What are the pros and cons of being a doctor?

Question

In terms of lifestyle, health, job opportunities, pressure, effects on family life, obligations, etc.

daveg1222, i apologise for causing you confusion. This is not for a homework assignment. It is part of my personal research into medicine as a possible career.

Answer 1

Some of it depends on what kind of doctor you want to become. Surgeons for example have pretty difficult hours due to call responsibilities and unpredicable emergencies, while ER doctors have very stable hours.

Pros:

1. You get to help people in their time of need in a very profound way; definitely a great feeling

2. Intellectually stimulating. Figuring out what's wrong with your patient and how to treat them is fun!

3. Even with managed care/drive to cut costs in health care, a physician salary is still quite comfortable (though not as much as most people think, especially when you take into account your debt, see cons below).

4. There are plenty of job opportunities for physicians so you definitely won't be able to find a job that doesn't fit your needs


Cons:

1. Lots of time in training. 4 years of college, 4 years of medical school and depending on your chosen area of specialty, another 3-7 years of residency. If you want to do a fellowship and subspecialize, add another 1-3 years. Also your salary during this time averages out to less than the minimum wage.

2. High cost of education. In addition to whatever college debt is incurred, the average medical school graduate has at least another $100,000-$150,000 debt.

3. Lifestyle is difficult during medical school and residency. Expect lots of time studying, late nights on call. I have colleagues who unfortunately have gone through divorce due to the stress it puts on a marriage. Also residency training is not a ideal time to start a family so often people face the choice of either postponing that and thus being on the older side (mid to late 30's) or trying to start a family in the midst of other huge demands for your time.

4. Malpractice - Unfortunately, we live in a very litigious society. 2/3 of all doctors will get sued at least once in his/her career. Depending on your speciality, it may even be higher. It's an unfortunate reality that despite your best efforts, this can still happen to you. Few other professions have such a high risk for liability.

Answer 2

Well, a lot of it will depend upon what kind of doctor you choose to be.

For example, a surgeon is probably under a lot more stress and pressure than a podiatrist. Some doctors make life and death decisions every day, others rarely, if ever, have to make such decisions.

Lifestyle will also greatly depend on what kind of medicine you decide to practice, where you decide to practice, and to what clientèle. If you decide to be a doctor in an inner-city clinic you may not make very much. If you are a plastic surgeon to the rich and famous in Beverly Hills, you will be a millionaire.

Most doctors can expect their home life to be disrupted by work. Again, however, how much will all decide on what type of medicine you practice and where. If you work at a hospital doing emergency surgeries you will have to work many holidays, and you will often get home hours and hours after you are scheduled to get off. If, however, you have a private practice, you might have to take some time to see some patients that are in the hospital on the holidays, but it might take 2-3 hours out of your day, at most. No matter what field of medicine you go into, however, you will not see your family much while you go through medical school, and especially while you do your residency.

I don't know what positive or negative effects it would have on your health. I'm sure stress level would play into that, however.

As far as job opportunities go, however, there will always be a need for doctors. I have had many friends who were doctors, and I have never known one to have any difficulty finding work. They may not always be able to find their "dream job," but they can always find a good job.

If you want more specific answers, you should think of 2 or 3 areas of medicine you are interested in and consider what aspects of being a doctor are most important to you. After you have determined that narrow your research.

I hope that helps you get closer to the answers you are looking for.

Answer 3

Pros: Good career, good social standing, good income etc,

Cons: Lots of pressure on family life, problems from litigation,

Answer 4

Pros:
Let's see...
* You get lots of money. LOL i'm a doctor (just joking)
* Once you finish work you only have to worry about your life
* If some body in your family get struck by lightning, hopefully you'll know what to do.
* If someone in your family gets sick WHOOPY-DOO no doctors fees...you can treat them
* If you are a doctor and you want to take a day off, you'll know all the symptoms ....
* and one last pro - Being a doctor is great - you get to help people and contribute to society...
* You get to meet new people all the time

Cons....
* You're exposed to sick people
* You might gross out at your patients wounds and infect them!
* Your obligation is your patient's life
* You may have long working hours
* You might drop something very valuable (DNA, germs, expensive bottles of things to cure you)

Answer 5

Being a doctor is great.
Pros
Big pay
saving peoples lives
cons
Long job hours
lot of pressure
and you cant see your family as much


but the huge fat pay might make up depending on the type of person you are

Answer 6

well..i wanted to advise my daughter to follow the medicine but after a while a realised that is not a good thing..The books of medicine and their manuals don't acknowledge that the brain is led by God..that the mind is tempted by demons..

besides all these troubles..they say that there are incurable illnesses ..and that we will die..when actually God never said so..He said that if we believe we can be cured..and that even the priests could cure us using only oil.hollified..

besides if the doctors wouldn't exist , the world would turn to God..the world would be stronger..will ask forgiveness for its sins .instead of taking pills and sinning ...

my husband has been rised at countriside where there were no hospitals..and he is not afraid of ilness at all..he rarely takes pills and most of the time he is healthy..

he even was so fearless..that he took out of his skin a ..big i don't know how it is called..while i was trembling and saying..go to doctor..you will make an infection..and he didn't..and was fine..

Answer 7

pros and cons is you are a doctor and not an engineer or software expert or something else.
What a boring life. Do you really like to live as a doctor for the whole of your only one life.

Answer 8

the pros are that you get to help people get better and help their families to gain confidence and to still carry hope, or to just make people better, the cons are diagnosing a patient with a disease that slowly destroys their body or that will affect them and their family, for instance, alzheimers disease..

Answer 9

very difficult road to becoming one

roster job, sometimes you don't have any sunday

you look cool

get a lot of money

Answer 10

Only pros. No cons.