So I've been analyzing this forum obsessively lately and have a pretty good mental list of general pros and cons in the medical field. Becoming a doctor is, needless to say, something I've always wanted...but after reading threads about legal issues, cheating, and corruption, have again reconsidered my ideal profession. I DO NOT want to end up back in high school with cheaters, slackers, and easy-way-arounders...and this seems to be exactly the image portrayed of pre-meds and even med students.
Even as a doctor, dealing with unnecessary procedures simply for financial gain sounds ridiculous. Oh my, SDN has destroyed my faith in humanity. (Yes, yes, shock ::real life:: and all that.)
So my question is: what about getting a PhD? Becoming a professor has its
, especially since I LOVE teaching.
Tutoring a subject you understand is just thrilling, as is scientific research revolving around neurology or virology. But there must be some downside, right?
Low pay? Competition for tenure? Anything else?
Stellar new search engine on title threads, btw.
I am a chemistry PhD now in my third year of medical school, so I'll take a stab at your questions. It seems like you have two major issues you are considering.
1) How to deal with disillusionment/unethical colleagues. Unfortunately, these people are present in every field, as are jaded people. There is no "ideal" field. As you yourself suggested, you will have to decide whether the cons of a given field are worth the pros.
2) Pros and cons of medicine versus science. These are two very different jobs. Here is my take.
Pros of being an (academic) PhD scientist: usually a fairly flexible schedule (allows you to take sabbaticals and time off). You will have time to do things like learn to play guitar and watch your kids grow up if you choose. There is no pressure to perform clinical duties that take time away from your lab. MD and MD/PhD researchers do have this pressure, especially in fields where clinicians are in short supply. You will be getting paid to go to school instead of paying for it (so you graduate with no debt). The importance of this is not readily appreciated by the average teenager, but it sure will matter to you when you're in your 30s or 40s and you don't have an education loan the size of a house mortgage. You can find a position that is teaching-only if you want to teach full-time (just go to a college or community college instead of a university).
Cons of being a PhD scientist: yes, lower pay and struggling for tenure are problems, but not the biggest ones IMO. You have to deal with departmental politics and administrative hassles as a PhD just like you do in any other job. You will probably have to teach at least some lower level UG classes, which means that many of your students will be premeds. You haven't experienced hell until you have a whole swarm of premeds coming to fight with you over one or two points during your office hours. Getting grants can be tough, especially in the current funding climate. It's very tough for new investigators to break into the field and become self-supporting. But if you don't get grants, you won't be able to pay your lab personnel, and your dept. could be saying bye-bye. Grad school gives people very little training on how to run a lab and manage personnel (post-docs and grad students). You may be a brilliant scientist, but that doesn't mean you're going to be a great mentor/PI.
If I were you, I would see about getting into a lab and getting some research experience. There are summer programs for high school students that you could look into; I'm pretty sure that All4MyDaughter posted a list of them somewhere. Also, talk to your research mentors about what they see as being the pros and cons of their jobs.
I would also caution you against believing that most (or even many) med students are just in it for the money. Yes, there are some. But I think the vast majority of med students have at least some altruistic reasons for going into medicine. This pathway is too hard and too emotionally encompassing; only a fool would choose to go into medicine mainly for the money. Don't look at the PA forum as the standard of most med students, because a large proportion of those posters will never get into medical school. When I was teaching chemistry, there might be 1000 premed freshmen, but only 100 or so of them would ever apply for med school, and only half of those would get in. Also, as a student adcom for my med school, I can tell you that we *do* look for evidence that our applicants care about helping people. Most of our students come into med school with significant volunteering experience, and most of us continue to volunteer during medical school. One of the most popular venues for med student volunteering is to work in a free clinic. But med students do lots of other things as well: work in soup kitchens, teach kids about health, volunteer for the admissions office, etc. As another example, consider that many of your mods on SDN are medical students, residents, and even a few attendings, all of whom are volunteering their time to answer questions like this for you and other users.
Hope this post helps, and best of luck to you.
