Need some help deciding wtf I wanna do...with careers...

[amd123]

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I want to become a surgeon/anesthesiologist but I don't want to work 80+ hours a week, be on call, and when I graduate from medical school at around age 30 look like im 45+. I have not done any job shadowing/voluntree, but I will be doing itduring the summer.

What are some recommended careers?

Also, money IS a big factor as to why I wanna do a medical field job, if you guys don't agree with this would recommend law or business? I've been trading since the 9th grade (paper and live).

Lastly, if a doctor is reading this, could you please tell me on a day to day basis wtf do you do? How many hours do you work? Do you have any time left for hobbies? I lift religiously (2 hours a day, 3x a week) and I play guitar (atleast an hour a day). Will I have time for these if I become a doctor?

 

[Vicviper]

I'd suggest the non-health fields if you really don't want the hours and the stress. But if you're willing to go through some of that stress and even have a smidgen on the desire to better others next to the desire for the pay check, consider dental. Dental has Waaaaaay better hours, much less stress, you're never on call unless you want to be, etc etc. Dental school is 4 years, and you can start making money right after that, and if you want to specialize, most residencies are 2-3 years, oral surgery is 6 and you get an MD.

On the downside, and I've heard this from a number of dental students, you'd probably have to stop doing hardcore lifting because you can't damage your hands, but you'd be in the same boat as a surgeon.

 

[tennisball80]

Also, money IS a big factor as to why I wanna do a medical field job, if you guys don't agree with this would recommend law or business? I've been trading since the 9th grade (paper and live).

You will definitely have a big chance in Business and Law if you are so motivated to make money. You will find yourself stressful in health care field.

 

[tennisball80]

And I will take a bunch of classes in college in Business and Law to see whether I wanna really go into medicine or not.

 

[Darklord]

We should have a business forum on this site, lol. I like exploring careers; however, I think business would be very boring (in my opinion).

Money is usually one of the side reasons people enter the medical field. It plays a somewhat significant role and that is okay.

 

[sarahg]

Don't worry about it in high school. When you get to college you can take different courses and figure out what you like to do. You'll also grow up a lot and your values and needs may shift. I'm a senior in college and I've found that what I want out of life is nothing close to what I thought I'd want out of life when I was a senior in high school. The thing is, doctors are not the only people who work 80 hours a week. You may be expected to work that much as a business person, lawyer, engineer, etc. Ultimately pick your job based on what you like to do, not hours, because once you're out of school you can choose your hours -- there are doctors that work 40 hour weeks out there.

 

[Vicviper]

Don't worry about it in high school. When you get to college you can take different courses and figure out what you like to do. You'll also grow up a lot and your values and needs may shift. I'm a senior in college and I've found that what I want out of life is nothing close to what I thought I'd want out of life when I was a senior in high school. The thing is, doctors are not the only people who work 80 hours a week. You may be expected to work that much as a business person, lawyer, engineer, etc. Ultimately pick your job based on what you like to do, not hours, because once you're out of school you can choose your hours -- there are doctors that work 40 hour weeks out there.

Exactly, I completely agree. You really don't have to decide what you want to do in high school. In high school I wanted to be a programmer, now I can't POSSIBLY imagine me wanting to do that for the rest of my life.

Once you start college and start taking some classes that would be similar to professional school, and maybe do some shadowing, think long and hard about what you want to do for the rest of your life, because no amount of money (within reason) is worth doing a job you absolutely hate for the rest of your life.

 

[xnfs93hy]

I'd suggest the non-health fields if you really don't want the hours and the stress. But if you're willing to go through some of that stress and even have a smidgen on the desire to better others next to the desire for the pay check, consider dental. Dental has Waaaaaay better hours, much less stress, you're never on call unless you want to be, etc etc. Dental school is 4 years, and you can start making money right after that, and if you want to specialize, most residencies are 2-3 years, oral surgery is 6 and you get an MD.

On the downside, and I've heard this from a number of dental students, you'd probably have to stop doing hardcore lifting because you can't damage your hands, but you'd be in the same boat as a surgeon.

This is going to sound idiotic, but, alright.

How can you damage you hands by doing heavy lifting?

Rephrase. Why is this a negative?

 

[Vicviper]

Well, the primary thing would be that if you're doing lots of powerlifting like deadlifts you'd be a much greater risk of having an accident, say crushing your fingers or palm - and although it is unlikely, for a profession that is 100% based on your hands (i.e surgeons), just about any risk is too much. Though just normal lifting as part of an exercise routine probably wouldn't be too bad.

I've also heard from a number of people that doing serious lifting can effect your manual dexterity for a number of hours after your workout - and it would seem to me that if you do something long enough, the longer the effect would last.

 

[Gallix23]

I've also heard from a number of people that doing serious lifting can effect your manual dexterity for a number of hours after your workout - and it would seem to me that if you do something long enough, the longer the effect would last.

This is true, but I don't really think it is anything too serious. If you are doing intense benching or dead lifting or shrugs where the majority of the weight is on your hands, they will get very stiff from holding the bar so tight and sort of contour to the bar shape. However, padded gloves help prevent this because they sort of make your palm bigger so it doesn't need to contour as much (if that makes sense), and it usually subsides within an hour after working out.

From personal experience, I've been working out for 5 years now, including doing very heavy powerlifts for football and things like that, and I've never once had any type of hand problem due to it.

 

[OddNath]

I want to become a surgeon/anesthesiologist but I don't want to work 80+ hours a week

What are some recommended careers?

if you guys don't agree with this would recommend law or business?

Look dude, you clearly have absolutely no idea of what you want to be when you grow up. And that's the beauty of high school- you don't need to know yet. Enjoy it.

So, just make good grades, explore what you're interested in, and the answers will come to you. For example, by shadowing a physician (and you can continue this in college), you'll get an idea of what a doctor does every day and if that's what you want to pursue. You'll have to at least watch a few surgeries before you can even join the "I want to be a surgeon" club. By reading and paying close attention in history and government classes, you can see if law school might be a good fit for you. Continue trading in your spare time, see if your interest in finance grows over time.

But before you start worrying about how many hours a doctor works per week and salary range (since this can vary wildly by specialty and type of practice), you'll have to figure out what you want to do first.

 

[DLi]

If you love what you do, you will never have to work another day of your life.

So just start your own business with something you're passionate about and hit it big like Bill Gates did, and sell your business or give it to your kid when you retire.

 

[Terpskins99]

I want to become a surgeon/anesthesiologist but I don't want to work 80+ hours a week, be on call, and when I graduate from medical school at around age 30 look like im 45+.

What are some recommended careers?

Also, money IS a big factor as to why I wanna do a medical field job, if you guys don't agree with this would recommend law or business?

You can't have your cake and eat it too. You have to weigh what's most important to you. If money means everything to you, you will never be happy as a physician. New doctors have been making less money each decade and the Obama administration will continue that trend in a big way. By the time you reach attending-physician status, I guarantee that you will feel you are not making enough for your services.

Do you have any time left for hobbies? I lift religiously (2 hours a day, 3x a week) and I play guitar (atleast an hour a day). Will I have time for these if I become a doctor?

Yes. But at the expense of other activities. Life as a doctor is all about time management and weighing priorities. If those activities mean that much to you, you'll find a way to fit them in.

 

[mglavin]

Unless you invent the next snuggie expect to work more then 40 hours a week if you ever want to make more money then the national average. This is true for every field at some point in your career.

Medicine is lucrative more so then most other fields. The ceiling may not be as high as it is in business or law but those field do not have the security or stability that medicine has. (at least it until obama brings us some change)