i laugh at the posters that think people who complain about medicine never had a "real" job. what about the people that did have a "real" job and think medicine still sucks?
Amen. What's especially ironic is that I was one of those people--you could search my posting history and find me saying in 2004 that the people who complain about medicine are just little snot-nosed brats who went straight from college to medical school and don't know how much
every job sucks, and that they needed to listen to wise and mature older nontrads like me who somehow just knew that medicine was actually better than anything else.
Now, I say: yes, I know your boring corporate job sucks because I've been there, but trust me, medicine sucks even more.
frankly, if i could find a job,with stability that parallels medicine's, that pays 60k, 45 hour weeks, weekends off and no take home work, i'd jump on it in a heartbeat... even if it doesnt stimulate my mind (at this point, i dont find medicine intellectually stimulating at all. it's just rote memorization) i want to spend more time with my SO, more time with friends, and more time not balls deep in medicine.
Me too, and what's so frustrating is that back when I was deciding to go to medical school and people said this kind of thing, my reponse was "no, you don't understand, I have that job, but it's soooooooooooo stressful, my boss doesn't like me and thinks I'm a slacker, I could get fired anytime; medicine is MUCH better because there I'll at least make $250k/year, have 100% job stability, and all the chicks will dig me." What I didn't understand is that I'd have been much better off using the brainpower which allowed me to get a high MCAT score to creatively finagle my way into an easier, less stressful IT job, rather than using it to sign myself up for 10 years of indentured servitude.
there are good things about medicine but the bad outweighs it by so much that it makes the profession difficult to enjoy. you cope, you adapt, and you find ways to deal with it but that's no way to live life, especially when this is a choice and was not forced upon you.
Yes, nontrads, even if you find you hate medical school, things will probably work out in the end, but that's not the same as saying you'll be better off. I may ultimately be able to become an anesthesiologist and find a private practice gig that offers a lot of vacation time and be content, but that doesn't mean it made sense for me to do this.