Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Realistically, how passionate must one be to study medicine?

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A great comment. Thanks.

Speaking for myself, the good bits outweigh the bad so I have no intention to pursue other avenues.

You've outlined the bad aspects of the job and, more generally, being a public sector worker. What would you say are the positives of your job?

Reply 21

nexttime

Yeah, doctors like to complain and make themselves appear as self-sacrificing heroes. Whilst that's not entirely untrue in terms of other jobs people so highly qualified could get, sometimes they take it a bit too far!

Assess what they have said objectively and make your own decision.

All I would say is that the main downside I had not considered was the degree to which your life is in limbo whilst you're a junior. They make you move hospitals every year, or even 6 months, right up until your mid 30s for hospital specialities. So you either waste your life on huge commutes or move house stupidly frequently. When some of my friends outside of London are starting to buy houses in places they love... I'm nomadic for the next 7 years with not that much choice of where I go. Its pretty :dolphin:

Reply 22

Mathstatician

I feel like all the rational (precarious wording) reasons to not study medicine outweighs the ones to study it but I also can't help but feel I really want to do it.

The only real 'downside' I'm concerned about is all the rote memorising. I'm not great at that.