Would I do it over again...

[guestdoc]

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Ha ha, exactly! This guy goes into a Vegas dentist's office to get an all-porcelain bonded-whatever tooth (bridge or implant) to fill that in and the dentist could pull up to or beyond a solid 3 grand.

 

[searun]

OP, I hope you are still following this thread:

Do you know of any other satisfying careers in science that we should consider? I major in neuroscience and I absolutely love it. I couldn't imagine doing anything else. However, I don't really know what my options are after graduation or what I should be doing to prepare. I'm considering medicine, but I've heard way too many similar stories as yours to rush into it. It seems most people graduating with my major either go to medical school or do neuroscience grad school, both options that seem to kill any chance of having a life.

I go to a prestigious university and have a good GPA, but don't care too much about future salary, other than being able to buy a house in the suburbs and be able to afford a little vacation every year or so. I just want an interesting job that's secure. $60k/yr would make me plenty happy, but I don't want to be a miserable doctor or miserable grad student who can't find a job.

If anybody else has advice, feel free to jump in. I think the OP might not be coming back.

I am a content third year med student. Quite pleased with the whole experience. But trust me, if you are making $60,000 as a practicing doc, even if your Pops pays all of your med school tuition, you will be a miserable SOB ten years from now, with kids and a mortgage payment you cannot afford. If you are making 60K as a doc, you will be the guy posting on SDN saying "Get out while you can."

However, you won't be making 60K as a doc, so it is all academic. Altruism is great, especially if you don't really have to join the poor and unwashed.

 

[buccsmf1]

ummmm newsflash....

"most people hate their jobs, but you go out there and you find things that you do like" - office space

If you think the vast majority of americans that get up and work a 9-5 in a cubical are happy at their jobs you're high.

 

[nfgsjklgnsdfkjn]

I am a content third year med student. Quite pleased with the whole experience. But trust me, if you are making $60,000 as a practicing doc, even if your Pops pays all of your med school tuition, you will be a miserable SOB ten years from now, with kids and a mortgage payment you cannot afford. If you are making 60K as a doc, you will be the guy posting on SDN saying "Get out while you can."

However, you won't be making 60K as a doc, so it is all academic. Altruism is great, especially if you don't really have to join the poor and unwashed.

Well, I meant more along the lines of if I could finish out my bachelor's and never work more than 40 hours a week again in my life, then $60k/yr would be wonderful considering I wouldn't have to sacrifice so much of my personal life.

 

[searun]

Well, I meant more along the lines of if I could finish out my bachelor's and never work more than 40 hours a week again in my life, then $60k/yr would be wonderful considering I wouldn't have to sacrifice so much of my personal life.

Well, my mother is an elementary school teacher, and she makes around 60K and gets her summers off. She does work more than 40 hours per week during the school year because she is very conscientious and puts in extra time with her students and their parents.

If you want to make $60k and have some time to spend with your own children, as my mother did, teaching is something to consider and you will have a life as a parent.

You are going to give up alot of your personal life as a doc but you will make alot more than 60k. There are many ways to make a contribution to society, besides medicine. I have alot of respect for teachers.

But if you endure the years of training and cost to be a doc, you will be a spitting cobra if you are paid 60k for the difficult lifestyle of a physician.

 

[runrunrudolph1]

Some of you guys need to chill out with the attacks on OP. Honestly, he is giving us an honest depiction into the career we want to pursue. This does not mean he's saying that you need to change your career choice, buy a law book and try that instead but just look really hard into your decision. Sure we knew this career was not going to be unicorns and butterflies. Take it as you will.

And be respectful... that's a trait you are going to need if you want to be a doctor.

 

[nfgsjklgnsdfkjn]

Well, my mother is an elementary school teacher, and she makes around 60K and gets her summers off. She does work more than 40 hours per week during the school year because she is very conscientious and puts in extra time with her students and their parents.

If you want to make $60k and have some time to spend with your own children, as my mother did, teaching is something to consider and you will have a life as a parent.

You are going to give up alot of your personal life as a doc but you will make alot more than 60k. There are many ways to make a contribution to society, besides medicine. I have alot of respect for teachers.

But if you endure the years of training and cost to be a doc, you will be a spitting cobra if you are paid 60k for the difficult lifestyle of a physician.

I'm not sure if you saw my post in the other similar thread about how I was looking as high school teacher's pay and the gig was pretty sweet once you factor in benefits, relatively low stress, days off. It just bothers me that growing up, everybody treated teachers like crap and most students were apathetic. It was a very unrespected job. I had an eighth grade teacher with a straight-face tell me I wasn't ever going to get anywhere in life. I don't know how well where I grew up reflects most teacher-student relationships though.

I think my biggest hang-up is that I'm doing so well, and many pre-meds would kill to be on a full-ride at a top 20 university and a great GPA, and I'd feel like I was throwing great opportunities away if I just graduated and got a job out in the boonies teaching high school.

But when I've run all the numbers (tax brackets, hours worked, debt, etc), general practitioners don't make a whole lot more than a teacher once you adjust hours. And I'd like to have a life. I don't want to be a slave to a job.

 

[searun]

I'm not sure if you saw my post in the other similar thread about how I was looking as high school teacher's pay and the gig was pretty sweet once you factor in benefits, relatively low stress, days off. It just bothers me that growing up, everybody treated teachers like crap and most students were apathetic. It was a very unrespected job. I had an eighth grade teacher with a straight-face tell me I wasn't ever going to get anywhere in life. I don't know how well where I grew up reflects most teacher-student relationships though.

I think my biggest hang-up is that I'm doing so well, and many pre-meds would kill to be on a full-ride at a top 20 university and a great GPA, and I'd feel like I was throwing great opportunities away if I just graduated and got a job out in the boonies teaching high school.

But when I've run all the numbers (tax brackets, hours worked, debt, etc), general practitioners don't make a whole lot more than a teacher once you adjust hours. And I'd like to have a life. I don't want to be a slave to a job.

And that is why almost nobody wants to be a primary care physician. Including me. I just crushed Step 1, and, yeah, definitely will not be going into primary care.

 

[searun]

I'm not sure if you saw my post in the other similar thread about how I was looking as high school teacher's pay and the gig was pretty sweet once you factor in benefits, relatively low stress, days off. It just bothers me that growing up, everybody treated teachers like crap and most students were apathetic. It was a very unrespected job. I had an eighth grade teacher with a straight-face tell me I wasn't ever going to get anywhere in life. I don't know how well where I grew up reflects most teacher-student relationships though.

I think my biggest hang-up is that I'm doing so well, and many pre-meds would kill to be on a full-ride at a top 20 university and a great GPA, and I'd feel like I was throwing great opportunities away if I just graduated and got a job out in the boonies teaching high school.

But when I've run all the numbers (tax brackets, hours worked, debt, etc), general practitioners don't make a whole lot more than a teacher once you adjust hours. And I'd like to have a life. I don't want to be a slave to a job.

My mother has been an elementary school teacher for more than 30 years and she is like Mother Theresa around my home town. I swear, when she dies, half of the town will show up for her funeral, and there will be an ocean of tears. She is a great teacher, and respected by everyone. She now is teaching the children of many of her original students when she began her career.

Teaching is very challenging but it is a worthy career. You will not make alot of money but at the end of your life, if you are a good teacher, you can close your eyes, and feel good about your life.

 

[ZRCMed]

I am quite shocked at the inappropriate nature of your remarks.


1) I do not believe there exists a specific guide that details what people are and are not allowed to post on SDN (outside of not revealing particular MCAT questions and other obvious infractions). I especially do not think there are, nor should there be, stringent standards that regulate the ideas, information, opinions, etc. that people share on this forum as long as they are presented in a respectful manner. The OP posted information in a cordial manner that is unpopular and causes people to experience uncomfortable emotional responses. There is nothing intrinsically disrespectful about presenting unpopular positions or sharing information that is not endorsed by the majority. In the same way the OP was free to post his experiences, you are free to share your responses. - the free exchange of information in a respectful manner should not be halted on either end, at any time . The only difference between the two of you is that he went about sharing his stories in an unpopular but not disrespectful manner and you decided to share your widely supported (on SDN) reaction in a disrespectful manner. Just because people support your fundamental position DOES NOT mean that they should fail to recognize the considerably disrepectful way you chose to express your feelings.


2) People who present feedback that does not cause us to continue to feel all of the things we are comfortable feeling are just as justified in being a part of this online forum as those who reaffirm our ideas/opinions. If the pre-meds on here are as sure of their commitment to pursuing medicine as many think and say they are, then reading experiences such as the ones that have been appearing over the past few days SHOULD NOT be disruptive to them. They should possess resilience in the face of conflicting information and proceed forward with the same determination that they originally were driven by. They should not feel that their sense of security/certainty is shattered and need people to convince them that their decision to become a physician is in fact the right one for them. For those pre-meds on SDN who are responding (in thought or action) with anger/fear/lost or disturbed confidence, it is most likely due to the fact that they already are somewhat unsure of their decision to become a physician. They would prefer that they are sheltered from any information that uproots their sense of comfort and confidence in their career decision. To expect that you will be protected from insight into medicine that provokes questioning/reevaluation of your decision to enter into and remain in the field, is unrealistic now and will remain unrealistic as you transition through an exceptionally challenging next 8-10 years. ADDITIONALLY, if you have decided to go into medicine I assume (hope) that you have already been confronted by opinions/experiences similar to the OP's and have obviously decided to pursue your dream in spite of unattractive accounts of how medicine has influenced some people. If you have already reflected on such accounts, then you should possess the emotional resilience to not be impacted by posts like the OPs. If you haven't come in contact with something other than encouraging and perfectly positive reflections on medicine and are consequently responding with fear/anger/the need to be reassured that everything will work out for you the way you always thought it would, then perhaps it isn't so bad that you are catching a glimpse of "the other side" before you make what will undoubtedly be one of the most important decisions in your life.

3) If you are able to read posts that introduce doubt into the public forum and genuinely consider (not immediately discredit because of fearful expectations) the remarks being made and STILL feel confident in your decision to pursue medicine and committed to realizing your aspirations, then you should be reassured that you are making the right decision and this path is the right one for you. In fact, being able persevere through moments of doubt will make you a stronger person and more confident physician because you have overcome obstacles that test your devotion to realizing your goals, motivations for pursuing medicine, self-awareness (insight into your short term and long term "fit" in medicine)/ self-confidence, and your capabilities.

* All OP has done is contribute to the pool of information that you have been exposed to on the path of pursuing medicine. It is your choice how much weight you give to it/what value you assign it and how you allow it to influence your choices. At this point however, I'd expect that most of us have a diversity of experiences that we are basing our decision to pursue medicine off of (and not all of them are reassuring/promising). However, when you add the OP's post and others similar to the accumulation of the reasons why you have decided to pursue medicine, if it even comes close to tipping the scale away from following your dream, then the experiences you have been exposed to and the reasons you have accumulated are far too few or far too insignificant to withstand the test of time. At the end of the day, it it your choice what direction you go in, but you ought to feel damn sure you've made the right decision, and should feel thankful that people exist who can provide you with a diversity of experiences upon which you can make a fully informed decision.

Hahahaha. No. I'm not reading that. This is a discussion forum, not a blog.

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”

You know who wrote that? Epicurus wrote that in about 270 BC. And, yes, it applies today just as it applied back in ancient times, and just as it will apply for all eternity. The OP is obviously jaded. We are all fighting tooth and nail for spots just to get TRAINING so we can be in that position. And he is here bitching to us about how horrid it is?
Every premed who is here: do not discount yourself and your views.

 

[wjdghks]

Gotta love the fact that people who aren't even in med school are telling the OP that he's wrong.

If you are 100% positive that you want to go into medicine, his opinions shouldn't bother you at all. Those who are bothered are the ones with an idealistic view of medicine, and someone posts an opinion contradictory to your idealistic vision of what medicine is like and you try to attack the OP and convince yourself that he's wrong. LOL

 

[BennieBlanco]

Gotta love the fact that people who aren't even in med school are telling the OP that he's wrong.

If you are 100% positive that you want to go into medicine, his opinions shouldn't bother you at all. Those who are bothered are the ones with an idealistic view of medicine, and someone posts an opinion contradictory to your idealistic vision of what medicine is like and you try to attack the OP and convince yourself that he's wrong. LOL

The OP isn't wrong because it is his opinion. Opinions can't be wrong.

Medicine isn't ideal, I think most understand this.

Yet in America we are very lucky to have all the things we have (health/food/shelter/opportunity/etc). We are better off than 50-60% of the world just by being born here, maybe even a higher percentage regardless of our vocation.

 

[Brigade4Radiant]

Oh no I have to deal with someone who has to get their leg amputated or has to deal with their daughter dying of cancer. Woe is me. You had to jump through numerous hoops to get into medical school and If you are really miserable then you deserve to be for being so naive and stupid.


You have no one's sympathy.

 

[redbull928]

I just want an interesting job that's secure. $60k/yr would make me plenty happy, but I don't want to be a miserable doctor or miserable grad student who can't find a job.

If anybody else has advice, feel free to jump in. I think the OP might not be coming back.

Hahaha I used to think that. "As long as I can make $60k..." but really, it comes down to respect, in my opinion. If someone who has the same education/experience as I do received much more salary than I did, then some things will pop in my mind:
- am I not good enough?
- am I being taken advantage?
- am I a doormat?

So the salary is not only about living comfortably. It also shows how much your employer values you. This insight you'll gather once you start working.

Also, many doctors ask me why I am going into medicine when I had a flourishing career in engineering. Many tell me that if they can do it over, they'd choose another career. Others, however, love what they are doing. That made me uneasy, but at the present moment, I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing. But then maybe I would've thought differently if I didn't get into med school. If I didn't get in, maybe right now I'd be regretting giving up my 70k+ job. Point being, life is complicated and it's not as simple as "OP needing help".

 

[Trismegistus4]

If you've never worked a full-time job and fully supported yourself, it's hard to judge how far a certain amount of money goes. You'd be surprised how fast taxes, rent/mortgage, renter's/homeowner's insurance, car payments, car insurance payments, gas, utility bills, groceries, occasionaly clothing purchases, etc. will eat up that paycheck. When I was making $60k a year, I would have been very uncomfortable buying a house and/or trying to support a family.

 

[Brigade4Radiant]

If you've never worked a full-time job and fully supported yourself, it's hard to judge how far a certain amount of money goes. You'd be surprised how fast taxes, rent/mortgage, renter's/homeowner's insurance, car payments, car insurance payments, gas, utility bills, groceries, occasionaly clothing purchases, etc. will eat up that paycheck. When I was making $60k a year, I would have been very uncomfortable buying a house and/or trying to support a family.

And yet millions do it every year on $40k.

 

[Charles_Carmichael]

Oh no I have to deal with someone who has to get their leg amputated or has to deal with their daughter dying of cancer. Woe is me. You had to jump through numerous hoops to get into medical school and If you are really miserable then you deserve to be for being so naive and stupid.


You have no one's sympathy.

What?

I think the problem with medicine is that you really can't have a good idea of what its practice is like until you're an M3. Sure, I've shadowed doctors and volunteered in hospitals, but I definitely would not say that I truly understand what medicine is (ie. its everyday practice) and how it works.

Going with anecdotal evidence, I know several med students have told me that what they had thought medicine was when they applied to medical school is actually quite different than what they experienced/are experiencing in third year. So I can completely understand when people realize that their ideas of medicine (even after shadowing and volunteering, etc.) are not congruent with reality; I can understand them feeling miserable and trapped by that time. By third year, you're already pretty deep in debt for you to just pull the plug.

I don't understand why so many people are jumping on the OP. He never really said avoid medicine no matter what. He just said that unless there's nothing else you can see yourself doing, don't do medicine because chances are you might be miserable.

 

[Charles_Carmichael]

And yet millions do it every year on $40k.

You can't really compare an average Joe to someone who has had years of post-college training. The average Joe likely didn't finish college and doesn't work more than 40-50 hours per week. That average Joe also started making money years earlier than a medical school graduate and also doesn't need to worry about repaying a massive debt. So $40k is actually a pretty decent income for that level of education.

 

[nfgsjklgnsdfkjn]

If you've never worked a full-time job and fully supported yourself, it's hard to judge how far a certain amount of money goes. You'd be surprised how fast taxes, rent/mortgage, renter's/homeowner's insurance, car payments, car insurance payments, gas, utility bills, groceries, occasionaly clothing purchases, etc. will eat up that paycheck. When I was making $60k a year, I would have been very uncomfortable buying a house and/or trying to support a family.

I grew up in a family making much less than that most my life, you don't need to lecture me on how $60k/yr isn't very much. However, a person making $60k/yr with a spouse making $40k or more will be perfectly fine. If somebody can't live comfortably on $100k/yr combined family income with little student debt, then they need to reconsider how they budget. $60k/yr will go quite far in many parts of the US.

I'm not suggesting I'd take a job as a physician for that little money, but if the only way to live a normal life with normal hours and normal expectations is to have a normal person's income, then I'm content with that.

 

[michaelrack]

Well put!

I love people with excellent work ethics.

Working 50-80 hrs a week HARD is a great quality.

What else are you going to do when you are awake?
QUOTE]

Spend time with the wife and kids

 

[michaelrack]

And yet millions do it every year on $40k.

which is one of the reasons for the record number of foreclosures

 

[rocketbooster]

I just wanted to say that the OP is definitely exaggerating in some parts. I'm not in med school yet, but I KNOW you do NOT have 8 hours of class/day.

Every med student I've talked, and I know a lot, have told me you have 3 hours of lecture every morning and then lab in the afternoon Mon-Thurs. so, your Friday schedule in class is actually pretty easy.

I can speak for myself when I say I've had much worse amounts of time spent in class in one semester. My last semester of college I had class from 9am to 9 pm MW, 9am-5pm TTh, and 9-12 on Friday. That is definitely more time spent in the class room than in med school during the 1st two years. I was taking 23 hours of which 16 hours were upperlevel bio courses. It required lots of studying, lab time, etc. I also had the MCAT to study for that semester and took it in April during the semester.

Guess what, I changed my lifestyle. I adapted. After a month, I was used to the schedule and it was fine. I didn't enjoy it most of the time, but I knew summer was coming soon so I used that as motivation. I only had 2 weeks off before starting fulltime summer school, so I didn't even have a very long break. You don't need an entire summer to recover, to be honest. A few weeks after each semester is plenty, which you always get during your 1st 2 years of med school.

I'm glad I did that semester because it made me determined that I can handle medical school. I know med school requires way more out-of-class studying, but I still feel confident I can handle it since I won't have as many hours in the classroom and no stupid MCAT to study over during every free hour I could muster.

I have friends in every part of their medical training. My M4 friend told me his 3rd year (1st year of clinicals) was way better than his first 2 years. He was at the hospital a lot, but it kept him out of the library 24/7 like those first years. He said clinicals aren't too bad at all. I forgot what rotation he was on when I spoke to him, but he said he was at the hospital from 6am to 3pm. 6am every morning sucks but getting off that early makes it overall pretty decent.

So, anyways, OP, stop whining. You remind me of the dozens of ppl on my facebook who I constantly see complaining about med school.

And, also, I agree with the person who said every med student should have to work a low-income job for a year before medical school. that's what i'm doing 🙂

 

[anbuitachi]

There are way too many pre meds here acting like know it alls.. Why are you guys who aren't even in med school telling a Resident that he's blah and blah. You might be still passionate about medicine but it doesn't mean you will be later on and guess what, you don't really know what doctors do because you have to experience it personally to know it.

I don't think IVY leaguers and med school really mix unless you are extremely passionate about it. It's actually a lot more depressing if you hate medicine later on while all your college buddies are making big bucks elsewhere while you are still in school/ making 8$ per hour. I'm currently in an Ivy league school and I know that even after MANY years of medicine school training, I'll still be making less $$ than most of my friends who won't go into medicine. A lot of kids I know who graduated with a business or IT degree had starting salaries of at least 100000$ even in this bad economy right after college. And they get raises pretty often too. Most Ivy league kids are hard workers who graduate already at the top of the nation so you can't really compare them to a random dood picking up cans for a living. Of course there will be worse stuff but it hurts a lot more to go from up to down than stay low and remain low. A lot of Ivy league kids tend to be very competitive, which is how they get in in the first place, so when they see that everyone else they used to know are doing better than they are, their pride might be hurt, etc. And you can't really "tell" him to be less competitive.

 

[binarysolo]

Hahahaha. What a god damn whiner. Seriously, grow up. Stop sucking at the teet of your parents' trust fund leisurely life that you are so accustomed to and man up.

Medicine isn't the end all be all dream job, but some people love doing it. You obviously can't appreciate it and shouldn't have wasted any of your time or the other people who have helped you along the way.

Go join a hedgefund or better yet, work for your daddy.

 

[Excelsius]

There are way too many pre meds here acting like know it alls.. Why are you guys who aren't even in med school telling a Resident that he's blah and blah. You might be still passionate about medicine but it doesn't mean you will be later on and guess what, you don't really know what doctors do because you have to experience it personally to know it.

I don't think IVY leaguers and med school really mix unless you are extremely passionate about it. It's actually a lot more depressing if you hate medicine later on while all your college buddies are making big bucks elsewhere while you are still in school/ making 8$ per hour. I'm currently in an Ivy league school and I know that even after MANY years of medicine school training, I'll still be making less $$ than most of my friends who won't go into medicine. A lot of kids I know who graduated with a business or IT degree had starting salaries of at least 100000$ even in this bad economy right after college. And they get raises pretty often too. Most Ivy league kids are hard workers who graduate already at the top of the nation so you can't really compare them to a random dood picking up cans for a living. Of course there will be worse stuff but it hurts a lot more to go from up to down than stay low and remain low. A lot of Ivy league kids tend to be very competitive, which is how they get in in the first place, so when they see that everyone else they used to know are doing better than they are, their pride might be hurt, etc. And you can't really "tell" him to be less competitive.

First, like it or not, most jobs in the real world don't care that much about your undergrad. The number one issue is experience. Sure, there are students who can make a lot of money out of college from many different institutions, but you can never be sure that if you go to school X you'll end up with over $60K. There are many who make more than that without any college degree.

Second, I have worked in a couple of great places. Not a single one of the managers and other higher ups had a degree from an Ivy. I met quite a few of them, but they were not in that high level of achievement. If anything, it is unfortunate but some people view your Ivy degree as snobbery and become very sensitive. I felt this too when I was attending a top school, even though my degree is not from there. For some reason, people feel threatened.

Third, if someone is going into medicine only for the money, then I don't think that person is going to find happiness. It makes no difference whatsoever whether you are from an Ivy or from a no-name. And maybe becoming a doctor requires a lot of work, eventually you do get rewarded for that work by a high salary, depending on the specialty. For some, the average is over 4-500K. It also seems that many institutions/hospitals have those group of doctors who either approach or break the $1M barrier. So even in terms of salary becoming a doctor is not a bad financial decision. Still, if you don't like what you do and just do it for the money, chances are that somewhere in medschool you'll screw up and not make the cut for the "money-style" specialty. That's a good thing.

 

[redbull928]

I just wanted to say that the OP is definitely exaggerating in some parts. I'm not in med school yet, but I KNOW you do NOT have 8 hours of class/day.

That depends on which school you go to...

 

[runrunrudolph1]

pre-meds lecturing residents, lol. i think many of you in this thread are just suppressing the likelihood that the route you have chosen to pursue in life will make you miserable and is not the dream you've built it up to be.

 

[runrunrudolph1]

you can say that again.

 

[windycitydoc]

I just wanted to say that the OP is definitely exaggerating in some parts. I'm not in med school yet, but I KNOW you do NOT have 8 hours of class/day.

Every med student I've talked, and I know a lot, have told me you have 3 hours of lecture every morning and then lab in the afternoon Mon-Thurs. so, your Friday schedule in class is actually pretty easy.

I can speak for myself when I say I've had much worse amounts of time spent in class in one semester. My last semester of college I had class from 9am to 9 pm MW, 9am-5pm TTh, and 9-12 on Friday. That is definitely more time spent in the class room than in med school during the 1st two years. I was taking 23 hours of which 16 hours were upperlevel bio courses. It required lots of studying, lab time, etc. I also had the MCAT to study for that semester and took it in April during the semester.

Guess what, I changed my lifestyle. I adapted. After a month, I was used to the schedule and it was fine. I didn't enjoy it most of the time, but I knew summer was coming soon so I used that as motivation. I only had 2 weeks off before starting fulltime summer school, so I didn't even have a very long break. You don't need an entire summer to recover, to be honest. A few weeks after each semester is plenty, which you always get during your 1st 2 years of med school.

I'm glad I did that semester because it made me determined that I can handle medical school. I know med school requires way more out-of-class studying, but I still feel confident I can handle it since I won't have as many hours in the classroom and no stupid MCAT to study over during every free hour I could muster.

I have friends in every part of their medical training. My M4 friend told me his 3rd year (1st year of clinicals) was way better than his first 2 years. He was at the hospital a lot, but it kept him out of the library 24/7 like those first years. He said clinicals aren't too bad at all. I forgot what rotation he was on when I spoke to him, but he said he was at the hospital from 6am to 3pm. 6am every morning sucks but getting off that early makes it overall pretty decent.

So, anyways, OP, stop whining. You remind me of the dozens of ppl on my facebook who I constantly see complaining about med school.

And, also, I agree with the person who said every med student should have to work a low-income job for a year before medical school. that's what i'm doing 🙂

Can you sound ANY more like an immature premed?? First of all, I DID have class 8 hours a day sometimes 9 five days a week w a ton of studying on the side. So i hope you get into your school where lectures are only a few hours a day and you can just lounge around and study a little here and there. Dont worry med school is easy and most of the time we just party. And after your super intense undergrad semester im glad you feel u can handle med school, ur in for a rude awakening.

 

[rocketbooster]

Can you sound ANY more like an immature premed?? First of all, I DID have class 8 hours a day sometimes 9 five days a week w a ton of studying on the side. So i hope you get into your school where lectures are only a few hours a day and you can just lounge around and study a little here and there. Dont worry med school is easy and most of the time we just party. And after your super intense undergrad semester im glad you feel u can handle med school, ur in for a rude awakening.

hehehehe, can't wait! i'm rdy to begin to be honest!

 

[BennieBlanco]

Can you sound ANY more like an immature premed?? First of all, I DID have class 8 hours a day sometimes 9 five days a week w a ton of studying on the side. So i hope you get into your school where lectures are only a few hours a day and you can just lounge around and study a little here and there. Dont worry med school is easy and most of the time we just party. And after your super intense undergrad semester im glad you feel u can handle med school, ur in for a rude awakening.

Wow, he sounded pretty level headed to me.

It is funny when med students call pre-med students immature just because they disagree with the points they bring up.

Sounds like he has a good attitude and will do fine. I was reading Pandabear MD blog, which is a blog by some resident that posts here. He said he only studied 3 hrs everyday and his classes weren't 9 hours a day. Found the link:

http://www.studentdoctor.net/pandab...l-pre-clinical-years-twenty-questions-part-1/

I think that some of the people saying it is so horrible aren't efficient students or they don't know how to study well (or they are trying to get 100% on everything). Not everyone has a hell experience in med school, by far not everyone.

The more I hear the doom and gloom stories from these med students, the more I realize that they likely haven't had much life experiences outside the world of academia. They've likely never had a full time job for over a continuous 12 month period, and all they know is school/research/etc. Then they come try to rain on people's parade. It's one thing to say, "It was challenging, I had to do ___" and another to say, "You pre-med students are immature, you are going down. You've done nothing so far." etc.

Who is really the immature one? The one with hope and a good work ethic OR the pessimistic, "the world sucks", "woe is me", "you people will fail" attitudes?

Define immature. I take the positive person any day over a pessimistic ungrateful person. Even if the negative person is better, he will falter eventually because of his attitude.

 

[Jolie South]

Wow, he sounded pretty level headed to me.

It is funny when med students call pre-med students immature just because they disagree with the points they bring up.

Sounds like he has a good attitude and will do fine. I was reading Pandabear MD blog, which is a blog by some resident that posts here. He said he only studied 3 hrs everyday and his classes weren't 9 hours a day. Found the link:

http://www.studentdoctor.net/pandab...l-pre-clinical-years-twenty-questions-part-1/

I think that some of the people saying it is so horrible aren't efficient students or they don't know how to study well (or they are trying to get 100% on everything). Not everyone has a hell experience in med school, by far not everyone.

I'd just like to enlighten you of the fact that there are ~120 different allopathic schools in this country which means 120 different variations on a theme. There ARE schools that have class from 8-5. The school across the street from mine does and I know it does from talking to students that attend there. My school has class 8-12 most days with some days going to 3 or 4 for PBL or clinical skills. There are differences.

Also, how long you spend studying is dependent on what grade you're looking to get. I could easily "PASS" by hardly studying at all, but I choose to put as much effort as I can in. This doesn't mean that I hate life or even medical school or that I have no time for myself, but I can say that I definitely spend more than 3 hours a day studying. At the end of the day, I'm happy with the grades on my transcript and I sleep easy. I treat this like a full time job as I'm not just studying to pass my tests, but to succeed later on the Step and in rotations.

To an above poster who suggested that adapting to high hours of class in undergrad is similar to the load in medical school, you're forgetting an important distinction between undergrad and med school. That is that no matter how much you study in med school you simply cannot know everything. You'll get to the day of the exam being as well prepared as you could be and still not feel confident about what you know. You'll find unexpected questions on the test. In undergrad, if you put in the time, you can know everything and 100% is fairly attainable. I never studied as hard in undergrad as I do now and I'm doing well but not getting perfect scores.

The point of all this is to say that you can't take one person's experience and say that it's more valid than anyone else's. We all come in with different abilities, goals, and philosophies. I'd wait until you get to medical school until you make sweeping generalizations about what it's like. Again, I'm not trying to complain or say anyone's immature here, just point out that there is much that you don't understand until you've been there. Though I've only finished first year, I'm one of the happy ones.

 

[BennieBlanco]

I'd just like to enlighten you of the fact that there are ~120 different allopathic schools in this country which means 120 different variations on a theme. There ARE schools that have class from 8-5. The school across the street from mine does and I know it does from talking to students that attend there. My school has class 8-12 most days with some days going to 3 or 4 for PBL or clinical skills. There are differences.

Also, how long you spend studying is dependent on what grade you're looking to get. I could easily "PASS" by hardly studying at all, but I choose to put as much effort as I can in. This doesn't mean that I hate life or even medical school or that I have no time for myself, but I can say that I definitely spend more than 3 hours a day studying. At the end of the day, I'm happy with the grades on my transcript and I sleep easy. I treat this like a full time job as I'm not just studying to pass my tests, but to succeed later on the Step and in rotations.

To an above poster who suggested that adapting to high hours of class in undergrad is similar to the load in medical school, you're forgetting an important distinction between undergrad and med school. That is that no matter how much you study in med school you simply cannot know everything. You'll get to the day of the exam being as well prepared as you could be and still not feel confident about what you know. You'll find unexpected questions on the test. In undergrad, if you put in the time, you can know everything and 100% is fairly attainable. I never studied as hard in undergrad as I do now and I'm doing well but not getting perfect scores.

The point of all this is to say that you can't take one person's experience and say that it's more valid than anyone else's. We all come in with different abilities, goals, and philosophies. I'd wait until you get to medical school until you make sweeping generalizations about what it's like. Again, I'm not trying to complain or say anyone's immature here, just point out that there is much that you don't understand until you've been there. Though I've only finished first year, I'm one of the happy ones.

I agree with 100% of what you said.

Everyone is different. People have different goals/aspirations. Schools have different curriculums.

Good luck on your en devours.

 

[windycitydoc]

Wow, he sounded pretty level headed to me.

It is funny when med students call pre-med students immature just because they disagree with the points they bring up.

Sounds like he has a good attitude and will do fine. I was reading Pandabear MD blog, which is a blog by some resident that posts here. He said he only studied 3 hrs everyday and his classes weren't 9 hours a day. Found the link:

http://www.studentdoctor.net/pandab...l-pre-clinical-years-twenty-questions-part-1/

I think that some of the people saying it is so horrible aren't efficient students or they don't know how to study well (or they are trying to get 100% on everything). Not everyone has a hell experience in med school, by far not everyone.

The more I hear the doom and gloom stories from these med students, the more I realize that they likely haven't had much life experiences outside the world of academia. They've likely never had a full time job for over a continuous 12 month period, and all they know is school/research/etc. Then they come try to rain on people's parade. It's one thing to say, "It was challenging, I had to do ___" and another to say, "You pre-med students are immature, you are going down. You've done nothing so far." etc.

Who is really the immature one? The one with hope and a good work ethic OR the pessimistic, "the world sucks", "woe is me", "you people will fail" attitudes?

Define immature. I take the positive person any day over a pessimistic ungrateful person. Even if the negative person is better, he will falter eventually because of his attitude.

You took that the wrong way completely. Im not here to poop on anyone's parade, im not crying about hating med school and how its so ruff. I personally have really enjoyed the experience and have honestly done a lot of partying in the process. No regrets so far. Everyone is different. Im just saying it sounded a bit naive to say "i KNOW i wont be in class all day" cuz that really depends on your school. Im not so bothered by the statement but more by its delivery. And like someone else said, a ruff semester in undergrad really doesnt compare to med school. So you can calm down , im not like every other medical student hating their life on sdn, im happy and hopefully you will be too.

 

[Toadesque]

I didn't read the whole topic but I'm not sure I understand the point of it.

If every premed took this guy's advice to not go to med school then we wouldn't have any doctors left 😕. Or even if only the super crazy medical freaks who eat, sleep and breath medicine remained then we would still have a ridiculous shortage of doctors.

 

[BennieBlanco]

You took that the wrong way completely. Im not here to poop on anyone's parade, im not crying about hating med school and how its so ruff. I personally have really enjoyed the experience and have honestly done a lot of partying in the process. No regrets so far. Everyone is different. Im just saying it sounded a bit naive to say "i KNOW i wont be in class all day" cuz that really depends on your school. Im not so bothered by the statement but more by its delivery. And like someone else said, a ruff semester in undergrad really doesnt compare to med school. So you can calm down , im not like every other medical student hating their life on sdn, im happy and hopefully you will be too.

lol, agreed. I will calm down. Glad to hear you are happy, and I hope I will be too.

Take care friend.

 

[nfgsjklgnsdfkjn]

I didn't read the whole topic but I'm not sure I understand the point of it.

If every premed took this guy's advice to not go to med school then we wouldn't have any doctors left 😕. Or even if only the super crazy medical freaks who eat, sleep and breath medicine remained then we would still have a ridiculous shortage of doctors.

I believe the point is to give pre-meds a reality check before they potentially rush into something that they will hate. He never said absolutely not to go into medicine, only that the extraordinarily dedicated will enjoy it.

 

[Toadesque]

only that the extraordinarily dedicated will enjoy it

Again, if these were the only doctors we had then there would still be an extreme shortage.

 

[jvesco22]

I believe the point is to give pre-meds a reality check before they potentially rush into something that they will hate. He never said absolutely not to go into medicine, only that the extraordinarily dedicated will enjoy it.

You must not be able to read.

just had a particularly crappy day at work so thought I might repost it here for the benefit of those who still have other real options.

The best advice I can offer most of you is do something, anything else.

There are 90% odds you'll end up like me and the majority of physicians I know.

For anyone defending his post about the so-called "reality" of medicine, I don't get it. The only reality he is posting is the reality of his OWN miserable life. He's not here trying to help anyone, give advice, or even offer you a different prospective on medicine. The only thing he is doing is venting his own frustrations and trying to make others feel down, just like him. It's one thing to make posts about your current situation, but then to spew crap and generalize the career of medicine, because his life is miserable, is just irritating...

 

[nfgsjklgnsdfkjn]

You must not be able to read.

Lookie here!:
"Heed my warnings. Unless you REALLY, REALLY want to and dream of being a doctor, don't do it. About 10% of folks I run into fall into this category and actually seem happy in their job."

No need to be a prick.

 

[neuro1986]

I just wanted to say that the OP is definitely exaggerating in some parts. I'm not in med school yet, but I KNOW you do NOT have 8 hours of class/day.

Every med student I've talked, and I know a lot, have told me you have 3 hours of lecture every morning and then lab in the afternoon Mon-Thurs. so, your Friday schedule in class is actually pretty easy.

I can speak for myself when I say I've had much worse amounts of time spent in class in one semester. My last semester of college I had class from 9am to 9 pm MW, 9am-5pm TTh, and 9-12 on Friday. That is definitely more time spent in the class room than in med school during the 1st two years. I was taking 23 hours of which 16 hours were upperlevel bio courses. It required lots of studying, lab time, etc. I also had the MCAT to study for that semester and took it in April during the semester.

Guess what, I changed my lifestyle. I adapted. After a month, I was used to the schedule and it was fine. I didn't enjoy it most of the time, but I knew summer was coming soon so I used that as motivation. I only had 2 weeks off before starting fulltime summer school, so I didn't even have a very long break. You don't need an entire summer to recover, to be honest. A few weeks after each semester is plenty, which you always get during your 1st 2 years of med school.

I'm glad I did that semester because it made me determined that I can handle medical school. I know med school requires way more out-of-class studying, but I still feel confident I can handle it since I won't have as many hours in the classroom and no stupid MCAT to study over during every free hour I could muster.

I have friends in every part of their medical training. My M4 friend told me his 3rd year (1st year of clinicals) was way better than his first 2 years. He was at the hospital a lot, but it kept him out of the library 24/7 like those first years. He said clinicals aren't too bad at all. I forgot what rotation he was on when I spoke to him, but he said he was at the hospital from 6am to 3pm. 6am every morning sucks but getting off that early makes it overall pretty decent.

So, anyways, OP, stop whining. You remind me of the dozens of ppl on my facebook who I constantly see complaining about med school.

And, also, I agree with the person who said every med student should have to work a low-income job for a year before medical school. that's what i'm doing

You contradict yourself throughout your post. First, you try to support the idea that you have very good reason to believe that the OP is just a whiner because med school is really much better than what he makes it out to be. Then, you go on to say that dozens of people on your facebook (presumably people you know to some extent through different connections) are CONSTANTLY COMPLAINING about medical school. If anything, you actually build a stronger case on behalf of the OP's position because DOZENS sure outnumbers the friends you referenced...although, you might have meant to clarify that you also have dozens of friends with positive experiences or actually quantified what a lot means in the context of your argument. Absent clarifying that the a lot of friends you have in medical school who enjoy (or at a minimum do not dislike*) medical school outnumber the dozens you know with competing opinions, you do not provide evidence on behalf of the argument you attemped to make.

If your inexperienced reflections weren't enough for me to believe that you should be more humble regarding what you know, recognizing your self-defeating argument should be enough for you to AT A MINIMUM reconsider your justification in judging people who actually are well-positioned to make their claims and maybe even grounds to encourage you to dig a bit deeper on the- I can see far into the future and understand that which I haven't even experienced front.

* or at a minimum do not dislike- although it appears as if you referred to your med schools friends who are at every stage in their training in order to strengthen your initial position, the language you use to describe their experiences isn't very strong,

better: well this implies that his 3rd year was better than his first and second, but fails to tells us anything about this first and second year (he could have wanted to jump off a bridge every day he saw the sun in his first and second year but desired to jump in front of a bus only once every second day his third year)...ohhh but you go on to say that in his third year he no longer needed to spend 24/7 in the library (which might have been the reason he didn't have a very pleasant first 2 years)- but, wasn't the intention of your post to give us reasons why medical school wasn't as bad as the OP was making it out to be ---by telling us that your friend spent every waking and sleeping moment of his life in the library (presumably because of the overwhelming course load) you do little to build a case for your position.

aren't bad at all, overall pretty decent: you are very careful not to go to far and say that medicine is actually good or very decent by presenting less decisive/less convincing accounts of why medical school is something to look forward to (or at least not fear)!

In reference to the semester you described from your undergrad that truly prepared you to "know" what medical school will be like and to be able to handle anything that will be thrown at you, you clearly said that 1) you did not enjoy that semester 2) you know what medical school requires way more out of class studying than your undergrad semester (that you didn't enjoy) 3) your friend studied 24/7 (no MCAT to study for but don't forget about those other stupid standardized tests you'll have to take that will require every free hour that you can muster) ---BUT 4) you are still confident in the face of information/experiences that might cause you to think otherwise.

my advice to you: take some time away from that low income job that everyone should have to work prior to entering medical school and reflect on what you think you know and why you think you know it.🙂

 

[sj1337]

Why attack the OP? He is in field and experiencing what it is like. You should be happy to have an opportunity where your idealistic views of medicine are at least challenged. That's a good thing. But as always, there are always those few in preallo whose immaturity prevails and they start their assault. Relax!

I completely agree that if you had a job before medschool, your perspective would be balanced. What many residents describe here has a lot of characteristics of problems that people have in their everyday jobs. Imagine not having worked all your life and suddenly you are a resident working 80+ hours a week. That must feel like crap! Now imagine if you're from a privileged background where money was never an issue and you don't know that much about hard work. That's like a death sentence. So residents, when you post your experiences here, keep in mind that it is only your perspective based on your own background outside of medicine. I also hope that you can agree with me that having a job before starting medschool must become a prerequisite for admission. I think that the majority of premeds have no idea what they are getting into and they end up in a place where they can't back out. Having a job will expand their options. If they do choose to go into medicine, at least they will have a better appreciation.

If you have not had a job before starting medical school, you are in position to judge medicine and compare it to anything else, I don't care whether you are a young resident or an old attending. Age is important, but experience is even more important.


I know, some of you might say that having not done a residency disqualifies one to make any comments about it. That's a valid point, just like it is equally as valid to state that if you have not held a regular job before medschool then you can't compare medicine to anything. Therefore, to make my case, I'll bring up one example. Some time ago I read an article about this Mexican guy who went to HMS and did NS. Most will agree that NS is the toughest residency. So, now he is an attending and is very happy. When they asked him wasn't it very hard to become a neurosurgeon, he said that no, picking fruits in the field was much harder. That's a perspective.

Yes, here he is:

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/reprint/357/6/529.pdf

He is a Neurosurgeon, Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa

 

[unsung]

I posted this a while back in the general residency issues forum, but just had a particularly crappy day at work so thought I might repost it here for the benefit of those who still have other real options. Think real hard before going into medicine please:

I would not.

I still remember when I applied, right after college. At that point, I thought the world was my oyster. I graduated from a Ivy school with great grades and some really good extracurriculars. Not to sound like too big of a douche, but I had some options. I loved theoretical physics and wanted to be a string theorist. I also loved politics and strongly considered law school as well. I was courted by hedge funds for my mathematical aptitude.

But I thought, you know what, life as an academic seems miserable. Only a few of the top grad students actually get tenure track positions and even then its a bare-knuckle fight to make it. I didn't think I'd like the nitty-gritty of law, and finance seemed hollow.

I never really had that great an idea of what a doctor did, but I wanted to be the guy in there being heroic and saving lives. I liked science, and the end result would be a secure job with a darn decent, if not finance level, income while making a huge impact on the lives of others. I investigated in further, did a lot of shadowing and thought, "Hey, this looks damn cool."

I got into a top tier med school, and it all went down hill from there. The first two years were brutally hard, harder than anything I had experienced before, even in the hardest of undergrad sciences (quantum chromodynamics included), or had even imagined. The 8 hours of lecture and hours of studying at night devastated any semblance I had of a life. Third year was even worse. 80-100 weeks on all the major rotations. Was treated like **** by everyone. During this year, a happy long term relationship I was in broke off. I haven't been in another one since. And guess what, turns out I really didn't like clinical medicine. More paperwork than I ever dreamed of, constantly angry coworkers, ungrateful, uncompliant patients, and, perhaps most of all, a complete loss of personal autonomy.

At that point though, I was $170,000 in debt and didn't have much choice but to power through residency at least. I decided on a clinical residency hoping things would get better. They just got worse. Now I'm stuck alone in an incredibly intense job I hate that takes up every waking moment of the day. I've sacrificed relationships and am thousands of miles away from friends and family for the "dream" of being a doctor. But that's okay, I make $8 an hour and am hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt which makes up for it. That old office space saying now applies to me, "Every day is worse than the last so every day you see me is the worst day of my life."

Meanwhile, friends from college who decided on academia are landing those tenure track positions, finance folks are millionaires, and folks in politics are getting good positions in the current administration. They all have free time, hobbies, and are starting families.

Heed my warnings. Unless you REALLY, REALLY want to and dream of being a doctor, don't do it. About 10% of folks I run into fall into this category and actually seem happy in their job. The rest just seem trapped into the job because of two reasons. 1) Debt (early in the career) and 2) they've spent so much time training that they're too old to start in an entry level post in another field (later in the career). Otherwise, although it may seem like a logical decision, it's just not worth the sacrifices.

As for me, I'm thinking of retraining in path or rads or something. It's not really why I went to med school, but I just can't take this **** anymore.

Is this for real? First two years of med school harder than undergrad theoretical physics? Hmm...

From everything else I've heard, med school is hard in terms of the volume of material, not in terms of the depth or difficulty of material. Granted, I have not started yet, but I tend to believe this.

The hardest class I took in undergrad was a particular math course that was ~100% rigorous proofs. It's hard to believe that med school will approach the difficulty level of that course.

 

[Excelsius]

Is this for real? First two years of med school harder than undergrad theoretical physics? Hmm...

From everything else I've heard, med school is hard in terms of the volume of material, not in terms of the depth or difficulty of material. Granted, I have not started yet, but I tend to believe this.

The hardest class I took in undergrad was a particular math course that was ~100% rigorous proofs. It's hard to believe that med school will approach the difficulty level of that course.

That sentence was curious indeed. I have never seen QCD taught in undergrad. Even grad courses don't always have a special course devoted to QCD. So that statement is either an overblown hyperbole or a lie. Many medstudents had a hard time grasping non-calculus based physics. To suggest that quantum-anything was easier than medschool has more to do with the aura of hubris usurped by medstoodents than the subject itself. I wonder if he can mathematically explain the perturbation theory. It is these exaggerations and entitlements that attract premed assaults on these residents/medstudents.

 

[Kaustikos]

That sentence was curious indeed. I have never seen QCD taught in undergrad. Even grad courses don't always have a special course devoted to QCD. So that statement is either an overblown hyperbole or a lie. Many medstudents had a hard time grasping non-calculus based physics. To suggest that quantum-anything was easier than medschool has more to do with the aura of hubris usurped by medstoodents than the subject itself. I wonder if he can mathematically explain the perturbation theory. It is these exaggerations and entitlements that attract premed assaults on these residents/medstudents.

*grabs pitchfork

Oh...I see what you did there

 

[Ignition]

A few comments on this:

First off, I'm surprised at everyone's harsh retorts to the OP and other, more experienced posters. I'm curious on what these pre-meds are basing their comments: 20 hours of shadowing? Even on significantly more enlightening experiences, it's foolish to simply dismiss information because it doesn't fit whatever perspective you've formed already.

I for one am thankful for whatever information and experience I am given, regardless if it fits my preconceived notions or ideas. You can always choose on what information you want to base your final opinion, but you can't always choose the amount of information you have in the first place. Be thankful for opportunities like this.

I've personally known a researching AND practicing M.D. for approximately three years now, and I've had the quite the opportunity to get to know what the profession is actually like over that period. This M.D. has a family, and is married to another M.D. (ortho surgery), and they have two children. Needless to say, it is a constant balancing act. But in the end, they do have time to spend with their family...perhaps not as much as they would like, but I know they do sleep well at night knowing that their jobs are secure and they'll be able to afford sending their kids through college and giving them everything they need in life.

No one should argue against the fact the career is quite demanding and stressful. Working 10+ hours a day is not uncommon for this doc, plus having to find time to do paperwork/dictations OUTSIDE of that. I know the LAST thing I will want to do after working 10 hours for that day on 4 hours of sleep is 15 dictations. I really can see how that would get old after 20 years. Or having to fight tooth and nail with high school dropouts representing insurance companies, attempting to convince them why a particular procedure is necessary and should be covered. Or any of the other negative aspects of the career.

But in the end I'll do it, because it's part of the job and I remain confident that I will be reinvigorated whenever a patient thanks me for helping them, or when I'm able to successfully identify a disease, or perform a difficult surgery, etc. Plus I absolutely love stress and long hours and constantly having intellectual work to do. For me, even after seeing the more negative sides of medicine, I still remain confident I will be able to get through these aspects simply to continue doing something I am bound to love.

And just to throw this out there, and I apologize if this is overtly naive or optimistic...but the system can always change. Sure it's hard as hell to do it with lawyers in Washington and huge interest groups, but there's always a possibility, and that's what separates this country from a number of others.

 

[Schme]

Hi, my name is Schme and I'm currently working in corporate America. I'm actually at work right now.

Corporate America might not be for some, but for others it might do the trick. Give it a shot, perhaps you're the latter. As for me, I want to check out other career paths before committing, such as medicine. Think of your career as women or men that you have to try on to decide if they're a good fit for you. Don't just go having sexual intercourse with the first guy/doll you meet, end up having a kid and being stuck. Look around. Many fishes there are. If you truly have a passion for something, a college degree relating to the field will help, but if you want it bad enough, you'll make it somehow. I'm currently taking time off of school to see what the working class world is like and have worked steady for over a year and a half with a few different companies. One office you work in doesn't represent them all, just remember that.

I can see myself doing many things in the future, I've considered teaching, investment banking, real estate, entertainment/media, entrepreneurship, and of course medicine. A person can be good at many things, it's just sad that for the majority of us, we're going to have to choose one. Dabble in a little bit of everything when you can. Seek information about all your interests whenever you can. Talk to people, develop relationships with those people and ask them questions. Actively seek data and information but remember to take everything with a grain of salt. Don't have blind faith. You'll find your true calling, just be proactive.

 

[niranjan162]

Hi, my name is Schme and I'm currently working in corporate America. I'm actually at work right now.

Corporate America might not be for some, but for others it might do the trick. Give it a shot, perhaps you're the latter. As for me, I want to check out other career paths before committing, such as medicine. Think of your career as women or men that you have to try on to decide if they're a good fit for you. Don't just go having sexual intercourse with the first guy/doll you meet, end up having a kid and being stuck. Look around. Many fishes there are. If you truly have a passion for something, a college degree relating to the field will help, but if you want it bad enough, you'll make it somehow. I'm currently taking time off of school to see what the working class world is like and have worked steady for over a year and a half with a few different companies. One office you work in doesn't represent them all, just remember that.

I can see myself doing many things in the future, I've considered teaching, investment banking, real estate, entertainment/media, entrepreneurship, and of course medicine. A person can be good at many things, it's just sad that for the majority of us, we're going to have to choose one. Dabble in a little bit of everything when you can. Seek information about all your interests whenever you can. Talk to people, develop relationships with those people and ask them questions. Actively seek data and information but remember to take everything with a grain of salt. Don't have blind faith. You'll find your true calling, just be proactive.

The problem with medicine is by the time you get a true perspective of what its really like, you are so deep in thats its very difficult to change. So if you end up not liking it, youre in a tough spot.

 

[atomi]

-

 

[BennieBlanco]

Hi, my name is Schme and I'm currently working in corporate America. I'm actually at work right now.

Corporate America might not be for some, but for others it might do the trick. Give it a shot, perhaps you're the latter. As for me, I want to check out other career paths before committing, such as medicine. Think of your career as women or men that you have to try on to decide if they're a good fit for you. Don't just go having sexual intercourse with the first guy/doll you meet, end up having a kid and being stuck. Look around. Many fishes there are. If you truly have a passion for something, a college degree relating to the field will help, but if you want it bad enough, you'll make it somehow. I'm currently taking time off of school to see what the working class world is like and have worked steady for over a year and a half with a few different companies. One office you work in doesn't represent them all, just remember that.

I can see myself doing many things in the future, I've considered teaching, investment banking, real estate, entertainment/media, entrepreneurship, and of course medicine. A person can be good at many things, it's just sad that for the majority of us, we're going to have to choose one. Dabble in a little bit of everything when you can. Seek information about all your interests whenever you can. Talk to people, develop relationships with those people and ask them questions. Actively seek data and information but remember to take everything with a grain of salt. Don't have blind faith. You'll find your true calling, just be proactive.

I agree with this poster. Trying things for 2-5 years after your undergrad degree is a good idea. Try corporate america, work as a CNA or PCT in a hospital (you can get a good taste of medicine there without putting in a decade), experience different things.

Then when you settle on something you will be more likely to make the right choice and also not be faked into "the grass is greener" mentality.