On the fence, do I want to do this anymore?

[dkgrubby]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Typical pre-med student that graduated college with a science degree. About to apply to med school, but I wanted to take a break from school so I began working in a hospital. I work in a low income, high traffic hospital that gets many rude people, self entitled, you name it. Honestly at first I was very enthusiastic, but the more I work the more irritated and lack of patience I have with patients. When I began working, I noticed that many of the nurses and doctors had that snappy attitude. At first I thought it was just their personality, but now I kinda understand. The more I work in the hospital the more I hate it. I always feel on edge and stressed out. Many of the doctors and nurses, don't seem to like their jobs either. As soon as their shift is over they are out the door so fast. Feel like a job is a job, people just come in do the work and go home. The nurses are always catty and complaining. The doctors are always impatient and on edge.

Maybe, I am just having a bad experience. Maybe the hospital I work at is not the best area. I don't know at this point. I just picture me continuing this path I will just be miserable, but I honestly don't know what else to do. When you spend thousands of dollars pursuing this degree and thoughts that this was what you wanted to do, it is shocking to realize this late. If I don't pursue this path I don't know what else to do with my life. Just lost at the moment. Does anyone else feel this way? Am I just working in a bad area? I just want to hear your thoughts?

 

[satyr.ickle]

Lol what? If you dont want to do it, then dont do it, and no ones forcing u...
....
........

 

[Tenk]

Your life is what you make it. Medicine really is just a job though. I find that the people who are the most miserable are those whose entire life revolves around medicine and their job. I personally have lots of fun at work in the ER. But I have a lot more fun on my days off! Sure there are busy days but it's still a great job with a great lifestyle. Also, remember, that's just one hospital. There are plenty of others and who knows maybe you'd be happier in a clinic. Maybe look around at some other avenues and see if anything else seems more in line with what you want. Good luck.

 

[Crayola227]

Typical pre-med student that graduated college with a science degree. About to apply to med school, but I wanted to take a break from school so I began working in a hospital. I work in a low income, high traffic hospital that gets many rude people, self entitled, you name it. Honestly at first I was very enthusiastic, but the more I work the more irritated and lack of patience I have with patients. When I began working, I noticed that many of the nurses and doctors had that snappy attitude. At first I thought it was just their personality, but now I kinda understand. The more I work in the hospital the more I hate it. I always feel on edge and stressed out. Many of the doctors and nurses, don't seem to like their jobs either. As soon as their shift is over they are out the door so fast. Feel like a job is a job, people just come in do the work and go home.

Maybe, I am just having a bad experience. Maybe the hospital I work at is not the best area. I don't know at this point. I just picture me continuing this path I will just be miserable, but I honestly don't know what else to do. When you spend thousands of dollars pursuing this degree and thoughts that this was what you wanted to do, it is shocking to realize this late. If I don't pursue this path I don't know what else to do with my life. Just lost at the moment. Does anyone else feel this way? Am I just working in a bad area? I just want to hear your thoughts?

your experience sounds typical

@Tenk makes a point that there are different practice environments so that can make a difference, but patient interaction is involved in almost all of them
suburban patients can be much more pleasant to treat in clinic I will say

besides what Tenk said, in my experience, as someone whose life did revolve around medicine, what kept me going was a very strong altruistic service drive

one heartfelt "Thank you Dr. Crayola" from a patient or one thing good I would do for patient care that I was pretty sure was accomplished because of whatever unique perspective I think I bring to the field, could keep me feeling glad to come into work for maybe a week until the high wore off and I needed another fix. I think it's made me resilient to patient care burnout so far. However, it didn't insulate me from other types of burnout.

Get out now while you still can

 

[SmilingTooth]

Typical pre-med student that graduated college with a science degree. About to apply to med school, but I wanted to take a break from school so I began working in a hospital. I work in a low income, high traffic hospital that gets many rude people, self entitled, you name it. Honestly at first I was very enthusiastic, but the more I work the more irritated and lack of patience I have with patients. When I began working, I noticed that many of the nurses and doctors had that snappy attitude. At first I thought it was just their personality, but now I kinda understand. The more I work in the hospital the more I hate it. I always feel on edge and stressed out. Many of the doctors and nurses, don't seem to like their jobs either. As soon as their shift is over they are out the door so fast. Feel like a job is a job, people just come in do the work and go home.

Maybe, I am just having a bad experience. Maybe the hospital I work at is not the best area. I don't know at this point. I just picture me continuing this path I will just be miserable, but I honestly don't know what else to do. When you spend thousands of dollars pursuing this degree and thoughts that this was what you wanted to do, it is shocking to realize this late. If I don't pursue this path I don't know what else to do with my life. Just lost at the moment. Does anyone else feel this way? Am I just working in a bad area? I just want to hear your thoughts?

Why not look into the Clinical Laboratory Science programs. You get two years of education and work in a clinical laboratory as a Clinical Lab Scientist or Medical Technologist! By providing quality lab results, you will still be helping the patients indirectly. But then again, even the med techs have their complaints... Find something you love and stick with it.

 

[md-2020]

Many of the doctors and nurses, don't seem to like their jobs either. As soon as their shift is over they are out the door so fast. Feel like a job is a job, people just come in do the work and go home.

Contrary to what SDN sometimes trumps it up to be, medicine is, at the end of the day, just a job (albeit a well paying and rigorous one).

Not sure if this will help or hurt your thought process, but why not just view it practically as "I'm going to med school + sacrifice some time and money so that I'll be well off (at least) for life*?"
*if you exhibit any degree of financial management and loan repayment skills, which an alarming number of high-achieving med students don't seem to do.

 

[BeachBlondie]

To echo what many have said: medicine IS a job; worse still, it's a job in public service. Patients are going to be awful (as we all are when we're sick or injured), non-compliant, whiny, and some will try to find the easiest opportunity to score drugs from you or drag you through a lawsuit for money. Some of us poor bastards love it just the same.

If you're into medicine but hate the patient aspect, there are a lot of different physician scientist avenues you can pursue that would make excellent use of an MD and contributes monumentally to the proliferation of your chosen specialty.

 

[OMG I'm going to be an MD]

Before I applied, I shadowed a pediatrician who owns a clinic in a low income neighborhood. She constantly deals with patients with no insurance and parents who can't be bothered to keep up their children's health records. She's constantly calling hospitals to consolidate vaccination records etc. She also had to sit down almost everyday she explain why she can't prescribe antibiotics for a viral infection, and why it's important to make sure children take all their medication even if they don't like the color/taste. One day there was a power outage, she had to scramble to make sure all her medications were properly stored including those that required refrigeration.
At the end of that experience, I can honestly say that I might not be cut out to handle sick children AND their parents, I can also say going into private practice requires more thought than an impulsive decision or a need to be autonomous. I CANNOT say she hates her job or regrets the choices she made. Even in her most frustrating moment, I never saw her yell at anyone or talk rudely to parents/ her staff. She never vented out her frustration on the next patient/ parent and willing cut her lunch time short to see parents who were convinced there child's conditions was desperate enough to demand immediate attention (even though she was constantly told them to call 911 or go to the emergency room).
My point is that if all you saw was the annoying, draining, frustrating side of being a physician, you're not ready to commit yourself to that field much less apply. If you can, try working in another hospital or shadowing other physician. You need to find out if your current experience is simply that bad or if you're willing to submit yourself to dealing with the cons of being a physician FOR THE REST OF YOUR CAREER.
P.S I almost fainted when I saw my tuition and fees bill, after I signed and accepted my financial aid package, I lay down for a good 4 hours and told myself it'll be fine. Then, I went out and bought a step 1 practice book, it took days before I could get over the fact that after Aug, I will official owe 100% more than my net worth, but I still think the day I got accepted to my top choice is best day of my life (so far)

 

[Goro]

Teaching moment: for all those pre-meds who think that shadowing and volunteering are "box checking" events, this thread demonstrates exactly why they're required for med school applicants!

 

[Coltuna]

Why not look into the Clinical Laboratory Science programs. You get two years of education and work in a clinical laboratory as a Clinical Lab Scientist or Medical Technologist! By providing quality lab results, you will still be helping the patients indirectly. But then again, even the med techs have their complaints... Find something you love and stick with it.

This isn't a bad idea. I actually majored in this and found that behind the scene medicine wasn't for me, so I've now decided to pursue MD. I could definitely see the opposite scenario happening for someone who may n0t like the interaction. Or just go into pathology lol.

 

[ProspectiveKidd]

Lol what? If you dont want to do it, then dont do it, and no ones forcing u...
....
........

Yes this was very good thank you.


OP, There are many other places that you can practice medicine in. You're getting one perspective only; I don't think its fair to say that medicine isn't for you based off of that alone. I don't know that this means the OP just flat out doesn't like to work around patients either.

I do however think this general tone may be in line with this survey, which at one point shows that EM physicians admitted to having the most bias towards patients. They may also be more likely to work with people who feel entitled to care(which everyone is) or are unappreciative. I think that would wear on anyone after a long enough time. Some patients I work with want you to do everything and are seemingly very unappreciative which is alright because I'm there to help them with what they need and not just seek validation. But, after a string of difficult patients, families, or co-workers it will inevitably affect your mood. Most of the time they do appreciate it but just don't outwardly express it. You have to remember that most patients don't want to be in a hospital, ER, or in a nursing home. You shouldn't expect them to be all happy go lucky when you fix their problem because some just see it as your job to do so (which it is). I also agree with @Crayola227, one appreciative patient is all it takes to make it all worth it.


The experience is also very subjective. Where I work some nurses are b1tches and have snappy rude attitudes. some don't. Those types don't always last long though because families report them. Hospitals are probably different. Some doctors seem to be in a better mood than others. I have never seen a physician lose his or her cool though but nurses do it fairly often. Im sure docs have snapped on nurses behind closed doors.

http://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/lifestyle/2016/public/overview

Your thoughts?

 

[SmilingTooth]

This isn't a bad idea. I actually majored in this and found that behind the scene medicine wasn't for me, so I've now decided to pursue MD. I could definitely see the opposite scenario happening for someone who may n0t like the interaction. Or just go into pathology lol.

Haha, that is why I suggested it to OP. It is possible if OP doesn't like the day-to-day clinical aspect of medicine, maybe working behind the scenes in the lab with zero patient interaction could work with the similar satisfaction of helping patients.

 

[meridethgrey]

Typical pre-med student that graduated college with a science degree. About to apply to med school, but I wanted to take a break from school so I began working in a hospital. I work in a low income, high traffic hospital that gets many rude people, self entitled, you name it. Honestly at first I was very enthusiastic, but the more I work the more irritated and lack of patience I have with patients. When I began working, I noticed that many of the nurses and doctors had that snappy attitude. At first I thought it was just their personality, but now I kinda understand. The more I work in the hospital the more I hate it. I always feel on edge and stressed out. Many of the doctors and nurses, don't seem to like their jobs either. As soon as their shift is over they are out the door so fast. Feel like a job is a job, people just come in do the work and go home. The nurses are always catty and complaining. The doctors are always impatient and on edge.

Maybe, I am just having a bad experience. Maybe the hospital I work at is not the best area. I don't know at this point. I just picture me continuing this path I will just be miserable, but I honestly don't know what else to do. When you spend thousands of dollars pursuing this degree and thoughts that this was what you wanted to do, it is shocking to realize this late. If I don't pursue this path I don't know what else to do with my life. Just lost at the moment. Does anyone else feel this way? Am I just working in a bad area? I just want to hear your thoughts?

Are you a scribe? I kinda get what you're saying because I work in the ER of a hospital and docs/nurses get annoyed at times and pts aren't always kind...but I feel you need to remember that the pts in the hospital, for the most part (lol..some...are interesting), don't want to be in the hospital....why are they going to be happy? They're probably scared/nervous so they don't treat you as you would like them to. Too bad.
I feel medicine is about helping people and science, not actually focusing on pts' gratefulness towards you. Maybe the setting you are at doesn't work for you. There's so many things to can do. Maybe you'd like a specialty involving less pt interaction: radiology. Boom.
Personally, I don't think you should give up. Being a physician is a job focusing as someone stated prior, "public service." Not everyone is going to be running up to with hugs, thanking you and you're just going to have to be ok with that. If that idea doesn't frustrate you then, para 'lante.

 

[caffeinemia]

It wouldn't be called altruism if you were expecting gratitude. If you're gonna do medicine, better learn to sac up early.

 

[dkgrubby]

It wouldn't be called altruism if you were expecting gratitude. If you're gonna do medicine, better learn to sac up early.

how can you help others if you can't even help yourself?

 

[PreMedTex]

My area may be a special case and the exception to the rule or maybe I am just an optimist but the hospital I work in is not bad at all. Id say a good 90% of the doctors love their jobs and have a really good attitude towards life in general. The staff here gets along really well and of course patients can be a pain sometimes but I mean they ARE in the hospital, do you act like a peach when you are passing a kidney stone or are throwing up your guts every five minutes and haven't eaten in two days or were hit by a car and have a pulse-less leg?
You must take the good with the bad, you will find that situation in anything you do. Not saying medicine is for everyone but honestly it sounds like an attitude problem rather than "this is just the job" kind of situation for where you are. Life is what you make it, if you are an unhappy person then that is what your life will be, unhappy.

 

[binko]

Try working in a pediatric hospital, people in those tend to be so nice relative to the general population.