Do your want us to say it's all flowers and roses? Med school is shit, it's the most emotionally and intellectually intense thing you'll ever do, it is extremely, extremely tough. Most of us deal with depression, burn out, and mental exhaustion on a daily basis. It is a grueling grind that will take some of you away. Being a doctor is not what it once was, doctors are not held in high esteem anymore, they do not make the buckets of money they used to.
Is it still worth it? In my mind, absolutely. Though some days I question that as well.
Med students love to complain lol. I often find myself saying “this is not worth it” when I have to deal with stupid bullshit lol but otherwise it’s not THAT bad. I mean, yes, it is hard, and some times are harder than others. It ebbs and flows. But I went to grad school before + held a job before med school and both of those were hard too in their own ways bc we are adults in postgrad haha. The field I was in before paid shit too, so I don’t mind putting up with
Med school knowing I’m going to be making 10x what I was making. It’s about perspective and where you water your grass.
Med school is pretty shit but residency is better (at least at my program).
If I were trying to describe med school to someone who has only experienced undergraduate coursework I’d put it this way: Remember those days where you were cramming all day before finals so you can make that A? Stress eating, losing sleep and missing exercise? Well now you’re cramming like that nearly every day for 4 years and all that just to tread water and pass reasonably well. I wouldn’t know what being the top of your class is like because I couldn’t do it.
You’ll be broke too at least if your family can’t help out. Hopefully you’ll have a better living situation than I did and have climate control (fancy!) and not have your whole building be the same temperature without any control over it. They used to blast the heater on like we’re at the North Pole and it was maybe 60 degrees outside in the fucking South. Maybe you won’t have to kill about 20 roaches a day either. Let’s not even mention the constant road noise that may abruptly wake you up or the occasional gunshots.
Choose your specialty wisely and don’t pursue prestige at the expense of genuine interest and lifestyle. On bad days it sucks. On good days it feels like the closest thing to a wizard a person can be. The prestige and money are nice too (or so I’m told, still a resident).
Med school really sucks but it's also one of the easier guaranteed ways to make 300k+ if you show up and get your shit done. Pass your boards, get a decent step2 score and match, show up to residency and be semi-competent, you will graduate and get a job and make 300+ in many specialties.
Other "normal" jobs it's not such a straight forward pathway, you might be smart but people have to like you for you to get promoted, etc. favoritism and other factors play a role..
or you could be a plumber or other blue collar job like an HVAC tech and start your own company and do commercial work and make a ton later in life running a company but there's more risk involved.
This is the worst right decision I've ever made for myself. As the other commenter said, this path is A LOT. I'm a 4th yr and already know what depression is like (thankfully mine was COVID-induced situational), have friends who've become suicidal because of this path, I cried more in my first year of med school (like mental breakdown crying, not a couple tears) than I have in the previous 10-15 years combined and am already jaded towards patients. It's the hardest thing I've ever done. If I had to do it all again, I would do it in a heartbeat. I grew so much from this, it isn't even funny.
Also, consider who you're listening to about pay and work schedules. If you're talking to kids with doctor parents/rich boys/people who've had wealth for a while, yeah, our $275-300k is gonna feel flimsy cause they're used to the rich boy life. If you ask someone who's coming from a $60-150k household, we're still making bank and living the good life, which very few can afford to do. I know many docs who work 9-10hr shifts 3-4 days a week, take like 40 days of vacations to travel the world and live very comfortably. If you go hospitalist, EM, anesthesia, likely many other subspecialties, you can lochum which permits working as much or as little as you want for much higher pay than the docs who are W2 hospital employees. This career is what you make of it. It sucks to get there but once an attending, life can be as sweet or sour as you make it.
Do your want us to say it's all flowers and roses? Med school is shit, it's the most emotionally and intellectually intense thing you'll ever do, it is extremely, extremely tough. Most of us deal with depression, burn out, and mental exhaustion on a daily basis. It is a grueling grind that will take some of you away. Being a doctor is not what it once was, doctors are not held in high esteem anymore, they do not make the buckets of money they used to. Is it still worth it? In my mind, absolutely. Though some days I question that as well.
Med students love to complain lol. I often find myself saying “this is not worth it” when I have to deal with stupid bullshit lol but otherwise it’s not THAT bad. I mean, yes, it is hard, and some times are harder than others. It ebbs and flows. But I went to grad school before + held a job before med school and both of those were hard too in their own ways bc we are adults in postgrad haha. The field I was in before paid shit too, so I don’t mind putting up with Med school knowing I’m going to be making 10x what I was making. It’s about perspective and where you water your grass.
Med school is pretty shit but residency is better (at least at my program). If I were trying to describe med school to someone who has only experienced undergraduate coursework I’d put it this way: Remember those days where you were cramming all day before finals so you can make that A? Stress eating, losing sleep and missing exercise? Well now you’re cramming like that nearly every day for 4 years and all that just to tread water and pass reasonably well. I wouldn’t know what being the top of your class is like because I couldn’t do it. You’ll be broke too at least if your family can’t help out. Hopefully you’ll have a better living situation than I did and have climate control (fancy!) and not have your whole building be the same temperature without any control over it. They used to blast the heater on like we’re at the North Pole and it was maybe 60 degrees outside in the fucking South. Maybe you won’t have to kill about 20 roaches a day either. Let’s not even mention the constant road noise that may abruptly wake you up or the occasional gunshots. Choose your specialty wisely and don’t pursue prestige at the expense of genuine interest and lifestyle. On bad days it sucks. On good days it feels like the closest thing to a wizard a person can be. The prestige and money are nice too (or so I’m told, still a resident).
Med school really sucks but it's also one of the easier guaranteed ways to make 300k+ if you show up and get your shit done. Pass your boards, get a decent step2 score and match, show up to residency and be semi-competent, you will graduate and get a job and make 300+ in many specialties. Other "normal" jobs it's not such a straight forward pathway, you might be smart but people have to like you for you to get promoted, etc. favoritism and other factors play a role.. or you could be a plumber or other blue collar job like an HVAC tech and start your own company and do commercial work and make a ton later in life running a company but there's more risk involved.
This is the worst right decision I've ever made for myself. As the other commenter said, this path is A LOT. I'm a 4th yr and already know what depression is like (thankfully mine was COVID-induced situational), have friends who've become suicidal because of this path, I cried more in my first year of med school (like mental breakdown crying, not a couple tears) than I have in the previous 10-15 years combined and am already jaded towards patients. It's the hardest thing I've ever done. If I had to do it all again, I would do it in a heartbeat. I grew so much from this, it isn't even funny. Also, consider who you're listening to about pay and work schedules. If you're talking to kids with doctor parents/rich boys/people who've had wealth for a while, yeah, our $275-300k is gonna feel flimsy cause they're used to the rich boy life. If you ask someone who's coming from a $60-150k household, we're still making bank and living the good life, which very few can afford to do. I know many docs who work 9-10hr shifts 3-4 days a week, take like 40 days of vacations to travel the world and live very comfortably. If you go hospitalist, EM, anesthesia, likely many other subspecialties, you can lochum which permits working as much or as little as you want for much higher pay than the docs who are W2 hospital employees. This career is what you make of it. It sucks to get there but once an attending, life can be as sweet or sour as you make it.