Almost half of all Doctors regret beoming Doctors

It's interesting to see the reader's comments that follow. I think a big missing link, is that people don't know what their in for. Typical scenario- you take a 13 year old 8th grader who tests well and you put him on the "college prep" track in his high school. He rocks out 4 years, does what he's supposed to, and graduates with a good enough GPA/SAT to land a slot among incoming freshman majoring in STEM. Now, at age 17-18, he keeps his head down and is going to "be a doctor" because that's what smart kids do. Fast forward.....

As an adult, you can look at the medical field at a distance. You can weight a large income against student loan debt. You can consider the sacrifice of missing (all) your child's birthdays and plays against being home at 5pm and weekends. You can see the big picture. You can think about what kind of spouse you'll be if you're outside the home 80 hours per week. Patients do come first. In medical school and in real life. Not family, the job.

So, how do you tell that to a 13 year old kid? How do you tell that to an 18 year old kid? How do you say, "look, this may work out for you, you may end up stimulated beyond your wildest dreams- but your personal life is going to be in the crapper...or maybe you'll work in family practice and live in deep debt for 30 years, or maybe not. This is a field of sacrifice, are you up for that?" And the kid says "okay. Dr.s are paid a lot of money though, right? Kewl."

 

I bet these doctors make terrible practitioners too.

 

I've been saying this for years! The "you can be anything you want to be" ignores the fact that it is unwise to say that to a 6 year old who wants to be either a firefighter or superman... He just hasn't made up his mind! I find it very telling that most adult learners (say post 22-25 yrs old) with some life experience tend to choose degrees that get them toward goals consistent with things they will still desire to be doind at 32-35+

Had I gone to college prior instead of after 8 years in the Marine Corps I'm sure I would have coasted and made poor degree choices. But there are a thousand nuances to that too

 

Perhaps this link explains why moral in the medical profession is so low. The feds continue to clamp down on the big teat.

USDOJ: Medicare Fraud Strike Force Charges 107 Individuals for Approximately $452 Million in False Billing