WILL I BE RUINING MY LIFE?

[ScaredMedfed]

Not sure If I am in the right forum but I really have to ask this question:

I am in my last year of high school and I need to start picking my courses accordingly for university. I have always wanted to be a doctor, I think that's because my parents always wanted me to be one and I feel like I kind of have an interest in medical, not too much I guess. I am also doing it because of the money and it is a respected job. I want to be successful and educated in the future and every time I imagine myself in the future, I always want to imagine myself as a doctor. And I don't really care about people that much. Yes I am a very selfish person and I am not doing this to help people instead for the reasons I have listed above. Though I have no problem helping people.

So I just want to know the reasons I have mentioned above for becoming a doctor, are they going to be worth getting into medical for will I be living a stressful life if I pick medical over these reasons?

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[Lucca]

The good news:

You realized this early enough to actually choose a path you will enjoy and feel like you belong in.


Don't go into medicine if those are your reasons. Really, there are a lot more jobs out there. Pick literally any other one and avoid the healthcare field, it's not the place for you.

 

[mistafab]

Hey @ScaredMedfed , you are in high school and haven't had the chance yet to be yourself. Before you ask yourself about doing medicine, why don't you ask yourself who you are?

What do you want to do? Take a bunch of core classes in college your first year, with a spattering of different subjects, and see what you like. If you take some pre-med classes and like it, then you can start worrying about becoming a doctor one day. If you hate it and decide you like economics or engineering, just go with what you like. You don't have to decide now and it's okay if it seems like a lot to think of at once. You are in high school - I didn't even think about becoming a doctor until halfway through college.

I'm drinking wine the night before another med school interview fyi. I've been accepted to my first choice and feel like just gushing with positive, supportive energy towards you.

 

[thebigdawg]

I don't answer questions from the feds, scaredmedFED.
*locks door*
*spins around in swivel chair*
*downs double-gulp*
*lowers sick shades*
*cracks knuckles*

"Go time."

 

[CodeBlu]

Volunteer a little bit. Shadow. Get a feel... this is a long and hard road. Trust me, you want to be sure that this is for you.

Otherwise, you'll invest thousands and thousands of dollars....which who cares... but the time. The time you never get back. So you better be sure you like it... if you love it... then that's great. Maybe you won't be jaded after your 7th q4 general surgery/ICU call shift. Good luck.

 

[SOMBound13]

my parents always wanted me to be one and I feel like I kind of have an interest in medical, not too much I guess. I am also doing it because of the money and it is a respected job.

Sadly, your scenario isn't that unique. I suspect that you might get weeded during the premed prereqs because your heart really isn't in this. An interest in medicine because it's a respectable career and may provide a high income isn't enough to sustain you thru the long road ahead.

 

[ConfusedChemist]

Take a variety of courses in college. Find out what you're passionate about. Then go into that, be it medicine, business, or whatever.

 

[ScaredMedfed]

The good news:

You realized this early enough to actually choose a path you will enjoy and feel like you belong in.


Don't go into medicine if those are your reasons. Really, there are a lot more jobs out there. Pick literally any other one and avoid the healthcare field, it's not the place for you.

See this is where I get confused, every time I think of doing something else, my mind keeps coming back to the same thought "I want to do medicine, how hard can it be. I have always wanted to be a doctor. "

 

[ScaredMedfed]

Hey @ScaredMedfed , you are in high school and haven't had the chance yet to be yourself. Before you ask yourself about doing medicine, why don't you ask yourself who you are?

What do you want to do? Take a bunch of core classes in college your first year, with a spattering of different subjects, and see what you like. If you take some pre-med classes and like it, then you can start worrying about becoming a doctor one day. If you hate it and decide you like economics or engineering, just go with what you like. You don't have to decide now and it's okay if it seems like a lot to think of at once. You are in high school - I didn't even think about becoming a doctor until halfway through college.

I'm drinking wine the night before another med school interview fyi. I've been accepted to my first choice and feel like just gushing with positive, supportive energy towards you.

I AM A FAILURE AT PHYSICS, PERIOD. I find chemistry and biology easy. That's why i think medicine will be easy for me, because I always end up understanding hard bio, chem and psychology things easily with a little bit of effort.

 

[ScaredMedfed]

Volunteer a little bit. Shadow. Get a feel... this is a long and hard road. Trust me, you want to be sure that this is for you.

Otherwise, you'll invest thousands and thousands of dollars....which who cares... but the time. The time you never get back. So you better be sure you like it... if you love it... then that's great. Maybe you won't be jaded after your 7th q4 general surgery/ICU call shift. Good luck.

I am not really worried about the working part. If I get into medicine, I'll want to be a family physician and I think being a family physician is chill and fun , isn't it?

 

[CodeBlu]

I am not really worried about the working part. If I get into medicine, I'll want to be a family physician and I think being a family physician is chill and fun , isn't it?

You must be trolling.

Family medicine is one of the hardest jobs. No compliance... poor compensation... you really must be trolling.

 

[Turkishking]

Not sure If I am in the right forum but I really have to ask this question:

I am in my last year of high school and I need to start picking my courses accordingly for university. I have always wanted to be a doctor, I think that's because my parents always wanted me to be one and I feel like I kind of have an interest in medical, not too much I guess. I am also doing it because of the money and it is a respected job. I want to be successful and educated in the future and every time I imagine myself in the future, I always want to imagine myself as a doctor. And I don't really care about people that much. Yes I am a very selfish person and I am not doing this to help people instead for the reasons I have listed above. Though I have no problem helping people.

So I just want to know the reasons I have mentioned above for becoming a doctor, are they going to be worth getting into medical for will I be living a stressful life if I pick medical over these reasons?

 

[hailbate]

I AM A FAILURE AT PHYSICS, PERIOD. I find chemistry and biology easy. That's why i think medicine will be easy for me, because I always end up understanding hard bio, chem and psychology things easily with a little bit of effort.

You are basing this off of high school level courses (at most intro level college courses). You have yet to even scratch the surface of pre-med courses, so I'm not so sure how you know that medicine will be easy for you when you don't even know if pre-med courses will be easy for you.

 

[ScaredMedfed]

You must be trolling.

Family medicine is one of the hardest jobs. No compliance... poor compensation... you really must be trolling.

According to me it's easier. There is a specific time u come to work at and u don't get called in unplanned like hospital doctors. Plus best think about a family doctor is that he isn't a surgeon so if he makes a mistake people dont die. He does prescribe medicine but medicine damage can always be cured. This is my opinion. What do you think?

 

[ScaredMedfed]

You are basing this off of high school level courses (at most intro level college courses). You have yet to even scratch the surface of pre-med courses, so I'm not so sure how you know that medicine will be easy for you when you don't even know if pre-med courses will be easy for you.

I am not saying medicine will be easy nothing at university level is easy , but judging by how good or bad I am at subjects so far, I say medicine will be easiest for me compared to business or engineer or anything other field

 

[Lawpy]

According to me it's easier. There is a specific time u come to work at and u don't get called in unplanned like hospital doctors. Plus best think about a family doctor is that he isn't a surgeon so if he makes a mistake people dont die. He does prescribe medicine but medicine damage can always be cured. This is my opinion. What do you think?

According to me it's easier.

And that is what matters. Good job OP!

 

[Cotterpin]

OP, just go to college with an open mind and see what happens. Maybe you'll find something you are actually interested in for real and you won't end up "RUINING YOUR LIFE."

 

[Glazedonutlove]

you don't need to decide whether to do medicine or not right now. Go to college, take some science classes, volunteer/shadow in the hospital and find out if this is for you. If not, that is okay too

 

[hailbate]

I am not saying medicine will be easy nothing at university level is easy , but judging by how good or bad I am at subjects so far, I say medicine will be easiest for me compared to business or engineer or anything other field

Choosing a profession because it seems to be "easiest" for you is a horrible idea... Find your passion

 

[SOMBound13]

he isn't a surgeon so if he makes a mistake people dont die

Wrong.

 

[allantois]

Let's see, where do we make money:

Investment banking - better get into an Ivy undergrad for that
Engineering - definitely need physics and Math
Business - don't need a degree for it and there are no guarantees
Anything I'm missing?

If someone is only good at life sciences (aka memorizing) and didn't do so hot in high school, then there is not a whole lot of careers outside of healthcare that can guarantee a high income. That in itself is not a good enough reason to go into healthcare, however. But I have met physicians who did exactly that and didn't hide the fact; they still were good clinicians just not necessarily happy or caring. Medicine is also such a broad field, that I feel most students could find a specialty that is at least semi-enjoyable to them.

I also believe that you can volunteer your way to compassion, somewhat.

 

[deleted407021]

According to me it's easier. There is a specific time u come to work at and u don't get called in unplanned like hospital doctors. Plus best think about a family doctor is that he isn't a surgeon so if he makes a mistake people dont die. He does prescribe medicine but medicine damage can always be cured. This is my opinion. What do you think?

Well, I think you need to do some honest investigation through shadowing and probably looking at the resident subforums, as well. Try and learn about the many different specialties because your idea of them is currently very limited.

College will be a time for "soul searching". Please keep an open mind and you'll perhaps find a field you can really see yourself in.

Though some who pride themselves on their pragmatism would say otherwise, none of the reasons you've given for going into medicine are legitimate. College will be the time to figure out what field is your best fit, and don't let your family drag you where you don't belong.

 

[IlDestriero]

I'm drinking wine the night before another med school interview fyi. I've been accepted to my first choice and feel like just gushing with positive, supportive energy towards you.

I still remember that feeling 20 years later! Congrats! Now that the pressure is off, I bet you crush the remaining interviews.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Moving to hSDN

 

[el_duderino]

I am not saying medicine will be easy nothing at university level is easy , but judging by how good or bad I am at subjects so far, I say medicine will be easiest for me compared to business or engineer or anything other field

Huh? You have literally zero basis for that claim.

Anyway, I suggest you don't do medicine unless you can't see yourself being happy doing anything else. Try to get some experience with other professions; don't think you can just imagine based on what you already know, because you can't.

 

[Ismet]

According to me it's easier. There is a specific time u come to work at and u don't get called in unplanned like hospital doctors. Plus best think about a family doctor is that he isn't a surgeon so if he makes a mistake people dont die. He does prescribe medicine but medicine damage can always be cured. This is my opinion. What do you think?

I think you need to shadow or volunteer to see what being a doctor is really about, because your opinion is extremely limited. Most hospitalists don't get called in "unplanned." If they're on home call, they know that there's a chance they have to come in, though often things can be handled over the phone. Many places are moving away from call schedules and doing night float systems, where there is always someone in house. Family medicine doctors take home call too. It's 2am and you're not sure if you should go to the ED or wait until morning and see your PCP? You call your PCP office and there is a doctor on call that will wake up in the middle of the night to address your concern. Medicine damage cannot always be cured, medicine damage sometimes even results in death, and morbidity from a wrongly prescribed treatment can go unnoticed until the damage is done. Increase the dose of a blood pressure medication too much, and your patient can get so hypotensive that they pass out. If they pass out while driving a car, they can cause significant injury to themselves and others. If they pass out while standing up, they can hit their head and develop a brain bleed. Obviously worst case scenarios, but these things have happened.

There are difficult aspects of every medical specialty, nothing is "easy." Family medicine is difficult because you essentially have to be a jack of all trades. You're not an expert in endocrinology, but you need to understand the signs and symptoms of diabetes, how to manage diabetes and monitor for end organ damage, and know what preliminary labs to order and when to refer someone to a specialist when their symptoms point to some disorder. You take care of patients from childhood to the last years of their lives. In more rural areas, Family Medicine docs also do Internal Medicine, Pediatrics (in the hospital), and OB-Gyn. I had the opportunity to do Family Medicine in a rural area, and we delivered babies (one FM doc did the delivery, another FM doc did the newborn exam when the baby came out) and we took care of admitted adult and pediatric patients in the community hospital. I'm not going into FM so I'm not too familiar with national requirements, but I've worked with FM docs while I was on inpatient medicine, inpatient pediatrics, OB-Gyn, and even surgical specialties - during the FM residency, they have to rotate through much more than just sitting in clinic all day.

And as CodeBlu said above, you'll deal with patients who won't do what you tell them to do (non-compliance) which comes back to bite you in compensation. As well as being quite underpaid.