Why Medicine?

[anonymous0305]

Hey everyone,

I'm a high school student who's been soul searching since last year. I have been wanting to become a physician since as long as I can remember, but now I'm conflicted. Maybe that is because I've only heard the negatives and not the positives. I have heard recently that it's is all just paperwork and insurance stuff nowadays + no time for family. Why did you pick medicine and do you feel like you made the right choice?

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[jhmmd]

This is a question that no one can answer for you--it's supposed to be the topic of your personal statement and you should reflect on it in your interviews.
Some common answers are:
1) I like science + helping people
2) I have x family member in the field and want to follow in his/her footsteps
3) I had x experience that opened my eyes to medicine/etc.

Go over your application and draw from experiences that inspired you. If you still can't think of a reason why you want to go into medicine after doing that, I would reconsider.
Best of luck,
jhmmd

 

[sylvanthus]

Initially, because I wanted to help people, was interested in the subject, and to make a decent living.

Now, I hate people, lost interest in medicine after spending a decade studying, and am worth less than a homeless man.

Its just not worth it at this point.

 

[PapaGuava]

OP,

I heard all the same negative things when I was in pre-med but I'd say so far I do not regret my decision to enter medicine. I cannot see myself doing anything else even though I'm sure I will experience negative things along the way. Nothing is perfect at the end of the day and majority of jobs are hard work unless you were gifted money by your family and you don't have to work (or hardly).

 

[Limvostov]

Initially, because I wanted to help people, was interested in the subject, and to make a decent living.

Now, I hate people, lost interest in medicine after spending a decade studying, and am worth less than a homeless man.

Its just not worth it at this point.

Dude, Sylvanthus I remember the good old days when you were super charged up posting your school match list and ready to tackle the world. Maybe EM wasn't for you I guess. I went with interventional cards. Couldn't be happier so far but I imagine call will wear on me at some point. Anyway, maybe you could find a place you like to practice more than where you're at currently.

 

[Limvostov]

Also, for those still reading this thread. It's hard to know why medicine and honestly there have been whole years of my training where I wished I had done something/anything else so even if you like medicine there will be tough times where you wish you had done something else. The reality is that none of what lies ahead will be easy. The years in undergrad will seem hard when you're in the midst of them as will medical school. The real work will actually begin in residency and all else will pale in comparison. Intern year will be a difficult learning curve from an emotional/fatigue standpoint, knowledge, and time management for most. If you're not careful your mental/physical and relationship health will suffer a lot. The next years of residency are busy, but get better and better in general as attendings and staff focus most of their time on the interns. If you do a fellowship, depending of the fellowship you will basically experience a repeat of residency with a tough learning curve, knowledge deficits to overcome, and time management to work on. In my experience this actually got worse my PGY7 year and as an attending worse yet for a while as the learning curve of business/staff management, being independent, committee requirements, teaching requirements, and amounts of call/paperwork will really pile up.

Through it all do your best to keep a good attitude. Remember that someone is taking time to teach you and the more engaged you are the better that experience will be. Remember to take time for yourself and your family and realize that as long as you're in good standing you don't need to study all hours away at the cost of your personal life and physical/mental wellbeing. Do your best to be financially savvy and it will pay off with a large reduction in stress. Make sure to choose a field in medicine that you know you will be happy doing for 35 years. That may not be the easiest or most lucrative profession you come by and that's ok. Always remember that first and foremost you're there to treat the person in front of you and that your patients are relying on you taking the time to do a good job. These things helped me feel good at the end of the day no matter how bad that day was. Would I do it all over again? Yeah, I think so... or maybe I would have invested a lot into Bitcoin if I had a crystal ball .

 

[jhmmd]

Hey everyone,

I'm a high school student who's been soul searching since last year. I have been wanting to become a physician since as long as I can remember, but now I'm conflicted. Maybe that is because I've only heard the negatives and not the positives. I have heard recently that it's is all just paperwork and insurance stuff nowadays + no time for family. Why did you pick medicine and do you feel like you made the right choice?

This is a common complaint but it all depends on the specialty you choose + the work you put in. Family medicine for example--if you own your own practice you can easily work 9-5 M-F with weekends off. Same w/IM. Surgical sub-specialties require lots of call and are typically not for the faint of heart. If your family is important to you, choose a specialty that allows you to take more time off. Cushy specialties like optho, derm etc. allow for lots of time off, but require higher board scores/LORs/etc.

In any case paperwork and insurance come with the job but can be managed more easily w/scribes and ancillary staff. Do what feels best for you.

 

[sylvanthus]

Dude, Sylvanthus I remember the good old days when you were super charged up posting your school match list and ready to tackle the world. Maybe EM wasn't for you I guess. I went with interventional cards. Couldn't be happier so far but I imagine call will wear on me at some point. Anyway, maybe you could find a place you like to practice more than where you're at currently.

Sad right? Well I didnt just do EM, I finished an EM/IM/CC program and work IcU atm. Guess you could say medicine isnt for me, but what do you do when youre 500k im debt? Suck it up I guess. Ahh well could be worse

 

[Limvostov]

Sad right? Well I didnt just do EM, I finished an EM/IM/CC program and work IcU atm. Guess you could say medicine isnt for me, but what do you do when youre 500k im debt? Suck it up I guess. Ahh well could be worse

You'll be ok, just have to get some of that PSLF love I guess for the debt part. We'll see if that pans out or not. I say anyone rockin' an evil dead II boom stick avatar will do alright. Hang in there, I could never see myself in the ICU or ER full time so more power to ya. The cath lab is really the only place I love, but I make the rest happen. We all have to eat our vegetables and thankfully I get a day or two of good stuff to balance out the week.

 

[Kuratz]

Chose it because it seemed like a great way to have a positive impact with a career, intellectually challenging and intrinsically rewarding.

Only a PGY-3 resident going into Interventional Radiology. Would not do this again. No way no how. The core of medicine and specifically IR is great but the problem lies in all the other nonsense that surrounds medicine. Very little intrinsic rewards, tbh. Very few people say thank you and generally exude a sense of entitlement to your time and effort, even if you get called in at 1am to do something emergent for them.

Throw in the massive debt/opportunity cost and insanely awful work-life balance and the decision is a non-starter.

I would choose something in business or tech where hard work could yield upward opportunities and a shot at earlier financial independence. Docs get taken for a ride and at this point society does not seem to value them.

Not to be a downer, but I wish my parents would have guided me to explore other options rather than the stereotypical Boomer mentality of “just be a prestigious, rich doctor”. Lol the farce.

 

[jhmmd]

Chose it because it seemed like a great way to have a positive impact with a career, intellectually challenging and intrinsically rewarding.

Only a PGY-3 resident going into Interventional Radiology. Would not do this again. No way no how. The core of medicine and specifically IR is great but the problem lies in all the other nonsense that surrounds medicine. Very little intrinsic rewards, tbh. Very few people say thank you and generally exude a sense of entitlement to your time and effort, even if you get called in at 1am to do something emergent for them.

Throw in the massive debt/opportunity cost and insanely awful work-life balance and the decision is a non-starter.

I would choose something in business or tech where hard work could yield upward opportunities and a shot at earlier financial independence. Docs get taken for a ride and at this point society does not seem to value them.

Not to be a downer, but I wish my parents would have guided me to explore other options rather than the stereotypical Boomer mentality of “just be a prestigious, rich doctor”. Lol the farce.

From what I've seen this is not the case--just think oncology, pediatrics, peds surgery...believe me, parents are really grateful when you cut out cancer for their kid.

 

[Kuratz]

From what I've seen this is not the case--just think oncology, pediatrics, peds surgery...believe me, parents are really grateful when you cut out cancer for their kid.

Yes of course there are patient subsets like kids with operable cancer where there is a high percentage of gratitude. But that’s a relatively tiny subset and my point was more directed at the general patient population (and yes including peds). Most random patients coming in for XYZ are not particularly grateful in my experience. Not that I feel entitled to someone’s gratitude, it’s more the striking absence that contributes to moral injury over time.

Regardless I don’t care to argue. Some people have intrinsically rewarding practices, that’s great! But I suspect that’s the exception and not the rule. Hence why so many docs are by and large burnt to a crisp, and why many abandon ship as soon as they can.

I wouldn’t choose medicine again. And that’s entirely independent of the massive time and financial sacrifices that it entails. I know 100% my sentiment is widely shared.