Throwing in the towel....

[Corpsman Up]

Well, after a great deal of soul searching, I have decided that medicine is not for me. I am an older, non-traditional student, and after completing nearly all my pre-reqs I have decided that I want to spend my 20's and 30's enjoying time with friends and family a little more, and with my head buried in a book a little less. I realized that at the end of the day, its still just a job, but one that requires more commitment than im prepared to give any more. I also took into account that through all my years of health care experience, Ive met twice as many docs that hate their job as I have that liked it. Its not because I failed, I gave it my best effort and just decided I dont have the dedication in me to keep pushing through any more. Im chosing life over career.

To everyone that continues on their path to med school, good luck. Youre dedication is inspiring and I am in awe of you. Ive talked to some people on here that have a genuine passion for what they are trying to accomplish and I pray that you will succeed and somehow balance family,work/school, and lifestyle better than I seem to be able to.

Best of luck

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[MLT2MT2DO]

Good for you for being able to walk away and realizing that medicine isn't for you before investing tons of time and money into it like many do.

I have had the exact opposite experience as you have. I have lost family recently and know how important it is to be with them, but I have found that being a doctor and having a family life is very doable.

GL to you

 

[MedicineMike]

What was the final straw? What your current life situation? What is your age and do you have a family etc?

 

[angryazn88]

Mannnn doctors have lives too. I know plenty of doctors that know how to manage their time and they do everything normal people do. Spend time with family, hang out at bars, go hunting, play sports. Its just that you need to get through med school and residency and then you will have a lot more time in your hands. 7-10 more years isn't too much considering people usually die at an older age nowadays because of modern medicine.

 

[MightyMoose]

Mannnn doctors have lives too. I know plenty of doctors that know how to manage their time and they do everything normal people do. Spend time with family, hang out at bars, go hunting, play sports. Its just that you need to get through med school and residency and then you will have a lot more time in your hands. 7-10 more years isn't too much considering people usually die at an older age nowadays because of modern medicine.

Yeah, but if he's not into it, then I think he's making the right decision. I would be willing to guess that most of those who are unhappy in medicine don't realize what it is like working in other careers, so they always tend to believe life in medicine is much harder. This is very common for those who go straight through (High school, college, med school... etc.). They have nothing to compare it to and it can lead to the "what if" types of thinking. I feel like if he knows that he does not want the demands of medicine (which a lot of people don't), then he knows himself better than most. So, it is a wise decision and who knows, he may even change his mind in 5-10 years.

OP, good luck. There are plenty of amazing careers out there. There are also a number of them that will require family/fun sacrifices and a number that won't, but those are the decisions we are all faced with at the end of the day. It's better to get out now than to stay on your current path and regret your decision for a lifetime. Good luck to you.

 

[May143]

It is great that you know what you want. For me I am Thai and already 35 years old in this month but I just start for pre-med classes this Spring. Every one told me about how hard to entrance to medical school but I still want to do.

Good luck for you.

 

[NakMuay]

Sawadee ka May. Chok dee ka.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Well, good luck to you in whatever you decide to do in the long run. Have you thought about maybe going PA or DPT or another health field that's less demanding?

 

[wolverinepwns]

it takes alot to make that final decision and follow through with it. and as many have said, If you don't love medicine and being a doctor don't do it cuz its not worth it. Good Luck.

 

[mammeor]

Well, after a great deal of soul searching, I have decided that medicine is not for me. I am an older, non-traditional student, and after completing nearly all my pre-reqs I have decided that I want to spend my 20's and 30's enjoying time with friends and family a little more, and with my head buried in a book a little less. I realized that at the end of the day, its still just a job, but one that requires more commitment than im prepared to give any more. I also took into account that through all my years of health care experience, Ive met twice as many docs that hate their job as I have that liked it. Its not because I failed, I gave it my best effort and just decided I dont have the dedication in me to keep pushing through any more. Im chosing life over career.

To everyone that continues on their path to med school, good luck. Youre dedication is inspiring and I am in awe of you. Ive talked to some people on here that have a genuine passion for what they are trying to accomplish and I pray that you will succeed and somehow balance family,work/school, and lifestyle better than I seem to be able to.

Best of luck

Sensible choice, good luck on your future endeavors

 

[kopitar]

Well, after a great deal of soul searching, I have decided that medicine is not for me. I am an older, non-traditional student, and after completing nearly all my pre-reqs I have decided that I want to spend my 20's and 30's enjoying time with friends and family a little more, and with my head buried in a book a little less. I realized that at the end of the day, its still just a job, but one that requires more commitment than im prepared to give any more. I also took into account that through all my years of health care experience, Ive met twice as many docs that hate their job as I have that liked it. Its not because I failed, I gave it my best effort and just decided I dont have the dedication in me to keep pushing through any more. Im chosing life over career.

To everyone that continues on their path to med school, good luck. Youre dedication is inspiring and I am in awe of you. Ive talked to some people on here that have a genuine passion for what they are trying to accomplish and I pray that you will succeed and somehow balance family,work/school, and lifestyle better than I seem to be able to.

Best of luck

YEAH!! F medicine!....well actually just biochem....no just finals. Yeah!... F finals!

 

[Airborne29]

Well, after a great deal of soul searching, I have decided that medicine is not for me. I am an older, non-traditional student, and after completing nearly all my pre-reqs I have decided that I want to spend my 20's and 30's enjoying time with friends and family a little more, and with my head buried in a book a little less. I realized that at the end of the day, its still just a job, but one that requires more commitment than im prepared to give any more. I also took into account that through all my years of health care experience, Ive met twice as many docs that hate their job as I have that liked it. Its not because I failed, I gave it my best effort and just decided I dont have the dedication in me to keep pushing through any more. Im chosing life over career.

To everyone that continues on their path to med school, good luck. Youre dedication is inspiring and I am in awe of you. Ive talked to some people on here that have a genuine passion for what they are trying to accomplish and I pray that you will succeed and somehow balance family,work/school, and lifestyle better than I seem to be able to.

Best of luck

Good luck to you Corps! Everything you've done for this country is 10x greater than going to Med School!

 

[TriagePreMed]

Good luck to you Corps! Everything you've done for this country is 10x greater than going to Med School!

I don't want to **** on this thread, but I do have a big problem when we call a military man during an unjust wartime (plus we don't know if the only thing he's done is mop floors) to have done 10x what a doctor, who saves lives and heals people, has done.

 

[Phil Dunphy]

I don't want to **** on this thread, but I do have a big problem when we call a military man during an unjust wartime (plus we don't know if the only thing he's done is mop floors) to have done 10x what a doctor, who saves lives and heals people, has done.

To be fair, he compared it to going to med school, not to being a doctor. I think the point is that he's already sacrificed so much more by putting his life on the line (sure, we don't know exactly what he did, but when you sign up for the military you're basically saying you understand that you may be shipped off to a warzone no matter what your job is) than he would during med school, when all he's risking is losing sleep and burning out on information overload.

 

[whoop]

I don't want to **** on this thread, but I do have a big problem when we call a military man during an unjust wartime (plus we don't know if the only thing he's done is mop floors) to have done 10x what a doctor, who saves lives and heals people, has done.

Stop watching Rambo and grow up. This person said they did some tours of duty in a war-zone. Anyone who has served in the military or has close relatives in the military knows that EVERY serviceman and woman and their families make big sacrifices no matter what their job is. Grow up dude!

 

[TriagePreMed]

Stop watching Rambo and grow up. This person said they did some tours of duty in a war-zone. Anyone who has served in the military or has close relatives in the military knows that EVERY serviceman and woman and their families make big sacrifices no matter what their job is. Grow up dude!

It's not about the sacrifices you make. It's about the accomplishments of your service. You can make sacrifices for almost anything you choose. I'm going to go over the top with this example, but didn't the Nazis and their families sacrifice? Were they greater than doctors? Again, this is not to compare but only to truly bold the fact that it is what you're accomplishing that matters. I'm not arguing that it's not admirable or that servicemen and women and their families don't make sacrifices. The issue is just saying that they do 10x what doctors do. If you don't prefer a world where you rather have 1 more doctor instead of 1 corpsman, you're the one that needs to grow up.

To be fair, he compared it to going to med school, not to being a doctor. I think the point is that he's already sacrificed so much more by putting his life on the line (sure, we don't know exactly what he did, but when you sign up for the military you're basically saying you understand that you may be shipped off to a warzone no matter what your job is) than he would during med school, when all he's risking is losing sleep and burning out on information overload.

I think you're trying to play into technicalities. Who goes to medical school to not be a doctor? Is working for a non-profit for a month 10x better than going to med school because the med student is just reading books but the non-profit worker may have found housing for a homeless person?

 

[Tottil]

It's not about the sacrifices you make. It's about the accomplishments of your service. You can make sacrifices for almost anything you choose. I'm going to go over the top with this example, but didn't the Nazis and their families sacrifice? Were they greater than doctors? Again, this is not to compare but only to truly bold the fact that it is what you're accomplishing that matters. I'm not arguing that it's not admirable or that servicemen and women and their families don't make sacrifices. The issue is just saying that they do 10x what doctors do. If you don't prefer a world where you rather have 1 more doctor instead of 1 corpsman, you're the one that needs to grow up.


I think you're trying to play into technicalities. Who goes to medical school to not be a doctor? Is working for a non-profit for a month 10x better than going to med school because the med student is just reading books but the non-profit worker may have found housing for a homeless person?

To me it appears you are arguing just for the sake of it. There is a significant difference between med school and doctor. If you consider that a technicality then please explain this to all the students who have failed out.

I've read many of your posts in the past and the majority of them are full of contempt. I'm not sure what your agenda is in this thread, but I think it is good to suggest you curb it a bit. You don't know the OP, plain and simple. Who knows, his/her actions during service could far surpass those of a practicing physician.

Just remember, the people who serve this country allow you the opportunity to do and say as you please. It shouldn't be too difficult to show some respect.

 

[sylvanthus]

Ehh part of what he says is true. There are no wars going on right now that are really justified. Most people don't even know why we are in afghanistan. Plus, I wont get started on the cluster-f that is Iraq.

 

[bassstimme1]

It's not about the sacrifices you make. It's about the accomplishments of your service. You can make sacrifices for almost anything you choose. I'm going to go over the top with this example, but didn't the Nazis and their families sacrifice? Were they greater than doctors? Again, this is not to compare but only to truly bold the fact that it is what you're accomplishing that matters. I'm not arguing that it's not admirable or that servicemen and women and their families don't make sacrifices. The issue is just saying that they do 10x what doctors do. If you don't prefer a world where you rather have 1 more doctor instead of 1 corpsman, you're the one that needs to grow up.


I think you're trying to play into technicalities. Who goes to medical school to not be a doctor? Is working for a non-profit for a month 10x better than going to med school because the med student is just reading books but the non-profit worker may have found housing for a homeless erson?

Do you even know what a corpsman is? He is a combat MEDIC. He's the guy that runs out in the middle of a battle to save the lives of wounded marines and even the PoS terrorists that are trying to kill them. If you can't see the difference between a guy who saves American heroes while terrorists are trying to kill him and non-profit volunteer, then that's pathetic. And yes, we need more corpsmen who will put their lives on the line to save others.

 

[Phil Dunphy]

Ehh part of what he says is true. There are no wars going on right now that are really justified. Most people don't even know why we are in afghanistan. Plus, I wont get started on the cluster-f that is Iraq.

Justification of a war has no bearing on the sacrifices made by those in the military.

 

[MightyMoose]

Ehh part of what he says is true. There are no wars going on right now that are really justified. Most people don't even know why we are in afghanistan. Plus, I wont get started on the cluster-f that is Iraq.

That has nothing to do with this thread and has no place in here. Triagepremed is an ignoramus and is constantly stirring the pot. He needs to grow up. Move on to the polital/policy thread if you feel like you want to discuss/argue politics.

 

[TriagePreMed]

I'm going to turn away from the topic, so if anyone has anything more to say or wants to argue more, feel free to PM me. The point of my post was not turn this into a political debate. I made this clear, and I also made clear that I wasn't intending for a positive thread to turn negative. I was only trying to argue that saying they do 10x what doctors do is not true. You guys disagree (some may agree). Fine, lets leave it at that.

 

[angryazn88]

I'm not taking sides but military life shouldn't be compared medical school. These two things cannot be compared because both are very important in their own sense. There's a lot of pride in both areas and debates like this will spark each time people compare the two.

 

[MightyMoose]

I'm going to turn away from the topic, so if anyone has anything more to say or wants to argue more, feel free to PM me. The point of my post was not turn this into a political debate. I made this clear, and I also made clear that I wasn't intending for a positive thread to turn negative. I was only trying to argue that saying they do 10x what doctors do is not true. You guys disagree (some may agree). Fine, lets leave it at that.

I'm not taking sides but military life shouldn't be compared medical school. These two things cannot be compared because both are very important in their own sense. There's a lot of pride in both areas and debates like this will spark each time people compare the two.

Dude...

You guys are missing the point. The poster who said that bit of the military and medicine was not really saying that the military is better or more meaningful, that poster is someone who has some social skills and is trying to be encouraging for someone who has just made a major life-changing decision. People do this all the time to make someone feel better or good about a decision they have made, it's a social nicety. To take this literally brings your social skills in to question...

 

[angryazn88]

lol i live under a rock... i see now

 

[angryazn88]

Dude...

You guys are missing the point. The poster who said that bit of the military and medicine was not really saying that the military is better or more meaningful, that poster is someone who has some social skills and is trying to be encouraging for someone who has just made a major life-changing decision. People do this all the time to make someone feel better or good about a decision they have made, it's a social nicety. To take this literally brings your social skills in to question...

i felt a lot of anger so i tried to say something to calm both parties but i missed your post haha

 

[bongobingo]

To the OP: it seems you quit this forum. But if you haven't, I could expound on why it might be short-sighted to quit. If you quit now, you will not be able to try again in 5years.

 

[Chevy Chase Fan]

I'm going to turn away from the topic, so if anyone has anything more to say or wants to argue more, feel free to PM me. The point of my post was not turn this into a political debate. I made this clear, and I also made clear that I wasn't intending for a positive thread to turn negative. I was only trying to argue that saying they do 10x what doctors do is not true. You guys disagree (some may agree). Fine, lets leave it at that.

Whether or not you jump through enough hoops to ultimately get into medical school, one thing will never change: [edited].

 

[Corpsman Up]

Thanks to everyone for the encouraging words.

Heres what led me to my final decision: I moved to Columbus,OH 2yrs ago to attend Ohio State. The other day, my wife threw me a surprise birthday party. I did not have one single friend on the guest list (only her friends/family). Then I realized that I have not made a single friend in 2yrs, because my life is all consumed with getting into medical school (studying, research, volunteering, etc). Then I thought about the fact that it could very well be this way for many years to come.

I did a very realistic self evaluation; and I came to the conclusion that Im on this path for the wrong reasons: 1) I was a corpsman (medic) since the age of 17, so medicine is really all that I know and Im comfortable with it. 2) I grew up in an incredibly poor family, we live in numerous trailer parks down south, and at one point lived in a 3 person tent for a couple weeks. I had these big dreams of becoming the ultimate success story..."TRAILER PARK KID BECOMES DOCTOR!" I was going to have all the things that my family never had, and I was going to make my family name respectable again.

I also accepted the fact that I am smart enough to become a physician, but its going to take an incredible amount of work (I have always been the dumbest smart kid); and I realistically wont be able to get into/make it through medical school without devoting myself 100% to the books, and making my family a secondary priority, and I just dont want to do that any longer.

To those of you that are in this for the right reasons, I tip my hat to you and wish you luck!

 

[Corpsman Up]

It's not about the sacrifices you make. It's about the accomplishments of your service. You can make sacrifices for almost anything you choose. I'm going to go over the top with this example, but didn't the Nazis and their families sacrifice? Were they greater than doctors? Again, this is not to compare but only to truly bold the fact that it is what you're accomplishing that matters. I'm not arguing that it's not admirable or that servicemen and women and their families don't make sacrifices. The issue is just saying that they do 10x what doctors do. If you don't prefer a world where you rather have 1 more doctor instead of 1 corpsman, you're the one that needs to grow up.


If you have the time search a few of my previous posts, I believe I have listed some of my military accomplishments; and you can see that I didnt "mop floors".

Airborne was making the comparison to medical school, not being a doctor. He was more on the lines of saying that our combat experiences eclipse that of medical school in terms of difficulty. Staring at a book at 3am on zero sleep is much easier than performing an intubation on your good friend at 3am, using only a glow stick for light, while people are shooting at you.

 

[AutumnChild]

Thanks to everyone for the encouraging words.

Heres what led me to my final decision: I moved to Columbus,OH 2yrs ago to attend Ohio State. The other day, my wife threw me a surprise birthday party. I did not have one single friend on the guest list (only her friends/family). Then I realized that I have not made a single friend in 2yrs, because my life is all consumed with getting into medical school (studying, research, volunteering, etc). Then I thought about the fact that it could very well be this way for many years to come.

I did a very realistic self evaluation; and I came to the conclusion that Im on this path for the wrong reasons: 1) I was a corpsman (medic) since the age of 17, so medicine is really all that I know and Im comfortable with it. 2) I grew up in an incredibly poor family, we live in numerous trailer parks down south, and at one point lived in a 3 person tent for a couple weeks. I had these big dreams of becoming the ultimate success story..."TRAILER PARK KID BECOMES DOCTOR!" I was going to have all the things that my family never had, and I was going to make my family name respectable again.

I also accepted the fact that I am smart enough to become a physician, but its going to take an incredible amount of work (I have always been the dumbest smart kid); and I realistically wont be able to get into/make it through medical school without devoting myself 100% to the books, and making my family a secondary priority, and I just dont want to do that any longer.

To those of you that are in this for the right reasons, I tip my hat to you and wish you luck!

So I haven't been following this thread much but did read your first post & a couple responses previously and came back to see any updates from you. With what you've told us here (what I quoted), I think you made the right choice for yourself. Self-reflection is definitely important and should be constantly done while on this path. You know yourself, what it takes for you to succeed and I can see where it may not be worth it for you. Good luck in finding the right career. I hope it is one that will make you happy in the long run.

 

[cliquesh]

Medical school is like college round II, but with a little more studying. I went out every night last week, lol. It isn't nearly as bad as SDN makes it seem. You will have a life.

 

[Rollo]

Thanks to everyone for the encouraging words.

Heres what led me to my final decision: I moved to Columbus,OH 2yrs ago to attend Ohio State. The other day, my wife threw me a surprise birthday party. I did not have one single friend on the guest list (only her friends/family). Then I realized that I have not made a single friend in 2yrs, because my life is all consumed with getting into medical school (studying, research, volunteering, etc). Then I thought about the fact that it could very well be this way for many years to come.

I did a very realistic self evaluation; and I came to the conclusion that Im on this path for the wrong reasons: 1) I was a corpsman (medic) since the age of 17, so medicine is really all that I know and Im comfortable with it. 2) I grew up in an incredibly poor family, we live in numerous trailer parks down south, and at one point lived in a 3 person tent for a couple weeks. I had these big dreams of becoming the ultimate success story..."TRAILER PARK KID BECOMES DOCTOR!" I was going to have all the things that my family never had, and I was going to make my family name respectable again.

I also accepted the fact that I am smart enough to become a physician, but its going to take an incredible amount of work (I have always been the dumbest smart kid); and I realistically wont be able to get into/make it through medical school without devoting myself 100% to the books, and making my family a secondary priority, and I just dont want to do that any longer.

To those of you that are in this for the right reasons, I tip my hat to you and wish you luck!

I'm a second year medical student and I can tell you with all honesty that I have not devoted myself 100% to the books and I have not made family/friends a second priority.

I know many students in my class who are the same way.

The horror stories of medical students studying 12-14 hours a day are over-exaggerated and completely untrue.

To give you an example, I usually study 4-6 hours a day with same amount of time reviewing on the weekend. During exam week, the hours get ramped up to maybe 8-10 hours a day. But exam weeks for us are usually every 3-5 weeks.

Of course, we're just talking about pre-clinical years. During clinical years, from what I hear anyway, your hours will vary quite a bit with some specialties feeling like a 8-5 job (i.e. Psych, FM) while others feeling like you might as well live at the hospital (i.e. surgery, ob/gyn).

But then again, the hours will vary depending on where you rotate!

So you see, it isn't fair to assume that medical school will completely consume your life to the point that you will be making huge sacrifices with your personal life. Now, I'm not saying that I've never had to make sacrifices for the sake of medical school. Yes, I've missed couple of family events because of medical school and there have been time periods (i.e. 1-2 months) where I haven't heard from any of my friends.

Overall though, I think medical school has been more relaxing and I've felt more independent with my time than I thought previously.

 

[cliquesh]

^It could just be PCOM.

 

[AutumnChild]

I think you guys are missing his point. I think what he's saying is that, knowing himself and how hard he had to work to even make medical school a possibility, he had to devote the majority of his time to studying. He realizes that his innate academic abilities are not enough for medical school and he will have to dedicate more time than say, the "standard/normal" med student. Knowing this, he has decided against pursuing medical school in favor of quality of life for him and his family. I don't think it's a matter of assuming med students don't have a life - it's realizing that he won't have one because of what he knows about himself and his ability to handle this caliber of work.

Corpsman Up, please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[cliquesh]

If he is content with FM, IM, EM, Peds, pysch, and so on, all he really needs to do is pass, and it is pretty easy to pass. It really isn't that hard.

 

[whoop]

I think the OP is just venting and is frustrated. I came close to calling it quits also, I even thought of persuing a different career choice. A month later I was accepted into medical school. I think the OP should hang in there, because from reading his past posts he seem to have a passion for medicine.

 

[MightyMoose]

I think you guys are missing his point. I think what he's saying is that, knowing himself and how hard he had to work to even make medical school a possibility, he had to devote the majority of his time to studying. He realizes that his innate academic abilities are not enough for medical school and he will have to dedicate more time than say, the "standard/normal" med student. Knowing this, he has decided against pursuing medical school in favor of quality of life for him and his family. I don't think it's a matter of assuming med students don't have a life - it's realizing that he won't have one because of what he knows about himself and his ability to handle this caliber of work.

Corpsman Up, please correct me if I am wrong.

That's how I read it as well. I wish you the best Corpsman. I'm sure you will find plenty of success.

 

[TriagePreMed]

If you have the time search a few of my previous posts, I believe I have listed some of my military accomplishments; and you can see that I didnt "mop floors".

Airborne was making the comparison to medical school, not being a doctor. He was more on the lines of saying that our combat experiences eclipse that of medical school in terms of difficulty. Staring at a book at 3am on zero sleep is much easier than performing an intubation on your good friend at 3am, using only a glow stick for light, while people are shooting at you.

I just wanted to apologize for coming off as a douche here. I wasn't trying to attack you personally, but I can see how it looks like that. I was just challenging the idea of comparing the work of a corpsman to that of a doctor because the truth is I'm frustrated at how our culture over glorifies military personnel, but it is true some do deserve praise. Doctors, nurses, firefighters, and others sometimes don't get the credit they deserve.

 

[Rollo]

I just wanted to apologize for coming off as a douche here. I wasn't trying to attack you personally, but I can see how it looks like that. I was just challenging the idea of comparing the work of a corpsman to that of a doctor because the truth is I'm frustrated at how our culture over glorifies military personnel, but it is true some do deserve praise. Doctors, nurses, firefighters, and others sometimes don't get the credit they deserve.

You can never over glorify military personnel. Until you know what the military personnel did when they were on active service, hold your judgement and err on the side of "glorification".

 

[drctother]

Im learning quite a bit about how you guys treat your military personnel. Im Canadian, our military is America lol if you join the Navy here, theres like a 99% chance you will not leave the country and you will have your entire school paid for. In return, you have to show up to training camp every summer which is sweet because they keep you in good physical shape..but its not like too intense. Crazy how different our militaries are

 

[Rollo]

Im Canadian, our military is America lol

Made my day!

 

[Corpsman Up]

I think you guys are missing his point. I think what he's saying is that, knowing himself and how hard he had to work to even make medical school a possibility, he had to devote the majority of his time to studying. He realizes that his innate academic abilities are not enough for medical school and he will have to dedicate more time than say, the "standard/normal" med student. Knowing this, he has decided against pursuing medical school in favor of quality of life for him and his family. I don't think it's a matter of assuming med students don't have a life - it's realizing that he won't have one because of what he knows about himself and his ability to handle this caliber of work.

Corpsman Up, please correct me if I am wrong.

Nope, you hit the nail right on the head.

 

[Airborne29]

I'm a second year medical student and I can tell you with all honesty that I have not devoted myself 100% to the books and I have not made family/friends a second priority.

I know many students in my class who are the same way.

The horror stories of medical students studying 12-14 hours a day are over-exaggerated and completely untrue.

To give you an example, I usually study 4-6 hours a day with same amount of time reviewing on the weekend. During exam week, the hours get ramped up to maybe 8-10 hours a day. But exam weeks for us are usually every 3-5 weeks.

Of course, we're just talking about pre-clinical years. During clinical years, from what I hear anyway, your hours will vary quite a bit with some specialties feeling like a 8-5 job (i.e. Psych, FM) while others feeling like you might as well live at the hospital (i.e. surgery, ob/gyn).

But then again, the hours will vary depending on where you rotate!

So you see, it isn't fair to assume that medical school will completely consume your life to the point that you will be making huge sacrifices with your personal life. Now, I'm not saying that I've never had to make sacrifices for the sake of medical school. Yes, I've missed couple of family events because of medical school and there have been time periods (i.e. 1-2 months) where I haven't heard from any of my friends.

Overall though, I think medical school has been more relaxing and I've felt more independent with my time than I thought previously.

Thanks for this information! It's good to hear stuff like this.

 

[Airborne29]

It's not about the sacrifices you make. It's about the accomplishments of your service. You can make sacrifices for almost anything you choose. I'm going to go over the top with this example, but didn't the Nazis and their families sacrifice? Were they greater than doctors? Again, this is not to compare but only to truly bold the fact that it is what you're accomplishing that matters. I'm not arguing that it's not admirable or that servicemen and women and their families don't make sacrifices. The issue is just saying that they do 10x what doctors do. If you don't prefer a world where you rather have 1 more doctor instead of 1 corpsman, you're the one that needs to grow up.


If you have the time search a few of my previous posts, I believe I have listed some of my military accomplishments; and you can see that I didnt "mop floors".

Airborne was making the comparison to medical school, not being a doctor. He was more on the lines of saying that our combat experiences eclipse that of medical school in terms of difficulty. Staring at a book at 3am on zero sleep is much easier than performing an intubation on your good friend at 3am, using only a glow stick for light, while people are shooting at you.

Mopping Floors