Hello all. I’ve really been contemplating the intern experience lately and unfortunately wound up on the site medschoolhell.com. I say unfortunately because it really got me depressed and down for a few days, and questioning my desire to go into medicine. Many comments lament on the crap (both literal and figurative) that interns have to deal with. They also described how unsatisfied they were with their own decision to go into medicine, and even more discouraging, how many/most physicians they shadowed had warned them against it. This gave the impression that a majority of those practicing physicians really regretted their career choice as well.
Now, I have plenty of work experience and know full well how dumped on the low man on the totem pole can be. I’ve also been through a clinical experience and have seen that medicine is no different than many if not most other work environments, despite the nature of the work, so that was not unexpected and I chalked those comments up to naivety. But then, to hear that so many seasoned physicians would be so dissatisfied with their profession once past the “initiation” period was a real blow to my enthusiasm. I understand that I’m getting this second hand on a site that is primarily purposed for disgruntled venting, and that exaggeration could very well abound, but the question still stands in my mind: do a large portion of physicians regret their career path?
I’d like to hear from anyone who works with or is a more or less seasoned doctor about what they feel the broad consensus in the profession is on that topic. Few people are going to be happy with 100% of what they do for a living, but is it all that bad? Once again, I wonder if a majority of those suffering from that sentiment are those who rushed into the profession with the wrong impression/motivation and little “real-world” work experience and were just unprepared to deal with the reality.
On a related note, several months ago I read “Intern” by Dr. Sandeep Jauhar which told his educational journey, mostly focusing on his internship. Very interesting, and he was also very critical of the intern year and had a rough time of it. He also questioned his decision to go into medicine during this period. However, his subsequent years were much better and overall he seems quite satisfied with his choice. A good read if you are so inclined.
You’ll graduate med school, internship, residency, and become board-certified before you get a seasoned physician to respond. 
First take with a huge grain of salt what you have an intern and/or resident tell you. My own mentor steered me away from medicine for a year, he was in his last year of residency, and everything was bleak and dark. Medicine was horrible and a huge mistake. A year and a half out, now board-certified, his 50th b-day party and the theme was “Living the Dream!” He absolutely loves, no ADORES medicine now. Not only does he not remember us talking about his discouragement his recommendation was what I gave you which is to never listen to the advice of an intern/resident. They are in the worst place in their lives at that moment and are doubting themselves professionally as well as personally.
A former coworker was a surgical resident when we met. He hated medicine and warned me off. He was absolutely against the idea of me going into medicine. 13 years later? He’s now the chair of a department and has volunteered to write me a LOR. He loves medicine and it’s the greatest.
There is another time when medicine sucks for a physician and that is when they are getting sued, not if they get sued but when.
In the end the business of medicine is not about altruism and “helping the [BLANK}.” It’s a business and the less a physician is doing medicine and getting caught up in the business of medicine the less they’ll enjoy their career. I can’t wait to get started and know that throughout there will be plenty of F.U.D. along the way.
Ecp, I think you already got the gist of the “gripe sites.” These kinds of venues attract the disgruntled, and it sort of feeds on itself from there (re: SDN and the like). If you’ve made up your mind that you want to pursue this course, steer clear and just keep moving forward. Medical school and residency is no different than anything else in life – it is what you make it. If you expect to be a miserable, overworked, underpaid, exhausted bag-of-issues you will be just that. If you expect to be grateful for the opportunity to train, proud of what you accomplished getting there, and energized by your peers and mentors, you will be THAT. For what it’s worth, most interns who struggle with this are from the traditional pipeline, and have never had to work through real-world workplace “stuff.”
I started med school at 43, finished residency at 50, worked briefly in private practice, and am now an associate program director for a university-based family medicine residency program. My time is split about evenly between my practice and teaching/residency admin. I guess that makes me “more or less seasoned.” I have no regrets and I don’t know anybody who does. Getting up everyday to see patients and teach medicine is a privilege. Every July I make it a point to get with each starting intern to let them know they will have moments when the attending is riding them, their upper levels are scutting them out, and the med students are hiding from them, when they WILL ask the inevitable “WTF-am-I-doing-here” question. My advice to them, and to you, is this: embrace the moment you first realized you were called to medicine and don’t let it go. It will sustain you through anything thrown at you in residency.
Best of luck in your journey!
Thanks for the advice. Well put and I’m glad to hear about the physicians you’ve known who have a thoroughly enjoyable career. As I said, I was just struck by comments that so many practicing docs could be so dissatisfied with their work. I wonder if those recallections from the med school hell site are just being colored by current unhappiness and perhaps the admissions were not as direct as we are led to believe. I do feel much better and back on track, as it were, once again excited to take on the challenge of achieving my dream.
I was blessed and honored during most of my 6 year quest for an “R” number in New York State, to have been supervised and mentored by an array of AMAZING Psychiatrists who LOVED their jobs. Absolutly inspiring, and part of my current motivation to head down this path. I met one, who was culturally, and spiritually not prepared for what comes your way in Forensic Psychiatry, and seemed somewhat rattled and fearful on a daily basis. I met one other, who was miserable, disgruntled, hated what he did, and was cruel to the patients - don’t know what his story was, but he seemed psychiatrically impaired himself. Other than those two…the doctors I have served with over the last 18 years have been a delightful and amazing group of people - true scientists, and actually ARTFUL in their ability to practice their craft. THAT’s what I wanna be when I grow up!!
- ecpwrnl Said:
The other REALY important thing about the info you're getting is that you're talking to people who more often than not, became Docs when they barely knew themselves. Some had NEVER worked a "real job" a day in their life until they became Docs. So from my perspective, there's not too much they can tell me about work environments since so many are about politics and "the bottom line" money and these are universal pains in the arse!