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I hear that people in residency have to work an average of 60 hours a week, and often times even more. That's pretty ridiculous.
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<p>That's... what I'm doing as a graduate engineer...</p>
<p>Dang, should've gone into medicine.</p>
<p>aibarr , i say the same thing, sometimes.
but then i say oh no I am much smarter by studying engineering:-)</p>
<p>Engineers really do have huge egos...medicine is much harder than engineering. Don't kid yourselves.</p>
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Engineers really do have huge egos...medicine is much harder than engineering. Don't kid yourselves.
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<p>I'm not saying engineering is harder. I'm saying that y'all haven't mentioned a single one of the reasons why I think medicine's harder.</p>
<p>-The hours suck as a resident and med student. I would never be able to pull 30 hour shifts. Ever.
-The time that you <em>are</em> in school for medicine, there's no lull in the amount that you have to study because there's a ton of memorization. Once you "get it" in engineering, you can do a few practice problems more, maybe, but studying more isn't going to really get you anywhere. In med school, you've got to continually cram information into your brain using mnemonics and acronyms and other memory tricks, and I just don't want to deal with that.
-The pay when you're qualifying to become an engineer is FAR better than the pay when you're qualifying to become a doctor.
-As an engineer, you still have to deal with malpractice insurance and people suing you, but you don't have to deal with HMOs and insurance companies. Also, when contractors don't do what I tell them to do, I can yell at them. You can't really yell at patients.</p>
<p>I just don't think "amount of hours" or "amount of training" or "difficulty of material" are different enough between the two fields to be able to point to one and be like, "Well, this is what makes (medicine/engineering) harder."</p>
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Engineers really do have huge egos...medicine is much harder than engineering. Don't kid yourselves.
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Medicine is not harder than Ph.D quality engineering. In fact, I've never seen that argument <em>anywhere</em>.</p>
<p>As a Ph.D. theoretical physicist - I think engineering is a joke.</p>
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As a Ph.D. theoretical physicist - I think engineering is a joke.
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<p>And we bow to your obvious superiority, grand sir. And your sense of tact.</p>
<p>(What on earth did that contribute to this conversation?)</p>
<p>I'm adding a ridiculous comment to an absurd thread</p>
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I'm adding a ridiculous comment to an absurd thread
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<p>Next time, use the <sarcasm></sarcasm> tag!</p>
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Are you kidding?! 60 hours - NO more like 80-90 hours!!! I’m not kidding, I have a close family friend in residency right now, damn I feel sorry for her, and says this isn’t uncommon, although she’s doing surgery so it varies. And some medical residency programs are capped at 80 hours, but that’s less than 10% that have to comply with those guidelines, I know neurology is capped at 88 hours a week but once again, some programs are more. 60 hours a week is a vacation. Don’t forget we’re talking about weekends as well. </p>
<p>And yeah, you can’t really compare Medicine to Engineering, there are so many subspecialities of both, it depends on what country you’re from, etc. However, pre-Med students can study whatever they like, so Engineers have a harder time in UnderGrad. But then in Residency, when med residents are working 80 hours a week and getting paid next to nothing…:)</p>
<p>And someone pointed out not many Doctors become Engineers - well duh dude, if you spent a decade becoming a doctor and are getting paid $200K, why would you become an Engineer as well?! It happens, I’m sure, but it’s rare.</p>
<p>I also worked alot of hours as an engineer - probably 60 hours + including some overnight stretches. I was paid starvation wages. I once drove to the airport @ 3 am to obtain documents to incorporate into a proposal for next morning. Anyone want to guess -we did not get the work. </p>
<p>In consulting engineering, the problem is so much focus is spent on getting the work. In Canada competition is fierce and this drives down wages and profits. Also, many firms have simply been squeezed out. One firm I know of in Canada has all engineers mapped out for work going forward. If you are projected to have less than six weeks worth of work, then an automatic layoff notice is sent. This can be rescinded if something comes up. I know one chap who received 6 notices over 2.5 years until he was finally let go. Try planning your life and family around that.</p>
<p>In medicine, they have a different problem - too many clients. In Ontario, it is tough to find a family MD amd they are crazy busy. Barring something serious, I know I have about 3 minutes before I see my MD’s leg winding up and I leave his office with his shoe print on my duff. </p>
<p>The great thing about being an MD at least in Canada, is that there is guaranteed work all the time. I know one MD mom who works 3 afternoons per week plus limited weekend walkin work and earns more than her husband who is a chemist. </p>
<p>In the early 60’s engineers made more than general MD’s in Ontario. This has long vanished due to crazy enrolment surge.</p>
<p>Doesn’t it just depend on what you’re better at? I’m not a GREAT math student, I can do the work but it’s not something I excel at. On the other hand I seem to do pretty well in biology and can memorize better than most of the students in my class. I finished gen chem and I didn’t really like it, there’s a lot of math involved (even though it’s not advanced math) I still didn’t enjoy it (managed to get an A in gen chem II but the math was a bit tiresome). I considered doing engineering for a very brief moment but realized I would never enjoy it, hence I am pursing medicine.</p>