MD Quitting med school 1 month in

[Dr. Gamer]

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Hopefully I can get a residency with average grades and step score with no ec's


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[Crayola227]

Seriously, kid. You have NO idea what you are talking.

There are nursing jobs that are not especially demanding. They don't pay squat. Most nursing jobs are way nastier and harder than anything you've had to do as a med student thus far. No, you don't need to know the ins and outs of the citric acid cycle to the same degree that a physician would do. But you do need to know myriad other things that you cannot presently imagine. Nursing is not just medicine-light. It is its own body of knowledge and it has a very different focus than medicine. Nurses and doctors work together, but they aren't just rungs on a hierarchical ladder.

Family medicine starting pay is well above your figures, depending on where you decide to practice.

There are only two really grueling years of medical school. Everything past the first couple is still hard work, but at least you have a basis to build upon, and you are actually doing the job which is way better than sitting in class.

I was with you except for the last part. It gets more grueling, not less.

 

[Faefly]

Do doctors get acknowledged when they work hard? They get paid more but have ages so much due to stress and residency. They get reprimanded and sued for every mistake.

Money honestly does not mean much as long as I can afford a room, food, clothes, and a video game every 3-4 months.

Time is much more valuable to me. I would happily trade salary for time as long as I have enough to live and stash some away to retire in 40 years.


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You seriously didn't think about all that before pursuing this?

I mean? Do you think nurses play around! They work super hard!

 

[MusicDOc124]

Hopefully I can get a residency with average grades and step score with no ec's


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you can if you're not too picky, and since you wanted to go to med school in the first place, I imagine you'd like to be a physician of some sort over being a nurse, not that there is anything wrong with nursing, but its just a different field. Since you have a bachelors in something other than nursing and applied to/matriculated into med school in the first places says its nothing but a fall back, at least to me anyway.

 

[Crayola227]

it's ridiculous to be talking about money when it comes to taking on the job that is medicine

it's a calling

you didn't go into the Priesthood or the Police or the Military, and those are stable careers if not with a huge salary
but for you, what amount of money would make you want to swear an oath of lifelong celibacy?
or pull over cars all day, knowing that maybe one day some dingus blows you away?

you couldn't pay me to sign my life over to the government by joining the military

OTOH, I was cautioned that if I wanted money, there were jobs that were a LOT easier that made similar or more (often in business)
I know someone who walked away from being near CEO of a huge multinational corporation to become a doc

money's not why I signed up to put every single thing in my life second to medicine for 7+ years, maybe the rest of my life
family holidays, funerals, the ability to even piss when I need to, to not sleep for days, the illnesses
to get pissed on literally and figuratively
I mean, the list of sacrifices goes on and on
it's a pathological pursuit that needs you to pursue it pathologically

I mean, why? Like Sherlock or House, there's a bit of the puzzle and the need to be right. To make decisions and be responsible for them. But why is medicine the unique place to get those rocks off?? If you love science and you love people, there is no better marriage. You want your decisions to affect people in real time, in a very particular way. Even if you're a radiologist or a pathologist and you never see the patient, there's part of you that is going to look in the chart and see how you did. Medically. Not as a nurse or an instructor or a police officer.

A bit of God complex in all this? Sure.

Common theme, the more you destroy yourself on Earth, the closer you come to the Divine.

Someone wrote a great post somewhere about this whole ascetic take on medicine as a "calling," and that it was horse****. Track it down for another perspective.

It isn't just another job, though. Money is great but this isn't a job where money will be food for your soul.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

But you have to be working 60-80 hours a week to bill enough patients to get paid that much...


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No...... alright I'm done feeding the troll. If on the very off chance you really aren't trolling then you need to seek help and get counseling from your school. It appears you came into medical school with literally zero knowledge of how anything works.

 

[Crayola227]

also a lot of what I said applies to nurses

number one reason to go into any sort of direct patient contact healthcare field - patients. Patients. You know, the job itself.

 

[BundleofWiz]

Hopefully I can get a residency with average grades and step score with no ec's

To OP - hang in there. Everyone has similar feelings atleast once in medschool, you're not alone. Not to derail the thread, but how easy is above? Esp with no ECs?

 

[WingedOx]

I was with you except for the last part. It gets more grueling, not less.

See Crayola, this is what I was talking about with mental health in these forums.

@Dr. Gamer : Blunt but sincere advice time: Get the hell off these forums and go see someone in student counseling tomorrow.

 

[ACSurgeon]

@Dr. Gamer: On the one hand, you sound convinced that medicine isn't the right career for you, which is in my mind is 100% a reason to leave. The next 7+ years of education and training and ridiculous hoop after the next will be impossible for you to get through with your current attitude/perspective. It's a long and painful journey that requires persistent motivation and multiple reasons to stick with it.

On the other hand, it seems like you have a very poor understanding of how sweet life is once you're done training, and you also underestimate the hardwork low reward a nursing job entails. Your plan B is not a good one.

My conclusion: if you develop a solid plan B, and maybe a better global understanding of what to except as an attending vs. what to except as a BLANK (nurse or otherwise), then you should leave medicine as soon as you have that solid plan B. Otherwise, maybe once you gain better insight into the field, the sacrifices you have to make will seem doable and worthwhile relative to the ultimate (and very delayed) reward at the end.

 

[tyrsa]

I think you should talk to an advisor at your school before making a decision.

 

[ACSurgeon]

No...... alright I'm done feeding the troll. If on the very off chance you really aren't trolling then you need to seek help and get counseling from your school. It appears you came into medical school with literally zero knowledge of how anything works.

To be fair, most medical students have no idea idea how things work. Most overestimate how much money and respect they're gonna get once they're Attendings. Some overestimate the negative aspects, especially if he's shadowed a doctor with a negative attitude about it.

sadly, I believe the OP is sincere with his posts. Exhaustion plus a negative physician mentor = no hope for a positive future.

 

[mistafab]

Hey OP -

I can read it clear as day that you don't want to be a doctor. That much we know. What we don't know is if your Plan B is a good idea for you or not. It sounded like you came to this conclusion on pretty emotional / impulsive terms. You probably should not make life changing decisions under those circumstances.

I'd take a few nights to sleep on it. Talk to an advisor or friends or family, and think of some more clear paths to whatever it is you actually want to do. In the meantime, continue doing your school work since you have at least the rest of the semester to finalize your decision.

Best of luck. I hope for your sake you do not regret whatever you decide to do. Life is good, doctor or not. It'll work out the way it should.

 

[Doc-Thor]

Little late to this, but figured I share my view.

This might come across as harsh, and I apologize in advance if it does. You started medical school 1 month ago. You worked 23 years of your life to get to this point. If you are already truly at the point of quitting, then go for it. I'd argue >95% of medical students have a "maybe I'm not cut out for this" moment during medical school, and while that may vary for everyone, it will only happen when you are at your absolute worst when things look bleak. That's normal. But again, you admitted that you were doing just fine so far in classes and yet you want to quit? That isn't quite the same as the rock-bottom moment most medical students have to overcome. It seems to me that you are looking for a reason to willingly quit instead of having it snatched from you.

If medicine is something you truly wanted to do, there is no chance in hell you'd be having a discussion on an online forum about quitting only 1 month in despite doing alright in classes so far. As others have suggested, I would talk to someone but eventually quit because it doesn't seem to be something you want. At the end of the day, I'm only a M1 and all my advice is anecdotal from friends and family who are in medicine, so what the hell do I know. Only you and yourself only know whether this is the right path for you. Cheers

 

[Dr. Gamer]

I guess the consensus is that I should talk to real people instead of complaining on here.

I will do that...now to try and find out who my advisor is lol


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[nicklepickle]

You are forgetting the five years of slave labor between the preclinical and attending years.

I am sure salaries won't stay that high with healthcare reform.

I guess being a nurse is more physically demanding than a doctor.


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Reading your past comment on how you only wanted to be a doctor because of job security and not because you had a higher calling to help people... then maybe this isn't the right career. However, nursing sure as heck isn't either. If you think the only hard thing about being a nurse is that it's more physically demanding.. then you haven't seen all the crap they have to deal with on a daily basis. They get paid less and you won't even become a nurse until the time you would have been in residency, which you even get paid for. What's the difference? You also have to think about student loans for nursing school and how much longer it'll take to pay those off with a lower salary. Most people become upset with their careers because of financial reasons. Both careers you're looking at are in health care. You obviously had to work hard to get into med school in the first place, and this med school and maybe others as well thought you had what it takes to make it, otherwise they wouldn't accept you. Everyone else is dealing with the same bull as you! Reach out to some of your class mates and maybe you'll see you're not the only one. Just stick with it! It'll get better.

 

[AttemptingScholar]

Here's just a general question for the thread: I feel like 1 month is pretty early to drop out, you don't know how the path will treat you yet. But when is a good time, if someone manages to get into medical school and then regret it? Not everyone in med school should be a doctor. Should they waste time and money to complete their degree just so they don't close that door? Should they wait at least half a year? A full year? Until clinicals?

 

[mistafab]

Best time to quit if you know it isn't for you is that day - the earlier the better.

The tough calls are the ones around year 3. It is like they got so deep already, it is so naturally human to think they should just "stick it out" even though that is the sunk-cost fallacy to a T.

Here's just a general question for the thread: I feel like 1 month is pretty early to drop out, you don't know how the path will treat you yet. But when is a good time, if someone manages to get into medical school and then regret it? Not everyone is med school should be a doctor. Should they waste time and money complete their degree just so they don't close that door? Should they wait at least half a year? A full yea?> Until clinicals?

 

[Goro]

Here's just a general question for the thread: I feel like 1 month is pretty early to drop out, you don't know how the path will treat you yet. But when is a good time, if someone manages to get into medical school and then regret it? Not everyone is med school should be a doctor. Should they waste time and money complete their degree just so they don't close that door? Should they wait at least half a year? A full yea?> Until clinicals?

Scholar, this is an excellent question. I normally suggest that people wait until the end of the first semester. Most people who have doubts about med school have either fixable problems (like illness or life events), and others just haven't gotten used to the sheer volume of the material. It's rarer when someone wants to bail because they realize that this isn't what they signed up for (which is why we look for volunteering and patient contact experience!).

NOT bashing OP, but it's very rare that SDNers voice their motivations for Medicine in the way that OP did....hence why I advised him/her to bail now.

 

[NotYou20]

Here's just a general question for the thread: I feel like 1 month is pretty early to drop out, you don't know how the path will treat you yet. But when is a good time, if someone manages to get into medical school and then regret it? Not everyone in med school should be a doctor. Should they waste time and money to complete their degree just so they don't close that door? Should they wait at least half a year? A full year? Until clinicals?

By clinicals most people are in too much debt to leave. I'd say hang in there a month or so after you've decided you want out, just to be sure. Exception would be if you can avoid paying more by not waiting as long.

I've never seriously thought about quiting and my opinion means nothing lol

 

[Faefly]

it's ridiculous to be talking about money when it comes to taking on the job that is medicine

it's a calling

you didn't go into the Priesthood or the Police or the Military, and those are stable careers if not with a huge salary
but for you, what amount of money would make you want to swear an oath of lifelong celibacy?
or pull over cars all day, knowing that maybe one day some dingus blows you away?

you couldn't pay me to sign my life over to the government by joining the military

OTOH, I was cautioned that if I wanted money, there were jobs that were a LOT easier that made similar or more (often in business)
I know someone who walked away from being near CEO of a huge multinational corporation to become a doc

money's not why I signed up to put every single thing in my life second to medicine for 7+ years, maybe the rest of my life
family holidays, funerals, the ability to even piss when I need to, to not sleep for days, the illnesses
to get pissed on literally and figuratively
I mean, the list of sacrifices goes on and on
it's a pathological pursuit that needs you to pursue it pathologically

I mean, why? Like Sherlock or House, there's a bit of the puzzle and the need to be right. To make decisions and be responsible for them. But why is medicine the unique place to get those rocks off?? If you love science and you love people, there is no better marriage. You want your decisions to affect people in real time, in a very particular way. Even if you're a radiologist or a pathologist and you never see the patient, there's part of you that is going to look in the chart and see how you did. Medically. Not as a nurse or an instructor or a police officer.

A bit of God complex in all this? Sure.

Common theme, the more you destroy yourself on Earth, the closer you come to the Divine.

Someone wrote a great post somewhere about this whole ascetic take on medicine as a "calling," and that it was horse****. Track it down for another perspective.

It isn't just another job, though. Money is great but this isn't a job where money will be food for your soul.

preach

 

[Promethean]

Here's just a general question for the thread: I feel like 1 month is pretty early to drop out, you don't know how the path will treat you yet. But when is a good time, if someone manages to get into medical school and then regret it? Not everyone in med school should be a doctor. Should they waste time and money to complete their degree just so they don't close that door? Should they wait at least half a year? A full year? Until clinicals?

Anyone who has gone through the struggle to be admitted just went from a high point of elation that they actually got in somewhere down to a low point of finding out what that really means for them. At least let the rollercoaster get past the bottom of that first hill... decisions shouldn't be made when you are at one extreme of emotion or another. Ride it out, get to at least the end of the first semester.

There is no benefit to leaving before then... and if you leave, that isn't something you can usually undo. If you step off this path, getting back on is a thousand times harder than it was to start in the first place.

 

[HuskyBabe]

I know I sound very naive. But my reasons for becoming a doctor were for job security and job satisfaction.

I can help people in any career so that is not why I wanted to be a doctor.

I can achieve the same goals with less stress by becoming a nurse. I can work 4 days a week 40 hours and make 37k before taxes.



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As far as comparing the life style to a nurse, didn't you do that before you decided to apply to medical school? I'm not trying to be difficult but this just seems like you didn't do proper research before deciding to become a doctor. No one has ever said that it was an easy lifestyle so I guess I'm just not sure why you're surprised.


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[863168]

I can achieve the same goals with less stress by becoming a nurse. I can work 4 days a week 40 hours and make 37k before taxes. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What. You're either insinuating that your nursing salary comes out annualized to $17.79 an hour working 40*52*x = 37000 or you're insinuating that your hourly is $925 an hour working a week out 40*x = 37000. Both of which are absolutely wrong.

 

[AlmondCroissant]

I work 4 days a week ~30 hours and make >370k before taxes.

Is your specialty EM, just curious

 

[Dr. Gamer]

What. You're either insinuating that your nursing salary comes out annualized to $17.79 an hour working 40*52*x = 37000 or you're insinuating that your hourly is $925 an hour working a week out 40*x = 37000. Both of which are absolutely wrong.

I'm referring to salary after taxes and health insurance.


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[Mad Jack]

I know I sound very naive. But my reasons for becoming a doctor were for job security and job satisfaction.

I can help people in any career so that is not why I wanted to be a doctor.

I can achieve the same goals with less stress by becoming a nurse. I can work 4 days a week 40 hours and make 37k before taxes.



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You could accomplish the same goals with less stress by becoming a volunteer. You could work 4 days a week at 40 hours and make 0k before taxes.

 

[Mad Jack]

I am starting to feel burned out an am only one month in...I am not failing but am right in the middle.

I know that it is just going to get tougher and wanted to switch to nursing.

Can I drop out and get my tuition back? Should I drop out?


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This is a normal feeling, don't be stupid, it goes away. I felt the same way, and it didn't go away until the following spring. Your brain adjusts. Right now it is a weak, soft little thing that you need to work until it's up to the challenge.

Or you could run away with your tail between your legs, that's fine too. I wouldn't think less of you, sometimes I wonder if that's what I should have done. But I think it's all been worth it, and it hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it would be in those first few weeks.

 

[863168]

I'm referring to salary after taxes and health insurance. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I can achieve the same goals with less stress by becoming a nurse. I can work 4 days a week 40 hours and make 37k before taxes.

Okay. Blocked. This is some next level trolling. Note that career segue into an RN so someone brings up NP v. MD by Page 3. Slick.

 

[Dr. Gamer]

This is a normal feeling, don't be stupid, it goes away. I felt the same way, and it didn't go away until the following spring. Your brain adjusts. Right now it is a weak, soft little thing that you need to work until it's up to the challenge.

Or you could run away with your tail between your legs, that's fine too. I wouldn't think less of you, sometimes I wonder if that's what I should have done. But I think it's all been worth it, and it hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it would be in those first few weeks.

I hope my brain does adapt!


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[BorntobeDO?]

I am starting to feel burned out an am only one month in...I am not failing but am right in the middle.

I know that it is just going to get tougher and wanted to switch to nursing.

Can I drop out and get my tuition back? Should I drop out?


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I had a terrible first month of med school, in fact, it was pretty much bad the entire first semester, but it did get better. By the end of the first month of second semester I finally figured out what I was doing wrong, and corrected it. Especially if your non-trad that is not coming from a recent heavy load it can really smack you in the mouth, but you will adjust and get better. The good news is that things do level out, I went from probably bottom 10% in my class first semester to decently above average by the end of second. Its not a static thing.

Ignore the jerkoffs talking about how medical school is easier than they thought and how they have time to goof off all the time. It will catch most of them eventually, and your taking your lumps early (which is better than late).

I know for me, I just didn't know how to organize my time well, and adjust to medical pacing. I had either never developed my study skills or I simply forgot them all due to working for years. I highly suggest watching this series from long beach community college:

I understand that, but it has to be less pressure and stress than being a doctor right? You are not the one calling all the shots or continuously learning.



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I was/am a nurse, your a fool if you leave medicine for nursing. The chances of you regretting it forever are high. Don't do it. If you fail out, so be it, but quiting just cause you think it will be easy (spoiler: its not easy, and the pressure is very high, and just about the time your back is aching from pulling up Mrs. BMI of 50 for the 5th time this shift since she crapped herself, which you cleaned, you will wonder why did I ever think this was better/easier).

 

[BorntobeDO?]

I'm referring to salary after taxes and health insurance.


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You have this about right in most states. After reading your posts more, I am not so sure that I understood your issue the first time I replyed. You think the grass is greener, but in your specific case it is not at all. It sounds like your heart was maybe never in medicine. I don't think you should do nursing. You will hate it, just go teach history or something you actually like. Work on cars, whatever. But stay out of healthcare with that attitude. Your apathy is just too much. Go find something you actually like and do it. If you think that can be medicine at all (not lifestyle-wise, but in general), then stick out the first semester, and take a LOA if your still not sure.

 

[Dr. Gamer]

I am a troll.


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