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Higher education

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Original poster

Is medicine a good choice?

170 replies

Runninghat · 11/03/2022 20:47

It seems the bright kids at schools drift to medicine as my dd is being steered towards and has an interest in. But doctor friends are so negative about the career at the moment saying they wish they had chosen a different path if they had really realised what a life commitment to stress and studying it was. I would love to hear others views as there is no arguing with an idealistic teen.

OP posts:
goodbyestranger · 15/03/2022 19:08

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goodbyestranger · 15/03/2022 19:14

In terms of being patronised I would say its when a doctor tries to explain but fails in that explanation to be logical and takes umbridge when that's pointed out to them. Fortunately her consultant agreed with me and I simply asked not to have to deal with the not very good doctor again, which was easy to do.

goodbyestranger · 15/03/2022 19:32

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goodbyestranger · 15/03/2022 19:39

*posting perfectly perfecting

MNHQ
ImaniMumsnet · 15/03/2022 20:42

Hi all,

We are closing this thread so we can take a look behind the scenes.

MNHQ
ImaniMumsnet · 15/03/2022 21:06

Hi everyone,
We've had a look and have zapped some of the posts that broke our talkguidelines/were not likely to go well.

Just a reminder that everyone's perspective is valid and though it can be a challenge sometimes to understand someone's perspective, its important to us on Mumsnet that we stay respectful.

Best,
Imani

sageandbasil · 15/03/2022 21:07

I'd go towards dentistry than medicine. Better hours and pay

FancyAFlapjack · 15/03/2022 21:13

That's fine, @ImaniMumsnet, but let's remember that doctors are human too. When a doctor shares deeply traumatic experiences, it is not appropriate to respond with accusations that she must be negligently responsible for the patient's death and have covered it up.

HoppingPavlova · 16/03/2022 09:31

No-one should go into medicine if they don't actually feel enticed by being a doctor. There are many other jobs that are prestigious if that rocks their boat.

That’s not real life though. My experience right through my gen decades ago to kids I see coming through today, is that the parents are behind the push. In my day it was a combo of parent and schools (they used med and law entrances in their stats), don’t know if schools are the same now but I do know parents are still guilty.

Many parents railroad/brainwash academically able kids from an early age. They tell their kids they want to be doctors so often that the kid ends up believing it. This all gets tied in to perceived self-worth and worthiness of parental love. If you ask them what they want to be they will tell you by rote but it’s really false and more a case of kids never being given the opportunity to think and decide what interests them and what they would like to do in life.

Even if there is rebellion, many parents squish that - they will finance kids and support through uni for certain degrees they want them to have and that’s it. So, you go to uni and do this or you don’t go at all until later in life when you can finance your own way through. The interviews and testing don’t weed any of this out as these parents are definitely the ones that enforce and finance the intensive interview/testing/pathway coaching.

Mimijamroll · 16/03/2022 09:47

I agree Hopping. Even back a generation ago I knew of someone getting bribed with a brand new car if you go for medicine.
And now we know people who , knowing that our DCs have done well academically, really don't get why they aren't going for medicine or dentistry.

goodbyestranger · 16/03/2022 11:08

MN I don't think that referring to the Ockenden report should break your guidelines....

Also Flapjack please remember that patients are human too and when they experience a traumatic event - such as I have done, more than once unfortunately - then please don't shout down their perspective, borne from that experience (and general experience as well).

mumsneedwine · 16/03/2022 12:54

Watch It's going to hurt. Last nights episode. No one would push their child into medicine after that. I cried, and then called my little med student and told her to come home if it's ever too much. No job is worth dying for.
I still won't ever understand why medicine is seen as prestigious. So many easier ways to earn a living, ones where you aren't dealing with bodily fluids and angry people.

Crackedpepper1 · 16/03/2022 13:11

more a case of kids never being given the opportunity to think and decide what interests them and what they would like to do in life

Work is work and parents know that. All jobs have the capacity to destroy physical and mental health. Left to our own devices, surely all humans would pick the life of one of the Queen's children or their spouses? As it is, your child may be one of the lucky ones who manages to navigate their way through a profession that offers them a great quality of life. Surely medicine is no different to other professions in this respect? There is an increase in med school applications every year. Is that because the alternatives available to the kind of student who applies for medicine are even less appealing?

mumsneedwine · 16/03/2022 13:17

@Crackedpepper1 I can't think of a worse job than being a royal ! No privacy, can't have a career - not worth the money.
The number of places for medicine does not go up every year, in fact this year it's come down. And there are currently 791 students who are finishing their degrees but don't have an F1 position for August, due to the total incompetence of NHS planning.
Medicine is different as there is only one employer as a junior doctor. An employer that is underfunded and under staffed, leading to v v junior doctors doing procedures with no training. And if they make a mistake they are investigated, but if they don't attempt it the patient dies. Not many jobs with that responsibility.

Crackedpepper1 · 16/03/2022 13:32

mums I'm pretty sure I read that med school applications have been averaging an 8% increase every year apart from in 2021 when the increase was over 20% (same in the US, the 2021 increase being attributed to 'The Fauci Effect'). That's why more medical schools have opened. Are other options even less appealing - law, finance, management? If you are competing with thousands of others for a place on a grad scheme, does medicine not look too bad? Is it really only because of the parents that kids apply for med? Interested in views.

Crackedpepper1 · 16/03/2022 13:45

I can't think of a worse job than being a royal ! No privacy, can't have a career - not worth the money

I'd do it but that's because I hate my job Grin

Neurodiversitydoctor · 16/03/2022 14:22

*welshweasel

I’m a consultant surgeon. I love my job. I am paid well for doing something I enjoy and I have a good work life balance. But it’s a long old slog to get to this point. You’ve got to really want to do it. I think it’s the best job in the world and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

This is about the size of it*

Yup me too, it's been a hard slog but I earnt £120,000 last year, great pension, job satisfaction. I work 7:30-4:30 mon-fri with one weekend on call a month.

Crackedpepper1 · 16/03/2022 15:56

Neurodiversitydoctor You are, presumably, in the middle or toward the end of your career cycle so are only accessing the rewards such as financial, job satisfaction and autonomy now. Other careers may allow people to access all of this much earlier (dc interested in medicine so am trying to read up about it). My worry is that if you run out of stamina or motivation before the long slog is up, you are in trouble. Not sure how to control for that, though.

mumsneedwine · 16/03/2022 17:13

@Crackedpepper1 med school places have increased with the new med schools, but now are static. I don't know any med student who did it because of their parents - mine certainly had no input from us. No knowledge of it at all.

mumsneedwine · 16/03/2022 17:28

@Crackedpepper1 am thinking your in America ? Medicine is not a graduate subject in UK (mostly) and students start straight from school at 18, graduating 5 years later. It is very competitive as lots want to do it, because they want to care.

goodbyestranger · 16/03/2022 20:43

Its Going To Hurt has been available for weeks. There was a MN thread which I didn't read but was clearly very offended by it.

When we talked about it a while ago DS1 said that Twitter was busting with doctors saying #I am Shruti

goodbyestranger · 16/03/2022 20:46

I had WhatsApped DS1 saying how's things and he said oh no you've just watched This Is Going To Hurt haven't you I'M FINE!

goodbyestranger · 16/03/2022 20:54

I still won't ever understand why medicine is seen as prestigious

mumsneedwine the MN threads are bursting with proud parents saying how wonderful their DC are for even applying, what wonderful human beings they are, how incredibly proud the parent is, what an achievement even one offer is etc etc. It's hyper, hyper emotional, year after year. That's the sort of background which makes DC think that they are super special if they go into medicine. As you know, I'm a bit more grinchy on that front, but I hope that my own DS1 is a bit more grounded as a result. I think that having siblings who are hard nosed lawyers also keep him on his toes. You've contributed for several years to those threads, so I think you will recognise what I am saying is a fair representation.

goodbyestranger · 16/03/2022 20:58

*keeps keep

goodbyestranger · 16/03/2022 21:19

Also, if you are concerned about your own DD mumsneedwine, I think perhaps you might feel reassured if you analyse the character of Shruti and her circumstances a little more and compare her to Adam, with his situation.

I didn't read the thread which was offended beyond glancing at it because I didn't find Adam an unsympathetic character. I felt sorry for him not annoyed with him.