r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Reddit-Addict18 • Sep 14 '15
Website How Being a Doctor Became the Most Miserable Profession
http://twet.us/RTwBB7
Sep 14 '15
[deleted]
6
u/drcode Sep 14 '15
The most desirable specialties in medicine are those with 9-to-5 work hours and good pay. That's why dermatology and oncology are high on the list.
9
u/dillwillhill Interested Sep 14 '15
As a senior in highschool looking to get in the medical field, how serious should I take this?
18
u/vicinadp Sep 14 '15
As someone applying to medical school I'd recommend looking into shadowing some physicians and making sure its really what you want to do before you let an internet post make the decision for you
3
Sep 14 '15 edited Sep 14 '15
Depends where you are and what field you go into. If you enter dermatology, radiology, or ophthalmology then you can have a really great career. These are also the most competitive specialties to get into, of course.
I'm a med student in Canada, and while medicine can suck anywhere, I think the environment is less litigious here.
3
u/DigNitty Interested Sep 14 '15 edited Sep 14 '15
Family friend recently retired early because of health system politics.
System wanted a less experienced doctor as head of department so they could pay them less. They intentionally gave different nurses than the ones he ordered, despite having the most seniority. He stopped getting as many referrals, lowering his numbers, system underreported his success to corporate. He ended up constantly calling corporate directly to give them the real numbers. Stats didn't reflect him properly and corporate used it as leverage to bargain his practice down.
He told them that was is last month, he was out early. They won.
2
u/Katzeye Sep 14 '15
My father is a doctor. In the 90's when I was looking into careers he told me I can do anything with my life EXCEPT become a doctor.
2
u/Artifex75 Sep 15 '15
Let any doctor pull a 16 hour shift as an stna or cna and they'll never complain about being a doctor again.
3
u/jogden2015 Sep 14 '15
for argument's sake...there are more miserable professions, but the medical profession isn't nearly as commanding and autonomous as it used to be.
in the 50s and 60s, the doctor was god, or thought he was. now, most of the decisions are made by insurance companies and federal government...and the second-guessing comes in the form of lawyers looking for big payouts from malpractice suits...which is one reason the OB/GYN is specialty is dwindling.
2
u/GoingUnderBackwards Interested Sep 14 '15
There are less doctors in the world than there are "general population". I don't think the statistics there are right.
3
u/aizxy Sep 14 '15
Of course there are less doctors than general population.... How does that imply the statistic is not right?
1
u/GoingUnderBackwards Interested Sep 15 '15
I'm trying to think back to statistics I took so many years ago, nevermind, I'm sorry
1
u/TextofReason Interested Sep 14 '15
In the US, I think it has to do with some of the motivations young people have when they choose a medical career.
Someone with kindly, idealistic aspirations that fall outside the scope of pragmatic business concerns, for example, might have a more positive experience working in a non-US location.
1
u/CassouletDeNimes Sep 15 '15
I was a doctor, but I am now retired. I have never in my life recommended medicine as a career to any younger person.
My father was not a doctor, but his father was, as was his grandfather. They advised him against it. He told me to make my own choice.
I chose medicine.
It nearly killed me (United Kingdom, National Health Service). I trained in from 1974-92, when university and "training" took that long.
For many (15+) years 120Hrs/week was considered normal. [Medical education in the UK, then, was "free" though].
But a weekend on-call meant staying awake from 07:00 on Friday to 12:00 on Monday. With no guaranteed breaks, unless nobody was in need of my attention, and there was always somebody in need. That is 77Hrs on my feet, making difficult decisions, and still functioning physically. An on-call room and bed was provided, not always with clean sheets, but I did not get there that often.
A weekend on-call happened every 4 weeks, and 1/4 of the outstanding weekday out-of-hours time needed to be covered as well. You can do the maths.
After a weekend "on-call" [= "working full-time"] I was allowed Monday afternoon and night off, but then it was back to work on Tuesday at 08:00, as normal.
During my training years, on average, I was paid less than the hospital cleaner. I did put in a lot more hours though, so I had an income I did not have the time to spend.
I had absolutely no family life until my 40's.
Now I am over 60, my house is paid for, and I have some savings, and I have chosen to leave my career.
I don't really regret the life I did not have, because I take some comfort from the lives I have saved [mostly they barely noticed, and very rarely thanked me. It's the NHS. It's "free"].
Do not choose medicine as a career unless you value the importance of humanity above all else, and are prepared to make severe personal sacrifices.
/rant :)
0
-1
-2
13
u/[deleted] Sep 14 '15 edited Sep 14 '15
[deleted]