why does everyone exaggerate what its like for a doctor?

Question

ive read through all these threads about the downsides of medicine, with people saying that if your a doctor
-your entire life is constant stress and headaches
-you have to sacrifice having a family
-long hours, underpaid

yet from my city, all the doctors i know are incredibly rich, have families and laid back lives ....

any doctors on this forum care to respond about there take on medicine today and whether all these statements of the negative aspects of medicine are true?

Answer 1

You're reading things wrong.

Early on - medical school, residency, beginning practice - is tough. We all sacrificed a lot (but not everything - I had 2 of my 3 kids while in residency).

Medicine IS a lot of stress, but we are trained to handle it. For example, on Friday, we had a young guy drive his motorcycle into a tree, and die in the OR, while in the OR next to that, we were removing a tumor the size of a football from a woman's belly.. We can't get too involved in it, or it would be overwhelming. We have to deal with the emotional stress of seeing people have horrible things happen. (On the other hand, we also get to see new babies born, see cancers get removed, see healing happen. It goes both ways.)

We aren't the only ones who have to sacrifice. Our families know that if we're on call, we might have to drop whatever we're doing and go care for a patient. They know that their spouse or parent might be grumpy after being up all night. On the aforementioned Friday, I missed my daughter's acting class performance because I had to work. It goes with the territory.

We are pretty well compensated for what we do, but it takes a while to get to that point. We pay to go to med school, and many of us have $100,000 or more in loans when we graduate. Residency pays, but not well, and we DO have to start paying on the loans in residency. We finally get a real job at about 30 years of age, when many of our non-medical peers have been out earning a living and climbing the corporate ladder for 8-10 years.

So when we DO get to the point that we earn more than we owe, we enjoy it.

I don't know any doctors with "laid back lives". Do you go to work with them? Do you know how often they are called into the ER while you sleep? I'll bet all of them work more than 40 hrs a week. How exactly do you define a "laid back" life?

You must also remember that we all live with the shadow of hungry lawyers who want to take it all away from us. There's another source of stress that we live with every day. Do you have THAT to deal with in your job?

Just wondering.

Answer 2

I am just starting medical school so maybe I can help a bit.
Being a doctor can be stressful, but on the whole those that go into medicine enjoy the work and do not find the job to be a constant headache.

You do not have to sacrifice having a family, but it may have to be put off for a few years until one is finished with residency.

As for the long hours and being underpaid that only occurs in residency which is a period of training after graduating from medical school. After residency doctors are well compensated. For example, I have a family member that is a podiatrist (and runs his own private practice). He makes well over 500k per year.

Answer 3

If you know all these doctors, why not ask them? The doctors I know have put in grueling hours of residency. Also the type of medicine you practice makes a big difference in how many hours a doctor will work overtime. A podiatrist usually will not work as many hours are a doctor who specializes in ER trauma. They make rounds at the hospital very early in the morning then go to the office. After the office closes, they try to get something to eat a the hospital before making rounds again. They rarely have time to spend time with the families except on the weekends, and sometimes that is interrupted. The profession is very stressful, and I have lost several friends to either cancer or heart related illnesses.

Answer 4

Seems as if your question touched on some nerves. My boyfriend is an upcoming doctor. Well he has his PhD and is nearing his MD. I have watched this guy work his *** off for years now. I have been ignored and neglected and lonely--so yes on many levels docs have to neglect their family lives. It's a necessary evil. I have to understand this and love him in spite b/c he has to devote so much time to the hospital, to the patients, to his attending, and to studying. He has been sleep deprived and grumpy and burned out. Yes there are definite downsides for us both. All jobs have downsides. My personal belief is that while all people have highs and lows, doctors experience higher highs and lower lows because of the responsibility that they have on their shoulders. I think the burden that they have to carry on their shoulders, from malpractice as one person mentioned--to having a life in your hands, is heavy. However, as another mentioned, delivering a baby or helping someone overcome cancer is a great high. We are not rich by any means. We aren't starving, but we are not rich either. All in all, if you know of some rich doctors I can guaran-damn-tee you that they earned every ounce of their prestige and wealth.

Answer 5

I'm a second year med student, so I may also have some insight into this. We are trained from the beginning to stay cool under pressure, so that the docs you see who seem laid back are actually facing a lot more stress than you see.

Answer 6

In private medicine, you get the fat cat doctors.
Those doctors working for the state are the ones with the headaches, long hours, sacrifice......

Answer 7

My obvious bias is that those of us in primary care work longer hours and have more continued stress. I have to admit that many of my colleagues were able to handle the stress better than I. In fairness to surgical colleagues, many of them had long hours and lots of stress. I recently dined at the elaborate home of a heart surgeon. Hearing his "war stories" I think he deserves his wealth.

There are some doctors who have found a lucrative niche and make tons of money. Believe it or not, many of them are very good, talented and responsible.

Answer 8

maybe all the bad stuff is comming from canadians...