If you could do it all again... would you?

Probably not. I still think I'll enjoy the job once I start in the specialty I want to work in, but given that even that's not certain, I wonder whether the 7+ years it will have taken to get to that stage were worth it.

I'd have wanted to be a graphic designer if I hadn't gone into Medicine.. or a writer if I'd been good enough to make a career out of it.

And here I am an ex-Graphic Designer trying to become a medic!

Good question. I hate it a lot of the time, but also love it and can't imagine leaving medicine. If I did it again I'd some how find the finances to have a gap year before I started. I could see myself having chosen to do engineering or conservation and enjoying it too though.

Interesting! I'm a graduate with a previous career as a writer, funnily enough! Are you still in med school?

This is exactly how I feel. If I were to do it all over again I would have applied as a graduate (and I appreciate how much more difficult that would have been).

I just wish I had used the chance to explore some of my other interests before settling into medicine - specifically studying Philosophy/English Literature at university. I also feel like I would have had the opportunity to develop more as a person if I had studied another degree before applying to medicine.



Out of interest, how did you get into the career of writing? Is it quite a difficult career to maintain?

I can appreciate that - but there must be pros for going straight in from A levels too?

I qualified as a journalist and worked in newspapers and magazines and it is a NIGHTMARE jobs-wise. Too many graduates for too few jobs - and the few that are about pay very little (my local paper offered me £13K for a 40hr week)

I love writing but want to do it on the side - really that's what most people seem to do as it doesn't tend to pay enough as FT gig. With a medical degree and if you can write, there are publications out there who would pay you for copy. Magazines and newspapers like to have a 'resident Dr' to blog on their websites - even local news!

Oh absolutely, don't get me wrong - I appreciate that I am very lucky to have managed to get into medicine straight from school, and am pretty much guaranteed a job. It is a privileged position to be in.

I do however think, as with most things, there are pros to taking a gap year in between school and university or something similar. I feel that people sometimes believe their only option is to go straight into university or a career path straight after school, even if they have no idea what to do, rather than take a moment and think about what they enjoy and experience the world a bit more. I don't think it is necessarily a rush to get into a job, and I think this is the one thing I had appreciated when I was doing my A Levels. At the time, my mindset was very much 'pass A Levels -> get into medical school -> graduate -> work as a doctor -> happily ever after.'

Doing writing as a hobby is something that has been on my mind as well, and I agree that it is probably more feasible. I've had a look around, and there are a fair few opportunities for writers working in healthcare. Books about healthcare in general also seem to be quite topical as well, so it is an area to look into.

There are times when I wish I had done medicine at 18, or before kids or if I had pursued a high earning career before starting so I had more options for GEM. I would still want to do medicine though. It suits me. I am just broke and knackered which is the bit I would want to change!

I just wish I had used the chance to explore some of my other interests before settling into medicine - specifically studying Philosophy/English Literature at university. I also feel like I would have had the opportunity to develop more as a person if I had studied another degree before applying to medicine.

If I did start over I might have studied something like Law, International Relations, Languages, Anthropology/Sociology etc. however it took the maturity of having gone through university education for myself to discover that I really had a passion for those subjects as well as a passion for health.

Although I think whichever road I would have taken, whichever subject, I actually probably would still come to the end destination of wanting to work in the field of global health/social justice.

You can still study that degree if you wish, I know a guy who graduated med school and works as a magician, it is never too late to do what you enjoy

Interesting! I'm a graduate with a previous career as a writer, funnily enough! Are you still in med school?

I probably would do it again for the following reasons:

1) Uni was fun, so 6 years of uni = double fun. Being a PhD student, which is probably where i would have ended up if not in medicine, does not seem as much fun as clinical school. Not by a long shot.
2) Whilst we like to ***** about how understaffed we are as doctors (which is definitely true)... I've never had to search for a job in my life. The reverse in fact - I'm e-mailed daily from people practically begging me to do shifts. Having to search for jobs, go to loads of job interviews, having to settle for something you don't really want because you lack financial security... is frankly not something doctors experience.
3) Linking to the above... I can just take years out and they'll just welcome me back. Other careers don't really allow that.
4) I can move north - nearer to the mountains, and where i can buy like a 4 bed house if i want even on current earnings - and not have to worry about where my job is going to come from.
5) Relatively easy to just leave the country. Probably my long term plan
6) Can work for MSF without too much trouble.

Loads of downsides too, not least that the government and higher-ups just couldn't care less about you, the horrible training structure, and the fact that they make you move around the country for no reason. But overall probably would do it again.



I also know a consultant cardiologist who works children's parties as a magician in his spare time.