Why do so many Asians take the Medicine/Dentistry route?

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from what i've heard a fair bit is down to parental pressure to get into a highly respected and profitable profession and what better than being a doctor ? :smile:

Reply 41

NutterFrutter

I don't see an issue in this... so what if parents want the best for their children? Kid A seems to be in a fantasy world like you, many doctors (including non-asains) are doctors because it is seen as prestigious and gives a good wage. Not all people doing medicine will have a massive passion for it, that would only happen in an ideal world..

Reply 42

Zangoose

Original post by matthew769

Fair enough, kid A should apply for medicine and I'll let the admissions team assess whether they are to be accepted. Although, I refuse to believe anyone can be interested in medicine purely on fascination - the money and job stability are the main pulling factor. In society as soon as you hear somebody has a few A* at GCSE, there's about a 75% chance they're applying for medicine? Surely not every single one of them is fascinated by the subject, they just know where the money is. And before you come at me saying that kid A is genuinely interested etc. I'm not really bothered, I think medics should be the very cream of the crop, not the ones who interviewers judge to be polite, friendly etc. I want the doctors of the future to be able to diagnose and cure me, not to sweet talk me and tell me it's going to be ok :colondollar:

I don't think there's anything wrong with kid B in this situation, he can do what he likes as far as I'm concerned. If he gets into medicine or dentistry, so be it.

Also, after attending an open day in an Irish medical school, the professor there said there's nothing wrong with wanting to do medicine purely for the prestige. The problem lies with those who 'want to help people'. You can help people in whatever profession you do, not just medicine.

Fair play bro.

Reply 43

Zangoose

Original post by Playa10

Possibly the dumbest thread starter I have come across. Say Kid A has a passion for medicine, as you identify, but is as dumb as nuts, what then? Should we let him become a doctor merely because he has a genuine passion for it? Employers do not only look for passion in a particular field, but the ability to get the job done. Allowing Kid A to become a doctor would result in greater deaths than allowing Kid B to become a doctor, who has the ability to carry out his job effectively.

I also said Kid A "does everything to achieve their goal" so that sentence alone invalidates any assumption or scenario of them being dumb as nuts. Learn to read my friend. Do you need to be taught how to evaluate simple rhetoric?

Read carefully before polluting my thread with such a clumsy, ill-mannered post.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 44

The_Internet

Original post by Deiidara

I'm Asian and I am doing Computer Science!

You're also a stereotype :biggrin:

Wikipedia covered you

Reply 45

Zangoose

Original post by Playa10

I also said Kid A "does everything to achieve their goal" so that sentence alone invalidates any doltish assumption or scenario of yours, of them being dumb as nuts. Learn to read my friend. Do you need to be taught the basis of evaluating key points in a simple passage?

I hope to God you're not a uni student.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 46

effofex

Original post by sachinisgod

thats true, but asian parents do not want that much for their kids. Just the 'community' should appreciate that ' his kid's a proffesional' :biggrin:

so they're amateurs? I thought the mentality was to be the best.

The 'community' will always look up more to those who are leaders in their field than those who are just cogs.

Reply 47

a05aafzul

You missed the most important part... which would make the best medical doctor, note that likely-hood dictates that person B probably would be filtered out at interview stage by any half-witted physician sitting on a board.
And BIG hint: it certainly wouldn't be the one generalising an entire social group as "typical Asians", certainly not somebody implying that "typical asians" so not care about their community, have a career choice based solely on their parents decisions, and have no passion for medicine.

Question; Do I as somebody of South Asian descent, born and raised in Britain not fulfill the criteria of "typical Asian" because I do care about my community, have a career choice not based in any way around what my parents want from me, and have a passion for medicine? Maybe I'm just unorthodox and different from this bigoted stereotypical image you have of these people, or maybe you're in the wrong?

P.S. I weep for the future of medicine if you're intending to become a doctor.
...And mankind.

Reply 48

The Phelps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkN9VdjgDwM

The video says it all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkN9VdjgDwM

Reply 49

freddy

because asians are clever.

Reply 50

fri'chickenisha

Just FYI you replied twice:

Original post by Zangoose

Reply 51

sachinisgod

Original post by effofex

so they're amateurs? I thought the mentality was to be the best.

The 'community' will always look up more to those who are leaders in their field than those who are just cogs.

not the asian ones mate... trust me i know. and BTW everyone cant be a leader, some will have to be cogs.

Reply 52

starfish232

Like many of you have said, it's generally due to the culture that has led to many Asians taking the science/maths route.

I do fall under that stereotype but not because of my parents or culture since my parents just want me to be happy and do what I want to do but everyone in my family does maths or science related jobs and degrees because they personally wanted to and I'm planning to go into medicine because I generally want to end up helping people through the subject that I love. I can also understand the idea that many Asians do the things like volunteering for UCAS but I'm not one of those as I mean that yes in the beginning it was about UCAS but than I just found it hard to say no to volunteering and end up doing much more than I needed to do for my UCAS and I think it's probably due to making me better about myself since I have such low self esteem and I do feel that everyone else has a better chance of getting into medicine than me.

Reply 53

effofex

Original post by sachinisgod

not the asian ones mate... trust me i know. and BTW everyone cant be a leader, some will have to be cogs.

I am South Asian too so I thought I would know. I really think that most parents will have more respect for those who are leaders/pioneers etc. than those who just get a certification (since anyone can do the latter).

Reply 54

Playa10

Original post by Zangoose

'Does everything to achieve their goal' is a subjective connotation and open to interpretation...it does not necessarily mean that they satisfy the requirements of a particular trade, or even if they do, they can be beaten by competition. If you were an employer, who would you employ, someone who can carry out his role, or someone who can carry out the role brilliantly? For examply, if i want to be a lawyer, and I go to Uni, gain a degree, undertake work experience, it does not necessarily mean that i automatically deserve a job. There are other people who can perform the job better than me. I think you get the point...but then again, your ignorance is abysmal

over 9000

what I don't get is you seem to make out that kid A and kid B are mutually exclusive options. I'm Chinese and hopefully starting medicine next year, and I agree that my parents did encourage me to do medicine. I think Asian parents are generally more cautious and wants a respectable relatively well paid job with job security, especially first generation immigrants who yearns for security. But I made up my own mind through work experience and volunteering and genuinely think medicine is a worthwhile career because you are helping people. I believe I make up the majority of Asian medicine applicants who received encouragement from their families but none the less decided on medicine through their own research. And your ambition driven kid B makes up a small minority in not just in Asian but all communities. Hard though it might be for you to believe, since you seem to think Asians are intelligent emotionless robots, even Asians aren't prepared to slog through a six year degree just for the non existent prestige.

I think being Asian made me more cautious about medicine because I didn't want to conform to the Asian stereotype, I was even scared that interviewers might think me less committed to medicine because of my ethnicity. Luckily, they are not shallow enough to doubt me and think I shouldn't do medicine just because a minority of my race sees it as a status symbol. btw does anyone know the actually percentage of Asians at medical schools? I know it's probably higher then the percentage of Asian in the 18-25 range but I'm curious as to how much.

Reply 57

f1mad

Original post by Deiidara

I'm Asian and I am doing Computer Science!

Reply 58

f1mad

Original post by effofex

You're right. Honestly Asian parents look for as much ego-boost as they can get, so they can show it off etc :colone:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 59

effofex

Original post by f1mad

You're right. Honestly Asian parents look for as much ego-boost as they can get, so they can show it off etc :colone:

Who do they show off to? I don't think my parents don't really do this - they are South Asian - but they live in a different country to me so I cannot really monitor them all the time.