Should I go into medicine if I hated working in a nursing home ?

I couldn't stand it. I hated the thought of having to do this every Saturday morning for 3 months and I couldn't imagine doing it every day for the rest of my life..

How similar is working in a nursing home to working as a GP / surgeon ? I understand obviously you wont have to do some of the more gruelling tasks that carers have to do like cleaning up faeces etc.

But I have this image in my mind of a patient thanking me for saving their life etc, and just having that connection with patients is what pulls me back to medicine.

I just don't know if I am compatible to medicine or not.

What, really ? I have most band 9s are in their 50s.

Also, isn't med school only 5 years for basic training, i.e to the standard a GP is at ? Not 10 ?

I have no background in Medicine whatsoever

Your post should have ended here

Also, isn't med school only 5 years for basic training, i.e to the standard a GP is at ? Not 10 ?

Ah, sorry about that. I ended up waffling and giving my (false) impression of something I clearly don't know. I just can't thank my GP enough to be honest.

Do you think it'd be best if I just deleted my initial comment?

I have no background in Medicine whatsoever, but I can't imagine many patients in my area thanking my GP... I also imagine the workload of a GP being potentially monotonous but very fast-paced (10 minutes per patient, quickly reading about their medical history, diagnosing, prescribing meds, writing up notes and then calling in the next patient). What's more, you probably won't get 'exciting' cases too often; maybe an STI or two if you're (un)lucky...

But, yeah - if that all floats your boat, work your heart out and go for becoming a GP. You may not realise it and you certainly won't be thanked enough, but you'll be making a (subtle) difference to your community, like how my awesome locum GP has done so.

STDs are generally seen by GUM, though of course it's something doctors from many different specialties keep an eye out for.

We've gone over this a good few times in your previous threads. What do you think would make you more certain about this? What are you looking for?



GP is a specialty m8 - in most other places in the world it's called family medicine. You are not at GP standard simply because you've graduated from medical school.

I know I have been, I apologise for this but I still really don't know. I guess I am looking for the right key to fit my lock. I think ultimately I need to do work experience. It's hard for me to accept that I will be losing my pluripotency that comes with being young and able to go in any career.

Yes work experience should hopefully help.

Even if you do medicine, complete the degree, work a few years in the job and only then realise you no longer want to do it you'll still be young and able to think about an alternative career - life is more flexible than you think when you have qualifications and earning potential

Apparently though I have read that it's hard to go into a different career outside of medicine in the same way you could breach into other sectors with a maths degree.

And what if I am half way through my medical degree and decide I don't like medicine ?

It's possible to get into other professions with a medical degree including law, consultancy, banking, teaching, and so on. You would need to put in the work with finding out about these careers, networking, gaining work experience etc but it's doable. You could also talk to a medical careers counsellor if you were still very confused and they would be able to offer further guidance.



I think if you were halfway through your degree you'd either leave with a BMedSci or have the option to transfer to a related degree e.g. biomedical sciences and gain a BSc, but this is probably quite university specific.

I couldn't stand it. I hated the thought of having to do this every Saturday morning for 3 months and I couldn't imagine doing it every day for the rest of my life..

How similar is working in a nursing home to working as a GP / surgeon ? I understand obviously you wont have to do some of the more gruelling tasks that carers have to do like cleaning up faeces etc.

But I have this image in my mind of a patient thanking me for saving their life etc, and just having that connection with patients is what pulls me back to medicine.

I just don't know if I am compatible to medicine or not.