<p>In this forum it's ridiculous how someone is put down for asking the salary of a radiologist. I am both upset and angry at how some people think doctors are simply money hungry individuals when it is not true in most cases. Medicine is the only stable field throughout all economic hard times, pays extremely well, is the most prestigious career in the country, and brings lots of job satisfaction. People keep promoting buiness, but those are the real money hungry ones. I am just sick of people saying medicine is not the way to go. When you need a pacemaker or transplant, just tell me the same thing. Anyone who wants to be a doctor should put everything they have into their career and success will follow.</p>
<p>i dont want to go into medicine but i agree with you for the most part... besides the one's who want to do it just for money are normally filtered out through the med school admissions process, i am not right? i personally think the people who really care about medicine would be researching not practicing, but then again u need practitioners to use the researcher's tools in order to have any functionality to the people. kind of like theorists vs engineers. Engineers take what the theorists/scientists develop into the real world and give it purpose.</p>
<p>Anyways good luck with your future endeavors and maybe one day you'll be the doctor providing me a pacemaker.</p>
<p>"Anyone who wants to be a doctor should put everything they have into their career and success will follow."</p>
<p>That was exactly my point on the other thread. I didn't mean to discourage the original poster from practicing medicine. It's just that there are too many premed gunners who only care about money and I was hoping that s/he wasn't one of them. I'm sure you've heard the stories of premeds who sabotage each other's lab experiments. My point was simply that one should have pure motivations for becoming a doctor. Money is important, sure. Nobody would work if they weren't paid. But don't let the $300k salaries blind you from the real goal of medicine.</p>
<p>I don't think physicians are money hungry individuals. There are too many obstacles that have resulted in so many disgruntled docs. Daily fighting with insurance companies, having to accept insulting fees for your services because the insurance compay has cut your fee by 75%, fear of lawsuits, eroding patient respect, skyrocketing insurance premiums. So you are correct...today you go into medicine because you want to be a doctor.</p>
<p>Yes, for the most part people go to medicine because of interest. My only problem is that everyone seems to believe that people enter the field just for the high pay that follows a grueling weedout process.</p>
<p>yeah, i totally agree w/ you. A lot of people also keep pointing out how long you have to study to become a doctor, to try to discourage others from entering the field. i mean, its YOUR decision if you're willing to put in the time and effort (and delay marriage or watever), why should other people interfere w/ their opinions?</p>
<p>the funny thing is I know several people who are doctors because they didn't get into their first choice- veterinary school.</p>
<p>"Why do people put down everyone aspiring for a medical career? "</p>
<p>It really seems as if the people are jealous of those who want to go into medicine. The docs on this board are especially careful in detering potential future doctors from their field!! I think they don't want people flooding the medical field for some reason, which is understandable.</p>
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The docs on this board are especially careful in detering potential future doctors from their field!! I think they don't want people flooding the medical field for some reason, which is understandable.
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<p>First of all, the supply of new physicians is controlled by public policy, practicing docs have little input - and frankly even the AMA can't "control" that, it takes years, and much angst to ratchet up or down the supply of physicians. Practicing docs, through their specialty societies, can influence the number of people in a specific specialty, but again, changes take years to be felt in the job market.</p>
<p>There are many disillusioned and disheartened physicians, and their feelings come through on this board - I don't want to rehash that right now.</p>
<p>I think the tendency to discourage random posters is because A) many kids who post here have no real idea what medicine, medical school or even pre-med is like, and some of their assumptions are so far off base, that it makes an injection of reality sound discouraging, AND B) pre-med studies don't prepare you for anything really, and pursuing med school straight out of college can really limit you in exploring other careers and fields, limit you in just taking other classes that you might want to take. If a kid is on fire and passionate about science, that is one thing, but many of the best practicing physicians just "like" science - they are more skilled at deductive reasoning, sizing up people, etc, and often have wide interests outside medicine. I know many physicians who regret their undergraduate courses, because it was so science heavy.</p>
<p>The bitter truth is that, even on this success heavy forum, easily one-half the students posting here will never go to med school - anyone considering pre-med, should have a Plan B and a Plan C, it is just the smart thing to do. And, if you really consider why you want to go to med school, what being a doc is about, you may either talk yourself out of it, or by introspection, make yourself a much stronger candidate.</p>
<p>Great post Cangel, from someone who knows what they're talking about. :)</p>
<p>Coming from a long line of doctors, people that actual make it through med school must really want to be there because it is so hard and requires so much from you. Also if you are planning on attending you HAVE to focus on that. You have to be sure. If you don't give that 100% (that means you can have a just-in-case plan but DO NOT focus on it) you won't get in. Its like my older brother said to me- its like driving a car, you have to keep looking straight ahead, because if you look off to the side you're going to go off the road. ;) nice to think about. Anyway, whatever anyone says they want to be, I think that should always be encourged no matter what...so I don't think anyone should be put down or have someone else attempt to but them off their ambitions.</p>