So will we all grow to regret our career choice?

[Arkangeloid]

So I was doing inpatient ish today. I was with an attending and a resident. We came across a patient who looked in his late 40s/early 50s, but was actually over 60.

The attending remarked: I guess there is some merit to the idea of healthy living.

The resident: He's a fool if you ask me. I'd rather live fast and die young.

Me: But doctor, if you really believed that, why would you spend a decade in the medical training process?

Resident: Because I was a damned fool.

The attending said: if I'd known then what I know now, I wouldn't have done this.


I mean, medicine is bad enough, now I'm just terrified I'll end up like these guys.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[WaylonS]

So I was doing inpatient ish today. I was with an attending and a resident. We came across a patient who looked in his late 40s/early 50s, but was actually over 60.

The attending remarked: I guess there is some merit to the idea of healthy living.

The resident: He's a fool if you ask me. I'd rather live fast and die young.

Me: But doctor, if you really believed that, why would you spend a decade in the medical training process?

Resident: Because I was a damned fool.

The attending said: if I'd known then what I know now, I wouldn't have done this.


I mean, medicine is bad enough, now I'm just terrified I'll end up like these guys.

The grass is always greener. Any professional (engineer, architect, lawyer, etc) will give up a lot to pursue their career. Some will be happy while others won't. Although there are frequently discussions on this board about physician satisfaction and whether attendings regret going into medicine, the same issues also plague other professional fields.

 

[Mad Jack]

I know plenty of happy attendings. The ones that are happy know how to prioritize what they want in life- they make sure they get in time with their kids or their spouse, a couple weeks of vacation, a pet project in a developing country once or twice a year, whatever floats their boat. If you deny the things that you need to make you happy in life and blindly pursue a career, obviously you'll be unhappy- you should be working to live, not living to work.

Medicine and medical school can only take from you what you let them. Don't give them too much, because they will take every ounce you decide to spare.

 

[sinombre]

The grass is always greener.

Definitely this.

 

[dyspareunia]

So I was doing inpatient ish today. I was with an attending and a resident. We came across a patient who looked in his late 40s/early 50s, but was actually over 60.

The attending remarked: I guess there is some merit to the idea of healthy living.

The resident: He's a fool if you ask me. I'd rather live fast and die young.

Me: But doctor, if you really believed that, why would you spend a decade in the medical training process?

Resident: Because I was a damned fool.

The attending said: if I'd known then what I know now, I wouldn't have done this.


I mean, medicine is bad enough, now I'm just terrified I'll end up like these guys.

I would never speak to a resident like that.

 

[Arkangeloid]

I would never speak to a resident like that.

What can he do to me, get pissy?

I wouldn't if I was an MS-3, because then he can fk me on my evaluation, but he has no power over me now.



In any case, I did not show him any disrespect (that is against the rules), I merely pointed out a logical inconsistency in his reasoning. Hell, I even addressed him by "doctor," (most residents I've met do not use their professional title amongst medical students here).

 

[dyspareunia]

What can he do to me, get pissy?

I wouldn't if I was an MS-3, because then he can fk me on my evaluation, but he has no power over me now.

It has nothing to do with what he can or can't do to you. It's disrespectful to call people out like that. Not just because he's your superior, but also because you did it in front of his boss.

Just my opinion.

 

[BobbyB]

my dad plans on working until the day he dies

when he was a resident, one of his mentors did that. dude was 84. he saw patients in the morning, went home for lunch, took a nap and never woke up.

 

[Arkangeloid]

It has nothing to do with what he can or can't do to you. It's disrespectful to call people out like that. Not just because he's your superior, but also because you did it in front of his boss.

Just my opinion.

Heh, well, perhaps you're right. I just saw a dude talking about "living fast and dying young," whose life choices reflected the exact opposite of that, and I felt compelled to point out such a massive inconsistency.

 

[Donald Juan]

It has nothing to do with what he can or can't do to you. It's disrespectful to call people out like that. Not just because he's your superior, but also because you did it in front of his boss.

Just my opinion.

I disagree. They were having a conversation about "living fast, dying young." It sounds like it was relatively friendly. He didn't call him out on why his research he had been doing for the last year was flawed or why his patient management was wrong. Something like that would need to be handled with more care.

 

[DrCharlemagne]

The grass is always greener. Any professional (engineer, architect, lawyer, etc) will give up a lot to pursue their career. Some will be happy while others won't. Although there are frequently discussions on this board about physician satisfaction and whether attendings regret going into medicine, the same issues also plague other professional fields.

I wonder how many of these burntout physicians and residents have held other menial (or even skilled) jobs outside of medicine. I also wonder how much of what sucks in healthcare isn't plaguing other fields. That's not to suggest having had a different career is insurance against regret, or that these gripes aren't legitimate, but rather that maybe some context without the healthcare bubble might be lacking?

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

I have a mid-20's cousin who is an engineer at a big pharma. He works more hours than many of my resident friends/acquaintances without OT pay or any promise of six figure salary and huge career flexibility in the near future as he would have in medicine. He's currently taking Q3 overnight call and is frequently called in to repair machines, then stays for the rest of the work day. Grass is always greener.

 

[gregoryhouse]

Honestly every job sucks. People need to get over it.

 

[KinasePro]

Meh, even with all its warts, the worst gigs in medicine are still solid gigs. I'd rather be a family practitioner in Appalachia than most other careers out there.

My philosophy is to take a large grain of salt when listening to attendings who started their careers when medicine had greener pastures.

 

[Priapism4tooLong]

The resident called someone who leads a healthy lifestyle a fool? he's an idiot

 

[croak]

You take the good with the not-so good, and when you're in your fifties you'll truly appreciate you chose medicine over any other career. If you went into medicine for the money you'll burnout younger. The "greener" pastures were not so green for plenty of guys who got greedy. Just pace yourselves.

 

[Akali]

According to the Medscape Physician Compensation Reports, 58% of physicians reported they would choose medicine as a career again. Especially derm... This is probably significantly higher than the majority of other careers.

 

[ECkayak]

Live fast, die young, leave a bloated corpse. I'd rather fall to my death at age 50 free climbing the side of the Grand Canyon than fade away in a hospital.

 

[Priapism4tooLong]

Live fast, die young, leave a bloated corpse. I'd rather fall to my death at age 50 free climbing the side of the Grand Canyon than fade away in a hospital.

why don't you just go free climb it now? why wait?.

 

[J ROD]

One word: Perspective.

 

[Psai]

Live fast, die young, leave a bloated corpse. I'd rather fall to my death at age 50 free climbing the side of the Grand Canyon than fade away in a hospital.

I prefer the Tyrion Lannister method of death.

 

[ECkayak]

I do that ****. Living life like this is much more fun than your life I can assure you.

 

[Arkangeloid]

I prefer the Tyrion Lannister method of death.

Speaking of which, I'm kinda concerned about the Anatomy retake after Cardio, but I think I could defeat the school administration in a trial by combat. I wish I could request one.

Nah, I'm kidding.

 

[BANGO]

.

 

[croak]

According to the Medscape Physician Compensation Reports, 58% of physicians reported they would choose medicine as a career again. Especially derm... This is probably significantly higher than the majority of other careers.

Just something to consider: The people who take the surveys do so to get the "gift card" for a five minute survey that turns out being a half hour to finish. Generally people get ticked wasting time on a BS survey for a few "gift" and don't really give accurate data. Twenty minutes into a five minute survey for a twenty dollar gift card? I don't think many people spew their personal finances, would you? I'd like to see a survey that offers a gift card that's really only five minutes that asks: "Did you go into medicine to get surveys?" It would probably take forty-five minutes to finish. Meh, just finished a survey.

 

[Anastomoses]

So I was doing inpatient ish today. I was with an attending and a resident. We came across a patient who looked in his late 40s/early 50s, but was actually over 60.

The attending remarked: I guess there is some merit to the idea of healthy living.

The resident: He's a fool if you ask me. I'd rather live fast and die young.

Me: But doctor, if you really believed that, why would you spend a decade in the medical training process?

Resident: Because I was a damned fool.

The attending said: if I'd known then what I know now, I wouldn't have done this.


I mean, medicine is bad enough, now I'm just terrified I'll end up like these guys.

1. I think they had preplanned the conversation and were hinting at something for you.
2. Attending is an idiot. I have seen people with amazing genes whose histories looked like they should be limping and coughing with purple skin + maybe even had high cholesterol from their unhealthiness. And others who looked older than their age despite no serious problems and good diet. I'm not saying diet doesn't play a role...but I would just expect a doctor not to make such a silly glib remark based on a single patient.
3. I won't regret medicine. Basic sciences has been one of the best times of my life. What's to regret?

 

[DermViser]

So I was doing inpatient ish today. I was with an attending and a resident. We came across a patient who looked in his late 40s/early 50s, but was actually over 60.

The attending remarked: I guess there is some merit to the idea of healthy living.

The resident: He's a fool if you ask me. I'd rather live fast and die young.

Me: But doctor, if you really believed that, why would you spend a decade in the medical training process?

Resident: Because I was a damned fool.

The attending said: if I'd known then what I know now, I wouldn't have done this.

I mean, medicine is bad enough, now I'm just terrified I'll end up like these guys.

A lot of off-hand things said are at the height of anger or frustration. Be careful in reading too much into those comments. That being said choosing a specialty carefully is important. My guess is you were in an Internal Medicine inpatient setting, so definitely not surprised.

 

[DermViser]

my dad plans on working until the day he dies

when he was a resident, one of his mentors did that. dude was 84. he saw patients in the morning, went home for lunch, took a nap and never woke up.

 

[sinombre]

According to the Medscape Physician Compensation Reports, 58% of physicians reported they would choose medicine as a career again. Especially derm... This is probably significantly higher than the majority of other careers.

Good point, but keep in mind that the response rates for the Medscape surveys are consistently very low.

 

[circulus vitios]

In terms of lifetime earnings, medicine is as good as it's going to get for the vast majority of doctors. Unless you have an Ivy league degree, your fantasies of making a million a year on Wall Street will culminate in your resume being flushed down the ****ter.

 

[TheWeeIceMan]

I've always found it funny how SDN seems to go back and forth between medicine being the worst career imaginable and nobody should go into it and medicine being the best career and everyone who isn't a doctor hates their job.

 

[circulus vitios]

I've always found it funny how SDN seems to go back and forth between medicine being the worst career imaginable and nobody should go into it and medicine being the best career and everyone who isn't a doctor hates their job.

The vast majority of people hate their job regardless of the field.

 

[DermViser]

I've always found it funny how SDN seems to go back and forth between medicine being the worst career imaginable and nobody should go into it and medicine being the best career and everyone who isn't a doctor hates their job.

Uh, no.

 

[TheWeeIceMan]

Uh, no.

I spend too much time in pre-allo.

 

[DermViser]

I spend too much time in pre-allo.

Pre-Allo spends a ridiculous amount of time in an enclosed bubble which reality is unable to penetrate. And anyone who presents reality is vehmentently attacked. It would be funny, if not sad on how ridiculously deluded they are. There's a reason why med schools want those with more life/work experience.

 

[Frazier]

When I hear "live fast and die young" I think smokejumpers, fighter pilots, and alaska fisherman.

A med resident saying it...nah.

Was that even a real convo OP? Sounded kinda artificial.

 

[Arkangeloid]

When I hear "live fast and die young" I think smokejumpers, fighter pilots, and alaska fisherman.

A med resident saying it...nah.

Was that even a real convo OP? Sounded kinda artificial.

Uh, I don't make anything up on SDN. I'm like the most unflinchingly honest person here.

 

[DermViser]

When I hear "live fast and die young" I think smokejumpers, fighter pilots, and alaska fisherman.

A med resident saying it...nah.

Was that even a real convo OP? Sounded kinda artificial.

It was probably said out of frustration a consequence of the "hidden curriculum".

 

[touchpause13]

my dad plans on working until the day he dies

when he was a resident, one of his mentors did that. dude was 84. he saw patients in the morning, went home for lunch, took a nap and never woke up.

Honestly I think this is a pretty damn good way to go.

 

[DermViser]

Honestly I think this is a pretty damn good way to go.

Yeah, working till your last breath. Wonderful.

 

[DermViser]

Speaking of which, I'm kinda concerned about the Anatomy retake after Cardio, but I think I could defeat the school administration in a trial by combat. I wish I could request one.

Nah, I'm kidding.

Here's an idea: study, knock it out of the park, and move past it.

 

[Psai]

Yeah, working till your last breath. Wonderful.

it's not work if you love your jo...lol jk

 

[DermViser]

it's not work if you love your jo...lol jk

Except, it is impossible to "love" your job every second of the day, all the time. No specialty is like that. Of course, when you have next to no debt, like people decades ago had, then no wonder they loved it all the time.

 

[touchpause13]

Yeah, working till your last breath. Wonderful.

I mean being that with it in your 80s and going out relatively peacefully. .. not bad.

 

[TheWeeIceMan]

Maybe not the working part, but if I got to choose, I would definitely want to go out during an afternoon nap.

 

[anbuitachi]

90% of docs do not recommend medicine to relatives. over half are dissatisfied with their work. doctors have #1/#2 highest suicide rate in the country. There's also high burnout, and depression among the physician community. Many doctors/residents/ and even medical students regret their career choice but what can they do? Just the other day, the PA i worked with was talking to the secretary about how she doesn't understand why anyone would want be a doctor today. She said she makes more than the average pediatrician (she's surgical PA), and can make much more if she wanted to but she chose to have a easy career.

At this point in our career, it's difficult to go do something else, so instead of being extremely depressed and suicidal about it, just make the best of it.

 

[Prince090]

I was listening to golian couple of days back and he said this to which I also agree. Your priorities should be ;

1. God( if you are religious )
2. SO and/or family
3. Medicine

 

[starstarie]

90% of docs do not recommend medicine to relatives. over half are dissatisfied with their work. doctors have #1/#2 highest suicide rate in the country. There's also high burnout, and depression among the physician community. Many doctors/residents/ and even medical students regret their career choice but what can they do? Just the other day, the PA i worked with was talking to the secretary about how she doesn't understand why anyone would want be a doctor today. She said she makes more than the average pediatrician (she's surgical PA), and can make much more if she wanted to but she chose to have a easy career.

At this point in our career, it's difficult to go do something else, so instead of being extremely depressed and suicidal about it, just make the best of it.

hahahaha

 

[starstarie]

Prior to starting med school I had a bunch of pretty darn terrible jobs. Medical assistant comes to mind.... these people were extremely unhappy all of them. I also worked as a teacher/tutor, which was fine and I was earning an awesome amount for the amount of work I did (very little). When I was a medical assistant I worked with a lot of doctors in a lot of different situations. Of those that I worked most with, they were all in similar professional situations, but two of them were very happy, and the other was very angry with the world. What was the difference? In my opinion, their outside priorities, and their attitude in life. All of them had come from very poor areas and had dedicated their lives to giving back to underserved communities.

I think in the end, life is what you make of it. I am extremely glad I got some perspective and worked for a few years. In the most terrible job as a doctor I will NEVER get disrespected or taken advantage of, all while making just around the poverty level, like when I was a medical assistant. I will always compare my future situations to that.

A bad attitude will follow you to whatever job you are in, and many people will just not be happy regardless of what they are doing. Finding pure motives for what you want to do will help, along with embracing change when it comes. I think like above posters have said too, making priorities outside your career is imperative for a happy life, which makes a happy doctor.

Just my two cents

 

[Anastomoses]

I spend too much time in pre-allo.

I would bother with pre-allo if they had a subsection for students that had gotten acceptance. Otherwise there is just way too much chaff.