Teachers vs Physician

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That a cute story and all but.... My highschool chemistry teacher was an AxxHole who told me and i quote: If I cant make it to medical its no way in hell you can. Mind you i went to an inner city public school with a 98% AA student population and a 16 ACT avg. Trust me, the stories you hear of amazing people going into teaching none of those people are coming down here.

This is exactly the problem. It's cyclical partially as a result of the belief systems that exist here. There is very little incentive - aside from the intense desire to help others - for being a teacher in urban underserved areas. As a result, few become teachers in those areas, students in those areas do not get the education they deserve, the jobs there become even harder because people continue to consider those jobs worse, and the circle goes on.
 
People who make it to medical school are not idiots....they have a general understanding of the road ahead of them
yeah, but getting into med school doesn't mean your smart either.

you might know wassup with med school, but your future classmates might not. just cuz u a genius, don't mean others r.
 
If the average medical student parents salaries is 100k that means the average medical student went to a high school in a good neighborhood or even a private school. In that case i feel like most pre-meds have an inaccurate picture of what the average high school teacher is really like
 
If the average medical student parents salaries is 100k that means the average medical student went to a high school in a good neighborhood or even a private school. In that case i feel like most pre-meds have an inaccurate picture of what the average high school teacher is really like
wrong. I had no ap science classes offered at my school. Everyone knew wassup on day 1 and had a huuuuuge leg up on me with all their fancy smancy ap classes. I was clueless. I had to study extra hard to make up that difference and struggle. I still made it into med school without aa (I am urm, but I don't look it and didn't declare it). it can be done. just gotta want it enough.
 
If the average medical student parents salaries is 100k that means the average medical student went to a high school in a good neighborhood or even a private school. In that case i feel like most pre-meds have an inaccurate picture of what the average high school teacher is really like
That is not what is being discussed. One of my reasons for getting out of HS early was because of the poor administration and a handful of bad teachers. However, the majority were very hard workers who did a lot to meet their career goals. That is what we are discussing, not whether or not a lot of HS teachers are jerks or idiots or whatever you keep spouting.

I attended middle and high school in a town of 2600. We only had 2 AP classes.
 
"If you throw a rock in a junk yard full of pit bulls the one that barks is the one that got hit "



I said most premeds, i didn't name names.
 
If the average medical student parents salaries is 100k that means the average medical student went to a high school in a good neighborhood or even a private school. In that case i feel like most pre-meds have an inaccurate picture of what the average high school teacher is really like

What point are you trying to make here? That there are some bad teachers in the inner city? Sure, but why? Probably because its really, really hard to be an inner city teacher! So the great teachers don't go there. It's a problem of incentives, one of those being respect within society at large.
 
This thread stems from an argument I had with a high school biology education major.

Question: Which career path requires a person to have the most desire to help people, teaching or medicine?
Teacher requires 4.87 desires, while doctor 4.91 desires. Hope it helps.
 


I threw a blank statement into the air that didn't specifically point to anyone (the rock). The people who replied back got offended (the one pit who was hit)
 
I threw a blank statement into the air that didn't specifically point to anyone (the rock). The people who replied back got offended (the one pit who was hit)

Yeah I got the idea of what you were trying to say, but your analogy doesn't make any sense, literally or figuratively.

All the dogs would bark btw. 😛
 
Yeah I got the idea of what you were trying to say, but your analogy doesn't make any sense, literally or figuratively.

All the dogs would bark btw. 😛

*whimper
 
I think both physicians and teachers sacrifice a lot to become excellent in their field. You shouldn't compare their level of altruism because both are noble service professions. Both physicians and teachers sacrifice a lot of time and money (although doctors sacrifice more time and teachers sacrifice more money) to dedicate their lives to helping others who may or may not appreciate the help or thank them.

I'm horribly appalled by some of the blatantly ignorant and condescending comments that were made throughout this "argument." I'm pretty sure no adcoms would admit someone who belittles another service profession just because they think physicians went thru a harder struggle.
 
I wouldn't be a functioning individual without special education teachers and physical/occupational/speech therapists. (And yes, I needed all 3 of the latter.)

There comes a point where one realizes that this is nothing more than semantics at best, and a pissing contest at its worst. I feel that special education takes a truly altruistic person to flourish in that environment.

In the UK, 40% of new teachers leave within their first five years (http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/15/ofsted-chief-teachers-quitting-scandal), and the numbers are similarly atrocious in the US (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-niver-rajna/teaching-profession_b_4172238.html, where in urban districts, they lose half of their teachers in the first five years).

Teaching is not one of those jobs that you can take fresh out of undergrad and be set for life. It's grueling work, and in middle and high school environments, it can be mentally/emotionally abusive situations that you're stuck with every day. When a new teacher enters a classroom, whatever precedent they set on the first day can make their life a living hell. In SPED, the paperwork is insane and you deal with emotionally trying situations all the time.

Both are arduous work, but to suggest one trumps the other is bull**** and you know it.
 
You guys clearly need to talk to more teachers. Yes physicians give up a big chunk of their lives and we all have a good idea what they do and how they contribute, but allow me to share my teaching experience...

It was a 7-7 job. Working in urban school. I had a 3.98 GPA as chem E, I had a job that was 109k working only 8 days per month. I decided to join teach for America to help kids learn science (I would say that was somewhat a sacrifice). This was a gang filled neighborhood, rarely kids gave a **** about learning. In the history of that school, no one has EvER gotten above a 1 on the AP chem exam (which I know is ridiculous). None of the kids can do math - not even the AP calc kids. Most of them have 40% missing assignments. I had to call home about kids ditching daily (which was on average 20 kids a day). I talked to parents that didn't give a ****. We made a home visit of a kid who was called in sick for a month and I see the kid and mother sitting on the sofa watching TV. I have to dance around with excitement to get them to learn what an atom was.


The plus side, during my 3 years. I helped a pregnant suicidal girl get into college, a young man leave a gang, a family an apartment to stay in, a foster child a place to stay for more than 2 weeks, every single one of my AP chem students got a 3, and my district benchmark exceeded the district average by two standard deviation. Did I mention, my kids requested I stay late to help them learn? Luckily I didn't have a life, because I frequently stayed until 8 pm.

Also, reusing lesson plans. That would be great if I taught the same classes. No, I taught over 8 subjects in 3 years. Some which I have never learned before. Perhaps it would get easier over time.

Yes, the summers are nice.
I don't know if teacher are under paid too much considering we only work 9.5 months but we should be paid overtime..


Again, I am not meaning to compare the two, but clearly most of you don't realize what goes on in a school. I didn't, until I worked in one.

Ok- time to get off my soap box.
 
I will kick it off with an argument for both sides


Teacher: teachers on average make a fraction of a physician salary while working just as hard. The only thing that can drive a person to do that is love for humanity


Physician: everybody thats comes to the doctors office wants to be helped by the doctor. It is state law that children under 17 must go to school even if they don't want to be there...

Umm...I'm sorry but I worked in one of the best high schools according to USNews and the amount of responsibility a teacher has vs. a physician is laughable. Also, a teacher is perfectly capable of finishing all their work within the school day and often can relay tasks off to graduate assistants, etc. I'm not trying to underscore their importance, I'm just saying there's no comparison in terms of responsibility even if the hours might be similar (which in many cases they're not anyways).
 
Umm...I'm sorry but I worked in one of the best high schools according to USNews and the amount of responsibility a teacher has vs. a physician is laughable. Also, a teacher is perfectly capable of finishing all their work within the school day and often can relay tasks off to graduate assistants, etc. I'm not trying to underscore their importance, I'm just saying there's no comparison in terms of responsibility even if the hours might be similar (which in many cases they're not anyways).

What point are you trying to make here? Are you saying that teaching is difficult or easy? Does the above perhaps skew your opinion, regardless?
 
Umm...I'm sorry but I worked in one of the best high schools according to USNews and the amount of responsibility a teacher has vs. a physician is laughable. Also, a teacher is perfectly capable of finishing all their work within the school day and often can relay tasks off to graduate assistants, etc. I'm not trying to underscore their importance, I'm just saying there's no comparison in terms of responsibility even if the hours might be similar (which in many cases they're not anyways).

Bro just leave this thread. You can't win arguing with these premeds since they are all bias in someway.
 
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Algorithm for initial management of troll threads:

Is the thread started by listener23? Immediately ignore and move on
Does the thread include any of the following terms in the title: URM, vs., money, MBA, urgent, finance? Immediately ignore and move on
Is there evidence of flaming within the first 30 posts of the thread? Initiate DNR, ignore thread, and move on
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Now if we can only find a cure with 99% success rate
 
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