Question for doctors/surgeons

[Brandonmma]

i'm graduating highschool next year and I really want to go to med school after college

It's just that when I look at the hours that doctors work , I get kinda discouraged
I really want to be a cardiovascular surgeon

Doctors, are you happy with life?

Are the hours long and boring?

 

[mmmcdowe]

yes yes no

 

[Levo]

Across all specialties, about 50% of doctors would say they would have chosen the same specialty again. A little more than half would say they would have chosen medicine again. Happiness is very subjective though. There are some people who will be happy no matter what job they take, and some will be unhappy no matter what job they take. Medicine is no different. I'm currently a fourth year medical student and I have no regrets. I have classmates who feel otherwise.

 

[BigRedBeta]

Yes I'm happy

Yes the hours are long sometimes - my specialty, Pediatric Critical Care, requires overnight coverage (which at most big ICU's means in-hospital shifts) and kids of course can get really sick on holidays and weekends so it's not like the ICU can just close up shop - it's not so much that the hours are long, but that there are so many of them

Sometimes the hours are boring, but I also chose a field that provides a bit more adrenaline rush than most and so when I'm dealing with a lot of not so sick kids, it's not as riveting. For the average office based specialty, it'll be a lot more even keeled. Most surgeons probably want their OR days to be pretty even keeled.

I wanted to be a doctor since I was three years old, and while I could have enjoyed other jobs that were my fall back plans, I like where I am now enough to say that I'd do it all over again. Having done residency in a kinda boring place and then fellowship is a much more exciting locale, I'd probably not follow that same path (especially after hearing the stories from my wife about her 20's in the big city - she had way more fun than I did at the same time) but the end was worth it. (and for the record, I loved my residency program, it's just in a place lacking social outlets).

It should be abundantly clear and stated in no uncertain terms that going into medicine requires sacrifices for you and your family (your parents and whatever sort of family is in your future). As an undergrad you'll sit through 3 hour labs and end up studying on weekends while your friends in the business school are at the bars. The MCAT requires a lot of preparation. In the preclinical years, you'll be poor and living on student loans while those same friends from the business school are making real actual money. You'll spend many hours studying for exams and shelfs and USMLE's, while they're travelling and going out. You'll miss holidays and important events while in training because someone has to be at the hospital and you average only one day off in 7 most months. You'll spend 3-7 years or more, making the same amount of money as many of your non-medical friends, but work 2-3x the number of hours per week that they do.

And when you're all done, you'll still likely work 55-60 hours a week (more than most people), you'll still have some sort of call schedule that will carry the chance that you'll have to abandon plans with friends, family or kids to go take care of a stranger (especially if you're a surgeon or other specialty that's more hospital based). Oh, and you'll have patients die. You'll be acquainted with death in ways few people are. Even general pediatricians get phone calls from someone like myself in the ICU letting know that their patient passed away.

From where you are now, you should keep up your exploration of careers. Then you can begin to weigh the sacrifices they require and if you think you can manage them.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I enjoy my life, the hours can be long and boring is good in the OR.

I'm not sure what your expectations are regarding hours but you should be advised that most "white collar" professional jobs work more than 40 hours per week. The "clock in at 8 am, take a 1 hour scheduled lunch and clock out at 5 pm" isn't really common in salaried professional jobs. There are medical specialties which are lighter on hours, but CT or Vascular surgery is not one of them.

You will come to a cross roads in life where you'll have to decide if being at home, working less hours is more important to you. Like noted above, it can be difficult when your friends are leaving work at 5 pm, going out having drinks, buying their first home in their 20s and you're in the library.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

i am a surgeon. i work 80 hrs/week, and it is tiring and frequently painful, but i love what i do, so it doesn't feel like "work" most of the time.
everyone is different.
go to college, and then try to shadow physicians, get more info before you pursue med school. no single person/group of people on SDN is going to make or break your decision to go into medicine-- you will find as many happy doctors as unhappy ones, just like any other field.

 

[FlameBroiledDoc]

Yes with my life, no with my career, yes the hours are long, and yes they can be boring (though boring is as subjective as happy).

Almost every surgeon I've met has that passion for surgery that you either have or you don't. The hours and the sacrifices don't matter, because surgery is the thing that keeps you going. I'd be wary about cardiac surgery specifically, if only because the growth in angioplasty and minimally invasive procedures is making jobs harder to find. Then again, as a high school student you've got many, many, many years before you need to worry about that.

That said, it's only unionized government workers that have family-friendly hours. Every full-time professional works more than 40 hours a week, especially in the first 10 years out of school.

 

[Medstart108]

i'm graduating highschool next year and I really want to go to med school after college

It's just that when I look at the hours that doctors work , I get kinda discouraged
I really want to be a cardiovascular surgeon

Doctors, are you happy with life?

Are the hours long and boring?

CV surgery will be around but jobs won't be available in the same number as it used to be.