Is Medicine 'worth it'?

I hope a Medicine degree really is worth it after you've completed it, because it's, ultimately, what I wish to become. However, their comments have reminded me that everything is not perfect in this world - I had a rather 'fairytale' view, I suppose. A lot of a doctor's experience depends on the patients, and, thankfully, I've met some lovely patients.

Hey,

I'm still a med student so I've left some of your questions for the doctors to answer. But here are some of my general thoughts and opinions:

Whilst I've never experienced it, I'm sure that being a junior doctor is very stressful and tiring a lot of the time, however, I also think that many doctors (even more senior ones) who say they'd rather be doing other jobs aren't being wholly frank with themselves.

Because I am a graduate medical student, I know what it's like to study another course and do other jobs...and whilst "other jobs" have less stress or hours compared to medicine, they have other drawbacks too! Not feeling like you're making a difference, repetitiveness, not producing results, endless deadlines, failed grant applications...frankly all jobs are a bit **** at times. Expecting perfection from your job is a mistake, it's a job, it's not supposed to be an antidote to unhappiness!

I'm not saying that being a junior doctor is therefore "easy", but I am saying that doctors are humans and all humans occasionally think the grass is greener on the other side, even though it actually isn't



Oh, don't worry about that, I shadowed an ENT surgeon when I was 18 and he and the anaesthetist also pitched a lot of questions at me...the majority of which I actually did know the answer to, but in the heat of the moment I somehow lost the connection between my brain and my mouth so instead I blurted out random wrong answers. Repeatedly.

Freezing up or becoming temporarily stupid (like me ) is something that happens to everyone: pre-freshers, med students, junior doctors etc...don't feel down about that. Being a good med student is not about knowing all the answers, it's about being hard-working and willing to learn imho.



Well, medical school teaches you the basics and the rest you eventually pick up through practical experience and further study. And yes, you are under the guidance of seniors, so it's not like you're totally unsupervised.

You can't expect to know what you'll be like as a junior doctor. But you should know that the vast majority of medical students finish medical school and become perfectly competent and able doctors. That should tell you something



To be honest with you, you can't ever truly know what anything is like until you've experienced it. But if you go into it with good faith, and having done all the necessary research then no one could ask any more of you. Which is what you're doing right now: by asking questions, doing work experience, etc, you're confirming whether or not you would be suited to being a doctor. You can't be wholly certain of that, but nobody genuinely knows what it's like to be a doctor until they are one!

If you can see yourself as a doctor and the job appeals to you, then I'd say go for it. You can't ever expect absolute certainty from anything (jobs, relationships, whatever!)

I know it's only a joke, but some people said that they wouldn't recommend medicine. They said choose dentistry (no way am I accepting that - teeth are boring! ), and seemed to not really recommend medicine as a degree due to the stresses, the fact that you're treated as s**t (their words, not mine), and the relatively low pay.

this is off topic but you said you wouldn't chose dentistry because 'teeth are boring'? i just thought i'd point out that if you do dentistry, you don't only learn about teeth, you learn about the whole body. I'm starting Dentistry at Liverpool in October and for the whole of my first year, my PBL meetings will be with Medical students as well.

Also, many people have the false perception - that dentists are ONLY concerned about your teeth and oral health. That's not entirely true - they have a holistic approach towards patients and they often advise them about general health too. dentists can also pick up early signs of for example, heart disease, by examining a patients mouth. Just thought i'd throw this out there

Thanks for the information. I didn't mean to disrespect anyone, so sorry if it appeared like I was!
Obviously, I respect what dentists do, and they're essential to our health. They're just as important as doctors yes, but they specialise in teeth. While doctors specialise in other body parts, such as the heart or brain - which I personally find more interesting. I mean no disrespect, of course! Sorry it had come across like that! I honestly didn't mean it to, and I perhaps should've phrased it better.

I hope you have lots of fun on your Dentistry course!

I think it's important to remember that most medics have never worked in jobs outside of medicine, their last job was probably their paper round. As a result I think they can idolize other jobs and see the flaws in medicine, when in fact other jobs can be just as stressful and lengthy in hours, but lack the interest, pay and same personal reward that medicine bring. .

^^^^^^ this.

We have quite a few doctors in the family and our friendship group. It tends to be the older ones that complain endlessly about how much paperwork they have to do and all the meetings - because I guess it has changed significantly since they qualified. One senior consultant is always saying he wished he'd gone into the city instead. My dad, a banker, just has a wry smile when he complains - he works longer hours than anyone I know, is at the mercy of his blackberry 24/7, is frequently called home from holidays or misses them altogether - and spends his entire life in meetings. He has almost no job security, and most of his cohort have left banking over the last 10 - 15 years. The grass is always greener.

But, depending on your position in the medical hierarchy, you could be placed 'on call' as well. And, I suppose you never really are far away from contact from patients - since their care does depend on you. Taking a holiday away for a short period of time surely would make you feel uncertain about leaving your poorly patient in the hands of others - although they'll be similarly qualified. Also, most patients appear to have their doctors mobile number! There's no getting away from it, I guess.

Where did you get this from? In the UK, they really don't.

Well, I'm not too sure to be honest. The doctor I was with got contacted a few times by patients. Maybe he's just an anomaly.

Definitely. No patients have my mobile number, and I'm pretty sure the same is true for the vast majority of my colleagues. A few consultants may give their number to a few select long-term patients, but it is far from common practice. It would be a total nightmare in terms of confidentiality and traceability.

Who can say? How many of these doctors have worked in any other profession? What do you want out of a career and life?

To be perfectly honest, who -doesn't- complain about their job in some capacity?

Well that's alright I guess. Would you day a job as a doctor is worth all of the preparation you had to do during college and university?



True. It's likely that anyone word complain about any job. But, at the same time, that job likely pays more.
I asked my supervisor would he have gone back and chosen Chemical Engineering, rather than medicine (Chemical Engineering was his 'first' choice, before he decided to study medicine.) He said no: but he could have made a lot more money.

There must be something really amazing about becoming a doctor. N intangible factor that makes everyone hate but love their job at the same time.

(FYI, I wanted to be and F1 racer when I was really young. )

Please help! Any comments, experiences, suggestions etc are greatly appreciated!

Well that's alright I guess. Would you day a job as a doctor is worth all of the preparation you had to do during college and university?



True. It's likely that anyone word complain about any job. But, at the same time, that job likely pays more.
I asked my supervisor would he have gone back and chosen Chemical Engineering, rather than medicine (Chemical Engineering was his 'first' choice, before he decided to study medicine.) He said no: but he could have made a lot more money.

There must be something really amazing about becoming a doctor. N intangible factor that makes everyone hate but love their job at the same time.

(FYI, I wanted to be and F1 racer when I was really young. )