What's challenging and fun about being a doc?

[airuike]

I'm thinking of giving up a great career and applying to medical school. I don't know what it's like to be a doctor, and I haven't been able to find any meaningful volunteer positions here yet, so I'd like to ask everyone what it's like to actually be a doctor:

- Are there any creative aspects to being a doctor? I feel like my current job lets me exercise some creativity when solving technically challenging problems. I don't know enough about the application of medical knowledge, but it would be great to hear some examples of creative/technical problem solving in medicine.

- Are the work hours fairly flexible once you're done with your residency? Would an ER doc have regular shift hours? What about internal medicine, or perhaps Obstetrics?

- Do you get to solve short- and long-term problems that make your work days exciting and different on a regular basis? I really like problem solving, and it's great to have a variety of problems to choose from. I'm a little worried that doctors don't get to scratch this proverbial itch.

- Do you actually need to use Orgo once you're a doctor? I did well in Orgo, but I didn't like it, and I'd hate to make a career out of it.

- Is being a doctor technically challenging? Is diagnosing disease technically challenging? Do surgeons need to solve problems harder than: If I cut here, the risks are A and B, but if I cut there the risks/rewards are Y and Z...

- Is it hard to pay back 200k in debt as a doctor, or does that happen within a few years of finishing the residency? Are salaries trending up, or down?

Sorry for the barrage of questions, but I really have no clue what being a doctor is like. I shadowed a surgeon in '05, but it looked like it would be the same every day (appendectomy here, cholecystectomy there...). I volunteered at a clinical research facility in '05 as well, but we didn't cure any diseases--The docs were also just following protocol all day/every day. Hospital volunteering hasn't revealed anything either, I just end up doing paperwork :\

Thanks in advance for your time/replies.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[FunnyCurrent]

I'm thinking of giving up a great career and applying to medical school. I don't know what it's like to be a doctor, and I haven't been able to find any meaningful volunteer positions here yet, so I'd like to ask everyone what it's like to actually be a doctor:

- Are there any creative aspects to being a doctor? I feel like my current job lets me exercise some creativity when solving technically challenging problems. I don't know enough about the application of medical knowledge, but it would be great to hear some examples of creative/technical problem solving in medicine.

- Are the work hours fairly flexible once you're done with your residency? Would an ER doc have regular shift hours? What about internal medicine, or perhaps Obstetrics?

- Do you get to solve short- and long-term problems that make your work days exciting and different on a regular basis? I really like problem solving, and it's great to have a variety of problems to choose from. I'm a little worried that doctors don't get to scratch this proverbial itch.

- Do you actually need to use Orgo once you're a doctor? I did well in Orgo, but I didn't like it, and I'd hate to make a career out of it.

- Is being a doctor technically challenging? Is diagnosing disease technically challenging? Do surgeons need to solve problems harder than: If I cut here, the risks are A and B, but if I cut there the risks/rewards are Y and Z...

- Is it hard to pay back 200k in debt as a doctor, or does that happen within a few years of finishing the residency? Are salaries trending up, or down?

Sorry for the barrage of questions, but I really have no clue what being a doctor is like. I shadowed a surgeon in '05, but it looked like it would be the same every day (appendectomy here, cholecystectomy there...). I volunteered at a clinical research facility in '05 as well, but we didn't cure any diseases--The docs were also just following protocol all day/every day. Hospital volunteering hasn't revealed anything either, I just end up doing paperwork :\

Thanks in advance for your time/replies.

Steps:
1) Think of the most technically challenging and physically exhausting thing you can
2) Imagine having to do something 1000 times harder while
3) Getting kicked repeatedly in the balls

Then you you will only begin to grasp the challenges that face you should you attempt to match well (assuming you get accepted).

 

[sliceofbread136]

Maybe before you make this life changing decision you should get some experience in the hospital to see if you want to do this or not. No amount of posting on SDN will give you what one hour of shadowing will.

 

[FunnyCurrent]

Maybe before you make this life changing decision you should get some experience in the hospital to see if you want to do this or not. No amount of posting on SDN will give you what one hour of shadowing will.

Fact: I was a scribe. After several thousand hours of working in the ED half of my peers decided dentistry or pharm was a better idea.

You really should spend extensive time shadowing. You might find that medicine isn't for you.

 

[duress]

let's be real, a job is a job. At the end of the day medicine can be very, very repetitive and just as soul-destroying as any other career.

If, as your post implied, you weren't happy with the clinical or research aspects of medicine you've seen so far AND your current career makes you happy, may I ask what it is that is driving you to give it all up for medicine?

Maybe everyone's advice can be more beneficial if you tell us.

 

[CodeBlu]

Patients lie, cheat, steal.
Patients will manipulate you to get their narcotic fix for Oxycontin.
Patients are non-compliant with their medications.

Hospitals can be depressing places...

 

[theseeker4]

Patients lie, cheat, steal.
Patients will manipulate you to get their narcotic fix for Oxycontin.
Patients are non-compliant with their medications.

Hospitals can be depressing places...

Not to mention the fact that patients can and will die on you unexpectedly with alarming regularity.....and at any age.....

 

[centrigeugle]

Not to mention the fact that patients can and will die on you unexpectedly with alarming regularity.....and at any age.....

You're right...I guess it is important to always look on the bright side.

 

[DavetheMD]

Try shadowing a physician at a clinic. I find it to be more suitable than a hospital.

 

[airuike]

I'm interested in medicine because it could be even more rewarding than my current career. When I look back on my life as an old man, will my current career be enough to make me say, "yea, I made the right decision to stay put".

But after working for a while, I've come to realize that career satisfaction can be complicated. Something like the moral satisfaction of saving lives probably wears off pretty quickly, and after that, what keeps you smiling and coming to work every day? Before I can decide on this path, I need to find out of being a doctor is both interesting/stimulating AND morally/emotionally satisfying...

I'd really like to shadow an ER doc and an internist, but opportunities haven't been forthcoming. Currently I'm trying to become an EMT at a fire department, but it seems like that might not be very revealing about the nature of being a doctor...

 

[DavetheMD]

Honestly, the purpose of shadowing is to see if it is a possible career choice for you. Go do enough until you have sufficient breadth to make a decision.

 

[nikok]

I'm thinking of giving up a great career and applying to medical school. I don't know what it's like to be a doctor, and I haven't been able to find any meaningful volunteer positions here yet, so I'd like to ask everyone what it's like to actually be a doctor:

- Are there any creative aspects to being a doctor? I feel like my current job lets me exercise some creativity when solving technically challenging problems. I don't know enough about the application of medical knowledge, but it would be great to hear some examples of creative/technical problem solving in medicine.

- Are the work hours fairly flexible once you're done with your residency? Would an ER doc have regular shift hours? What about internal medicine, or perhaps Obstetrics?

- Do you get to solve short- and long-term problems that make your work days exciting and different on a regular basis? I really like problem solving, and it's great to have a variety of problems to choose from. I'm a little worried that doctors don't get to scratch this proverbial itch.

- Do you actually need to use Orgo once you're a doctor? I did well in Orgo, but I didn't like it, and I'd hate to make a career out of it.

- Is being a doctor technically challenging? Is diagnosing disease technically challenging? Do surgeons need to solve problems harder than: If I cut here, the risks are A and B, but if I cut there the risks/rewards are Y and Z...

- Is it hard to pay back 200k in debt as a doctor, or does that happen within a few years of finishing the residency? Are salaries trending up, or down?

Sorry for the barrage of questions, but I really have no clue what being a doctor is like. I shadowed a surgeon in '05, but it looked like it would be the same every day (appendectomy here, cholecystectomy there...). I volunteered at a clinical research facility in '05 as well, but we didn't cure any diseases--The docs were also just following protocol all day/every day. Hospital volunteering hasn't revealed anything either, I just end up doing paperwork :\

Thanks in advance for your time/replies.

Also curious.

 

[ppfizenm]

Fact: I was a scribe. After several thousand hours of working in the ED half of my peers decided dentistry or pharm was a better idea.

You really should spend extensive time shadowing. You might find that medicine isn't for you.

Fact: You are already in med school. At this point now one cares if you logged 1000's of hours as a scribe.

 

[mauberley]

Fact: You are already in med school. At this point now one cares if you logged 1000's of hours as a scribe.

He wasn't bragging about that.

He was pointing out how all of those hours were needed for half of his scribe-peers to decide they wanted to do something else.

 

[ppfizenm]

He wasn't bragging about that.

He was pointing out how all of those hours were needed for half of his scribe-peers to decide they wanted to do something else.

That was not intended to be a factual statement

 

[mauberley]

That was not intended to be a factual statement

I'm glad you were able to get your snark in, then.

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

Man, people don't know how to use the search function. Much less, use their common sense.
Sorry for being so mean but some of these questions are just an eyesore.

 

[duress]

I'm interested in medicine because it could be even more rewarding than my current career. When I look back on my life as an old man, will my current career be enough to make me say, "yea, I made the right decision to stay put".

But after working for a while, I've come to realize that career satisfaction can be complicated. Something like the moral satisfaction of saving lives probably wears off pretty quickly, and after that, what keeps you smiling and coming to work every day? Before I can decide on this path, I need to find out of being a doctor is both interesting/stimulating AND morally/emotionally satisfying...

I'd really like to shadow an ER doc and an internist, but opportunities haven't been forthcoming. Currently I'm trying to become an EMT at a fire department, but it seems like that might not be very revealing about the nature of being a doctor...

You're right. EMT will only, at best, help you decide if you like interacting with ill people and being at least partially responsible for their care. Still, it could be beneficial in getting to know docs/nurses in your area if you're outgoing enough.

But even so, given what you've written about not liking what you've seen so far, I think shadowing would be much more pertinent than investing time in getting an EMT cert and all that for something you don't seem too sure of.

 

[Jolie South]

Patients lie, cheat, steal.
Patients will manipulate you to get their narcotic fix for Oxycontin.
Patients are non-compliant with their medications.

Hospitals can be depressing places...

If this is how you view all patients, med school is going to be very depressing indeed. However, I'd say that MOST patients are not the above. If they were, I'd be reconsidering my career.

 

[Jolie South]

Not to mention the fact that patients can and will die on you unexpectedly with alarming regularity.....and at any age.....

Meh, most patients on your core rotations won't die, though death is something you definitely have to worry about.

Obviously, this is service dependent. Trauma surgery is going to see it a lot more than derm. In my current SICU rotation, we've only had one patient die all month and these are the sickest of the sickest trauma folks at a county hospital.

 

[ppfizenm]

I'm glad you were able to get your snark in, then.

If congressmen can do it about planned parenthood so can I