What need does being a doctor fulfill?

[Philosphize]

if we looked at ourselves from a psychologists point of view...which shouldn't be impossible for us since so many of us talk about our subconscious, etc...what need do you think we would find ourselves fulfilling by becoming a doctor?
of course, on the conscious level, for many of us, it's a desire to help people, to make many, to earn respect, etc. but i'm wondering, what needs underlie those desires

any thoughts?

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[UCMonkey]

Perhaps a need for control? Or a need for the approval and/or acceptance (since most people generally approve of doctors).

 

[Philosphize]

i think both of those sound like good possiblities...i'm sure it's different for different people.

my guess is that we are all trying to compensate for our own loss and suffering...maybe that's why the most convincing applicants/essays are the ones about family dying, cause those people have felt that suffering most directly.

 

[simpleG]

when you listed desire to help people as a conscience desire, i'm sure that you'd agree that that desire would definitely be based in the subconscious. the question of why people help others is a huge "why?"...

bring it back to evolution, a desire to help others, propagate own genes, species, etc etc. i dunno

but i think that not all of us are going into medicine to compensate for loss or suffering. for some of us, it's can be a subconscious desire to feel needed. but i'd say it's a conglomerant of factors, and trying to tease one out is like pulling one strand out of a spider web.

 

[simpleG]

when you listed desire to help people as a conscience desire, i'm sure that you'd agree that that desire would definitely be based in the subconscious. the question of why people help others is a huge "why?"...

bring it back to evolution, a desire to help others, propagate own genes, species, etc etc. i dunno

but i think that not all of us are going into medicine to compensate for loss or suffering. for some of us, it's can be a subconscious desire to feel needed. but i'd say it's a conglomerant of factors, and trying to tease one out is like pulling one strand out of a spider web.

 

[simpleG]

when you listed desire to help people as a conscience desire, i'm sure that you'd agree that that desire would definitely be based in the subconscious. the question of why people help others is a huge "why?"...

bring it back to evolution, a desire to help others, propagate own genes, species, etc etc. i dunno

but i think that not all of us are going into medicine to compensate for loss or suffering. for some of us, it's can be a subconscious desire to feel needed. but i'd say it's a conglomerant of factors, and trying to tease one out is like pulling one strand out of a spider web.

 

[Philosphize]

i didn't mean to compensate for our own suffering...i meant to compensate for the general suffering that we see around us. we feel bad when we see people suffering...does that make us feel subconciously guilty that we aren't suffering? and then we compensate by dedicating our lives to helping?

i haven't studied much psychology...but the psyche strikes me as a weird place.

 

[Bradleyp]

My obligation to the lender for my giant student loan!

 

[simpleG]

why the hell am i duplicating my posts...grrr. my guess is i'm hitting "back" instead of going forward.

i think that's a good point. but i don't think it's because we feel guilty that we aren't suffering. one aspect of it for me, I've had so much growing up and I feel very lucky, and when i see people that have so little or people that have it hard, i feel like the world is unfair. it's not a sense of guilt, but it's a sense of social equality i guess. i know it's not really an equalizer, but at least i'm doing something.

 

[Tweetie_bird]

I love feeling needed. I like being in control. And I like seeing my decisions, my actions lead to something positive. I also like being altruistic. Doing something good for somebody that only "you" could do, without expecting anything back (ofcourse, a salary helps!). Being a doctor is a very unique role. Would we still do it if we got paid 30K? I know I would. I also know my practice would change drastically if I was barely making enough to feed myself. If we would still do it, is there anything we would compromise on in terms of patients? Would we have lesser "on the house" sort of treatments in county hospitals?

Imagine being a doctor in a city. Having a busy life, no room to incorporate a social life in there. Now imagine getting paid . . .let's think high. . . .300K for doing your job. Would you do your job any better? Now let's assume your job is still the same, except now you're getting paid 30K? Would you do your job any worse? I know that I am just rambling, just thought I'd post some important questions to think about when we try to look into our sub-concious.

Tweetie

 

[Flack Pinku]

Hey everyone,

Now-a-days, being a Doctor is not that big of a deal. "Oh, good, he's a Doctor. Good for him!"

Not many Doctors I know (and not many I know who want to be Doctors) care or feel about truly helping people. I have heard about some on TV, and most of them are awfully rich.

My point--I don't think most of us go in with truly benevolent feelings (I am saving it for the ADCOMs). Sure its nice that we'll get to "help" out people (and charging them exorbitantly for it via insurance, or whatnot). But it seems like "helping out" is a chance happening, not a conscious decision in the bottom of hearts for many (if not most).

However, in my opinion, almost every aspirant has some of Mother Teresa in him--a little bit. I am no different.

And that's what keeps us going--a little bit of Mother Teresa, a little bit of Einstein, and a little bit of Bill Gates.

DISCLAIMER: I don't mean to offend anyone here. If you don't like this opinion, just kick it out the window!

 

[Flack Pinku]

Tweetie Bird:

Good questions!

To answer that the best I can--No, I wouldn't do it if the salary was 30K. I'd do service in one of the following ways:

1) Be a fireman and serve people,
2) Be a cop and serve people,
3) Work as a soldier and serve my people,
4) Say, "Hell with serving, I need the money to live happily and enjoy material." And then I'd probably become an Electrical Engineer and serve my people by helping add to the circuitry (and get paid >30K for it).

I love to serve people, it's just that there's so many ways to serve people (as outlined above) that you'd consider when the salary goes from mid-100's to low 30's.

Don't I just love serving! Pinku, you Mr. Mother Teresa, you! :wink:

 

[Winged Scapula]

Moving to the Everyone Forum...