My Dilemma...

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

hanksquirrel

Junior Member
7+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
20+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2003
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
Hello everyone. I'm a 3rd year (on the verge of becoming 4th) year medical student, and I'm still not 100% sure what I want to do for my career. I've loved path as a course, and I've had great opportunites to talk to some pathologists at my school who seem happy with their field. But it's still tough. Well, let me get to the point....
I'm an older med student (32) who is quite honestly burned out. I applied to med school numerous times, got in (allopathic u.s. school), worked hard etc...and there's a part of me that is still waiting for the fun to begin. I'm ok with patient contact but would prefer not to have it. The temptation of a non-preliminary/transitional/intern year is very appealing to me with path - EXTREMELY APPEALING. Here's the deal, I really do like path and I feel that I wouldnt have to SUFFER through a residency program with path - I would be able to enjoy it and enjoy life. There comes a point where delayed gratification becomes overdue gratification and I fear that I am reaching that. Here's the thing, though, the money when compared to other fields does bother me. Look , please don't crucify me for this people, but there's a part of me that would be pretty upset making $125,000 out of residency. Maybe that's wrong, but that's how I feel sometimes. I dunno, maybe I need to stop thinking that way, but anesthesia/radiology making $250,000 out of residency - wow. But, again, I'm not sure I have the love for those fields. Maybe I just wish path was a field that paid more I guess. But another positive thing about path is that the present state of competitiveness makes it very feasible to be able to choose at least the region of the US where you want to do your residency. That's a beautiful thing - I dream of a little house close to a beach somewhere working great hours and getting a tan.
Hey, maybe, I don't have a dilemma. Maybe I just needed to get this off of my chest. Again, don't destroy me for the money issue, peeps. I've laid out part of my soul here in this thread. Anyways, comments/suggestions/people who've had similar feelings - all are welcome. :) -hank

Members don't see this ad.
 
Hank,

All the thoughts you just mentioned have gone through my mind as well. For instance, I'm really interested in pathophysiology, labwork, and using labwork to make diagnoses. I like the fact that I will be the one consulted, not the one writing stupid consult orders everyday. I like the fact that I will be doing the test, not the one writing stupid test orders everyday. The money thing...well since I'm interested in going into academics, I already realize that I will be making less money overall than my fellow pathologists in the private/community sector (and Hank, from what I heard, you make much much more money if you go this route; a lot more than $125,000). The whole "no intern year" thing sealed the deal for me. When I saw my roommate work his balls off during his intern year, I said to myself, "I don't wanna be that guy."

Anyways, people shouldn't bash on you for having these thoughts. We are real people who lead real lives. Some of us no longer conform to the idealistic (and in my case so ridiculous that I wanna puke) personal statements we wrote for our med school applications long ago. We have been through a lot. In my case, 3rd year med school represents going to hell and back...I disliked almost all of it. After seeing how residents, especially the surgery and medicine interns, work how could you not think of monetary rewards at the end of the tunnel?

Oh damn, I'm late for my last day on anesthesiology....my ranting to be continued some other time. Good luck Hank!
 
I think you have a right to be concerned somewhat about money. I am sure by now you realize that money is only part of the consideration to make. You can make more than $125k in path, just like you can make a lot less than $250k in radiology or anesthesia. There is a wide range of salaries and I don't know if you can really judge things based on this. But you don't have to apologize for wanting to succeed financially. It's easy for a lot of people to say that they are doing things without considering financial gain. Some folks have a lot of loans, kids, etc. If doctors made $70k I don't think I would have bothered going through med school, I would have found something else to do. I certainly am glad I did at this point, and am not going to change my career ideals for a small increase in salary but I also would be lying (and so would almost everyone else except john carter MD) if I said money wasn't a factor in decisionmaking. There are those who say money isn't important to them, but a lot of times these are the people for whom power and prestige are important, money is incidental.

And, by the time you finish residency, you can't really predict what is going to happen in terms of job competitiveness. Perhaps radiology or anesthesia will have become a bit oversaturated. Perhaps lots of pathologists will retire. Perhaps advances in technology and science will create new opportunities for certain fields, or even make us all worthless. I think pathology is a burgeoning field, there will be lots of opportunities, and you can do well in it.

I worry that you would end up unhappy if you chose one of the other fields, since as you say they don't appeal to you as much as path. Don't worry about the money as much. The gap in earning potential is not as high as you think, from what I have heard.

BTW, look, hotsteamingturd posted at like 6:20 am and said he was already late for anesthesia. No one needs that!

electronically signed:
yaah.gif
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Hanksquirrel,
Sounds like you're tracking ok to me. Have been in FP for 18+ yr-while I wouldn't say I've been miserable, I surely haven't been content. I'll be starting a Path residency in couple weeks and I can't wait. While I haven't made Rads/Gas $$, I didn't have the debt many have today as they enter graduate training, and have made comfortable salaries. Now, I go back to a resident's salary with one son entering college, another one 4 yr away, and no certainty of higher salary or even a job in 4 yr, BUT, I can say that I wish I had bitten the bullet 15 yr ago, gone back to residency after my NHSC commitment, and not spent the last 15 yr. wanting to do something else. So, while money is important, think about what you are going to do 40-60 hr each and every week for the next X number of years.
 
I know Yaah, 6:20 am and I'm late for anesthesiology. But it's all good. I'm on call tonight but the resident I worked with told me to go home an hour ago and told me to enjoy the Pistons game tonight.
 
BTW yaah, nice electronic signature. How did you do that? I got a picture of a nice fresh turd (courtesy of ratemypoo.com) that I'm thinking of using as my electronic signature. Cheers!
 
You can post images, just click the little icon of the mountain above where the text goes and put in the link. If you right click any icon on the web, on "properties" you can get the web address. Failing that, you can just use html and {img}http://yourwebsite{/img} although of course you use [ instead of {.

I just found that little thing on a website. I think it's czech or croatian or who knows.

More power to you for being able to watch the NBA. I find watching the NBA to have similar entertainment value to watching a Ferris Wheel spin.
 
Hank,

Sounds like you are made for pathology! Those exact thoughts ran through my head around my decision time and I've not regretted choosing path. I've written a little thing on my blog about why I chose path. You can read it at: http://choosepath.blogspot.com. Hope it helps.
 
Hey Dr. B.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading that article and your website has some very useful info for a person like me who is starting the application process for path residency. I especially liked the part where you discuss your reservations about pathology and how you overcame them...those were pretty much the exact same thought processes I went through.

Thanks so much for your input. Cheers!

Turd
 
Do you really call yourself turd in public or is this just an internet forum-type thing? I can just see you at a bar. Hi, my name is turd. Can I buy you a drink? Hey, by the way, you smell great!
 
Haha...actually when I go to the bar, I use my real name, which is **** but HotSteamingTard just isn't as funny as HotSteamingTurd right? :)

the turd has spoken
 
HotSteamingTurd said:
Haha...actually when I go to the bar, I use my real name, which is **** but HotSteamingTard just isn't as funny as HotSteamingTurd right? :)

I dunno, when I was younger we used to call people "*****" as a thinly veiled insult. Nowadays we would think twice because we would be insulting mentally ******ed individuals, but around this part of the country, the word, "******" is thrown out almost as often as "wicked." Actually, they are commonly found together, as in, "You aah wicked retaahded."

You can get called a ****** for just about anything. Whereas in other parts of the country if you cut someone off on the highway you might hear, "What a rude person!" or "What an idiot!" Around here you would here, "@#$! you, you #@$!in' idiot, what aah you, retaahded or somethin'?!" To which you would respond, per the rules of conversation, with, "@#$! off, a$$wipe!"

Thus, since we like to shorten things, "You aah wicked retaahded" simply becomes, "You #@$!in' taahd!"

So, then, I find "HotSteamingTard" wicked pissah. Sounds like something south park would do (BTW, the "Cripple Fight" episode was on tonight).

Sigh, I'm sure I've insulted someone by now. Sorry. I will have to stop talking like a taahd when I move. I'm going to miss New England in some ways...
 
I still think the Special Olympics episode is better where Cartman pretends to be a ****** so that he can win $1000. In typical Cartman fashion, it has been my trademark to go around bars when drunk saying, "Durrrrrrrr...what's goin on y'all...durrrrrrrrr"

Yeah I want some cheesy poofs!!!
 
Turd, glad you found the website helpful. I started it b/c when I was trying to decide what to go into, I had no good resource to help me with my decision.

No kitty! That's my pot pie!
 
Top