What are you doing here?

[acretinmelon]

On my last post, two people thought it was really important to point out, "You don't have to be a doctor to help people". Thanks, guys, I had no idea! Wow, I'm going to the registrar to drop Chem and Physics first thing in the morning!



....okay maybe that was uncalled for, but the point is, I got to wondering. What are you all doing here? Why do you want to be a doctor? Be honest--is it about the $$? There ARE plenty of other ways to help people, but most of them aren't as lucrative....

I hate to sound like such a cynic, but I am really curious to hear what you all have to say.

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[cjg]

100% honesty - money is a factor. However, this is something I would never have gone for if it weren't for the life experience that drove me this way. I am so interested in medicine and I do want to help others, and it came down to the point of - I don't want to do ANYTHING else. I'm still trying to weigh it all out, as to what's most important to me: the knowledge, the helping, the money, the prestige of the job...it all plays in for me at some level.

 

[Alexander99]

Originally posted by acretinmelon
On my last post, two people thought it was really important to point out, "You don't have to be a doctor to help people". Thanks, guys, I had no idea! Wow, I'm going to the registrar to drop Chem and Physics first thing in the morning!



....okay maybe that was uncalled for, but the point is, I got to wondering. What are you all doing here? Why do you want to be a doctor? Be honest--is it about the $$? There ARE plenty of other ways to help people, but most of them aren't as lucrative....

I hate to sound like such a cynic, but I am really curious to hear what you all have to say.

You'd be an idiot to endure all the difficulties to get into and through med school just to make decent money. There are plenty of other jobs out there that pay well where you aren't in school for 6-11+ years out of college.

 

[asdasd12345]

money, chicks, prestige, widescreen tv, lexus, nice house, feeling smarter than the average dude

 

[jlee9531]

my life experiences have pointed me towards this direction and i have been able to focus on a specific field as i have done volunteer work during college.

money? thats funny. if i wanted money i would have went elsewhere. plus that and the fact that i dont mind a universal health care system where i would make even less.

medicine is tough. i want to help, especially children. thats all i have for you without having to reveal long personal experiences i have influenced my goals in life.

and if you want just incase you dont get a large response... you can do a search cause this question has been asked by premeds time and time again.

 

[bewitched1081]

i never think about my salary. but i do find comfort in the fact that i prob wont have to worry about money and that i'll have enough to support my family (not My family but my parents and stuff) but who knows, maybe i'll work in some place where i wont make that much money

oh yes, one of my favorite quotes: "medical school is the worst investment anyone can make" -current gyn/urol resident

 

[Sharkfan]

I am doing this because medicine, the human body, and biological science has interested me from day one. Like, really, really interested me. Other things bore the crap out of me. Added bonuses are job security, not having to worry about money, etc. Not the reason, but helped to seal the deal, you know?

 

[musiclink213]

i am currently on sdn because i am procrastinating, but i want to be a doctor because i can't imagine doing anything else. in the end, it always came back to medicine. besides, having the answers to why people are sick is kinda cool too.

 

[willthatsall]

Originally posted by asdasd12345
money, chicks, prestige, widescreen tv, lexus, nice house, feeling smarter than the average dude

and low profiles with spinners on the lexus.

 

[ih8biochem]

I'm a bit more interested in helping folks feel better rather than butting heads with them trying to increase my own pot (my experience with every single paying job or entrepreneurial venture I've had).

 

[indigoblue]

i need ideas for my application... what better place than sdn?

medicine is just something i want to do... it is just simply a goal of mine to practice medicine... i'm kinda of really stubborn when it comes to getting something, so medicine has become an obsession to me.

i just want to do this real quick:

Indigoblue, M.D.

 

[gujuDoc]

Why I want to go into medicine is a combo between having been on the patient's end of things and having a brother and dad who both have diabetes.

I have also come to be fascinated by the human body and all the things in medicine, all the clinical stuff like surgery and what not.


I shadowed doctors removing staples from someone (orthopedics), shadowed pediatricians on rounds, shadowed an OB/GYN do papsmeres on some and ultrasounds for other patients, and I loved it soooo much.

I also got to see what the nurse did and thought I liked what the doctor's did better.

I also am currently shadowing a physical med/rehab doctor, and will start shadowing a neurologist.

I really can't see myself doing anything else. I could do research or public health, but only if it were on the side while also being a medical doctor.

I also like the interaction with patients better than the thought of being couped up in a lonely research lab or doing public health only.

 

[Sharkfan]

You shadowed someone doing Pap smears? Sounds way weird...

 

[asdasd12345]

how do you get to shadow a doctor? do you call up a doctors office and just say Hello I want to shadow you?

 

[gujuDoc]

I shadowed when I was part of AHEC Summer internship. Now I shadow through connections to USF college of medicine via the help of volunteer coordinators at the teaching hospitals.

 

[quideam]

I'm going to be a physician because this profession, more so than almost any other one on the planet, will allow me to travel all over the world and actually be productive while i'm there. I want to do EM so that I have experience with a wide variety of health problems (both chronic and acute). My goal is work with CFHI, MSF, and perhaps a few others. I don't want to be stuck in one place my entire life, or even for years at a time... being a physician will not only allow me to see the world, but it will allow me to do so from a very unique perspective.

 

[ad_sharp]

Originally posted by asdasd12345
how do you get to shadow a doctor? do you call up a doctors office and just say Hello I want to shadow you?

yes. Or...Contact the alumni relations person at the med school you are interested in to find a graduate in your area. My friend and I went to the voluteer services office at a local hospital and started volunteering and ended up shadowing several physicians in the ER and OR.

 

[Goguryo]

medicine is just something of mine to practice ...

although this is an old thread, i drudged it up because it is important.

 

[Rafa]

Because Jack the Ripper wouldn't have gone down in history without an excellent knowledge of anatomy.

 

[hp540]

I'm going to be a physician because this profession, more so than almost any other one on the planet, will allow me to travel all over the world and actually be productive while i'm there.

Bang. That's a major reason I want to do medicine. And of course some other reasons I'm too lazy to write out.

If it was only about money and bling bling, I would've been in commerce like my buddies, and making massive amounts of money after only four years.

 

[GreenCenter]

the amount of people applying this year is absurd record numbers. i think people who were originally business or technology/engineering are turning to medicine for job/salary stability. Hence competition is tough as ever to get into med school.

 

[sendwich]

the amount of people applying this year is absurd record numbers. i think people who were originally business or technology/engineering are turning to medicine for job/salary stability. Hence competition is tough as ever to get into med school.

what are the numbers?

 

[DrBowtie]

what are the numbers?

Here is some actual numbers. As you can see the competition peaked in the mid 90's but has been on a recent upswing. It is doubtful numbers will reach the past record this year and new schools have opened up since then as well.

http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2005/2005slr.htm

 

[Mr. Tee]

I dunno. My mom and dad simply got together, and here I am.

 

[shnjb]

To be honest, I want to feel smart and drive a Ferrari.

That's at least a part of the reasons anyway, besides my thirst for knowledge and a sympathy for poor people like myself who cannot afford insurance.

 

[stealthopts17]

I'm here for the gangbang.

 

[Goguryo]

i wanna be an airborne ranger, like blood and danger, 0000000000

 

[brbsb]

I went into college originally intending to go to medical school when I graduated, but I took a psychology class and my professor convinced me to change my major. Now, I've been active in the psych department for 2 1/2 years, because I had decided I wanted to go to grad school and get a PhD in clinical psychology. I'm doing research in the psych department right now, and I realized two things: 1.) Psychology is not challenging enough...although I do enjoy it, I will get bored later on in life and be unhappy. 2.) You can't do a whole lot for people as a psychologist. Sometimes therapy works great and solves peoples' problems, but other times it's biological and they truly need a prescription or even surgery to make it better, but a clinical psychologist can't do that for them. There are just so many more things a doctor can do for a person than a clinical psychologist can.

 

[dr_90210]

You'd be an idiot to endure all the difficulties to get into and through med school just to make decent money. There are plenty of other jobs out there that pay well where you aren't in school for 6-11+ years out of college.

Thank you for the token SDN answer: "what? you want to be a doctor for the money? thats soooooooo stupid! i mean, there are plenty of other jobs in which you could make plenty more money and have a much easier time too!! for example: *cricket*"

 

[Rafa]

Thank you for the token SDN answer: "what? you want to be a doctor for the money? thats soooooooo stupid! i mean, there are plenty of other jobs in which you could make plenty more money and have a much easier time too!! for example: *cricket*"

You know what? Yorr going to make a horrrrible doctor!!!

 

[Law2Doc]

Thank you for the token SDN answer: "what? you want to be a doctor for the money? thats soooooooo stupid! i mean, there are plenty of other jobs in which you could make plenty more money and have a much easier time too!! for example: *cricket*"

Having come from a lucrative profession I can assure you it isn't really an invalid point, or the token answer. In fact it is probably the majority answer and the few folks who assert that it is all about the money are the naive tokens. Try to use your "honesty" in a med school interview and see how far you get. It isn't a discouraged answer by the physicians making admission decisions just because it is declasse -- there is something very flawed with that response.

Med school is long and expensive and this is the only professional career where you have to go through 3-7 years of low paying, extremely long hour training after your education before you can go into private practice. And then the average hours for post residency physicians are higher than in a lot of other fields. Plus according to the September AMSA magazine The New Physician, physician salaries have been decreasing (by over 7% in after inflation dollars) over the past decade while other professions have all been increasing by about that much over this same period.

There are many reasons to go into medicine. Money should not be the driving reason, it should be a nice perq to have in addition to your driving reasons. You can expect to be comfortable in this field, but not filthy rich. The average physician salary (according to the above AMSA publication) is $203k. Lots of folks don't get the average. If you are not interested in or excited to practice medicine, save yourself a lot of time and headache.

 

[Canadoc]

Hrmm.... interesting thread this one. It's almost like a practice thread for medical interviews. Haha, I'm just being sarcastic, it's really actually kinda cool to see how other people view their choice to go into medicine. So here's mine.

I grew up mostly in Zimbabwe, and then later in the Seychelles. In the time there, I saw enough pain and suffering to last a lifetime. Good things too, but also a lot of bad. I personally experienced some of the worst medical treatment ever, including having minor surgery without anaesthetic for the sole reason that the hospital ran out because they couldn't afford it. I saw a man with less education than me (I'm a 4th yr undergrad) doing surgeries, repairing hernias, C-sections and all under conditions that would make people here cringe. He had no MD, and there was cardboard taped to the windows to keep the flies out, their scrubs and surgical gowns were simply laundered and then air dried (and then labelled as 'sterile'). After getting into University, and much volunteer work (some of it in Africa), I found more and more that medicine could be fascinating as a career, and would allow me to travel. I reflected on all the things I have seen and realized that this is an opportunity for me to be part of the solution to many of the problems I saw when I lived/volunteered overseas. And it looks like a lot of fun too, which I confirmed talking to many people who visit this site, as well as many doctors/med-students/and other hospital staff at the hospital I volunteer at in Canada. So there in a nutshell is why I want to be a doctor....yah it's a big nutshell.... but I love it. Also, the financial factor is a bonus, in this world, the place of money cannot be ignored, but I don't think it is the driving factor behind what I do. Anyhoo, props to everyone else out here with real good reasons for wanting to do this, I wish you all luck!

 

[RayhanS1282]

read my SN, what do you think i am doing it for?

Breast augmentation?

 

[Law2Doc]

Breast augmentation?

That's just silly. For the $200k he's going to drop on med school, he could have an awesome pair.

 

[Mr. Tee]

Thank you for the token SDN answer: "what? you want to be a doctor for the money? thats soooooooo stupid! i mean, there are plenty of other jobs in which you could make plenty more money and have a much easier time too!! for example: *cricket*"

Go away

 

[UMP]

Honestly... I think I'm too good for anything else, and nothing else would be worth my time. This is the only job that would be meaningful enough for me to want to get up for for the rest of my life. Sure you can make lots of money somewhere else, but I'd rather just shoot myself in the head than go in to business or something of that sort to just make money.

 

[63768]

good job asking a question that has been asked ad nauseum.

 

[MDstudent101]

Im doing this because of the love that I have for Medicine, the love that I have for Science and Anatomy. I rarely even think about what my pay's going to be, to tell you the truth honestly as long as I become a doctor and im doing what i love, have such compasion for and im able to support my family im 100% okay with that!!! Alot of my life expieriences have drawn me even closer to that feeling that desire to reach my goal...

Id say youd be a fool if your just doing it for the money, because there's so many other things you can do that are shorter in education length and you end up making alot of money... Just my 2 cents

 

[baylormed]

To the original thread question:


Mostly procrastinating.