Med Student Burnout

[midazzoler]

1 in 4 US medical students consider quitting, most don’t plan to treat patients: report

A new report on how medical students view the future of their careers has found that a quarter of aspiring physicians in the U.S. say they are considering quitting their studies, with many expressi…

thehill.com

Is there something to this or are they surveying a population that is regretting given up some party time in their twenties?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[ChiDO]

Not surprising. Lots of young Drs are looking into the FIRE movements as well.

Medicine is a dumpster fire that's racing to the bottom. My goal is to be FI asap.

 

[triggermaster]

Not surprising. Lots of young Drs are looking into the FIRE movements as well.

Medicine is a dumpster fire that's racing to the bottom. My goal is to be FI asap.

Idk. Seems pretty good. I’ll make the most I’ve ever made this year and my job is pretty nice.

 

[chessknt]

This is all linked together. Labor shortages, declining birth rates, rise of populism/fascism again--People know the world order is falling apart and something really bad is going to happen soon. And if we don't do it to ourselves then we always have global warming waiting to try to kill all of us.

It's best not to think about it honestly. The best we can hope for is to all die quickly.

 

[Taco Time]

Complaining is cathartic and can even be healthy. The harder getting into med school is and the more stress applicants put towards matching, the higher burnout will be. This is not surprising. It's why some of the happiest classmates in med school were the ones who wanted to do peds or FM from the start and didn't care about training somewhere fancy

 

[Maverikk]

It’s interesting the US is twice the worldwide rate, but not surprising. If you look at other first world countries: their doctors don’t work 50-70 hours per week. They have a better life balance, granted they get paid less, but most have no medical school debt. They still live great lifestyles, but don’t have the opportunity to live extravagant ones like some do here. I knew a physician from Greece and one from Ireland. Both said the same, Americans are crazy workaholics. The one shoulder guy I work with took a 2 week vacation this year, his first two weeks off in over a decade he said (he does have an ex and kids to pay for).
When medicine was good you took care of patients. Now it feels like I’m a documenting monkey…document you gave two anti-emetics on the record, then document that you gave two anti-emetics on a website, then have a quality person review everything and question why you didn’t. It’s the medical industrial complex, tries to relegate a doctor to a ‘provider’ who takes care of patients but mostly works on a computer. It’s disgusting, worse for anyone who works in primary care. When I get asked nowadays I always say what’s the clinical benefit of this change..usually the nurse manager says it’s protocol or came down from management..I always say this change should help efficiency and increase morale with a straight face

 

[PpfSuxTube]

Complaining is cathartic and can even be healthy.

Where are you getting that from?
People that regularly complain are the most miserable you can come across...

Complaining is possibly the most useless, self defeating thing you can ever do. It implies that you have no power or ability to change the poor circumstances you are stuck in. It implies other people control you...

I don't believe in all those bs self help books but I do like this one... there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so...

 

[Anesthesia_Guy]

This is all linked together. Labor shortages, declining birth rates, rise of populism/fascism again--People know the world order is falling apart and something really bad is going to happen soon. And if we don't do it to ourselves then we always have global warming waiting to try to kill all of us.

It's best not to think about it honestly. The best we can hope for is to all die quickly.

Damn son....I bet you're fun at parties.

 

[Anesthesia_Guy]

....tries to relegate a doctor to a ‘provider’ ...

They have already succeeded.

 

[ChiDO]

Idk. Seems pretty good. I’ll make the most I’ve ever made this year and my job is pretty nice.

I do very well for myself, but it's hard work. And I really love my job.

I'm 5-10% busier this year but am probably going to make 10-15% les due to cms cuts, rising expenses, and inflation. So yes, this is unsustainable.

 

[IlDestriero]

Where are you getting that from?
People that regularly complain are the most miserable you can come across...

Complaining is possibly the most useless, self defeating thing you can ever do. It implies that you have no power or ability to change the poor circumstances you are stuck in. It implies other people control you...

I don't believe in all those bs self help books but I do like this one... there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so...

People that complain all the time are miserable, and they complain to either try to make people feel sorry for them or harsh their mellow. I don’t understand how some people can be so miserable.
People complain about how hard we are working at my place. This is the new thing, and it’s generational. I’m like, really? Our patients are sick as hell, but we get out early a lot, the schedule is as predictable as it could be, we make more than ever and will be making even more. Pretty nice. I had a “late” day today and finished at 2. Don’t they have friends at other places working every day until 6? Covering 3 or 4 rooms all the time vs sitting their own cases? Fighting with CRNAs to be notified of problems as they run around? Guess what? I don’t want to take home 50k more to get out at 6. They don’t either, they just haven’t figured that out yet. I tell some friends about the job and they don’t say, come work with me, they say wow that sounds great. But my partners are Debbie Downers. Whatever man. I’ll cry in my S class as I drive home at 3 again tomorrow.

 

[kidthor]

Guess what? I don’t want to take home 50k more to get out at 6. They don’t either, they just haven’t figured that out yet.

Same here. I think people are wising up to the fact that having some life control is essential. I know I could make 50-200K more by crushing myself but to what end? Plenty of people are stuck in overwork mode though, especially since many employers got away with requiring it. It’s good that the current hot market is normalizing/facilitating better lifestyle.

 

[Taco Time]

Where are you getting that from?
People that regularly complain are the most miserable you can come across...

Complaining is possibly the most useless, self defeating thing you can ever do. It implies that you have no power or ability to change the poor circumstances you are stuck in. It implies other people control you...

I don't believe in all those bs self help books but I do like this one... there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so...

Being introspective towards oneself is important. Being cathartic means that you don't take yourself too seriosuly--more open to making improvements. All I'm saying is that being objective should apply to external circumstances as well.

Why do we see parroted tropes on SDN of being ready to walk away from a job if call increases significantly or private equity takeover that worsens quality of lifestyle as well as care for patients?

Med students now had it harder than ever to get into med school, residency match in desired speciality and location is no gimmee, inflation sucks, growing up in the social media age is not good for mental health, etc. All I'm saying is I'm not surprised and simply stating that this is a generational drift due to lack of grit isn't a fair observation.

I don't like people who complain either, but I think that there's merit here.

 

[triggermaster]

Being introspective towards oneself is important. Being cathartic means that you don't take yourself too seriosuly--more open to making improvements. All I'm saying is that being objective should apply to external circumstances as well.

Why do we see parroted tropes on SDN of being ready to walk away from a job if call increases significantly or private equity takeover that worsens quality of lifestyle as well as care for patients?

Med students now had it harder than ever to get into med school, residency match in desired speciality and location is no gimmee, inflation sucks, growing up in the social media age is not good for mental health, etc. All I'm saying is I'm not surprised and simply stating that this is a generational drift due to lack of grit isn't a fair observation.

I don't like people who complain either, but I think that there's merit here.

There’s a big difference between having a complaint and being a complainer.
Just don’t become a constant or frequent complainer and you’re probably good.