Why am I putting myself through this?

[kkqd3823]

whine

[American Kid]

Well, is medicine what you really want to do?....most people that go in to medicine are not doing it JUST for the money (although it helps). For GEP, aren't the last 3 years paid for by the NHS? Look in to it on the financial aid website for the UK. I think you have some soul searching do as its not really a a question a person can answer for you. . .

[Arch_Angel]

Hi all,

I am currently finishing my PhD and have been accepted to a GEM program, which I was very excited about at first. However, I'm recently left wondering why the hell I'd want to put myself through it.

A lot of friends I went to university with are now Drs, or are going to be this year. They work ridiculously hard, often get treated badly by consultants and get paid the equivalent of a very low graduate wage. Compare this to my friends who went into other fields and they are paid handsomely and respected for their opinion... To make the situation worse, I've already done 7years at uni and will be 32 when I qualify with so much debt I can't bear to think about it and no real prospect of having a functional relationship/family considering the hours.

Am I misguided in the reality of the situation, is anybody going through the latter stages of the GEM at the moment with more insight? I feel a bit strange posting on a site where so many people want to get into medicine grumbling that I have.... but I'm really not sure what to do.

Cheers

1) The starting pay is just above average graduate pay, before banding

2) A year later it jumps up

3) If you're looking to become a GP it'll only be a few more years before you can work very sensible hours

4) In the end, your friends in their current jobs are both less likely to have consistantly high earnings (as older bankers get ousted by young apprentice types &c.) and the weight of your opinion will be second to none.

5) Sure, consultants can be horrible (had one today that continually asked me questions in front of patients until I got one wrong then he'd shake his head and look at the floor tutting...then he told one patient that my diagnosis was terrible - admittedly I did say "smashed up foot") but I don't think i've ever come across one that is truely vindictive....bored, willing to laugh at your expense, sarcastic, question happy and deaf to pleas of "Look, we haven't done this yet" perhaps yes.

Do you actually want to learn all the stuff you'll be expected to? Or are you sick of it now? No point doing it if you don't actually want to

[giella]

Probably because you've invested so much of your life into getting there that you don't know what else you would do now.
That's probably not why you're doing it, but it's probably a good estimation of how you're feeling right now. Medicine becomes this ultimate goal it would take tremendous courage at this point to step away from medicine and find something else that you really want to do.
You're probably scared now that the goal you set yourself was not the right one. Reality is rarely as good as our imagination sets it up to be. However, you're not even there yet. Give yourself the chance to attain the goal. The experience will be what you make it, not what other people tell you it's going to be.

[Martigan]

You need to look at why you are doing it.

I am hoping to give up a 80k a year job, with good prospects to study medicine. Why? Because its where my heart is and what I always should have done. I am sick of living my life regretting not following my heart with confidence when I was 18!

My current job has had a lot of crap too. Any job worth its salt has crap. That's why you get paid the big bucks. If your heart isn't in it don't do it. No job (other than armed robbery I guess) has instant rewards. But other careers get it faster and more financially than medicine. If money is what your after I would think you can do better else where. If you want those more intangible rewards, I think I would stick with medicine.

[Nurse_to_doctor]

Martigan,

An 80k job a year - wow, nice. I'm a specialist nurse with a PhD and I'm on a super 30k Even so, I have had to think long and hard about leaving what I consider a good salary and all the increments I will miss if I take 4 years out to complete a medical degree. That’s £3.5k tuition in the first year and 4 years of no salary/pension/grade increments. So, this could well mean a loss of earning potential over the 4 years of least £123,500 (£3,500 + £30,000 x 4). For you, the potential loss could be at least £323,500 (£3.5k + £80,000 x 4, excluding pension/yearly increments and the potential to earn more via promotion over the 4 years). Compare this to a rather minimal bursary and half of a student loan ‘top-up’. If student loans are taken into account, then this means an even more dire comparison. Makes you think…

N2D

[Martigan]

I've thought about it a lot.
But I'm not motivated by the money. I’ve been a hypocrite to my son when I tell him to follow his heart and ensure he picks a job that he loves.

I chose the “sensible option” when I though I could not do medicine. However I would rather be poorer and have a job that I have a passion for than comfortable career with little job satisfaction.

[dotvicky]

I'm not on the salary that Martigan is on but I'm doing pretty nicely. I did a quick spreadsheet of earnings in my current job compared to the training and earnings of being a doctor. I *never* make my money back even if I work until 75. Heheh.

But as Martigan has put so well, it's really not about the money. You can get a perfectly decent £40-£60K job in an office with much less stress and responsibility and far fewer hours. You get more holidays, more perks and generally a more pleasant physical working environment.

I don't know what Martigan is doing at the moment, but the reason that I'm giving all of that up is because it's ultimately very unfulfilling and not very challenging. I very much doubt a salary of whatever size is going to get you through those long night shifts and through those really tough meetings with patients and their families when have to tell them the worst news. It's got to be about a lot more than that.

Vicky
xx

P.S. To address the original poster's points more (!) - look at why you went into medicine - are those goals still there? All jobs will have their crap sides but a lot of office-type jobs just have awful bosses rather than awful consultants and don't assume that opinions count for much in those jobs either... and even if they do - what is the opinion worth in real terms when it's about how to get more money out of a stakeholder.

No, medicine isn't easy but do talk to the people in jobs that you are considering moving to - I very rarely meet someone in a corporate role who loves their job and is passionate about it whereas doctors of all levels that I meet seem to have plenty to moan about but really wouldn't/couldn't imagine wanting to give it up.

[Martigan]

Dot

Still haven't broken cover at work and won't do till I need to give notice but my role is "Senior Management" at a UK plc in the IT sector.

I also know I will never make the money back, but I really don't care. I've just finished my volunteer shift and am on such a high. I just love working in my local hospital. The patients and staff are excellent. I am actually a little worried about the possibility that I might have to give up the volunteer work while I am studying. The appreciation from the patients for the insignificant things I'm doing for them now is amazing and incredibly rewarding. I can't wait till I can actually help them more significantly.

[dotvicky]

Heya - I am fairly senior in IT is the UK Insurance sector. I too know exactly what you mean. There will be all the same crap to deal with in terms of politics and management and a certain amount of pointless goals but for me, I know that there will be enough day-to-day making a difference to get me through all of that. I truely hope that it is possible to go home every day and have felt I achieved something. Whether it's just spend an extra 5 minutes with a patient to give them some reassurance that they've been craving for a week/month/year, or find a way to give some really bad news in a way that's slightly less awful than it could have been, or chase down an X-ray/bed/blood result that's proving rather elusive. Any/all of these will be so much more valuable and a far greater achievement than the million-and-one meetings/workshops I run/attend at the moment talking around rubbish that probably won't happen and even if it does, it'll only make a difference to a few far-too-rich-already stakeholders.

Fingers crossed we can both get there!

Cheers
Vicky