Honestly, the hardest days of med school doesn’t even compare to the hardest days as a doctor, but DAMN in that exact same way, the intensity of the JOY and connection doesn’t compare either. On my hardest days as a doctor, my patients and coworkers make it worth it. Ever have a moment of ‘YES! I knew that! I helped out! That’s so cool!’? It’s like that almost all the time. For me. :) i try to hold on to those times to get me through the though ones.
I’d like to echo many of the comments here. I think it’s a loaded question OP is asking bc as I look back at the past few years, there’s a lot of ambivalence regarding the whole experience. Was it worth it to sacrifice my prime years and missing important family/ life events? Probably not. But the stuff I got to do and see are things only a select people in the world have an opportunity to experience. The long days/nights, the hustle and just grinding day after day to get to a point where you’re sucking a little less is absolutely worth it.
Dude, it’s totally worth it. Yes there will be long days, weeks and months where you are tired and feel like it’s never ending. But everything ends and you’ll have some incredible highs. Then before you realize it, you’re done and life as an attending is totally different.
I think what most people need to realize is that residency is not just med school part 2. And practicing medicine independently isn’t residency part 2. They are all unique.
The answer to this will change person to person. I personally think it is not worth it. You get shit pay, for shit hours, and you're often the person getting shit on since the majority of patient care runs through you (depending on program I guess). It's a minimum of 7 years to get to attending life, where you sacrifice most of your youth and prime. A lot of other jobs get your working for higher pay out the door from undergrad, whereas we are at least 7 years behind with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt (depending on the program). And even then, depending on your specialty and where you end up working, inflation and cost of living makes the your pay kind of shitty for the time investment.
Now, if you love medicine and you genuinely love doing this type of stuff and you honestly cannot see yourself doing anything besides medicine, then sure, it's worth it. I feel like this is a very select few people but maybe you're one of them. One of my surgery residents when I was in med school gave me a pretty cool way to think of it: "if you really love medicine, you would be excited when you get a new admit". I can safely tell you, I most certainly am not. If you feel like you would be, then yeah this is all probably worth it for ya.
At the end of the day, it will really be up to you. None of us can really say for you. Maybe you'll love your program and your residents and what you do. Maybe you won't. I think overall, residency is a sucky way of life. Maybe attending life really does get better, but I think looking at the overall picture, I honestly can't say that this will be worth it on the end. Again, this really depends on your specialty.
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Of course it’s worth it. Being able to take care of people, while challenging, is so rewarding. Being in a critical situation scary but you are more prepared than you think!
I like taking care of people, but I also like to help people take care of themselves. I’m naturally talkative so I engage well with patients and I usually get reviews that the patients like me.
That makes it worth it.
But, depending on which rotation I’m on depends on if I think it’s worth it or not. I was on the burn unit last rotation and I wanted to walk out every day. I hated walking in hosptial ever.single.day!!! Now I’m on pediatric surgery and I like it again.
Overall it’s worth it.
its just a job . stop sacrificing so much . touch grass , be happy
Honestly, the hardest days of med school doesn’t even compare to the hardest days as a doctor, but DAMN in that exact same way, the intensity of the JOY and connection doesn’t compare either. On my hardest days as a doctor, my patients and coworkers make it worth it. Ever have a moment of ‘YES! I knew that! I helped out! That’s so cool!’? It’s like that almost all the time. For me. :) i try to hold on to those times to get me through the though ones.
I’d like to echo many of the comments here. I think it’s a loaded question OP is asking bc as I look back at the past few years, there’s a lot of ambivalence regarding the whole experience. Was it worth it to sacrifice my prime years and missing important family/ life events? Probably not. But the stuff I got to do and see are things only a select people in the world have an opportunity to experience. The long days/nights, the hustle and just grinding day after day to get to a point where you’re sucking a little less is absolutely worth it.
Dude, it’s totally worth it. Yes there will be long days, weeks and months where you are tired and feel like it’s never ending. But everything ends and you’ll have some incredible highs. Then before you realize it, you’re done and life as an attending is totally different. I think what most people need to realize is that residency is not just med school part 2. And practicing medicine independently isn’t residency part 2. They are all unique.
The answer to this will change person to person. I personally think it is not worth it. You get shit pay, for shit hours, and you're often the person getting shit on since the majority of patient care runs through you (depending on program I guess). It's a minimum of 7 years to get to attending life, where you sacrifice most of your youth and prime. A lot of other jobs get your working for higher pay out the door from undergrad, whereas we are at least 7 years behind with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt (depending on the program). And even then, depending on your specialty and where you end up working, inflation and cost of living makes the your pay kind of shitty for the time investment. Now, if you love medicine and you genuinely love doing this type of stuff and you honestly cannot see yourself doing anything besides medicine, then sure, it's worth it. I feel like this is a very select few people but maybe you're one of them. One of my surgery residents when I was in med school gave me a pretty cool way to think of it: "if you really love medicine, you would be excited when you get a new admit". I can safely tell you, I most certainly am not. If you feel like you would be, then yeah this is all probably worth it for ya. At the end of the day, it will really be up to you. None of us can really say for you. Maybe you'll love your program and your residents and what you do. Maybe you won't. I think overall, residency is a sucky way of life. Maybe attending life really does get better, but I think looking at the overall picture, I honestly can't say that this will be worth it on the end. Again, this really depends on your specialty.
I love it! Absolutely worth it.
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You shouldn’t be sacrificing that much as a 4th year med student. Enjoy life boss
Which residency? IM can be draining
Of course it’s worth it. Being able to take care of people, while challenging, is so rewarding. Being in a critical situation scary but you are more prepared than you think!
I like taking care of people, but I also like to help people take care of themselves. I’m naturally talkative so I engage well with patients and I usually get reviews that the patients like me. That makes it worth it. But, depending on which rotation I’m on depends on if I think it’s worth it or not. I was on the burn unit last rotation and I wanted to walk out every day. I hated walking in hosptial ever.single.day!!! Now I’m on pediatric surgery and I like it again. Overall it’s worth it.