PLS HELP. Should i do medicine or another biology course?

[E-man 07]

Hi
Pls help. I'm currently doin microbiology and i am not sure on whether to do medicine or just do a biology related course (as i am definately interested in biology). ADVICE NEEDED

[Martigan]

I think if you're not sure don't do medicine. It's a massive committment interlectually, financially and emotionaly.

[E-man 07]

thanks...
i'll prob go into pharmacy or biochemistry instead

[phantom]

No good deed goes unpunished.
(A.K.A. The good Physician will always be stepped over by everyone else.)


I entered physician training for several reasons. The intricacies of internal medicine interested me. Because I like to know things, to see patients come in with their complex problems and watch their story play themselves out and come to a conclusion that is satisfying. Because I respected the Physicians I studied under. But it has become increasingly obvious that all is not 'even' in the real world.

As I embark on my specialist training, I start to wonder whether or not I have made the right decision.

It is no secret that Physicians will ultimately earn much less than the Surgeon or the Radiologist. And definitely much less than the Anaesthetist. A trade-off for the lack of procedural income? Or more a culmination of goodwill being taken for granted? How often have Physicians been passed over (or not give the same work incentives) at each round of enterprise bargaining? Even the medicare benefits schedule are a starkly obvious sign that society values my clinical acumen much less than other specialties.

What does the government (and medicare) value more? The follow-up Physician consultation of a patient with multiple medical problems, or an Anaesthetist giving sedation for a CT scan? It seems the latter... And the private insurance rebates show a more of a discrepancy. See ten medical patients in one afternoon, or perform one epidural? Or maybe look after a handful of patients in private hospitals? Have you tried finding a private hospital bed for a medical patient? There's no chance of it - because there's no money in it. Hospitals make more money from an operation, and so they're more likely to have a bed afterwards. Better off filling a bed with a prime-paying Orthopaedic patient than someone with pneumonia.

Whilst many of us will vouch that life isn't all about money, it's hard to think that a full-time-Physician will earn less than a part-time-Radiologist. And the Radiologist will get to see their family more often, take holidays more often, have more time for the other things in life. I ask myself (at the risk of sounding somewhat obnoxious) if there really are that many 'pluses' of Physicianship compared to other specialties.

Is it really a 9-to-5 job? Are there public hospital positions available? Is it really less stressful? Is there more respect for a Physician?

The answers seem to be obvious, but are coloured by our own ideas of what makes us tick, restrained by our moral sensibilities.

Which leads me to consider my future role in the public or private sector.

I don't intend to see any private inpatients. It's financially not viable. Why go around seeing patients in hospital beds in *their* rooms, when they can easily come to *my* rooms? I would rather spend time with my children and my family than keep my phone on all night. I would rather hold onto my own dignity than become a post-surgical lacky for the higher-paid surgeons. I firmly believe the newer generation of Physicians will also have the same ideals. If this is anything to go by, there will be an even bigger gap in the medical care of private inpatients.

I intend to stay in Physicianship because that's what I love. But if asked to evangelise the benefits of Physicianship over every other specialty, my conscience will prevent me from lying. Don't do it.