Medicine and Adevnture?

[Raecon]

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I've been coming to SDN for a few months now and read all your post and have been thoroughly entertained and scared by the way you describe Medical school and the profession as whole. I would like to ask all med students, residents and Doctors for your advice on this one.

I'm 17 years old and am about to start my final year @ high school and am interested in Medicine. Here you go into med straight after high school which means I'll start @ 18. The grades I've gotten for A level's so far should allow me to get in. I want to go to UWI Med. a super prestigious med school. It's a 5 year program and it's 100% free for me because my father works @ the university 😀.

I live about 2 mins away from the school and I still plan to board they're.After I finish Med school they'll be several opportunities for me to do residency in the UK because our systems are similar (if not identical) and they have a rule there that residency can not exceed 40 hrs( correct me if I'm wrong) which is a mjor incentive to go as well the culture is truly intriguing to me. So those are all the things working in my favor.

However, is being a doc my dream? No. But it does interest me more than than any other career. My dream is to explore the world. I love adventure more than anything else. I need flexibility in my career more than anything so I can persue this lifestyle of adventure. I've been told private practice could afford me this.No matter what I do I want to be involved in Academia (been around it my whole life) so what I would want would be to work for University while owning a private practice (i know one man who does this, and he has a great lifestyle and has time to relax). Mal practice and insurance problems are much better down here.

I thought of Doing Dentistry but I don't think my fine motor skills are good enough. With the possibility of Medical Anthropology, Travel Medicine and being a medical specialist on expeditions it seems I could combine my love fo adventure with my academic interest in Medicine, I can't think of another career that could work with it so seamlessly.

I hear a lot of ppl here argue and complain about med school but maybe I feel I may not suffer the same prob cuz:

1) I won't be away from my family

2) it's free

3) Most of my friends will be going to this med school and the university as well in other faculties

4) I start @ 18 and will be out by 23

5) I've been able to go to the best school in the country and score excellent grade without being nearly as stressed out as most of my contemporaries. (My teachers say I'm VERY emotionally stable)

6) I know most of the staff there so I don't think they're treat my like "****"

So it make me feel that med school could be a more enjoyable experience than it has been for others. It's the only field I'm genuinely interested in it but a lot of ppl say if there's ANYTHING else you could do then do it....and I'm just wondering if because of my advantageous position it would be different? Do you think I could live this lifestyle combining medicine and adventure?

What's your opinion. PLEASE don't flame me I'm just asking for input

Thanks

 

[fahimaz7]

Caribbean?

 

[Raecon]

Caribbean?

Yes, to be more specific the great island of Jamaica.

 

[Rendar5]

Could alwasy do Doctors without borders. You will have the advantage that a lot of us Americans don't have in that med school starts four years early for you, is combined with college, and is a helluva lot cheaper. You wouldnt' really easily become a doc in the US, but in a foreign setting it shouldn't be difficult.

If you were in the US I'd tell you that your plan was stupid and a giant waste of time and money, but as I said you avoid this entirely, so medicine doesn't have to be a calling for you.

A few notes though, fine motor skills are trained and if you go the route of dentistry you will gain these. A field like cultural anthropology might be more to your liking as careers in medicine that fulfill your dreams are lacking. REsidency is a long arduous process even in England. I'd be surprised if the shorter hours didn't add on a year or two of training.

As a US resident, I can't imagine becoming an adequate doctor on 40hr-wk residencies unless they lasted a minimum of 5 years. I agree that 80hr-wks are hell and count myself fortunate that my chose field has 60hr-wk residency instead (though unfortunately on one of my 2 80[+]hr-wk offservice blocks now, sigh). It takes a certain number of pt-hrs to gain sufficient experience.

 

[Reaction]

Could alwasy do Doctors without borders. You will have the advantage that a lot of us Americans don't have in that med school starts four years early for you, is combined with college, and is a helluva lot cheaper. You wouldnt' really easily become a doc in the US, but in a foreign setting it shouldn't be difficult.

If you were in the US I'd tell you that your plan was stupid and a giant waste of time and money, but as I said you avoid this entirely, so medicine doesn't have to be a calling for you.

A few notes though, fine motor skills are trained and if you go the route of dentistry you will gain these. A field like cultural anthropology might be more to your liking as careers in medicine that fulfill your dreams are lacking. REsidency is a long arduous process even in England. I'd be surprised if the shorter hours didn't add on a year or two of training.

As a US resident, I can't imagine becoming an adequate doctor on 40hr-wk residencies unless they lasted a minimum of 5 years. I agree that 80hr-wks are hell and count myself fortunate that my chose field has 60hr-wk residency instead (though unfortunately on one of my 2 80[+]hr-wk offservice blocks now, sigh). It takes a certain number of pt-hrs to gain sufficient experience.

Same I have to agree with you on this one.. not only that I know people who have went to those types of programs Ex. the Antigua one and they have a harder time getting jobs in certain states.. but I don't know lol

 

[TarHeelEMT]

Military medicine can be adventurous. Also, some positions with the Red Cross/Red Crescent can be very exciting and in exotic locations.

 

[Catalystik]

Do you think I could live this lifestyle combining medicine and adventure?

What's your opinion.

You might Search for information about the Wilderness Medical Society and Doctors Without Borders, and other international medical relief organizations. To be involved in such adventures, though, you either need a medical job with shift work (like ER doc) or lots of partners willing to cover your practice in your absence. I've heard of a family medical practice where all four of the docs in the practice spend three months out of the country each year providing medical care in other countries.

 

[Plasticup]

edit: deleted

 

[Raecon]

Thanks alot for all the answer. I did some more reading and I discovered that they have this branch of medicine called Travel medicine. It seems like the ideal thing for me. With the right certification I could be a travel doc and go on expeditions with Adventurers and so...sounds very exciting to me 😀.
https://www.istm.org/