Residents, attendings please share your opinion....

[MedChic]

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[IndyXRT]

I found myself questioning my decision to go into medicine during my 2nd and 3rd years of medical school, but I eventually found a specialty that I liked, and I'm very glad that 1. I found it and 2. I matched into it. I enjoy going to work every day.

For me, it turned out that I enjoyed my interactions with cancer patients, but not so much with other patients. I also didn't like the grind of diagnosing patients off the street. Now, patients are generally diagnosed before they get to me, and I focus mostly on treatment.

If you quit before clinical rotations, you'll never have the chance to find out if you might like some aspect of clinical medicine. There are lots of different niches in medicine, and you would probably be able to find an area that you enjoy. Sorry you're having a tough time. Good luck!

 

[Doctor Bob]

seriously considering quitting at the beginning of second year with 150k in debt.... is this a huge mistake? i'm not fond of patient contact and examining/taking histories/the hospital etc; hate small groups and presentations and I see myself completely doing something else, but I'm afraid I dug myself into a hole

although, when i graduate ill probably be around 350 k in debt.... do you think it is better to get out now or stick it out and hope I find a niche in the field? I don't mind the studying and enjoy the knowledge but I really dislike the diagnosing/patient small talk and all that

anyone who wasnt very people oriented and stuck it out and like what you do now out there?

Quit now.

 

[Stitch]

It's a difficult question to answer, and I definitely agree that 2nd year sucks. 3rd year does get better and often people find something they really enjoy. The question you have to ask yourself is if you can get through 3rd year doing rotations you may be less interested in. If you're going to be miserable and do a crappy job (and there are plenty of med students that do this), then it's better to drop it now. But remember that there are a lot of non clinical jobs you can do with an MD/DO degree where you won't have to do any of those things you mention hating.

It's probably worth going through at least the first half of 3rd year and seeing what it's like on the other side, outside of a textbook unless you have an immediate backup plan that will land you something else good.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Have you done a search? This question is asked frequently.

The bottom line is that some would quit and others continued on and were miserable and others were happy.

No one can decide what the best path is for you.

 

[peppy]

With $150K in debt already, I think you might as well hang in there and see if you can find a niche you like in medicine. You're not going to find another career where you can easily pay off that debt.
What specialty were you planning to go into?
Another factor is that med school is not a good reflection of what being a practicing physician is actually like. As an attending, you're obviously not going to need to worry about things like small group lessons and giving presentations (unless you want to do that kind of stuff to teach med students or such). I found my niche in psychiatry and I enjoy my residency much more than I enjoyed most of med school. Maybe you can find a niche in something like pathology or radiology.

 

[IMdocT]

i was in your situation. similar feelings but slightly different reasons. my aspirations were to do clinical work and team up with each patient to get them back to health. but during med school i realized that i wasn't really cut out for this work, and became fairly discouraged. i wanted to leave during 3rd year. i was also thinking of choosing a non-clinical specialty but i kind of ended up in IM hoping things and myself would change.

internship is so much more work than 3rd and 4th year and it's tough for me to adjust. i'm doing my best to hang in and see it through to the end, because everyone says by the time you finish you'll be comfortable and knowledgable enough to be an attending, and an attending's life is different from a resident. however, thinking back, if i knew how i felt now maybe i would've avoided the stress and switched to a different field. sometimes when i'm feeling bad i ask myself why i let myself get so far down this road. on the other hand, i've corresponded with a few people who also wanted to leave the medical field and most of them ended up being happy by seeing it through or switching to a specialty that matched their personality/needs. another possibility is anxiety/depression. some people i've talked to find out that all they needed was some professional help and end up doing just fine.

so you won't find any answers here, just examples of other people's experiences. in the end you have to make the decision for yourself. you don't have to go through it totally alone though. talk to your family, close friends, or even school advisors. every specialty is different too. maybe you just need to find out which one you'll enjoy. if you decide to keep going, do your best to make yourself a competitive applicant because it sounds like you'll want to keep your specialty options open. i myself am still struggling with the question. i wish the best for you and anyone else dealing with the same issues. i think every doctor goes through this doing their training, do different degrees.

 

[JPR22]

Theres alot of niches in medicine that dont involve history, physicals, and presentations. I dont like the old-people smell of the wards either. There's fields that dont really involve that much patient contact, at least not too many H and P's (rads, path, surgical subs etc.)
That being said, $350k isn't worth it.

 

[turquoiseblue]

I dont know how hard they are to obtain, but there are some business jobs, consulting jobs, as well as insurance company jobs that can pay up to $100-200K+. Not just those jobs, but others too. You may even have to do another degree to get there though in some cases. You should research salary.com and find what other high paying jobs you like besides medicine. Check if those jobs are available on job sites such as careerbuilder.com and simplyhired.com. That way you can apply while in med school and if you get the job, take it (if you like it)! You'll find yourself making as much as a doctor in some jobs.

Also I agree with the above that there are other fields in medicine that don't require patient contact, such as rads, NM, and path, if you want to continue on with medical school. But if you go that route you must complete everything and finish residency to get to your goal. Many people have been in your shoes of debt and have come out successful and paid off their debts after residency.

good luck

 

[J-Rad]

Moving to Allo.

 

[Deferoxamine]

seriously considering quitting at the beginning of second year with 150k in debt.... is this a huge mistake? i'm not fond of patient contact and examining/taking histories/the hospital etc; hate small groups and presentations and I see myself completely doing something else, but I'm afraid I dug myself into a hole

although, when i graduate ill probably be around 350 k in debt.... do you think it is better to get out now or stick it out and hope I find a niche in the field? I don't mind the studying and enjoy the knowledge but I really dislike the diagnosing/patient small talk and all that

anyone who wasnt very people oriented and stuck it out and like what you do now out there?

Oh man. You need to stick it out.

I hated a majority of moments from MS1-2. Loved MS3 and now can't imagine myself choosing any other career path.