What if something terrible happened....

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RySerr21

RySerr21

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What if at some point in your life something happens and it turns out you can no longer pursue a career in medicine? Say you want to be a surgeon and you lose both of your hands in a boating accident.... or you go blind.... or something happens so that there is no possible way you could ever become a physician...

what would be your back up career choice? i'd imagine that this "back up career" question comes up in interviews or secondaries sometimes (those that have interviewed please testify to this statement).

up til last semester I had no idea what I'd be if i wasnt a physician, and i usually would just say PT, but i realized that I would love to be an anatomy or physiology professor (i took those classes this semester and it was amazing). Professors live great lives too. Decent pay, easy job if you ask me, you get to be in college for your whole life (haha), and it just seems like it would be a fun and interesting career.

okay....now your turn
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I always say teacher of some sort. High school teacher so I could coach sports, preferably. A professor might be nice too.
 
if not MD its PhD for me.. i like bio..
if i had to do something complete unrelated to science it would have to be something with music (like managing a band or something) or movies (something behind the scenes).. but thats pretty unrealistic. So realistically probably go into business.
 
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I had this question in one of my interviews, except the interviewer said that "you could not go to medical school and become a doctor, no matter the type" my reply was simply to teach science.

On another note: wasn't there a story in the news lately of a surgeon who in some way lost his dexterity but was still able to operate using the da Vinci machine?
 
wally47 said:
I had this question in one of my interviews, except the interviewer said that "you could not go to medical school and become a doctor, no matter the type" my reply was simply to teach science.

On another note: wasn't there a story in the news lately of a surgeon who in some way lost his dexterity but was still able to operate using the da Vinci machine?
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what is the da vinci machine. wikipedia couldnt help me out on this one
 
Pharmacist or PhD in marine biology.
 
Ironically, I know a woman who was (is?) an MD and worked in emergency medicine. She was in a car accident and (I'm a little fuzzy on the details here) it damaged her brain to the point where she couldn't be a licensed physician anymore (I believe she has hand tremors, to begin with). She's still very much an intelligent person despite the accident and now works for the DNC. It's kind of a shame, though, given all that training is now down the drain.
 
Ruler of the universe (or at least the world).

Or PhD in some bio-related field. Hopefully my disability wouldn't prevent me from doing that.
 
This came up a couple of times in my interviews. I went with "radio talk-show host" and "truck driver".

Yes, I know SDN, these answers are not advisable. However, I have "valid" (read: I can logically explain) reasons for why I answer this, and these answers have snowballed into great conversations.

I was accepted at both schools where I've answered this.
 
If I was already a doctor, I'd take my disability money and try to do some fun stuff that I never considered as a career, like being a science fiction writer.
 
Well, medicine is already my Plan B (Plan A was dancing professionally...two hip surgeries changed that). My Plan C is either PT or getting an advanced degree in bio and going into research while teaching dance on the side to keep myself sane.
 
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Social Work (MSW), Clinical Psychology (Ph.D.) or maybe music composition.
 
FBI agent or a Storm Chaser (lol)
 
a gig like Sanjay Gupta would be nice
 
I would definitely be a park ranger, hopefully in Yosemite or Glacier, love those parks. I really miss being able to backpack (now I live in a coastal town around 4 hours from any good hiking)! I really surprised my interviewers by saying this, guess living here leaves them from thinking about jobs like that.
 
A hobby shop owner dealing with comics and/or sports cards/memorabilia
 
ryserr21 said:
Professors live great lives too. Decent pay, easy job if you ask me, you get to be in college for your whole life (haha), and it just seems like it would be a fun and interesting career.
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Professors certainly do liver great lives, and it would be a fun and interesting career, but its not always an easy job. My faculty mentor puts in around 65 hours a week with all the crap that he has to deal with. Only 12 of those hours are contact hours...the rest are grading papers, managing the lab (including the business side of things), and sitting in on committees. This last part would piss me off the most.

Having said this, my backup would probably to eventually become a professor....:D:D:D
 
If I absolutely couldn't do medicine I would want to do Marine Biology and work at an aquarium. But that would be after 6 cycles of applications because a doctor is the only career I can see myself being happy and mentally stimulated in.
 
i always wondered... if something like this happened after you had graduated med school and racked up a lot of loans but hadn't really started paying them off yet, is there a forgiveness policy? my guess is no... that would suck.
 
Inuranic said:
This came up a couple of times in my interviews. I went with "radio talk-show host" and "truck driver".

Yes, I know SDN, these answers are not advisable. However, I have "valid" (read: I can logically explain) reasons for why I answer this, and these answers have snowballed into great conversations.

I was accepted at both schools where I've answered this.
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haha cool. i'd love to hear the conversations that ensued or your valid reasons (genuine comment, no sarcasm intended). care to share?
 
ryserr21 said:
haha cool. i'd love to hear the conversations that ensued or your valid reasons (genuine comment, no sarcasm intended). care to share?
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I'm a huge fan of talk radio (Opie & Anthony mostly), and always wanted to try it out (don't have time). Truck driver = romanticized notion about traveling around the country.

Those were basically my jumping off points. One interviewer actually had a family member in radio, the other had similar ideas of being a truck driver.
 
I'd want to be a professor of classics. Until recently, this was my dream job anyways.
 
I actually have that in place already, just in case. I have my teaching certificate and have taught college prep and high school.
 
I'd take the disability money (smile) and ENJOY MY LIFE :D
 
I would get a PhD in Herpetology, move to Madagascar and study chameleons in the wild (first choice)...or go back to practicing law
 
professional chef

i work with some now, and it just seems like they have so much fun coming up with dishes.

those benefits would translate over into personal life too. i bet i would never eat out leading me to save all my money and become rich on the savings alone!
 
PhD in Clinical Psychology
... or a hairdresser/ salon owner
 
I'd go get an advanced degree in math and be a mathematician.
 
clab1707 said:
I always say teacher of some sort. High school teacher so I could coach sports, preferably. A professor might be nice too.
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Yeah, I'd definately get my PhD and then become a professor at a college. Remember, those who can't do, teach.:rolleyes:
 
ryserr21 said:
What if at some point in your life something happens and it turns out you can no longer pursue a career in medicine? Say you want to be a surgeon and you lose both of your hands in a boating accident.... or you go blind.... or something happens so that there is no possible way you could ever become a physician...

what would be your back up career choice? i'd imagine that this "back up career" question comes up in interviews or secondaries sometimes (those that have interviewed please testify to this statement).

up til last semester I had no idea what I'd be if i wasnt a physician, and i usually would just say PT, but i realized that I would love to be an anatomy or physiology professor (i took those classes this semester and it was amazing). Professors live great lives too. Decent pay, easy job if you ask me, you get to be in college for your whole life (haha), and it just seems like it would be a fun and interesting career.

okay....now your turn
Click to expand...

There are stories of surgeons developing things such as carpal tunnel or developing Parkinsons...many of them go into academic medicine or do all the consulting, while someone under them actually cuts.
 
ryserr21 said:
What if at some point in your life something happens and it turns out you can no longer pursue a career in medicine? Say you want to be a surgeon and you lose both of your hands in a boating accident.... or you go blind.... or something happens so that there is no possible way you could ever become a physician...

what would be your back up career choice? i'd imagine that this "back up career" question comes up in interviews or secondaries sometimes (those that have interviewed please testify to this statement).

up til last semester I had no idea what I'd be if i wasnt a physician, and i usually would just say PT, but i realized that I would love to be an anatomy or physiology professor (i took those classes this semester and it was amazing). Professors live great lives too. Decent pay, easy job if you ask me, you get to be in college for your whole life (haha), and it just seems like it would be a fun and interesting career.

okay....now your turn
Click to expand...

If you've ever taught a college course you know that this isn't true. Rewarding, definitely, but certainly not easy.


I've thought about that too and I think I would go into academics as well. I love teaching (I've only taught a few classes in college, but I loved it) or possibly research. I think I'm more of a people person though, so I would prefer academia (at least right now).
 
1) MMA, with concentration to Muay Thai (which I've been doing over a year)
2) Researcher
3) High School teacher and track coach
..
..
..
..
..
30) Medic
 
Jolie South said:
professional chef
Click to expand...

Definitely an overrated career. There are people in this field who have it good, but it's very hard to break into and get to a level where you can make a comfortable living and have a meaningful life outside of work. Being a TV chef, on the other hand, that seems like a lot of fun.
 
The benefit of going to GT for mechanical engineering. I'll take my engineering job starting at $60,000 with almost no stress attached :)
 
0Complications said:
If you've ever taught a college course you know that this isn't true. Rewarding, definitely, but certainly not easy.


I've thought about that too and I think I would go into academics as well. I love teaching (I've only taught a few classes in college, but I loved it) or possibly research. I think I'm more of a people person though, so I would prefer academia (at least right now).
Click to expand...

true true. i have never taught a college course and may have come to a premature conclusion. they do work hard. i think the reason i said it was easy is b/c the professors i work closely with look like they are having SO much fun. they truly love what they do and they make it look easy. hopefully ill have that in medicine :), and i think that i will. if something were to happen, however, i feel i could enjoy my career as a professor

one thing is for sure, i would NOT teach a course that involved any writing assignments whatsoever. i dunno how they do it. i had a religious studies professor grade 30 fifteen page papers in two days. i dunno how he did it. Turned them in on tuesday and he gave all of them back on thursday. craaaaaaaaazy
 
Roller coaster tester. I don't know if they actually exist, but that's what I want to do
 
Vihsadas said:
Hey, hey! Fellow fighter! Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blue belt over here (Jacare Cavalcanti), currently training at BTT Canada, being doing it for 3 years, muy-thai for two.
Click to expand...

Hey, man! Muay Thai is wonderful, but its also helpful to have Jiu-Jitsu since a lot of the fights end up on the ground. After I get a good hold on Muay Thai, I'm probably going to minimize my time in Muay Thai and pick up Kiu-Jitsu...

I was also really inspired by Royce Gracie!!! :thumbup::thumbup:
 
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