Who regrets going to med school and what would you have done instead?

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I think for me it just all comes down to work will always be work and a job will always be a job. No career would make me happy necessarily. It'll always be something that I have to get out of bed and go to, rather than spending time with family, etc. And the fact that I have to spend so much time getting to the income and independence part of this particular job is burning me out. Hence, posting on the M2 burn-out thread.

If I would up and quit med school, I really don't know what I would do otherwise. So I just need to win the lottery. A big one.

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Why all the hostility towards Onco? Believe it or not, there are some default happy people out there that can in fact, suffer and smile at the same time. I won't be surprised if he is singing the same tune in the next 2 years. I have never agreed on anything with him, but he sure does sound like he has enough "happy kool-aid" running through his veins to last him through all of his medical education. We cant all be bitter.

It isn't so much that he's happy that gets under people's skin. It's the fact that I sometimes feel like he's assuming that he understands what we're complaining about. And it really seems like, reading his post, he doesn't. There IS a distinction between hating medicine and hating med school, but he didn't quite seem to understand that distinction. And I think that's what gets on some people's nerves. I think that, if he were in med school, he's have a better understanding of what it means to hate medicine vs. what it means to hate medical school.

Welcome to the real world. News Flash: Real life isn't much different.

True. There are parts of med school that are like the real world. And yes, those parts of med school are awful and soul-sucking. But, to me, there seems to be one interesting difference - in the real world, you can complain about how much you hate your job and no one says anything. But in med school, if you complain about how much you hate it and how it is slowly sucking your soul, the chorus of "But you should be grateful that you're in med school!" starts up. Usually from the pre-med peanut gallery, although not always.

I'm willing to bet that a lot of people don't hate medicine. They are burned out. Medical school is hard. And when you are physically and emotionally exhausted, and can't possibly study anymore, and still have piles of work to do, and maybe are wondering what specialty you want to go into, or if your grades are good enough, and a million other things, and you come on SDN to vent, having some cheerful premed talking about how your opinions are wrong, and you should love medicine or do something else with your life even though you've spent a ton of money, years of your life, and effort on this process, is unnecessary and annoying.

I agree with this a lot. It isn't even just the workload anymore. There's a lot of self-doubt, which (I've been told by family members who are MDs) never really goes away, you just adjust to having it constantly in the background. There's a lot of fear, mostly because I've heard "If you miss this symptom, then your patient could DIE!" over and over again. That goes away eventually, I assume.

For me, personally, it's been having friends who are dying, and knowing that, no matter how much I study, I can't save them. There's just nothing that will cure them. For some reason, that hit me hard before the last exam. (Maybe I was just tired and burned out.) Or having a friend who is really, really ill and refuses to go to the hospital because he can't afford it. I can't help him then either - and, in that case, it was WORSE because I knew the clinical course of that disease and, therefore, what might happen if he didn't get help. That was also really, really hard.

Yes, med school really sucks sometimes.
 
I think that now you understand the distinction. Trust me, there ARE people who leave med school because they find that they hate medicine. (The # of matriculating students is always less than the # of students graduating 4 years later.) But, most of us, even though we hate med school, do NOT stick it out because we're afraid of debt. We stick it out because we're reasonably sure that, at the end of a LONG road through school, residency and fellowship, we'll be doing stuff that is useful to society and that really gives us satisfaction.

Makes sense (as much as it can to a pre-med anyway). I'm not suggesting that I know what med school feels like. Despite the difficulty, many med students think that medicine is worth all the effort and sacrifice. Doesn't make it any less demanding or doesn't mean that there aren't times to vent. I still think we should have a sticky or maybe even a forum along the lines of "hating med school right now." If it's such a popular topic, why doesn't it get its own forum ... it would probably be more popular than many other other separate forums on SDN. It could be a great place to commiserate.

P.S. Thanks for the suggestions about residents. I get along great with my superiors in real life because I work hard to figure out what they want and then work my tail off to deliver it. Same thing with co-workers; I'm always trying to figure out how to make life better for them. I'm there to work and contribute as much as possible. I really don't expect anything in return but I get a lot of undeserved kindness. I try to make the people around me and my boss / superiors look great and feel smart. I look for opportunities to help others succeed. I tend to only ask questions or make suggestions after I have won a person's respect or friendship. On SDN there are so many people it's really too chaotic to really know who will read your message so it is much more difficult to target a response to what that particular person is looking for. I see SDN more as informal talk at a watering hole where a large group of people are joking around after work in a democratic situation rather than a job-speak situation.
 
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Welcome to the real world. News Flash: Real life isn't much different.

Ummm k. Except when I get to the "real world" I can pick a specialty that I LIKE, so even if I am tired and overworked, I will LIKE what I am doing. Right now, I do not LIKE sitting in class all day and then studying all night and learning minutia that lecturers think is important because thats their area of research even though it isnt actually anything I will ever have to know again, etc.
 
Ummm k. Except when I get to the "real world" I can pick a specialty that I LIKE, so even if I am tired and overworked, I will LIKE what I am doing. Right now, I do not LIKE sitting in class all day and then studying all night and learning minutia that lecturers think is important because thats their area of research even though it isnt actually anything I will ever have to know again, etc.

What kind of "real world" work are you comparing medical school to? Is it a job that you could see yourself doing instead of medicine for the rest of your life? Sitting in a cubicle all day working on minutia that will never see the light of day is unfortunately something some professionals (engineers, attorneys, accountants, appraisers, actuaries, etc.) do for a living (at least I have seen it and done some of that ... although it paid one heck of a lot better than medical school will).
 
I can't say I hate med school yet, but it is drastically different from what I expected. I think the problem comes from the scope of normal pre-med involvement. I don't think there is a way to really know what you're getting into in an age of privacy laws, etc.

Also, med school is not a place where you can "find yourself". Make sure you get to know who you are before you matriculate, and then take every effort to hang onto those qualities while you're in med school. I would recommend making a list of reasons why you're going to med school so you can pull it out during a hard day. I made a playlist of inspirational songs and listen to it every now and again.

One thing I have found helpful is to do one fun thing for myself every week. It can be silly (watching a TV show, going to a bar with friends), but I plan it and then look forward to it. I think its easy to get caught up in the grind because med school, unlike many other jobs, is one where you can never do enough- there is always more to be done. You have to be able to step back, settle for "good enough" and take care of yourself.
 
What kind of "real world" work are you comparing medical school to? Is it a job that you could see yourself doing instead of medicine for the rest of your life? Sitting in a cubicle all day working on minutia that will never see the light of day is unfortunately something some professionals (engineers, attorneys, accountants, appraisers, actuaries, etc.) do for a living (at least I have seen it and done some of that ... although it paid one heck of a lot better than medical school will).

Huh? I'm comparing sitting in class all day with actually being a doctor. He was comparing my stress levels as a medical student with the real world (aka, when I am a doctor), and I was saying that at least I will like being a doctor better than sitting in class all day, staring at powerpoints. No one said anything about another career.
 
Huh? I'm comparing sitting in class all day with actually being a doctor. He was comparing my stress levels as a medical student with the real world (aka, when I am a doctor), and I was saying that at least I will like being a doctor better than sitting in class all day, staring at powerpoints. No one said anything about another career.

He's an engineer, so that's where the other profession is coming from. No matter; I hope that you are able to find a little time to enjoy yourself ... I guess that's what you are doing on SDN! :)
 
The best part of med school is when I inevitably hit that point of "I don't care anymore" the night or, if I'm lucky, two nights before an exam. Then I can just ignore my type-A, neurotic brain that tells me I need to get such and such grade to become what I eventually want to become, and instead I go watch TV and eat fattening ice cream.
 
The best part of med school is when I inevitably hit that point of "I don't care anymore" the night or, if I'm lucky, two nights before an exam. Then I can just ignore my type-A, neurotic brain that tells me I need to get such and such grade to become what I eventually want to become, and instead I go watch TV and eat fattening ice cream.

Yep, I'm there right now. :oops: Well, we have a bs fluffy class (EBM) exam tomorrow, for which I've put in my good two hours. However, I've got a physiology test on Friday and probably really should study, but eh, I don't feel like it. I've been taking tests all week and am a little burnt out.

Speaking of regrets, test block week is when I'm especially unhappy about being a med student. Other than that, it's not that bad (well, as a first year). The main things that make me unhappy (not necessarily regretful) are the things related to money -- I wish I could buy a house, I wish I had as much free spending money as I did earlier, etc. Yeah, being an MS1 also makes me feel incredibly clueless. I'm doing fine in my classes, but feel like I don't know anything. I guess I don't get that feeling of competency that my job gave me.

I guess I've already done the things that I would have done before going to med school, which might explain the lack of regrets.
 
Who regrets going to med school and what would you have done instead? Obviously you know now more being a student, resident, intern, etc... Who regrets they went to med school, what stage of medical education are you in, what would you have done instead.
I don't regret having gone to med school. I'm even masochistic enough to actually enjoy it sometimes. :p But I have to say that even by *my* standards of masochism, these last few weeks have been absolutely brutal, and I do feel kind of burned out right now and ready for this year to be over. That being said, I agree with Herman. I'll take my biggest problem in life being that I have to memorize anatomical minutiae over sweating it out in a real job any day. When people ask me how I can stand still being in school at my age (32), I always point out that having a day job ain't all it's cracked up to be, either. ;)
 
a few good points have been brought up. the thing is, everyone here wants to be a doctor. but being a medical student and being a doctor are two immensely different things.
some say being a 3rd/4th year is kinda like it, but no, you're doing endless scut for your residents instead; youre not supposed to make any huge decisions on your own, which is why we work more than 88hrs a week (supposedly students cant kill from being tired).
when we got into school, we just thought about being a doctor, and didn't think for two seconds about what school would be like. and it friggin sucks. right now, we are NOT doing what we want to all our lives (be a student), we are NOT treating people, and we are paying 40+ grand a year to destroy our vitality
do we still want to be doctors? sure. do we hate med school? you bet. the griping and depression stats for students are worse than practicing doctors for this reason, in my opinion.

as for me, i want to be a surgeon; that's what i'm doing here. and the last surgery i've had contact with was "anatomy" so freakin long ago. and the only surgery i'm going to get is one rotation next year. medical school has a huge bias towards, well, medicine, leaving surgery lagging behind. so these years are a special kind of hell to me, because i hate everything we learn.
 
med school is not a place where you can "find yourself". Make sure you get to know who you are before you matriculate, and then take every effort to hang onto those qualities while you're in med school.

While I agree, I'm also going to say that Med School is going to change you at some level. It's so all-consuming that you would almost lose track of the existence of an outside world if it weren't for that sacred 4 minute walk between your apartment and the library/classroom/labs. You can't exist in that kind of environment without losing a part of yourself to it. I swore to myself that I wouldn't let it take over every aspect of my life, but every day another little piece of me gets sucked into the void...

Do I regret it? Some days I do, especially those 8 hours of class/lab/meetings/ small group crap followed by several hours of studying to keep up. I also miss my non-medical friends and my non-medical life. And I hate having to miss family events because of exams. But this is what I signed up for, whether I knew all of the stipulations or not...so I'll live with it, gladly pay another $62k+ interest for next year and get my study on.
 
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Ummm k. Except when I get to the "real world" I can pick a specialty that I LIKE, so even if I am tired and overworked, I will LIKE what I am doing. Right now, I do not LIKE sitting in class all day and then studying all night and learning minutia that lecturers think is important because thats their area of research even though it isnt actually anything I will ever have to know again, etc.
It's really hard to know that you like something before you've tried it, is the point that I'm trying to make. It seemed to me that you had a problem with the tired and overworked part of Medical School, and all I was saying is that it doesn't get any better. In addition to work, you have seemingly infinitely more personal responsibilities (especially if you choose to get married and have children) etc, etc. Thus you will most likely find yourself more tired and more overworked. If you think that your choice of specialty will make all the difference, then that is a good thing.
 
so these years are a special kind of hell to me, because i hate everything we learn.

Still gotta know your **** before you cut...surgery isn't just OR time, you'll still have to round and manage your cases outside of the that little sterile environment you want to call home
 
While I agree, I'm also going to say that Med School is going to change you at some level. It's so all-consuming that you would almost lose track of the existence of an outside world if it weren't for that sacred 4 minute walk between your apartment and the library/classroom/labs. You can't exist in that kind of environment without losing a part of yourself to it. I swore to myself that I wouldn't let it take over every aspect of my life, but every day another little piece of me gets sucked into the void...

I dont think that medical school really has to that consuming, though I realize you may be exaggerating. I've found that most people who make med school the only thing in their life their life are those that choose to do so. For example, many of my classmates refuse to take any real breaks from school, and instead turn it into a pseudo-break, pseudo-study session, such as going to the pool or beach and studying. Never mind that such a session is full of distractions and ends up being extremely low yield. Many people feel like they have to study at all times, so they do, despite the inevitable consequences on one's personal life. I think many med students would do well by learning to compartmentalize their study time and their personal time, to aggressively separate the two, and hold onto the personal time even if its much less than one would like.
 
I dont think that medical school really has to that consuming, though I realize you may be exaggerating. I've found that most people who make med school their life are those that choose to do so. For example, many of my classmates refuse to take any real breaks from school, and instead turn it into a pseudo-break, pseudo-study session, such as going to the pool or beach and studying. Never mind that such a session is full of distractions and ends up being extremely low yield. Many people feel like they have to study at all times, so they do, despite the inevitable consequences on one's personal life. I think many med students would do well by learning to compartmentalize their study time and their personal time, to aggressively separate the two, and hold onto the personal time even if its much less than one would like.

:thumbup: That's a heck of a post.
 
I don't hate medicine, but med school itself is nothing like I thought it would be. What other professional school ill equips you for the professional aspects of the working world? There's too much emphasis on empathy training, feelings, and academic medicine, when we should be learning about healthcare economics, political issues that affect the profession, finance, business administration.

Med school should be more like law school or business school emphasizing real world skills, especially considering that physicians are losing or have already lost control of the practice of medicine.
 
I don't hate medicine, but med school itself is nothing like I thought it would be. What other professional school ill equips you for the professional aspects of the working world? There's too much emphasis on empathy training, feelings, and academic medicine, when we should be learning about healthcare economics, political issues that affect the profession, finance, business administration.

Med school should be more like law school or business school emphasizing real world skills, especially considering that physicians are losing or have already lost control of the practice of medicine.

Many schools are offering MD/JD or MD/MBA. Probably doesn't make up for your concern, but at least there is an effort here ...
 
I don't hate medicine, but med school itself is nothing like I thought it would be. What other professional school ill equips you for the professional aspects of the working world? There's too much emphasis on empathy training, feelings, and academic medicine, when we should be learning about healthcare economics, political issues that affect the profession, finance, business administration.

Med school should be more like law school or business school emphasizing real world skills, especially considering that physicians are losing or have already lost control of the practice of medicine.

Law school doesn't emphasize real world skills either. It's all about abstract thinking and broad policy type of stuff with no real training in any of the practical aspects of law. You learn all that on your job. Consequently, I'm not much surprised by the lack of practicality in medical school.
 
Right now I have been sitting in small groups for 4 hours. 4 hours of mind numbing stupidity. Thanks to this small group - which has no signs of ending - I will not be able to go to my preceptor today. THANKS!

Right now I hate medicine. I hate this school. I hate small groups.
 
Law school doesn't emphasize real world skills either. It's all about abstract thinking and broad policy type of stuff with no real training in any of the practical aspects of law. You learn all that on your job. Consequently, I'm not much surprised by the lack of practicality in medical school.

Same goes for engineering undergrad / grad school. In engineering defining the problem and getting other people to cooperate in solving it is often difficult and not the kind of stuff you typically spend a lot of time on in school. I see a trend here ... if you want "real world" skills you have to get out of the classroom into some kind of internship. It seems like school teaches the theory and weeds out people in a way that is convenient for employers.

The school I will be attending has this "early clinical experience" which supposedly is fun at first but can be a little frustrating at a certain point (e.g., neurology?) when you have no clue what to do. I'm curious as to what I'll think of it.
 
Nothing strange about hating medschool. What will be strange is if someone actually likes medschool or school in general.
 
Many schools are offering MD/JD or MD/MBA. Probably doesn't make up for your concern, but at least there is an effort here ...

Perhaps, but MD/JD and MD/MBA are overkill except for those with nontraditional career goals. I'm talking about basic finance/health policy/economics lectures covering material that every physician should know.
 
Perhaps, but MD/JD and MD/MBA are overkill except for those with nontraditional career goals. I'm talking about basic finance/health policy/economics lectures covering material that every physician should know.

Some electives for that would be nice. On pre-allo, I saw one practicing physician suggesting that pre-meds take that stuff as undergrads because it will be the last chance they have to learn this kind of material in a college classroom setting.
 
Perhaps, but MD/JD and MD/MBA are overkill except for those with nontraditional career goals. I'm talking about basic finance/health policy/economics lectures covering material that every physician should know.

I realized this early. That was why I put off going to medschool 2 years ago, and pursued an MBA. Also did a lot of research on the business/politics of medicine. I honestly believe it was time well spent. I think schools need to start throwing in some of this stuff in their regular curriculum. Maybe they could substitute some of those worthless group project time for something usefull like this.
 
It's so all-consuming that you would almost lose track of the existence of an outside world if it weren't for that sacred 4 minute walk between your apartment and the library/classroom/labs.

I discovered this was the downside of living in the same building I have class, which is connected to the hospital and research labs as well . . .
 
i'm just saying that if you're going to make fun of me like that, then the next time a tornado hits your home, see if i parachute into your backyard to save the babies.

Ok, ok. I hope you have the good sense to wait until the tornado passes...
 
I'm glad I went to med school. I guess I'm always confused by people who seem to have made a horribly wrong decision. Every week over on pre-allo someone posts a "My Family doctor told me not to go to Med school" thread. How does anyone go into med school expecting it to be anything but really hard?

I blame 3 things...

1. Medical TV shows. If you watch them, chances are they influence you - whether you want to admit it or not. Glamour is played up, post-call BO is played down.

2. Cherry-picked "shadowing." I think it is Panda that says if you want to shadow you should meet up with a resident and take a call with them, i.e. round at 7am and then stay all night. If your pre-med shadowing experience is nothing more than a few shifts in a busy, urban ED then medicine is going to seem pretty rocking.

3. Pre-med cheerleaders. Enthusiasm is awesome, don't get me wrong. One of the coolest things about pre-meds is the fact that most of them genuinely care. But there is a large subset that think that a) they're going to change the face of medicine and b) they are going to be able to tailor-make a career for themselves that exactly fits their fantasy (EM/IM/Peds triple boards with 6 months/year parachuting into disaster zones to set up field hospitals).


There is one more you forgot to add to your list, and this applies more to foreign people not just Asians but some latin americans and other foreign groups as well.........

4. Parents pushing and forcing child to go into medicine without realization of how it really is.

That isn't my case but I've heard many a story of people who fall in that category.
 
There is one more you forgot to add to your list, and this applies more to foreign people not just Asians but some latin americans and other foreign groups as well.........

4. Parents pushing and forcing child to go into medicine without realization of how it really is.

That isn't my case but I've heard many a story of people who fall in that category.

Yea - I agree. I know a lot of Persian, Middle Eastern, and Polish students (whose parents are immigrants) who aim for medicine as well. If I was provincial, I'd make a general statement about how it's part of Persian, Arab, and Eastern European culture to push their children into medicine...but I'm not. There are lots (just as many who go into medicine) of Asians who go into business and law as well - fields that require very good reading comprehension and superb social skills, but I don't see anyone ever making any general statements about this.
 
I dont think that medical school really has to that consuming, though I realize you may be exaggerating. I've found that most people who make med school their life are those that choose to do so. For example, many of my classmates refuse to take any real breaks from school, and instead turn it into a pseudo-break, pseudo-study session, such as going to the pool or beach and studying. Never mind that such a session is full of distractions and ends up being extremely low yield. Many people feel like they have to study at all times, so they do, despite the inevitable consequences on one's personal life. I think many med students would do well by learning to compartmentalize their study time and their personal time, to aggressively separate the two, and hold onto the personal time even if its much less than one would like.

It was a bit of hyperbole to make a point. There are things that I've given up because of school, and it sucks and it is definitely nothing like my time when I was working and could have fun and attend to my friends/family/social life 24/7. It's all consuming because I'm 200 miles from my family, my friends are spread out over the country and the only people that I see on a daily basis are other med students that want to talk about med student things. I live with med students. It's almost impossible not to get sucked into that sort of situation and lose a bit of who you were before.

I do my best to compartmentalize. But, inevitably I'll drag something to study along with every visit to see the family or the girlfriend or onto the cruise ship over spring break...which is that little bit that gets sucked into the void. You can deny it all you want, but med schools slowly seeps into almost every aspect of your life. Relatives/friends/neighbors ask how med school is, they ask you medical advice, they show you their MRI's, there's statin/ED drug commercials on during sporting events, someone injures themselves while skiing with you, someone is a bit dehydrated while hiking with you...the insidious freedom-sucking world of medicine just doesn't go away.

My overall point is that I miss my freedom, obliviously living my life without the knowledge that I have...and I wish there was a simple on/off switch.
 
Nothing strange about hating medschool. What will be strange is if someone actually likes medschool or school in general.

Believe it or not, I actually do know people who like med school. They typically are doing very well, and have some free time to do other things---in other words, it's like college for them in terms of work load. I actually liked college and I had alot of friends who enjoyed it as well. But far fewer people 'enjoy' med school, however, they are out there (too bad I'm not one of them). :(


Yea - I agree. I know a lot of Persian, Middle Eastern, and Polish students (whose parents are immigrants) who aim for medicine as well. If I was provincial, I'd make a general statement about how it's part of Persian, Arab, and Eastern European culture to push their children into medicine...but I'm not. There are lots (just as many who go into medicine) of Asians who go into business and law as well - fields that require very good reading comprehension and superb social skills, but I don't see anyone ever making any general statements about this.

Are you sure about asians going into law school? I didn't think there was that many. I know a lot of asians are in bschool nowadays but I have heard or seen few asians trying for law school. My mother informs me she has seen an increasing number of chinese families around where we live with kids doing the law route (once they rule out medicine and bschool ;) :p ).
 
Everyday, I think more and more about becoming a vet...
 
It was a bit of hyperbole to make a point...
My overall point is that I miss my freedom, obliviously living my life without the knowledge that I have...and I wish there was a simple on/off switch.

Ya, I figured you weren't being literal. The sad thing, however, is that you described the way that many people handle medical school. It just sucks to see good people put themselves through hell when it's so unnecessary, like some of my uber-stressed out classmates do.
 
My jury is still out on med school. There are aspects I enjoy tremendously, but I'm hoping I'll enjoy practice more than school. Actually, I'm hoping I'll just enjoy any year more than first year.

If I ever decide to pursue something else, I think it will be some form of journalism. Unfortunatley, I have no training what-so-ever in journalism. So, I guess I hope I never decide to quit medicine.
 
definitely regret, even in my first year. Should've done finance at a good undergrad
 
It was a bit of hyperbole to make a point. There are things that I've given up because of school, and it sucks and it is definitely nothing like my time when I was working and could have fun and attend to my friends/family/social life 24/7. It's all consuming because I'm 200 miles from my family, my friends are spread out over the country and the only people that I see on a daily basis are other med students that want to talk about med student things. I live with med students. It's almost impossible not to get sucked into that sort of situation and lose a bit of who you were before.

I do my best to compartmentalize. But, inevitably I'll drag something to study along with every visit to see the family or the girlfriend or onto the cruise ship over spring break...which is that little bit that gets sucked into the void. You can deny it all you want, but med schools slowly seeps into almost every aspect of your life. Relatives/friends/neighbors ask how med school is, they ask you medical advice, they show you their MRI's, there's statin/ED drug commercials on during sporting events, someone injures themselves while skiing with you, someone is a bit dehydrated while hiking with you...the insidious freedom-sucking world of medicine just doesn't go away.

My overall point is that I miss my freedom, obliviously living my life without the knowledge that I have...and I wish there was a simple on/off switch.

That's why I just say "I'm still in school" when people ask. I'm old enough that for me to still be "in school", I must either be fairly dumb or completely unmotivated (which I haven't R/O anyway...) but that way people don't expect much from you, and they sure don't pull up their ****ing shirt and ask what this red splotch is.
 
I would be a male exotic dancer and let all kinds of hot women pay to have sex with me.
 
Reading this thread makes me think about my own goals. I haven't started med school yet, nowhere near that. Just last semester I (finally), decided to study medicine. I had been playing with the idea in my mind ever since high school but for some reason I just went into eng. Now that I am 20 credits away for graduation (without the premed reqs, which is why I will delay grad one more year) I am having doubts to whether or not I want to study medicine. Maybe it is the fact that I can be making a lot of money very soon at an early age.

Let's see what happens because I am very insecure when it comes to deciding my future, so I dunno. I just don't want to be 30, 40, 50 or 60 and saying ''what if...", what if I had studied medicine earlier. It’s crazy thinking this when you have to make very important decisions. It drives my bf nuts too:) .
 
well to sum it up, the best advice i can give for pre-allos is to make absolutely certain you want to do this. even those of us who were entirely 100% sure end up questioning it here. so if you're not all-in to begin with, there's a chance you won't make it.

medical school will push you to the deepest ends and everyone here is extremely high caliber. this isn't harvard/yale/princeton. it's the top 10% of harvard/yale/princeton thrown into classrooms to make a new curve

i regret medical school. but i found some specialties i might like so i'm stickin in here-invested way too much. for me, it's seeing three year olds abused by parents, children sexually assulted/raped, babies dying weeks after birth, while old *******es smoke for 30 years and die at 65 from lung cancer that really gets to me and questions everything. medicine has brought out the unfairness of the world, and the biggest challenge for me is reconciling it all. i lost faith in god, goodness, etc. the world is just a world, and what goes around doesn't necessarily come around.

it took half of my first year to get past that. my old friends often comment how bitter i've become.

and the worst part is, the doctor doesn't always save the day. sometimes you end up saving the life of the drunk driver but losing the 12 year old he hit. THAT is something few people even think about, or don't even experience until they get here. i was prepared that school was going to be hell, i just didnt know to what degree. to this day its this fact that gets me most at times.

and knowing all this, if you can still be a good person just because you can, and not expecting some karma or good luck, that's something really amazing.
 
medical school will push you to the deepest ends and everyone here is extremely high caliber. this isn't harvard/yale/princeton. it's the top 10% of harvard/yale/princeton thrown into classrooms to make a new curve
disagree. its partially this former misconception of mine that causes me angst currently. there are a lot of smart/smarter ppl in other fields. They said med students would at least be skilled in studying. I'm finding them lacking even in that. They can do lots of it but not often with particular efficiency

just wanted to provide an opposing viewpoint to the prevailing one. sincere about it though
 
(I'm a happy premed -- if you are looking for a med student to commiserate with, skip this message)

well to sum it up, the best advice i can give for pre-allos is to make absolutely certain you want to do this. even those of us who were entirely 100% sure end up questioning it here. so if you're not all-in to begin with, there's a chance you won't make it.

Thanks for the insight.

Based on (a few of) your previous messages, I have a couple of questions.

* Did you ever consider doing an MD/JD?

* How much worse would med school (and perhaps medicine) have to be for you to say "it isn't worth it."? Is it that it would be a major blow to your pride/ego to say ... you know, this isn't the right field for me ... I'm making a switch out of here.

medical school will push you to the deepest ends and everyone here is extremely high caliber. this isn't harvard/yale/princeton. it's the top 10% of harvard/yale/princeton thrown into classrooms to make a new curve

So if you enjoy being challenged to do your best by other really smart students, are genuinely happy if other people succeed even if you don't (your self-esteem isn't dependent on your career accomplishments, success or failure or anything like that), and don't mind being at the top, middle, or bottom of the class as long as you did your own personal best, you have a better chance of enjoying med school? Is it the competitive aspect that makes people miserable?

i regret medical school. but i found some specialties i might like so i'm stickin in here-invested way too much. for me, it's seeing three year olds abused by parents, children sexually assulted/raped, babies dying weeks after birth, while old *******es smoke for 30 years and die at 65 from lung cancer that really gets to me and questions everything. medicine has brought out the unfairness of the world, and the biggest challenge for me is reconciling it all. i lost faith in god, goodness, etc. the world is just a world, and what goes around doesn't necessarily come around. ...

I heard that this kind of thing (including telling a dad, "your son didn't make it," etc.) can really get to you. So are the people who deal with this sort of thing the best just callous or are there other perspectives that enable a med student to cope with this stuff better than average in your opinion? I guess there is no way of knowing in advance how this will affect you.
 
theres such a thing as a happy premed??
 
theres such a thing as a happy premed??

Well, compared to med students (except you and your Mensa friends) supposedly everyone is happy by comparison ...
 
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