Is being a doctor all it's cracked up to be?

Question

Is being a doctor all it's cracked up to be?

Answer 1

No.

Answer 2

It depends on your motivation.  It is a huge responsibility.  No matter what you choose as a specialty, unless it's radiology or pathology, you have to be a real people person.  You have to study for a long time, four years for med school, then residency which is at least three years long.  Some residencies are 12 years long.  The time you spend becoming a doctor is also extremely stressful, as the hours are long and then you take call.

Once out, you take call on rotation with other docs, and your schedule is not always your own. Emergencies happen in most areas.  If you have patients in the hospital you have to make morning and evening rounds.

If you are in private practice, you work your day and take your call and have a lot of freedom relative to those who work at a teaching hospital who must teach, do research and keep up with a practice.

The fee reimbursement is not as high as it once was, so docs are loosing income relative to what they used to make.

If you have a calling to help people, want to be in charge of your world, and can handle the responsibility to telling people both good news and extremely bad news, are a dedicated student, are able to keep up with the rapid changes in medicine, it's a great job.

Answer 3

You know, my roomate and I were talking about this just the other day. Sure they make a lot of money and they get a lot of respect.. but I don't think I would want to be one. First of all the schooling is expensive and takes forever. Next, you work all the time and when you aren't working you are on call so you can't leave your town incase there is a rush in the ER or one of your patients goes into labor or is in a crash. On top of all that, there are people that will do anything to sue them and win when they didn't do anything wrong. They must also carry VERY expensive malpractice insurance. There are lots of people who love the job regardless of all this but I don't think they get enough credit for the job. I wouldn't want to go through all this.

Answer 4

tv shows make it look A LOT more glamorous than it actually is... the biggest thing that people don't take into account when planning on being a doctor is the amount of self motivation it will take. (aka. loads of memorization, studying for major tests that affect the outcome of the rest of your career etc.) and plus, once you get through medical school (which is impossible to get into) although you have the "Dr." title, you become an intern for a year or so...

then you get to be a resident for a long time (you are doing less grunt work than an intern but you still must be supervised at all times) this is where you start learning about your specialty (internal medicine, neurology, etc.) (ps. being a surgeon takes even LONGER)

...

until (and if) you are promoted to attending in which case you are fully licensed etc and do not need to be supervised any longer

basically, it takes a long time and you shouldn't try to be a doctor unless you

1. feel like your life wouldn't be complete without being one

2. made excellent grades in college

3. are competitive

4. are extremely self motivated

Answer 5

yes, u get money

Answer 6

Yes if it's something you're passionate about. Takes a lot of hard work and dedication.