Not sure if I want to do this anymore

[johankriek]

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Everybody hates their job.

. Gets easier to bear with then. And then who knows. Maybe someday you'll like medicine.

Not likely, the way things are going my friend. nice try though!

 

[Law2Doc]

Not likely, the way things are going my friend. nice try though!

Yeah, that's akin to saying I'll marry someone and "learn to love them". Doesn't work that way. See my prior post; you have more choices than you think.

 

[Slide]

You know, I was thinking the same until our first semester was over and I had my winter break. After the spring semester started, school slowed down considerably and I also started working at the local free clinic. Now I'm thinking my angry thoughts towards medicine was more of frustration and burnout rather than actual anger and regret toward my decision to go into medicine.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Everybody hates their job.

I would say that everyone hates their jobs sometimes, but hating it all the time is a problem.

To the op, I agree with the general advice to stick it out through at least the year and to try to figure out whether you're hating MS1 year or whether it's medicine in general you don't like. And seeking counseling is a great move on your part.

 

[uclabruins47]

Hello all,

I'm not sure I want to go through all of this anymore. I'm a M1, and am really down about school...and the prospect of continuing on like this for the rest of my life. I passed all my first semester classes, and have started seeing someone (therapist) about this, but beginning this semester makes me just feel bleak. I go to a private school as well...so it is really expensive. IDK...does it ever get better or is it just a life of enduring?

it does not get better. Personal experience --> Internal medicine resident

 

[DrDude]

This isn't like getting into medical school (even getting into med school doesn't require constant medical activities). They're not going to not license you because you traveled for a year or worked for the family company! JEEZE! And if your residency cares, obviously they have sticks up their ass and you wouldn't feel comfortable there anyway. Residencies don't want perfect robots who f o l l o w t h e p a t h u n t h i n k i n g w i t h o u t v e e r i n g. These people tend to not deal with other people very well and could possibly have a nervous breakdown from not taking care of themselves well enough..

You tell a residency director you wanted to take a year to explore other options and came to the conclusion that medicine was your calling he might possibly applaud you for your maturity. I guarantee this with psychiatry.

Actually most do want "robots" when you get right down to it. They want residents who will fall into line and do exactly what they're supposed to like all other residents without complaint, who will finish the residency in the alloted amount of time (which means not veering off the path as you put it), and ultimately pass the board certification exam. That's how residency programs stay accredited. Which if you're a PD is the bottom line, everything else is secondary. And they pick residents who they think will most likely achieve that.

That's why they consider your board scores (predictor of passing the board certification exam) and letters of rec (which is basically their colleagues vouching that you're clinically competent and that you behave).

Medicine is all about status quo...algorithms, criteria, accepted standard of care, allegiance to hierarchy, etc. Deviation from the status quo is not tolerated much. Even the doctors who like to think of themselves as "rebels" are still conformists when it comes right down to it.

 

[Jayblue79]

it does not get better. Personal experience --> Internal medicine resident

Ever? I think the choice to finish has been made by the amount of debt I have already racked up. About 100K with Undergrad, my masters, and now the 1st year of Med School. What kind of job could I get that would pay that off? I believe I'm stuck.

 

[TMP-SMX]

Ever? I think the choice to finish has been made by the amount of debt I have already racked up. About 100K with Undergrad, my masters, and now the 1st year of Med School. What kind of job could I get that would pay that off? I believe I'm stuck.

If you really truly believe that you are "stuck" with this then you are going to have problems. I suggest you start figuring out what your desires are in life and your future.

 

[Jayblue79]

If you really truly believe that you are "stuck" with this then you are going to have problems. I suggest you start figuring out what your desires are in life and your future.

Perhaps stuck was a bad choice of wording. I don't hate medicine...I actually find a lot of the stuff we are studying interesting, and I had a lot of shadowing, work experience, and volunteer work coming in....so I'm not a typical bright-eyed 21 yr old fresh out of Undergrad who went to MD school to make money or impress mom and dad. I'm just finding it hard to adjust. But to dable in reality, options become limited when you're older, have a mortgage, a wife, and ever increasing educational debt. There comes a point when circumstances overpower "following your dreams".

 

[NSAIDAllergy]

I'm a M1, and am really down about school...and the prospect of continuing on like this for the rest of my life.

Congratulations; you're right on track!!!

You're supposed to feel overwhelmed in your 1st year (drinking from a fire hose and all that). The really cool thing about medicine is that it is NOTHING like medical school!

Once you get past Step 1 (and you will), it's not about memorization, "What is the Professor looking for with this question?", or "Why don't I have all the answers like everyone else in my class?".

You got into med school. When you look back, you will realize that that was the hardest part.

 

[realgraverobber]

I'm probably going to quit too. Never could have considered how frustrated everyone in medicine is.

What a terrible field. Everyone is angry at everyone else (nruses, PA's, NP's, Dr's). Professors hate their students. Students are competitive such that they hurt each other. This is all the worst of competitive prick American culture.

Have fun with that.

 

[CigarTragic]

Never could have considered how frustrated everyone in medicine is.

What a terrible field. Everyone is angry at everyone else (nruses, PA's, NP's, Dr's). Professors hate their students. Students are competitive such that they hurt each other. This is all the worst of competitive prick American culture.

Hmmm... where to begin with this one.

Take a step out into the rest of the world. You think everyone in the business world is happy with their co-workers, that they aren't in "competition" for the next promotion? You think people in so-called "do-good" organizations like nonprofits and churches don't sit around and talk smack about that "annoying person" who stepped out of the room for a moment? That one business partner isn't mad at the other for "dropping the ball" at the presentation or one little slip of the tongue? It's a reality of life that friendships / connections / bonds / alliances what have you form between some, that superiority and inferiority complexes develop, that rivalries emerge, enemies are made, promises are made and broken, you're "let go" for some sham garbage reason... it is not pretty no matter what field of work you're in. We're human, and all this nonsense is a part of life.

Surely medicine is no cake walk. But labelling it as the "worst of competitive prick American culture" is a bit of a stretch.

 

[angry energy]

dude, chill out, quit whining, get the stick otu of ur @$$. everyone gets down at some point, most of us go through it. Remember >97% of med students graduate. so the admissions ppl are doing SOMETHING right.

if they chose you, it means u ahve what it takes to get thru this BS. so gather ur things, take a deep breath, and dive in. ur not that much different than the rest of us, and if we can do it, u can too.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

I feel the same way about Medicine that Patton did about war.

"I love it. God help me, I do love it"

 

[kdburton]

Dude, if you have doubts, get out now. It gets worse from this point on. The clinical years are worse than the preclinicals one and residency is hell. Being an attending doesn't guarantee you happiness and satisfaction either. This message board is littered with threads from people in all stages of training regretting going into medicine.

A lot of people regret going into medicine because they are book smart and they've worked really hard for a goal their whole life that they really don't know a lot about. I know quite a few people who are acing all of their preclinical coursework, but they have no people skills (because no one ever needed them as a premed, they never figured out they didn't have them) and I know that they are going to (a) dislike and (b) not excel when it comes to actual patient care in their 3rd and 4th year. If you talk to older students who are good with people and really wanted to go into medicine then you'll hear that med school doesn't always get harder. Even before I started med school I used to work with patients in a hospital upwards of 80 hrs per week and it was no sweat. So yes there are people who are caught off guard when it comes to the clinical years and say that it just gets harder and harder, but then there are those people who say that med school just gets easier and easier.

 

[roja]

I am nontraditional as well. have many friends that are. Yup. its hard. Have I had moments where I hated my day? yup. abso-freaking-lutely. Everyone has or will have moments like this. At somepoint.

but, believe it or not. It gets better. If you thought hard about your choice (most nontrads do) and know that it is your dream, then you need to stick it out. Medicine is hard. It is also phenomenally rewarding. It is also annoying, sometimes painful and exhausting.

 

[johankriek]

A lot of people regret going into medicine because they are book smart and they've worked really hard for a goal their whole life that they really don't know a lot about. I know quite a few people who are acing all of their preclinical coursework, but they have no people skills (because no one ever needed them as a premed, they never figured out they didn't have them) and I know that they are going to (a) dislike and (b) not excel when it comes to actual patient care in their 3rd and 4th year. If you talk to older students who are good with people and really wanted to go into medicine - rather than those who are just good at school and following mommy and daddy's dreams of their child becoming a doctor then you'll see that med school doesn't always get harder. Even before I started med school I used to work with patients in a hospital upwards of 80 hrs per week and it was no sweat. So yes there are people who are caught off guard when it comes to the clinical years and say that it just gets harder and harder, but then there are those people who say that med school just gets easier and easier.

this is a perfect example of a misguided post...

The difficulty of medicine has nothing to do with dealing with patients at all. thats the easy part....

 

[Re3iRtH]

I am nontraditional as well. have many friends that are. Yup. its hard. Have I had moments where I hated my day? yup. abso-freaking-lutely. Everyone has or will have moments like this. At somepoint.

but, believe it or not. It gets better. If you thought hard about your choice (most nontrads do) and know that it is your dream, then you need to stick it out. Medicine is hard. It is also phenomenally rewarding. It is also annoying, sometimes painful and exhausting.

I honestly have not had a single day that i hated in med school. I guess
maybe it means I'm in for some dandies during 3rd and 4rth years.

 

[kdburton]

this is a perfect example of a misguided post...

The difficulty of medicine has nothing to do with dealing with patients at all. thats the easy part....

No, its not misguided. Its pretty much a given that you have to have some brains to be successful enough to get into med school and then get through the preclinical, clinical, and post-graduate education years. People who are "good" at school generally like what they are learning during their first couple years of med school because they feel rewarded by their good marks and pats on the back from professors who see them doing well. However, if you don't have people skills then your 3rd and 4th years of medical school are going to be relatively difficult because not only do you need to be able to extract enough information from your patients so that you can write your SOAP notes that morning, but you also have to be able to impress your attendings/residents with your professionalism and your ability to interact with the team/patients (therefore you may not be getting those honors grades that you're used to). Believe it or not 3rd and 4th year would be unfortunately extremely difficult for some people with a lack of people skills (even if they honored every single module in the first two years of school). And people have openly expressed this difficulty to me beginning with their first real live patient encounter. In general, school is going to get relatively easier for those who are good with working with patients because thats what the latter half of their undergraduate medical education entails. If time is the issue.... I can work 16 hour shifts three days in a row and not find it as "difficult" as I found it was to teach myself some of the material at my school that I felt wasn't taught for someone with my learning style. So its different for everyone (as I stated in my last post), and maybe thats why you think that dealing with the patients is easy

 

[sprinkibrio]

Actually most do want "robots" when you get right down to it. They want residents who will fall into line and do exactly what they're supposed to like all other residents without complaint, who will finish the residency in the alloted amount of time (which means not veering off the path as you put it), and ultimately pass the board certification exam. That's how residency programs stay accredited. Which if you're a PD is the bottom line, everything else is secondary. And they pick residents who they think will most likely achieve that.

That's why they consider your board scores (predictor of passing the board certification exam) and letters of rec (which is basically their colleagues vouching that you're clinically competent and that you behave).

Medicine is all about status quo...algorithms, criteria, accepted standard of care, allegiance to hierarchy, etc. Deviation from the status quo is not tolerated much. Even the doctors who like to think of themselves as "rebels" are still conformists when it comes right down to it.

I would call that respectful and hard-working. We were talking about paying attention to your mental health and well-being, which my robots don't do 😉 Someone who takes time to make sure they enjoy medicine early in their career is less likely to do it again in residency.

 

[sprinkibrio]

A lot of people regret going into medicine because they are book smart and they've worked really hard for a goal their whole life that they really don't know a lot about. I know quite a few people who are acing all of their preclinical coursework, but they have no people skills (because no one ever needed them as a premed, they never figured out they didn't have them) and I know that they are going to (a) dislike and (b) not excel when it comes to actual patient care in their 3rd and 4th year. If you talk to older students who are good with people and really wanted to go into medicine - rather than those who are just good at school and following mommy and daddy's dreams of their child becoming a doctor then you'll see that med school doesn't always get harder. Even before I started med school I used to work with patients in a hospital upwards of 80 hrs per week and it was no sweat. So yes there are people who are caught off guard when it comes to the clinical years and say that it just gets harder and harder, but then there are those people who say that med school just gets easier and easier.

That's what I mean by robot.

 

[rowdybow]

Jay: congratulations. You are a normal person.

Med school sucks. I am an MS2. Its hard. I hate it. I have to sit inside by myself and study and memorize (I am a poor memorizer) while others walk by my window having fun. There are a lot of things I like more, and I am better at, than med school (and probably medicine, but I'll get there). I wanted to quit too. I obviously didnt.

MS1 year is no fun, no fun at all. Ms2 is way better.

examine the reasons you are unhappy very, very closely...you may find they are peripheral to school...and can be solved. I did it.

I dont know what it feels like to really find a reason to want to quit. But I am a stubborn person. The closest I came was when I felt ashamed talking to people about school...but then I realized its just cause my grandparents go on and on about it and I hate being the center of attention. So good luck to you...I know what its like to fantasize about signing out for the last time...but think about whats out there, and whats the right thing for you and your future. Good luck buddy I feel your pain.

PS I cant reiterate how lame MS1 is. at least wait till MS2. and heres some advice...if you really, really hate it at the end, and cant afford to quit...get the degree, skip residency, be a consultant. Work for biotech. or do residency, bust keister to pay off the loans, bust keister to make a nest egg, and start your own business at 40. Just dont get weighed down with the wrong SO. Dont let people guilt trip you. Live for yourself.