My top post of all time addresses this question – Why become a doctor?
I received a recent email from a 20 year old college student who asked me about this issue. As I have pondered this email, I searched for the proper words. Readers know that I love being a physician. But this student asked a different question. The problem is the classic one for all who go to medical school – can you and should you delay gratification of need?
Going to medical school and doing residency delays adolescence. You stay a student for your entire 20s. Looking back from age 60 this decision seems simple.
I enjoyed the last 2 years of medical school and my residency (readers know that I hated the first 2 years of medical school.) As a 60 year old, I guess that I missed out on my 20s – but did I really. What did I miss?
So here is my advice to 20 somethings. The 20s only represent 10 years of your life. You have many years after to work and contribute.
As a physician I still feel vibrant at age 60. I still make an important contribution to patient care. I still influence students and residents.
I wake in the morning, look in the mirror and have a sense of purpose.
At age 60 I am not worried about employment. I make a decent living – although have many friends (non-physicians) who make much more money. I like working – and sometimes wonder if it is really work.
So my simple advice is that medicine is worth it – not for riches – but for the work. Helping patients feels good every time.
I would always argue that the trade-off in your 20s is paid in multiples.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
What about your family life? Do you think you’ve sacrificed more than you would like for the sake of medicine, or is it a delicate balance that can be perfected with time, or perhaps choosing a field with less rigorous hours? My father is a vascular/general surgeon and I know he often regrets not being able to spend much time with my family, especially when I was younger. I’ve read that many med school students are choosing specialties that either pay out higher salaries or offer more appealing hours, which creates shortages in some physicians, such as general surgeons. This may be too broad of a question, but can the disincentives to choose a path such as radiology over general surgery be addressed properly?
Correction in my last sentence: it should be dealing with the disincentives to choose general surgery over radiology, as radiologists get a reputation of earning higher salaries and work less hours than general surgeons
I agree fully with what you say
But your post is for the question
Is Medicine Worth in 1960s
The actual question asked is Is Medicine worth in 2010
The answer may be the same, but your explanation is totally unrelated
I just think it is worth it if that is what you want.
I am in Med school, i have been only for a year, and I still feel confused if I chose the right option.
Anyway, I am surrounded by different kinds of people, the ones who came in Med school just for the money, because they want to change the way they live and “improve it”; other ones who had no other choice, I mean, they had no options so they chose the one they thought would be the best; and the only ones who I think should be there: the ones who love to be there, not for the money or some stupid reason, but because they feel they must be there, above all, they have got vocation.
I know this may sound old fashioned, but I think if you do not really love what you do is not worth it, no matter how much money you can earn, how many cars you can buy, how many friends you have or how many power you can get.
I simply cannot imagine my entire life doing something I do not really love, it would be awful to spend the rest of my life working (when you are doing what you love, is not a real job =) ) in something I dont like.
I think there is always something you want to do, you just feel it. Med school is not just another option, but it could also be the wrong one.
Imagine, you can like vanilla but you love strawberry. Are you willing to sacrify your chocolate for vanilla? Just because the rest of the people think that vanilla is better? Or you would go get your chocolate?
You must get to something YOU like: you go first, then everyone. Is a big desicion, that will be the rest of your life with you. Do what YOU like, go where YOU want to go and the rest will eventually come.
It is true that you must sacrify a lot of things, but if you are sure this is your passion, there is no reason to hesitate.
The question has not been answered. Why Medicine in 2010? I have been married to a primary care doctor for 28 years and our son is now in college-PreMed. My husband does not want him to pursue it. I lived through internship/residency and postponed childbearing because of it. I wanted SOME time together before we tied ourselves down. Our friends all were living comfortably while we were paying off loans. By the time there was a pay-off, managed care set in and our hard earned years of sacrifice went down the tubes. We live comfortably, but our income continues to plummet with each passing year. (I am a health care provider-clinical social work). We, of course, did not have the extensive debt of today’s medical schools.
The question is with Obamacare. Reimbursements will continue to plummet when the system finds that it can’t sustain itself. And how gratifying will it be to “help” patients when the government will dictate exactly how you must prescribe, what you must prescribe and penalize those doctors who refer “too much” to specialists. Reimbursements will also come as a package. You can spend one hour or ten for the same condition, but will get the same amount for it. In the meantime, you will still have the same business expenses. Your landlord will increase your office rent, your malpractice will continue to rise and you will still have to pay salaries to office staff. (Of course, you can save by now eliminating health care insurance as a benefit although you will still have to pay for it yourself, out-of-pocket. Gone are the days of professional courtesy. No one can afford it).
So I ask you. Shouldn’t I be getting off my Jewish mother syndrome of “my son the doctor” and redirect him elsewhere?
Hmm.. As a premed student, this is all intriguing information. I know I am all set out to "save the world" as it were but will it be that way 10 years from now or will I look back with a certain amount of regret?
I think the answer will depend from person to person and how much interaction you have had with people who are sick. These monetary life-styles are great and all (dont get me wrong, who does not want a good salary) but to know you saved someone's life due to your dedication and hard work is a feeling that no amount of money will ever let you have. So is it worth it, I would like to think so it is..