TOPIC: Is Med School even worth it?

I am a doc. I do not recommend becoming a physician. It does not matter the reasons why I do not recommend anyone becoming a doc, find a cheaper occupation that would allow you to branch out should you get burned or burned out, like me. PT, OT, social work, nursing, PAs, NPs, Surgical techs, anything in the realm, but not MD or DO.

OK. Let me give you one reason. America is bankrupt, your average Joe is low on dough, docs are not low on dough, so expect at least one lawsuit in your career, even if it is frivilous. It is no longer worth it. And what Chris wrote is correct, if you are not sure, avoid at all costs. And the amount of oversight you will get from people and the public despite your training is ridiculous.

If anyone is curious. I am/was an internist. I only worked in hospitals as a hospitalist. Board certified( ABIM # 211988) and recertified, the whole bit.

Thanks for this. I really appreciate your honesty since you're actually in the field and not just giving personal experience advice.
The truth is I am very much on the fence about it as I know our healthcare system is taking a beating from the new reforms and the only reason I would want to become a doc would to be to start my own private practice.

I just know right now in the history of the US the health care field is getting shit on and it's harder to find work. I know several pharmacists who told me to stay far away from their field. I know one MD who said he would have never done it if he realized the field would have gone the direction it has been in the last few years due to changes in insurance have made in reimbursement.

I also realize there are ways to make a lot of money online and want to explore that option before I try to just into a nice 200-300K loan that I will never be able to pay off if I decide Med school isn't for me.

I would consider a degree that would work overseas and the world over. We are at an advantage living in the States, becoming a polyglot and broadening your career horizons will pay dividends in anyone's personal and social life. That is not to say the world is not also bankrupt, you get my drift. That is what I should have done; many residents are now heading out to NZ and other places for work.

Talk to someone who knows you well, get their advice. By taking a mentor's advice, I pretty much ended up having all my tuition paid. Network your tail off, starting now.

I do not want to come across as condescending, but these are some of the things I would have done sooner.

Networking, no matter what your degree, will pay you in spades.

It's such a long road. That's the biggest draw back. 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of med school, 3-7 years of residency. That's 12 years minimum. Most my doctor friends don't start their career until mid 30s.

The student loan is over blown. You make 20K a month. My buddies are paying $500 on their student loan. Could be more, but let's just say $1000/month. Not a big deal.

Burn out is also a big issue. Unless you are super smart, or super disciplined, you lose a lot of weekends studying. Some of my friends took a year off in med school and go do research in NYC and have a good time. Or take a year off to travel. That way you avoid burn out, and get to experience life, maybe bang a few chicks. I think guys who are already good with women have no trouble getting laid in med school, but if you are not experienced, you won't be able to change your personality or habits due to work stress.

The pay is going down for sure, but American doctors are still the best paid in the world. In Europe they get maybe $80,000. So I heard.

Good luck.

RelapsingAWOL wrote: I would consider a degree that would work overseas and the world over. We are at an advantage living in the States, becoming a polyglot and broadening your career horizons will pay dividends in anyone's personal and social life. That is not to say the world is not also bankrupt, you get my drift. That is what I should have done; many residents are now heading out to NZ and other places for work.

Talk to someone who knows you well, get their advice. By taking a mentor's advice, I pretty much ended up having all my tuition paid. Network your tail off, starting now.

I do not want to come across as condescending, but these are some of the things I would have done sooner.

Networking, no matter what your degree, will pay you in spades.

Relapsing: How did med school and residency impact your ability to get pussy? I wanted to get a perspective from someone who actually is a doctor, especially since your on this website.

I'm reopening this thread to ask,

how can i make this happen.

Any advice is appreciated.

Legendary

Well here's a start.

Investigate the applicant information sections on the various schools that you are applying to. Chris made a post on this, check out the section specifically where it talks about stating your race

www.goodlookingloser.com/entry/college/m...about-college-part-1

no offense: being a minority you can get into med school with grades and mcat scores way below the average of the schools you are applying to. The average gpas for md med schools range from 3.6 to 3.8 with the mcat scores being around 80th to 90th percentiles and you can get in being a minority with a gpa in the low 3.0's and an mcat around 50th to 65th percentile.

I hope this isn't taken the wrong way but every job has its frustrations.

The higher up, so to speak, the more problems, it's part of the life and what you're paid for.

While med school is a huge time sink and the money is crazy, is there not an upside of having such a profession when you make it?

Not to knock anyone, but on this board it's mainly guys trying to quit school and make money online through blogs and affiliates. Great if you can do it but very few truly make it work. Besides that everyone here seems to be going for entry level sales jobs where you bust your ass for crappy comission.

If you are blessed to have the opportunity to get such an education and profession, do you really advise guys against it to go into crappy sales jobs and such? Seems extreme to me.

I did my undergrad education at a big ivy league school where most of my classmates with science majors like myself were pre-med. Many of them thought that they wanted to be doctors, but most were actually doing it because their parents were doctors, or because they were from cultures (chinese, indian) that valued the profession so much that once they were in a position to obtain that credential they had no choice but to do it otherwise their family and friends would have chastised them. So lots of pressure on these kids to do something and no guiding voice to tell them to look for what they really wanted.
Fast forward to now, and I took the oddball non-conformist approach of pursuing a weird career doing something I really had a passion for while my pre-med friends became high status doctors.
On paper they make more money than I do, but I actually do quite well. I work as a consultant though and get to set my own schedule and work the amount of time that suits me.
Many of my doctor friends however are saddled with huge responsibilities, massive insurance and legal fees, regulatory red tape up their asses and expectations from family and the community that are way out of proportion to what their means actually are after they've paid all those rapists for the privilege of being a doctor. Many of them envy me and my simpler lifestyle and greater personal freedom.
BUT, there are a few who truly have a passion for their work and they are the happiest, most successful, brilliant people you could hope to know. They actually chose the profession for the right reasons and nothing would have been a better fit for their lives.

So you must be true to yourself and only yourself when making big life decisions. No amount of pain and sacrifice will make the right choice wrong for you, and no amount of social validation or financial reward will make the wrong choice right.

The amount of time to just get into a legit md med school( if you are white), get 4.0's in premed track, volunteer, perform research, and sacrifice a lot of nights going out is extreme to just get into med school. Did I mention the amount of time needed to get above a 80th percentile on the mcat? Most pre meds are awkward as fuck and have poor social skills and as a result do not get laid much if at all. To become rich you will have to work no matter what you do, but the competition for med school is tough( again top 30 md med schools) and it is a big time commitment and a lot of sacrifice just to get in before even considering the absurd amount of hours required to do well in med school and even more so in residency. I was trying to get into med school for a combination of both for my passion for health, making money, and my abilities in the sciences. Lets be honest: money is a factor( at the very minimum part of the equation) for everyone going to med school. There is no such bullshit as "oh do not do it for the money". Without money you die and what else are people who are gifted in the sciences supposed to do? The PHD field does not have good job prospects and even if you do snag a job in academia there is a good chance that a high school teacher in Michigan or Cali will be making more than you at that stage of his career. It really all boils down to if there is a demand for what you want to accomplish with your science skills( for example one nerdy phd dude started up his own billion dollar start up where they use microchips to see how different drugs impact each individual's neuronal tissue).

I know a family friend that became an orthopedic surgeon and now says that if he had to do it all over again that he would not. While he loves his job and is good at it, he regrets the amount of time he sacrificed. He also says that he feels undervalued as he is not getting paid nearly as much as orthopedic surgeons used to make due to decreasing insurance reimbursements. He said that another family friend( who owns a used car dealership) would probably make more money than him in the long run.

It is not worth it if you are going into a primary care residency: why the hell would anyone get into 250-400 k in debt to barely make over 100k and to pretty much be the pawn of the drug industry? Some states are creating laws where they pay for half of your med school tuition if you do become a primary care physician though. All these new osteopathic med schools are opening up to create more primary care physicians, but it is my opinion the primary care field will eventually become oversaturated and be similar to the oversaturation of lawyers today. 80 percent of health care costs go to preventable diseases such as type 2 diabetes which is completely preventable with the GLL FAT LOSS DIET. Why the hell should big pharma keep on making off people for insulin shots and diabetic supplies? My friend who works as a medical assistant in an ophthalmologist's office keeps telling me how patients never manage their blood sugars and as a result due to the continual eye damage from poor diet they have to come in every 4 weeks to get $1000 eye injections to curb inflammation. He says that the doctors never educate the patients about a GLL like diet because they know that if the patients controlled their blood sugars there would be no need for them to get steroid injections. The healthcare field is every bit of a business as anything else.

The only way that I would recommend someone going into medicine is if they absolutely do not want to do anything and if they already came from a satisfying social life. People need to know ahead of time the time commitment required to become a doctor and truth about healthcare( decreasing insurance reimbursements, drug company kickbacks, drug reps, hospital bonuses if you order enough tests, etc). There are some doctors( Wheat Belly Doctor William Davis) that speak out against hospitals because the hospitals give bonuses to doctors that reach their quote for the amount of tests( such as heart scans )that they prescribe. This scenario is no different that acting as a salesman.

Maybe dental school instead. You can start working right out of school make good money, 40 hours a week, run your own business if you want and dont have to deal with death. Dentists seem pretty satisfied with life, plus I never met one who wasn't cool