I don't know whether to go into medicine or engineering. - advice on career choices

So initially, I was planning to go to medicine. However, after hearing about the intense working hours, lack of work-life balance, immense student debt, poor NHS system, increasing competition for specialty positions and lack of pay considering the amount of work you're doing, I'm sort of starting to change my mind. So here are the pros and cons of everything:
Med - cons:
- no work-life balance
- work 10 hours more on average than an engineering graduate + overtime so its very stressful and no sleep
- 3 years longer spent in education and hence not working
- competition is increasing so rapidly for specialty positions that it's scary and I'm really anxious that I'll end up in unemployment or a finance job to try and earn money
- more years in education = more student debt
- doctors treated very poorly by NHS and lack of funding
- sure, helping people is great, but I don't really find joy in doing so.
- job security is bad b/c of all the competition
- literally all my teachers have advised me against going into medicine. Not a single teacher (or even friend) has encouraged me to go into medicine.
- not really a 'respectable' job anymore. Yes, doctors help people, but there's other ways you can and people criticise doctors for their constant, long referrals, misdiagnoses, etc.
- so much competition, even after you graduate. And its getting progressively and rapidly worse with increasing competition from abroad.

Med - pros:
- Invested A LOT of time into researching everything about it and spent so much time in supercurriculars, volunteering and work experience, competitions etc. So it feels like if I leave all of this, all this time I spent would've been a waste.
- really liked biology. It was the only thing I was good at.
- very rare chance I could get a job as a consultant, but if I did I would have good pay and a good reputation. But this is very unlikely because practically everyone applying for med is a high-achieving, highly intelligent, highly-ambitious genius with photographic memory, and competition ratios for high-paying specialties for neurosurgery are like 7 applications per position.

Engineering - cons:
- I'm HORRIBLE at engineering. Always sucked at physics and never gotten above a bronze in the ukmt and didnt attempt any maths challenges after that. It takes me so much longer to understand concepts in physics than others do.
- I have zero supercurriculars for engineering, and if I want to get into a good university like Cambridge, I need a lot of these.
- I went to an engineering workshop once long long ago in like Year 8 or something, and I really sucked at all the tasks they gave us whereas some exceeded.
- involves a lot of desk work (which could also be the case with medicine?)
- more than half of engineering graduates are unemployed as soon as they leave university, but this changes
- i'm really behind on supercurriculars so I am severely disadvantaged against other applicants. Plus, all other applicants seem to know everything about robotics and programming, have done like so many robotic projects and so on. I didn't even take computer science at gcses. I know nothing about programming.
- didnt take physics A-level. Although I could possible take an AS level next year? I'll have to ask my teacher
- good scope for now but what if it becomes more competitive in the future

Engineering - pros
- work fewer hours so more freedom and better work life balance
- i feel it has good scope compared to medicine, especially in computer science related stuff.
- I like chemical engineering and things like material science, I found it interesting even though I wasn't good at it
- I really like working in labs and stuff so chemical engineering would be really nice, and I like working around hi-tech machinery, whereas in medicine you rarely see machinery and stuff if you choose to become a GP or something.
- If you get a good engineering job then you can probably earn more than someone working in medicine. I've heard so many stories on reddit where engineers earn more than their doctor friends, while also working much fewer hours.
- i like the idea of innovation, designing and creating products. Maybe if I tried hard enough at physics, I could be good at it? Is that a pointless thought?
- fewer years in education
- less student debt
- females in stem is trending. My teachers are constantly talking about women in stem to the point that its annoying. Not a lot of females I know doing physics A level though.

Before anyone says to "follow your passion" or "do whatever you'll want to do for the next 20, 30, 40 years" - I do understand your reasoning. However, I don't really mind becoming and engineer or a doctor, I have a bit of passion and ambition for both. My passion is to make a lot of money and have a good work-life balance (any job recommendations for this would be greatly appreciated). Only problem with engineering is that I'm behind; I don't have enough time to study for the ESAT for Cambridge, dont have any projects, etc. But I could definitely have a go at it, but is this worth giving up revising for the ucat? Also, I know that you have to work hard for any job, and there's a challenge to every job if you want a high pay; but it seems like medicine is all challenge and no benefit. It was only really the ideal job in the past. AI and engineering jobs are on the rise now. But at the same time, the people applying to these degrees are mathematical geniuses that programme in their free time and revise physic concepts in their sleep, so do I have a chance at all with engineering? Would I be better off working sleepless nights in a hospital ward? Are engineers really earning more than doctors or is only sometimes the case? Is medicine worth the hours? My biggest goal is to make a lot of money in my 20s so what jobs will help me do this? I don't mind even if it's a desk job, so...

(btw, putting this on the current medical students and doctors forum because I'd really appreciate advice from you guys in particular ).

Reply 1

lilshopkid

As someone who wants to go into engineering i think that all of your points are valid but the one that stands out the most is work-life balance!! Without a good work life balance it will be hard to live a healthy life no matter what! For that I'd recommend engineering.

Reply 2

paniconvinyl

I know that this is the generic answer that you didn't want, but genuinely for things like medicine, it is passion that gets you through the long years of schooling.There is a reason people say not to be a doctor for the money, and it is because the only real reward you will get for the first few years is a feeling of purpose. To address work-life balance concerns, there are specialties such as dermatology, psychiatry and radiology, where this is possible. Yes, competition is high but if you work hard enough then you can reach consultant level. Usually, competition tends to be the most high in areas such as cardiothoracics and neurosurgery, like you mentioned. Landing a top job in engineering will pose a challenge too so again, the question is which would you rather put your blood, sweat and tears into? There is a reason why medicine has amongst the highest drop out rates - many people go into the field for the wrong reasons. I have friends who have failed med exams countless times and the only thing getting them through resits is the longing to become a doctor and their interest in the field. Mind you, these are exceptional students who have come out of A levels with all A*s and flawless applications. Whilst I understand how much time you've invested into producing a good med application, do consider that being a doctor is a lifelong career and commitment that is going to require far more time and energy. You always have time to change your mind - even if that means taking a year out and exploring other options/garnering different work experiences. I can't give much input on engineering but I am assuming the same thing applies. Also, it is worth noting that A level physics is required for many engineering courses so that is something to research. If it is a large salary you are looking for then I would encourage you to look into degrees such as finance and data science which generally yield higher incomes.