Fed up medic :(

[sunshineroll]

Name change!

I applied for medicine aged 17 and now feel like I had no idea what I was signing up for. I am about to go into my 6th (and final) year and feel so disheartened by the whole thing. I feel like I've been working a full time job for the last 3 years at least but with no pay, no respect and no control over my own life and I'm already having sleepless nights about the prospect of working as a doctor before I've even qualified! In short:

-I'm quite an anxious person and don't handle stress well
-I'm quite sensitive and end up going home upset several times a week about things I've seen in the hospital
-I dislike the stress of the hospital environment and would have to work there for at least 5 years before moving into community
-I'm very concerned about working night shifts
-I feel like I have little say in where I will live and work - at this rate I will not be able to move in with my boyfriend for at least another 3 years
-I do not want to be taking exams for the rest of my life!

But most worryingly, the majority of doctors I meet are very disheartened and tell me to leave! I have friends who are already qualified who are all looking to get out ... they tell me they have no say in when they are working and regularly have to cancel plans (including holidays) due to last minute rota changes - one was not even allowed leave for her best friend's funeral.

Despite doing well in my exams, I just feel like medicine is a lifestyle I am not cut out for - ultimately I could handle the hours and stress if it was a job I truly enjoyed, but I just do not think this will be the case and am getting more and more worried about the future

so my questions are

• has anyone qualified in medicine and chosen not to practice? has anyone become a dr and then left?

-what job options are there for someone graduating in medicine who does not wish to work as a doctor?!

I'd be grateful for any advice (and even more grateful for anyone with some positive stories about how it isn't that bad!!)

Will be following this thread with interest. I am in exactly the same boat, seriously considering other career options.

I think it's hard to fully explain the stress we are under - not only working far longer than our recorded hours, but then going to the library to revise afterwards! Not to mention extortionate cost of exams that we pay for ourselves. I knew none of this before making my choices at 17.

I'm glad you understand Sevenmelon

I feel so foolish only having this realisation now but I truly did not know what the job entailed when I applied for this degree ... I kept sticking with it hoping things would get better but now I'm having to accept that maybe I can't do this after all

I wish you both all the best whatever you decide to do. DD applied for medicine last year, and I am more and more thankful that she was unsuccessful. she has realised for herself that is isn't for her.

sunshineroll your posts is exactly how DD would have been. Good luck with your decsision.

There are career opportunities for doctors in the pharmaceutical industry. Many offer flexible working, a consistent office based role and the absence of shifts. Pharmacovigilance (drug safety monitoring) is one area to look into.

I think that's how it sucks you in - each year you think "just one more year and then things will improve..."

I think the worst thing for me is the lack of stability. Moving house is incredibly stressful and means it's difficult to access family/friend support as you're so far away from everyone you know, and it's never possible to settle long enough to create a support network locally. Even silly things like being able to join a gym would be nice!

lookatmemeow This may sound silly, but do you know how one would go about starting a career in the pharmaceutical industry? It's something I have often considered but never had any idea how to practically pursue!

If it’s honestly not for you, could you move into medi /science? It’s sounds really really tough, and thankless. The older I get, I really do realise that being happy (or at least not miserable, constantly happy is a stretch!) during work is important. I’ve changed career 3 times (I’m 40) and each time I move for more happiness, less money

I really feel for you, 17 is just so young to decide on medicine. It’s a hard career and getting harder. I went to medical school 10 years after you, but it still didn’t prepare me for the reality. I’m still in medicine but considering other options.

And being moved around is hard, although depends how popular the area you want to work in is.

There are lots of alternative careers, but if you can stick foundation training, there are non-patient facing options such as microbiology or pathology?

Have you joined the Alternative careers for doctors Facebook page?

Good luck whatever you decide.

The ABPI have published a rather handy guide to the various roles

https://www.abpi.org.uk/media/4554/pharmaceuticalcareerssfordoctorssintheeukoctoberr2017.pdf

Pharmacy/chemistry/biochem type stuff will be high earning, regular hoursrs, bonus’s etc.

.

I qualified and never worked. I retrained as a psychiatric nurse. I feel I have more control over my life- in nursing there are so many opportunities, you can stay as a band 5 or progress to head of nursing. Work days only 9-5 or 3 long days a week, work nights only if that is what you want and lots of specialities. My ex partner who was a st1 was on same salary as me as a deputy ward manager.

I feel for you- I really do. Medicine wasn’t for me and I wished I had left sooner. It damaged my health long term. It’s hard to walk away with debt and family pressures but I’ve never regretted it. With medicine you have to really want to do it and even then working conditions are poor. You have one life

I’ve known people do medicine and then switch careers. The ones I know have switched to dentistry, accountancy, R&D, management consultancy and law (specifically patent law).

Im a surgeon and quite a few medics i know have also gone on to work in the City. Finance firms tend to highly value a medical degree. Truth is with a medical degree you habe proven resilience, high IQ and self-drive usually. You can do anything. I would take a step back and work out what you enjoy and would want from a career and go from there

Thanks lookatmemeow , that guide is very handy. If I'm reading it correctly, sadly they still want 4 years of medical experience before entry. Something to consider.

wheretheresawill I'm so glad you made the right decision for you. I often think I would prefer nursing! Do you find it frustrating not being able to decide treatment plans/prescribe? Or do you have these abilities as a psychiatric nurse? (Sorry I'm so ignorant!)

Sorry for hijacking your thread sunshineroll

Accountancy, publishing& law.

( I’m a medic & I love my job, happy to discuss via pm)

Hi sunshine
Just wanted to say I completely understand how you are feeling. I stuck it out for 8 years after I qualified (admittedly with a couple of maternity leaves in there too). I'm sorry to say it didn't get better for me, everyone said my confidence would grow with experience but what I actually found was that the increasing seniority just made me worry even more. Medicine is brutal. If you don't have a genuine passion for it you are unlikely to be happy doing this job.
I was extremely lucky in that we have a family business that I was able to step straight into (not medicine related at all). It was an easy way out to be honest. I'm much much happier in my new job. I can go to sleep at night not worrying about whether or not the decisions I have made that day might result in somebody dying. Sounds dramatic but it is the truth.
However this is not what I had hoped for myself. It's not my passion. I have a mortgage and kids so I had to be logical about what was best for all concerned (well paid job, flexibility, allowing my parents to retire etc). But given my time again, in your position, well, the world is your oyster! Very soon you'll have a medical degree. You will be a most highly employable person whether you decide to stay in a medically related role or not. Go and see a careers advisor. Identify your true passion and go for it. Now is your chance!
Good luck

I quit medicine very early and went into the arts! I often regret it from a financial point of view but it’s let me be very free

Completely agree with what PP have said but one of the things that it's hard to get a handle on as a student is the range of careers within medicine that don't have all the crap you describe above. E.g. radiology, public health, most lab based specialties, occupational medicine. I'm a psychiatrist in a fairly niche speciality at the end of my training. I haven't needed to move location for 6 years, have always been able to pick my holidays and been generally well supported and not treated like just a number. I get job satisfaction as I'm happy at work and generally feel like I'm actually helping people.
You don't have to do postgrad exams, there are various specialty doctor careers out there too. A friend of mine does 2 days specialty doctor in dermatology and 2 days doing medicals for a bus company!
I'd recommend you go to some careers days, get a list of all the 60 odd specialties open to CCT in and try and chat to some people working in them.
You might decide it's definitely not for you, but at least that's a well informed decision.

I left and I’m now a teacher (I love it). I’m in special education so having confidence and knowledge around disabilities is great.

You have to do what makes you happy.

Absolutely leave if you want to - I'm still here 20 years after qualifying and I still love my job. It's stressful, long hours, late nights (overnights and the next day), life and death and pain and science in action where what I do counts. If you don't feel like that now you are unlikely to cope with the additional stresses once you're qualified and working.

If you like the idea of the science but not so much the time pressure and night work you could look at areas of medicine that are less stressful and less likely to involve nights - thinking dermatology, pathology (I had very few night calls when I was attached to the pathology team for my 3 months elective), radiology, public health; you could shift sideways into medical devices, pharma industry - or you could change tack completely, take your medical degree and move into law or management type things.

@Wheretheresawill1 I'm fascinated that you moved from medicine to nursing. I've only known people do it the other way.

70% of graduate jobs are open to people with a degree in any subject - normally a stat I reserve for people graduating with philosophy degrees and suchlike, but actually equally applicable here - you can look at your qualification as being A Degree or Medicine.

Do you want to go into something medicine / life science related, or would you prefer something totally different?

I'm someone who has found that having A Degree has been vital to my career - I couldn't have got where I am without a bit of paper saying I've got A BA(Hons). The degree subject? Totally irrelevant. What I did alongside my degree (opportunities only open to me because I was an undergraduate) were far more relevant.

Have you been doing anything alongside your degree you've really enjoyed?

I'm a general adult psychiatrist in a deprived urban part of Scotland. Love my job, always have. Psychiatry is well supported and the importance of supervision, teamworking and time to think is well recognised. Foundation years are difficult though no doubt about it.

If your 5/6 of the way through a degree, try and stick it out. You don't have to use it but it'll make all the difference in the world saying I have the qualification but am changing direction rather than saying you dropped out.