<p>ok, I’m gonna be blunt; if you’re going into this profession for money, you’re an idiot. Seriously, get out now, save yourself the heartache - here’s a reality check: 4 years undergrad, 4 years Med school, 3-5 years Residency, being hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, no real salary til age 30, incredibly time-consuming work, did I mention it’s incredibly difficult academically? If you don’t have a genuine passion for this field, it’s gonna be torture, so be smart - do what you really want. Don’t give yourself the heartache cause you’ll burn out. If making money is your #1 goal, study Finance, Business, Engineering, make yourself happy, because we don’t want people in this field if they’re not passionate. Other medical researchers and physicians deserve better than that, sick and dying people deserve better than that. </p>
<p>I want to become a medical researcher and study neurological conditions, because I’m fascinated by them, and honestly I can’t think of anything more worthy to spend my life doing. I know it’ll be really hard, but I wouldn’t be happy doing anything else. I’m proud of my family and friends for what they’ve chosen to do with their lives - my whole family is in business/finance, my brother and boyfriend are both going into finance and I’m happy for them - but I’d honestly be miserable not doing what I like - which for me is studying neuroscience, genetics and doing med research - for you it might be teaching or engineering or something. Whoever said you’ll burn out if you’re not doing what you like is right. And my science classes are filled with potential physicians, scientists, and researchers who are science geeks at heart, and I love them for it. We don’t get how spending your life isolating T-cells can be considered flashy. :p</p>
<p>Frankly, I would never go into medicine because…well, I just don’t like helping people.
I don’t think there’s enough money out there for me to pretend that I give a damn about their scraped knee or discolored earwax.</p>
<p>Choosing any career solely for the money is probably not the best idea, be it a medicine, law or tic-tac-toe wizard.</p>
<p>Umm… no. People work because it is to their self interest. otherwise everyone would be sitting on their ass waiting for unemployment benefit- which frankly isnt as meager as people say it is. </p>
<p>People will go into medicine for money and that is the respected way to do it. Without the craze for profits, the Europeans would have never dominated the world in the 1860-1914. Similarly, without the craze for profits, Jarvik would have never invented the artificial heart.
My dad moved to America, took MCAT and Border, and now cashes in a 6 digit salary that begins with a 3. He certainly does not enjoy treating the patients more than he enjoys the fat paycheck he receives every 2 weeks. As long as he get paid and know that my family has a roof over our head, he does not give a F about his patients. Family first, money second.</p>
<p>Seriously, why work at all when you can sleep in a little hut in an alley? To get rich and get into a better House. I believe Mr. Adam West would back me up on this one.</p>
<p>My mother is a physician (urology, she gets right up in there) and actually cares about her patients, she always comes home worried because she couldn’t get in contact with whomever because she suspects someone has prostate cancer and wants work done.</p>
<p>I sure as hell wouldn’t want a doctor who didn’t care, hence why I wouldn’t be a doctor. I’d be a horrible one.</p>
Haha me neither…I admire all the healthcare workers like your mom who put up with that crap, because I volunteer at a hospital and patients suck, they’re self-centered and whiny and think they alone have the only sick family member in the world, and scream at the overworked staff for no reason.</p>
<p>I’d also have trouble dealing with people who made themselves sick (Oh no, I ate donuts for every meal and now my arteries are clogged, how’d that happen?!) and maybe that’s why neurosci/genetics appealed more to me - neurodegenerative diseases are the worst, so many horrible deaths, losing your mind and motor abilities and slowly losing control over your body until a painful death…plus they’re fascinating to study. I’m horrible, I know.
i agree but it’s worse with medicine imo because you’re dealing with life-and-death daily and your heart had better damn well be in it, whereas a plumber who secretly hates plumbing will not accidentally kill someone cause he’s not dedicated to his job. I would also be horrible with patientcare, that’s why I’m gonna do med research and not nursing.</p>
<p>CCer, I understand your dad’s priority is your family, but lots of people make a ton of money and they’re not saving lives or helping people the same way. My dad did 3 years of college and is rolling in cash, but he attaches no meaning to his job, jokes that he’s a “paper shuffler” and wants to retire so he can do something more meaningful. There are lots of ways to get money, and this career is hardly a fast track, especially with salaries dropping, and the education and hours and heartache. If you had a horrible disease, would you want your dad as a doctor, if he doesn’t care whether you live or die?</p>
<p>LOL, the patients do suck. I’d go crazy if I had to deal with them.</p>
<p>One of the things my mother absolutely hates is those “know-it-all” patients who will watch a commercial for some random medication on TV or read an article on WebMD and then demand that they receive that exact medication or act like they’re an expert because of WebMD.</p>
<p>if you get out of undergrad in 3 years doing something that earns you about 50k/year, and begin saving/investing heavily immediately, the difference in how much money you’ll have by retirement will be nominal.</p>
<p>@ the OP: I want to go into the medical field because I had a family member diagnosed with a very serious mental illness. We went through many hard times because of it. I guess it’s an attempt to understand. Plus all of the blood and guts of it is really cool to me, so I wouldn’t be bothered by cadaver work and all the grotesquely awesome wonder of the human body.</p>
