Hate to get all negative up in here but i need to vent. So after i scored a pretty mediocre score in the last GAMSAT. I've been preparing for the GAMSAT in March aswell as working full time as a HCA in a local hospital. My mission was simple , get onto a medicine course , mainly because i love altruistic nature of being a doctor and my love for learning about the human body. Also i felt it could provide a higher purpose for my existence. This was until i started shadowing the doctors.. they spent alot of their time on computers doing administrative/management related tasks.. very little individual patient interaction mainly because they were overloaded with patients. I felt like they really could not be asked and just followed protocol...One mentioned he had 58 additional patients to fit in on top of the ones he had scheduled in for the day. He could not possibly provide them with adequate care simple because he had so many to see , so he had to prioritise according to necessity. I could tell he was not happy with the way things were but he was powerless.
The one shining grace at my hospital was the nurses , they were simple awesome with the patients and did whatever they could to assist. After speaking to some of the consultants , there was one common theme, they all hated their job and STRONGLY advised me against studying medicine. Most were either waiting for retirement or were off abroad. They said they had horrible work/life balance and if they had to be reborn would not choose medicine. I then worked in a mental health ward with the idea that psychiatrists have it better off (well paid/ work life balance). They also spent most of their time in a clinic off the ward , was all computerised case note and writing up drug notes , very little patient interaction. Could not see what exactly they did for patients apart from drug write ups and a few intervention plans. Have not got to speak to psychiatrists about work/life balance because its all very cliquey at this hospital i.e. doctors with doctors etc. Also had a conversation with a family friend who is a pediatrician who simply said its not worth it even if you have a selfless desire to help others ; maybe do what warren buffet did , become a billionare and donate to charity. Spoke to my GP yesterday who said becoming a doctor ,i quote is "****" and wish he studied something else.
MY VIEW: After realising my desire to help others will not be fulfilled via medicine and getting constant negative feedback from people who are in the position i wish i was in. I cant see medicine as a viable option for me anymore. I realise my sample size is quite small , i can imagine there are some doctors out there who enjoy their jobs but after weighing up the pros and cons in medicine , i dont think its for me. I guess what ive realised is sometimes what you imagine things to be and how are they actually are very very different. Hopefully this long rant helps someone out , i know it helped me. On a more positive note lol im off to a placement at a dental practice to see what that may bring.