people, to the point where I REALLY could not care less. I'm also not really into the whole "make the world a better place" mentality. I don't even think I like people, and thus am leaning towards pathology or radiology which have less patient interaction (I assume). Yeah I am accumulating volunteering hours, but they are kind of a drag to be honest. If I could be/do anything in the world, it would probably involve doing nothing (ideally).

I really just want to make money and have a steady paycheck/job security. Working in the corporate world really makes you view the world differently. I am curious if anyone else feels this way or felt this way before matriculating. Thank you.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned this: if you don't like what you're doing, you won't think about it much, you won't think about it when you need to be thinking about it 12+ hours a day to find a solution, you might not be motivated enough to rush to save a patient at 4 AM after doing that over 100 times and exhausted, you might mess up in evaluations/diagnoses from laziness, you might be too lazy to look up papers every week (at least in your field) and stay up to date with this fast-growing field, you might look at other careers you liked more later in life (perhaps an MBA) and wish you did it (and if you end up doing it your MD becomes worth less as you start running a hospital at best, which a MPH can do), you might give the impression to your 50th patient during a day that you don't want to deal with him, your colleagues might pick up on your lack of interest, you might not even be motivated to study a huge amount in undergrad to get into medical school.

Most importantly, you may be harming or killing people due to the reasons mentioned above (mainly due to your lack of GREAT interest and motivation which is needed in this field).

Find deep motivation to work extremely hard to get into and practice medicine until you're 70, or work just as hard in business (and since your competition would be less intense than premeds), you may actually have a better chance of excelling in your classes (4.0) and getting a top job later. Explore your values and your mission in life before you die. That will help you a lot in determining what you want to spend your life on. I'm willing to apply until I die to get to do what I love and I'm good at (researching in biology and other sciences/arts and helping people by applying it to medicine and support patients to benefit mankind before I die).

Good luck, and I appreciate your sincerity.

Ash

 

[LingoLaine]

Go get your MBA instead.

 

[lazymd]

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[vitanuova]

In addition to the massive amount of debt and and years of being underpaid in residency, you also should consider that working as a doctor comes with a certain degree of risk. You could get stuck with a needle from a patient that is HIV or Hep C positive. You could be sued by a patient who believes that he/she was the victim of malpractice or negligence. Either of these situations could potentially ruin the rest of your life.

 

[type12]

I think this is a pretty logical and honest reason. I've had the "pleasure" of working with doctors who say the student debt is crippling, but own a beach house. I've really never seen a homeless doctor or one who seems to be genuinely suffering from financial constraints. They may hide it well with their expensive houses, fancy dinners, and cars, but that looks like a good cripple to me. I could live with that unbearable burden, lol. So financial stability is basically a guarantee as a doctor, IMO.

Look at research: if you are an MD and suck at research or getting funding, you'll still manage 120k a year. If you are a PhD, your "worse case" scenario is 30k.

I frankly don't care if my doctor "cares:" if he does the best job possible, I'm going to him. Now, if his indifference or hate affects his quality of care, then that's bad. But the same can be said if a doctor cares too much, takes too many risks, etc.

To the OP: if you are going to pursue medicine, I suggest finding something you truly love about it. There's a lot out there, and something for everyone. If there's something you are passionate about, then go for it. Kids are adorable, for instance, I would love spending 10+ hours a day with them. Or maybe you're more existential and want to link psychology and neurology once and for all. Who knows!

Once you find that, you can be honest by omission lol.

Despite what I said above, I find it hard to believe a single person does not care about their fellow man. Who doesn't enjoy helping others? When you did something nice, even gave a gift, and see the other person get excited, how does that not make you happy in return? I think the OP is full of it if he doesn't like dealing with others.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

True, he needs to disprove this statement to himself (not us):

The fact is though, I am really indifferent towards helping people, to the point where I REALLY could not care less.

Then he can find the passion. If he can not on both tasks, then he is truly better served in a different profession. Different volunteer experiences may be what he needs (like you are suggesting), but something has to be different.

 

[MedWonk]

I want to be honest why I would like to pursue med school. I am out of undergrad and working a 30K job with my otherwise useless liberal arts degree from a top school. I would like to do better than my current situation.

I want prestige, I want job security, I want high pay, I am Indian, I don’t want to go to law school, etc. The fact is though, I am really indifferent towards helping people, to the point where I REALLY could not care less. I'm also not really into the whole "make the world a better place" mentality. I don’t even think I like people, and thus am leaning towards pathology or radiology which have less patient interaction (I assume). Yeah I am accumulating volunteering hours, but they are kind of a drag to be honest. If I could be/do anything in the world, it would probably involve doing nothing (ideally).

I really just want to make money and have a steady paycheck/job security. Working in the corporate world really makes you view the world differently. I am curious if anyone else feels this way or felt this way before matriculating. Thank you.

Have you tried working at a different company? Considered getting an MBA or leaving the corporate world and going into something else? Your liberal arts degree doesn't constrain you as much as you think it does. You won't get a job as an engineer, but there are other jobs out there. The only thing holding you back seems to be your laziness. Being a physician isn't really a job where you can just sit back and collect a paycheck. In fact, there aren't many, if any, jobs out there where you can get prestige, job security, and a high, steady income that will allow you to just kick back and relax.

At best, you can get the steady income and job security, but without giving some effort at what you do, you'll never attain prestige or a higher income unless you were either born into it or won the lottery.

If you don't like people, then you shouldn't be thinking about going into a career that involves a lot of interaction with other people. Particularly one that involves actually caring for those people. There are jobs out there that minimize human interaction that you might enjoy a bit more.

You sound like you just don't know what to do with yourself. You need to take time to find what you enjoy doing, and then find a way to make that into a career. Don't waste your time doing things you don't enjoy doing.

 

[Flippin]

Thanks for all the comments. I am actually a nice guy and studied pretty hard in undergrad for my 3.75+ gpa- in liberal arts, nonetheless. At least I didn't decide to go to law school right? After deciding to just get a job, I feel like I view the world very differently than before. For one, I have realized there is a lot more hustling you have to do to make it in this world. Second, this world revolves around money, nothing else (my opinion).

I took two Bios and two Chems in undergrad, so I know I'm at least alright at science classes. I'll be attempting orgo and physics while working. I would think that being a Doctor is just like many occupations, you do it because it's a job. And you need a job to get by. At the moment, I am thinking of a combined MD/MBA degree to explore various career interests.

And my earlier post about feeling indifferent about helping people, I really feel like I'm serious when I say that. If there is no guarantee of going to heaven after we die no matter how much we help others or whatever we do (good/bad), then why do it? I just want to raise my human capital. It must be an awesome feeling to be that 1%.

And thus why med school? Well as one friend who currently attends an ivy league med school put it, "there's med school, and then there's everything else."

Life's philosophy was stated best by Lil Wayne- Get money, f*** b*****s. I apologize if I sound a little immature as I write this last part.

 

[alamo4]

Why not investigate doing computer science, stats, architecture, engineering or something. It is not any more difficult than some postbac, med school, and residency.

Lots of professions that can make a big impact. Making an impact is what builds prestige. Once you find something you are having success at that is doing something that you believe in, then that's a good thing and leads to happiness.

Work on making the world you want to live in.

 

[ChE04]

Thanks for all the comments. I am actually a nice guy and studied pretty hard in undergrad for my 3.75+ gpa- in liberal arts, nonetheless. At least I didn't decide to go to law school right? After deciding to just get a job, I feel like I view the world very differently than before. For one, I have realized there is a lot more hustling you have to do to make it in this world. Second, this world revolves around money, nothing else (my opinion).

I took two Bios and two Chems in undergrad, so I know I'm at least alright at science classes. I'll be attempting orgo and physics while working. I would think that being a Doctor is just like many occupations, you do it because it's a job. And you need a job to get by. At the moment, I am thinking of a combined MD/MBA degree to explore various career interests.

And my earlier post about feeling indifferent about helping people, I really feel like I'm serious when I say that. If there is no guarantee of going to heaven after we die no matter how much we help others or whatever we do (good/bad), then why do it? I just want to raise my human capital. It must be an awesome feeling to be that 1%.

And thus why med school? Well as one friend who currently attends an ivy league med school put it, "there's med school, and then there's everything else."

Life's philosophy was stated best by Lil Wayne- Get money, f*** b*****s. I apologize if I sound a little immature as I write this last part.

If you want to do it, then fine, there are plenty of other people in med school who feel the same way as you. They are generally the ones that come out of this hamster wheel bitter as hell, regretting wasting (at least) 7 years in the library and then the hospital while their friends from undergrad--who they jealously stalk on Facebook--live their lives. So don't say you weren't warned... This is a lot of $hit to go through for only the reasons you've listed.

And if you don't know, now you know...

 

[NonTraditional3]

I want to be honest why I would like to pursue med school. I am out of undergrad and working a 30K job with my otherwise useless liberal arts degree from a top school. I would like to do better than my current situation.

I want prestige, I want job security, I want high pay, I am Indian, I don't want to go to law school, etc. The fact is though, I am really indifferent towards helping people, to the point where I REALLY could not care less. I'm also not really into the whole "make the world a better place" mentality. I don't even think I like people, and thus am leaning towards pathology or radiology which have less patient interaction (I assume). Yeah I am accumulating volunteering hours, but they are kind of a drag to be honest. If I could be/do anything in the world, it would probably involve doing nothing (ideally).

I really just want to make money and have a steady paycheck/job security. Working in the corporate world really makes you view the world differently. I am curious if anyone else feels this way or felt this way before matriculating. Thank you.

This post is a joke, right? Unless you're a very convincing liar, no school would accept you on these pretenses for a career n medicine. Sure, maybe you can be an efficient physician with a mind apt for clinical medicine even if you "don't care" about the person you are treating....but why would a medical school turn someone who is equally able minded away, when that person DOES care. I would save yourself the trouble of applying to medical school. Go open up your own business if you want high income.

 

[lazymd]

Why not investigate doing computer science, stats, architecture, engineering or something. It is not any more difficult than some postbac, med school, and residency.

Lots of professions that can make a big impact. Making an impact is what builds prestige. Once you find something you are having success at that is doing something that you believe in, then that's a good thing and leads to happiness.

Work on making the world you want to live in.

I think this guy has clearly stated that money and job stability are really his top concerns because he doesn't really have a passion or even believe in anything, for that matter.

From what I've heard from older computer scientists and engineers, age is a huge issue, and the older you get, the more disposable you become. Allegedly, they prefer younger people with new ideas who are also cheaper to employ. Architecture is a crap shoot and getting a MS or PhD in stats or any math-intense field is a lot harder than medical school (contrary to what a lot of medical students like to believe ).

So with that said, I can understand why medical school seems like the best option in his eyes.

OP, I just hope you understand that the path to becoming a physician is hard, long, and mostly unpleasant. I'm not going to tell you that you have to have noble intentions to be a physician, because you don't, but I will remind you that you will probably end up with about $200,000 in student loan debt before it's all said and done. So if there's any chance that you may check out of medicine when the going gets tough like you're trying to check out of your current job, then I think it will be best to pick something else.

LATER GATOR!!

 

[petyr_baelish]

Despite what I said above, I find it hard to believe a single person does not care about their fellow man. Who doesn't enjoy helping others?

Someone who has antisocial personality disorder.

I'm not trying to be funny. The incidence is around 4% in the U.S., according to Dr. Robert Hare, a prominent researcher on the topic. It is a statistical certainty that there are antisocial doctors out there. What motivated them? Not "helping people," that's for sure. It's definitely things like power, money, prestige, control that motivates a sociopath.

 

[lazymd]

Someone who has antisocial personality disorder.

I'm not trying to be funny. The incidence is around 4% in the U.S., according to Dr. Robert Hare, a prominent researcher on the topic. It is a statistical certainty that there are antisocial doctors out there. What motivated them? Not "helping people," that's for sure. It's definitely things like power, money, prestige, control that motivates a sociopath.

...or simply a jaded person that has finally decided to accept the realities of life and humanity.

 

[AshPreMed]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned this: if you don't like what you're doing, you won't think about it much, you won't think about it when you need to be thinking about it 12+ hours a day to find a solution, you might not be motivated enough to rush to save a patient at 4 AM after doing that over 100 times and exhausted, you might mess up in evaluations from laziness, you might be too lazy to look up papers every week (at least in your field) and stay up to date with this fast-growing field, you might look at other careers you liked more later in life (perhaps an MBA) and wish you did it (and if you end up doing it your MD becomes worth less as you start running a hospital at best, which a MPH can do), you might give the impression to your 50th patient during a day that you don't want to deal with him, your colleagues might pick up on your lack of interest, you might not even be motivated to study a huge amount in undergrad to get into medical school.

Most importantly, you may be harming or killing people due to the reasons mentioned above (mainly due to your lack of GREAT interest and motivation which is needed in this field).

Find deep motivation to work extremely hard to get into and practice medicine until you're 70, or work just as hard in business (and since your competition would be less intense than premeds), you may actually have a better chance of excelling in your classes (4.0) and getting a top job later. Explore your values and your mission in life before you die. That will help you a lot in determining what you want to spend your life on. I'm willing to apply until I die to get to do what I love and I'm good at (researching in biology and other sciences/arts and helping people by applying it to medicine and support patients to benefit mankind before I die).

Good luck, and I appreciate your sincerity.

Ash

OP, reread the bolded please. If it is all about money to you, and you are too superficial to see that although money is the PROXIMAL cause (everyone needs it like ATP), people's more noble goals are the ULTIMATE cause (what they will use the money for). Some people (e.g. Lil Wayne who has the maturity of a 3 year old and just suckles off his dad's record company) only see the proximal cause. And others who like their "badassness" will follow and likely end up with a bad job/homeless/surprised about being fooled (since most of those "badasses" don't actually practice what they preach for profit, because to them money is their ultimate cause).

If it is all about "money and b****" without any care for the people around you, as you put it, then you are perfectly describing a drug dealer (popular in Lil Wayne stuff). Maybe that is actually your fantasized job?

Why not even be a hitman if it is only about the money and you're willing to risk people's lives?

As I said, be someone useful and memorable (you can) in this world before you die and vanish like the billions of people before you have. You can still have a responsible (but amazing) amount of fun and respect, and get millions with a different job.

 

[lazymd]

.

 

[Law2Doc]

The money and "prestige" are never as much as premeds think, and the need to enjoy patient interactions is lot greater than most premeds think. and you only start getting the former after a decade. And it's not a decade of 9-5 work with weekends off, it's a decade of 5-9 work and lots of nights and weekends. medicine is a great career for certain people and the inner circle of he11 for others. Based on what OP has written he's not going to enjoy this path. Not enjoying your job when you are working at it 80 hours a week for 30-40 years is not something you should aspire for. I know lots of happy people with modest incomes and quite a few miserable people with doctors incomes. As you get a little more mature as to what's important in life, you will hopefully realize that it's more important to enjoy this short ride called life than be miserable but drive a slightly nicer car. Take it from a career changer who took a big step down in income -- money and prestige is like wearing a tuxedo to the beach. Yes you look sharp for a few minutes, at least in your own head, but as you start to sweat you'll realize you'd be much happier in a bathing suit with the average joes.

 

[Esquire]

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[TriagePreMed]

And my earlier post about feeling indifferent about helping people, I really feel like I'm serious when I say that. If there is no guarantee of going to heaven after we die no matter how much we help others or whatever we do (good/bad), then why do it? I just want to raise my human capital. It must be an awesome feeling to be that 1%.

I'm an atheist, yet I do want to help people. You need to accept the reality that some people help others regardless of their returns.

You will be miserable in medical school. The same thing your friend said, someone in another field would say if that's what they're into. Understand this: you will --not-- be rich by becoming a physician, and you will --not-- get with as many women as you think because your time will be mostly dedicated to your work. You need to stop watching TV and conflating it with the reality of being a physician.

Any doctor out there will tell you that the time put in for medicine is much more than what you will if you into finance or another lucrative field like that with lesser returns.

 

[km17]

For one, I have realized there is a lot more hustling you have to do to make it in this world. Second, this world revolves around money, nothing else (my opinion).
...
At the moment, I am thinking of a combined MD/MBA degree to explore various career interests.
...
And my earlier post about feeling indifferent about helping people, I really feel like I'm serious when I say that.
...
I just want to raise my human capital. It must be an awesome feeling to be that 1%.
...
And thus why med school? Well as one friend who currently attends an ivy league med school put it, "there's med school, and then there's everything else."

Consider management consulting if you have the brains and the schmoozing skills.

 

[shulk]

Guys, the OP is working a sucky job and is simply looking at other options, such as a career in medicine. You can't just assume that he/she is a sociopath who will probably end up killing his/her patients. It's quite possible he could really find a calling in medicine and become a wonderful physician. If not, they probably won't make it through med school/residency anyway.

 

[Law2Doc]

Guys, the OP is working a sucky job and is simply looking at other options, such as a career in medicine. You can't just assume that he/she is a sociopath who will probably end up killing his/her patients. It's quite possible he could really find a calling in medicine and become a wonderful physician. If not, they probably won't make it through med school/residency anyway.

Um no. You don't go to med school and hope you find your calling. You figure out if the path is for you and then you pull the trigger. Read the OPs first post. It's a laundry list of reasons adcoms decide someone should NOT be accepted to med school. You absolutely shouldn't go to med school simply because you don't like your current situation. That's jumping from the frying pan into the fire. You can't be running FROM something. You have to be drawn to med school independently of what you previously were doing. Let's not pretend that med schools weed out the unhappy miserable folks. They don't. If you get into a uS allo med school, there is a better than 95% chance that you will become a doctor. And if you go into it for the wrong reasons, there's the same 95% chance you will hate every minute of your life once you do. It's fine to be unhappy working at a 40 hour a week job -- you still have the weekends and evenings to "live". In a profession where you work 80 hours ore week, including many weekends and evenings, and are expected to be reading/looking stuff up at home throughout your career, you won't have that luxury. So no, if you don't have good reasons to go down this path, don't do it. You will be miserable. And money, prestige, being Indian, etc, aren't good reasons.

 

[thepoopologist]

I want to be honest why I would like to pursue med school. I am out of undergrad and working a 30K job with my otherwise useless liberal arts degree from a top school. I would like to do better than my current situation.

I want prestige, I want job security, I want high pay, I am Indian, I don't want to go to law school, etc. The fact is though, I am really indifferent towards helping people, to the point where I REALLY could not care less. I'm also not really into the whole "make the world a better place" mentality. I don't even think I like people, and thus am leaning towards pathology or radiology which have less patient interaction (I assume). Yeah I am accumulating volunteering hours, but they are kind of a drag to be honest. If I could be/do anything in the world, it would probably involve doing nothing (ideally).

I really just want to make money and have a steady paycheck/job security. Working in the corporate world really makes you view the world differently. I am curious if anyone else feels this way or felt this way before matriculating. Thank you.

I get where you're coming from, but I don't think you're going to find what you want in medical school. You will be saturated with science your first two years, and should at least have a fundamental interest in what you're studying. After those two years, all you deal with is people, and it's not people at their status quo, which you find in the white collar world. They range from even headed, to cruel, emotional and unreasonable with bodily fluids all over the place and everyone has to deal with it before they head off to the specialties.

I'm assuming you're in your early twenties with manageable debt, and a high gpa from college. There must be something else you can look at for one or two years, doesn't need to be a degree, but other business opportunities you can take advantage of. Medical school can wait a while for someone with a high gpa from a good school. Once you're in there is no option but to come out on the other side. I'm $350,000 in debt right now. I either graduate this year with a residency or I'm essentially done for.

Bottom line, with good grades it isn't a matter of if you're getting into medical school, it's a matter of when. It will be there for you when you've exhausted other avenues. Perhaps you'll find something better than what is almost a decade of studying and indentured servitude before you earn a physician paycheck.