Is Medicine really worth it?

I've been thinking about possible career choices, and one of them was to be a doctor. Recently, however, my mind has changed and I no longer want to be one. I have doctors in the family and was grown up with relatives telling me not to go into Medicine, saying it is stressful etc, and I didn't listen to them... I thought they were trying to put me off a good career. I have now realised that what my relatives were saying is right. Medicine/being a doctor is incredibly stressful, is not paid enough compared to the number of hours worked, (at least as far as those below consultant level).. and then once your a consultant the career takes over your life as you are relied on to treat and overlook the care of patients and after years of work finally reach decent pay. (that is to say they can start getting paid back the amount of money lost as a junior doctor who was overworked and underpaid).


So is it really worth it? The stress, the long hours, the responsibility. Don't apply for Medicine to be a hero, your dreams will be broken once you start working as a junior doctor.

I've been thinking about possible career choices, and one of them was to be a doctor. Recently, however, my mind has changed and I no longer want to be one. I have doctors in the family and was grown up with relatives telling me not to go into Medicine, saying it is stressful etc, and I didn't listen to them... I thought they were trying to put me off a good career. I have now realised that what my relatives were saying is right. Medicine/being a doctor is incredibly stressful, is not paid enough compared to the number of hours worked, (at least as far as those below consultant level).. and then once your a consultant the career takes over your life as you are relied on to treat and overlook the care of patients and after years of work finally reach decent pay. (that is to say they can start getting paid back the amount of money lost as a junior doctor who was overworked and underpaid).


So is it really worth it? The stress, the long hours, the responsibility. Don't apply for Medicine to be a hero, your dreams will be broken once you start working as a junior doctor.

Medicine really isn't a career path that you can look at pragmatically, it's not about the number of hours worked or the pay, obviously you want to be able to earn enough to live well and it's not unreasonable to want time off but the main factor in becoming a doctor is a passion for helping other people and a genuine interest in the profession, it doesn't really matter how much work you do if you don't have that imo

A lot of jobs share those characteristics.

A lot of jobs share the characteristic of 'a genuine interest in [medicine]'? Maybe other healthcare jobs (nursing, paramedicine, midwifery, etc) but I wouldn't say a lot.

A lot of employees share the characteristic of a genuine interest in their profession... which is what Blondi987 wrote in her original post. She wasn't specifying Medicine.

A lot of employees share the characteristic of a genuine interest in their profession... which is what Blondi987 wrote in her original post. She wasn't specifying Medicine.

Medicine really isn't a career path that you can look at pragmatically, it's not about the number of hours worked or the pay, obviously you want to be able to earn enough to live well and it's not unreasonable to want time off but the main factor in becoming a doctor is a passion for helping other people and a genuine interest in the profession, it doesn't really matter how much work you do if you don't have that imo

I disagree greatly.

At the end of the day, it's a job. It's where you'll spend a large part of your waking hours. It needs to have good conditions.

I didn't say it didn't have to have good conditions? And I did state in my post that it's not unreasonable for op to want fairly paid or normal working hours at all, but being a doctor is demanding, it's not a job to take lightly, op asked if it was worth to and it wouldn't be if your heart weren't in it.

I disagree greatly.

At the end of the day, it's a job.

Mental note: never engage a doctor named Etomidate. If all you are looking for is a job, irrespective of the other ranked characteristics (salary, working conditions, prestige, etc.), there will always be better options. If you are not compelled to a vocation of ambitious servanthood, you've made the wrong choice for both you and your patients. When I'm proper sick, I want someone whose only interest is me.

Mental note: never engage a doctor named Etomidate. If all you are looking for is a job, irrespective of the other ranked characteristics (salary, working conditions, prestige, etc.), there will always be better options. If you are not compelled to a vocation of ambitious servanthood, you've made the wrong choice for both you and your patients. When I'm proper sick, I want someone whose only interest is me.

Lmao. Get over yourself, mate. Servanthood? Want me to tickle your balls for you after I save your life? Yass sir, I is a good doctor, sir. I do what the good boss man says, sir.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and doff my cap to you as a delightful troll. Otherwise I would have to pity you for your exhausting arrogance. Sadly, I think that the latter is more common than the former. We breed that quality into our young medical students and pay the price for this in the doctors who we produce. And surely this is not good for them either, in generating an expectation of social gratitude for their care, which inevitably cannot be satisfied, so proxies (like wages) are used, which themselves are only a poor substitute for the enduring adoration they seek. And we are surprised when doctors are unsatisfied with their jobs! Perhaps my expectations are too high, or too unrealistic in light of the other demands we have in our selection and training processes. 21 year olds with more assumed authority than their young egos can cope with.

You're trying very hard, here.