What are the reasons for choosing medical science ?

[flatron23]

Hi
What are the reasons for giving up your current jobs and choose the medical doctor route instead? I am still pondering what i really want in life, i am not sure whether i like the medical route not, i am not sure where my talents lies at, i am totally lost now.

Do you guys ever get frightened by the long profound name of the body structures when glancing through the medical books? I am a graduate in Biomedical sciences, right now i am at lost as where to go. I totally got frightened by long sophiscated names given to different structures in a single organs. I can't imagine memorizing all the long names again.... but yet again i kinda like the doctor idea because maybe i like to be in touch with people, i like to help people, and the stable income is another draw factor for me. Did you guys ever faced similar situation as me ?

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[QofQuimica]

Hi
What are the reasons for giving up your current jobs and choose the medical doctor route instead? I am still pondering what i really want in life, i am not sure whether i like the medical route not, i am not sure where my talents lies at, i am totally lost now.

Do you guys ever get frightened by the long profound name of the body structures when glancing through the medical books? I am a graduate in Biomedical sciences, right now i am at lost as where to go. I totally got frightened by long sophiscated names given to different structures in a single organs. I can't imagine memorizing all the long names again.... but yet again i kinda like the doctor idea because maybe i like to be in touch with people, i like to help people, and the stable income is another draw factor for me. Did you guys ever faced similar situation as me ?

Have you gotten any kind of clinical experience, whether paid or volunteer? This can include shadowing physicians, working as a nurse, EMT, or other health care professional, doing medical research (if research is your interest), volunteering in a hospital, nursing home, or other clinical setting, working in a physician's office, and more. If you're not sure whether you want to be a doctor, the best thing you can do is to spend some time around doctors and get a feel for what the career is like. Don't worry right now about memorizing names of structures; many people come to med school not knowing much anatomy, and that's why you study anatomy in med school. If you already knew it all, there'd be no reason for you to have to attend med school, right? You could just take the boards and go out and start practicing right now.

 

[Scottish Chap]

Hi
What are the reasons for giving up your current jobs and choose the medical doctor route instead? I am still pondering what i really want in life, i am not sure whether i like the medical route not, i am not sure where my talents lies at, i am totally lost now.

Do you guys ever get frightened by the long profound name of the body structures when glancing through the medical books? I am a graduate in Biomedical sciences, right now i am at lost as where to go. I totally got frightened by long sophiscated names given to different structures in a single organs. I can't imagine memorizing all the long names again.... but yet again i kinda like the doctor idea because maybe i like to be in touch with people, i like to help people, and the stable income is another draw factor for me. Did you guys ever faced similar situation as me ?

Hi there!

I echo what Q said. It will be critical for you to really see first-hand what a physician does before going any further. That will help dispell some myths and mystery in this career. You'll find (as I did) that, much like any other career, there are many different types of doctor and many different personalities....yet they all 'made it'.

Given the right training, there's not a whole lot you cannot accomplish. Don't let fear hold you back. Learning anatomy and physiology is no different from learning how to be a car mechanic; you need to learn all the names and how things are put togther before you're able to diagnose a problem.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hi
What are the reasons for giving up your current jobs and choose the medical doctor route instead? I am still pondering what i really want in life, i am not sure whether i like the medical route not, i am not sure where my talents lies at, i am totally lost now.

Do you guys ever get frightened by the long profound name of the body structures when glancing through the medical books? I am a graduate in Biomedical sciences, right now i am at lost as where to go. I totally got frightened by long sophiscated names given to different structures in a single organs. I can't imagine memorizing all the long names again.... but yet again i kinda like the doctor idea because maybe i like to be in touch with people, i like to help people, and the stable income is another draw factor for me. Did you guys ever faced similar situation as me ?

I agree with Q -- sounds like you are trying to make a decision without any exposure. Medicine is not a path to pick if you are still unsure of what you want to do in life. It is one of the hardest and longest career paths, and not a decision to be made lightly, on a whim, or for lack of better direction. Medicine is going to involve a ton of lifelong studying and learning, and a whole lot more than just memorizing long structure names. Liking the idea of "Helping people" is not really enough of a reason to choose medicine, as a ton of fields can do this and most don't require the lengthy and expensive schooling and training-- You can become a social worker and help people with a whole lot less school. Stable income is nice but you really should not choose a profession based on this. You will be spending 60-80 hours a week doing a professional job for the rest of your life, most of your waking hours, and so if you don't really enjoy it, no amount of income, stable or not, is going to make it palatable. (Most of the career changers on this board can tell you this -- look at the thread of incomes folks gave up to go into medicine, many likely will be taking a pay cut).
Thus what you have to do is get into a hospital or other medical setting and see what doctors do, and whether that is something you would enjoy doing daily for the rest of your life. That means volunteering, shadowing, perhaps working as an EMT, scribe or phlebotomist, talking to doctors and asking lots of questions, watching the Dr-Patient interactions. If you come away thinking - this is cool, I can't wait to get started, then you have your answer. If you still don't know, then it's not a direction you are quite ready to launch yourself into. It's too hard and too long a path if you are undecided.

 

[flatron23]

Have you gotten any kind of clinical experience, whether paid or volunteer? This can include shadowing physicians, working as a nurse, EMT, or other health care professional, doing medical research (if research is your interest), volunteering in a hospital, nursing home, or other clinical setting, working in a physician's office, and more. If you're not sure whether you want to be a doctor, the best thing you can do is to spend some time around doctors and get a feel for what the career is like. Don't worry right now about memorizing names of structures; many people come to med school not knowing much anatomy, and that's why you study anatomy in med school. If you already knew it all, there'd be no reason for you to have to attend med school, right? You could just take the boards and go out and start practicing right now.

Hi thanks for replying, I have worked with the pathologists in a hospital before. It is kinda cool and challenging. The working hours are long but it is worth it. Beside the strong formalin smell and the disected organs, i feel it is an interesting career. I personally dislike the normal 8-5 working hours sitting infront of a computer, rather i like walking around and talking to people.

I have a question, do doctors get worried about handling patients with blood transmit-able diseases like HIV? I actually weared double gloves when handling blood specimens, washed hands more than 8 times a day during work. I don't know why, but I am worried i will get infected when handling patients blood.

 

[njbmd]

I have a question, do doctors get worried about handling patients with blood transmit-able diseases like HIV? I actually weared double gloves when handling blood specimens, washed hands more than 8 times a day during work. I don't know why, but I am worried i will get infected when handling patients blood.

Hi there,
Surgeon here. I worry more about the patients who are NOT HIV+ or Hep C + because you don't know what they have. The HIV + / Hep C + blood sample is going to be carefully handled but the unknown is worse because most people have a false sense of security.

If there is the slightest possiblity that I will be in contact with blood or body fluids from any patient, I exercise universal precautions. It makes no difference what diagnosis the patient has or does not have. An HIV negative patient can be HIV + tomorrow. Use universal precautions, be very careful around any sharps and get your job done.

You can pick up salmonella handling raw poultry or moving a package of raw chicken to your grocery cart too and many folks never wear gloves in that situation. There are loads of things out there in many situations that can make you ill. Use universal precautions, wash you hands often and keep your hands away from your face.

njbmd