Why people want to be doctors ?

Question

Is it to help out society or to see the human body ?

Answer 1

I am going to school to become a pharmacist.  I plan on specializing in oncology pharmacy and eventually going back to school down the road to become an oncologist.  I do it for a couple of reasons.  One is that I know what it's like to be in the patients position.  I want to help other people overcome their fears and eventually get put into remission or even become cured.  Obviously people will die, but the benefits of helping even one person are so great it makes up for it.  I also want to help find a cure.  It's terrible to see people in pain and suffering and I just want to see people feel better because of something I did for them.

Answer 2

2 reasons that must be inherent for anyone to enjoy medicine truly:

1>get a kick out of helping people

2>have an innate interest in medical science.

Neither one will do on it's own, or there are MUCH better routes to go.

Money, respect, autonomy are all reasons of the past and history has shown that ALL of these go way up and WAY down at times. So none of those are good reasons, and are just incentives for the naive if they think of those criteria are guaranteed. They are reasons uninformed PRE-med students THINK they want to go into medicine.

An example of this naivety is given in an answer above.....

Sadly, people like fpa06mr seem to believe nip/tuck and think that their doc is loaded.

The average generalist (most docs) makes 160,000 a year in the US and has $160,000 in debt at 6.8% interest.

At 50 hour weeks and 2 weeks of vacation, that is 64/hr. My plumber charges 75/hr and has no debt, no malpractice, and no late night weekend call. And no 10+ years in school.

You'll never be poor, but you will probably never be rich as a doctor.

Doctor salaries have fallen by 9% when adjusted for inflation over the last 10 years. An aging baby boom population relying on medicare is going to further lower doctor compensation, as the government pays what it wants, often not enough to cover the procedure itself!

Dmconder above seems to think doctors are researchers and also misses that NURSING is not MEDICINE. There are massive difference that one must educate themselves on, and this difference is a large reason for the debate about the role of nurse practioners.  Doctors do not try to find cures as a whole...at least not the doctor (MD) the question was about. PHDs and MD/PHDs are the true brains finding cures in labs and trials. Your standard MD may do some research and contribute to the system, but their task at the end of the day is to provide healthcare to individuals, not to develop new cures. MDs and DOs are simply the highest in the food chain of actual providers.

Answer 3

In my case, it started out as just plain interest in learning more about the human body... It was only when I reached my hospital rotation that I saw the human side of medicine.  I loved being able to use what I've learned to help people get well or feel better.  One of the best gifts in my life was the smile I got from a patient who thanked me for taking care of him during his coma.  It makes the long hours semi-tolerable :)

Answer 4

If they really wanted to help society, they would become nurses.  Doctors want to find cures, not to care about the pt.  They like to play god.

Answer 5

Did anyone else read the "to see a human body?"

I don't take pleasure in seeing the human body, I enjoy the patient interaction. I'd say a plurality coming in believe its to help society. But as they come out.... who knows.

Answer 6

Well I'm planning on being a nurse/doctor when I graduate. The reason i want to be a doctor is to help out people who's families are like mine. I've been in the hospital for family members since I was three, and I've been in there for so may different reasons. Most of my family has cancer or a type of leukemia. I've hated not knowing what's going on or what they're giving my family. I want to be able to know what's going on so that maybe I can give my input in and have the knowledge of having it right.

Answer 7

i'd say its for the obscene amounts of cash, and a job that probably never gets boring. it beats being a binman or something...

Answer 8

Fellow, if you think we get a kick out of seeing sick bodies, think again. If we wanted to see the human body, that is easy enough to do without spending years in training and being deep in debt.  We are not filthy rich, either. A few, perhaps. Most of the time if they are really well off it is because they made good investments, just like you can.

A lot of the answers below are truly offensive. We make less per hour than Plumbers and Mechanics on average.  It is folks like some of the responders that make us want to retire early. Let someone else save their sorry asses when they are in trouble.

Answer 9

I am 12, I want to be a doctor, and I'm pretty sure I want to become a doctor to:

1. Help people.

2. Preform surgeries.

3. Diagnose diseases.

Answer 10

i'm pretty sure the majority would say the purpose is to help out the society.

Answer 11

its neither...its a very good feild to get into..12 yrs of schooling

Answer 12

Many/most:  To help people

Other reasons:  Doctors make bank, some have big egos, they are trying to please Mom/Dad/someone else.