Top 2 Reasons to Study Medicine

When considering a career in Medicine, many people visualize driving a nice Mercedes, going for 2-week vacations in Southern Europe, and having mansions on the lake that dwarf the neighboring properties — in other words, getting rich and living a high-status lifestyle. 

It is true that some of these many be realistic outcomes if you have a long and successful career in Medicine, but if money is a main motivating factor for you to get into Medicine, it will be a very miserable road for you to follow.

I'll discuss some of my most memorable experiences in the field so far and talk about some of the factors that motivate young doctors in who are new to the field of Medicine to put up with all the headaches that are associated with being a physician in the US healthcare system. 

Number 1: Become a Doctor to Help People Who Really Need Help 

"Helping people" may be one of the most frequently used cliches out there to express why a doctor wanted to get into Medicine, especially if they are embarrassed to answer that they were seeking the financial rewards of the medical field.

You may have been drawn to the medical field at a young age due to a sick family member, or because you yourself may have suffered greatly and justify your career choice in Medicine because of those early adversities. There is a big difference, however, between having empathy for a dying relative and empathy for someone who is a total stranger to you.  

In my early experience in the medical field, it is truly an amazing feeling to know that you made a difference in someone's life, or even saved their life.  

I had one experience that I remember quite vividly, where there was a patient who had come into the Family Medicine Department at my hospital and asked if I could examine him before he was going to go on a flight to Eastern Europe to see his family for the holidays.  

After taking a little about his current health and past medical history, he nonchalantly mentioned an episode where he had lost consciousness will driving his car home, and recalled waking up 30 seconds later. I found out that he decided to drive to the store after that scary experience, to pick up some bread, and then go to Church for Sunday Mass because it was Sunday after all.  

The patient got home to his wife and decided that he would call the hospital first thing in the morning on Monday because he didn't want to bother the doctors on the weekend. By the time he finally saw a doctor, 2 days had already passed and I told him it would be in his best interest to go to his Cardiologist to have the pacemaker he had implanted 20 years ago checked out thoroughly.  

When I saw him later in the week, he collapsed just as I was walking into the room and we needed to do CPR for 10 minutes to bring him back to life. I was on the Chest Compression team and each minute felt like an eternity as chaos enveloped the room.  Eventually, we were able to regain a pulse and after spending a few days in the ICU, we transferred the patient to a Cardiac Unit closer to his family. Before he left, the patient asked the nurses to page me directly and thanked me for preventing him from flying on the plane. 

READ 8 Things They Won’t Tell You about Medical School

Number 2:  Become a Doctor Because of the Interesting People You Will Meet 

This may bleed a little into the topic of Number 1, but there are specific differences that set these two reasons to be a doctor apart. One fact that I am still amazed at is how many different stories there are and how interesting some of the patients that walk in the hospital truly are.  

I've had patients before that were former athletes, famous singers, and real estate moguls who all had interesting back-stories that make the hours fly by during on-calls.  

The thing that sometimes can get lost in a hospital ward is that behind all the walls, the orderlies, and the bandages, there is a human being who is seeking your help and relying on your knowledge to help them out. You will never be able to connect with your patients if you are chained to the Resident's Lounge working on Patient Notes but unfortunately, that is the state of the system in the US. 

Reasons to Not Get Into Medicine 

Bad Reasons to Want to Get Into Medicine 

If you are motivated to become a doctor by the money, you should not get into Medicine at all. I don't mean this as a criticism to those of you who are motivated by money, because it is a very important aspect of modern society. Money may not buy happiness, but nice mansions and vacations in the Caribbean can't be all bad.

Is that really what your life is like as a doctor? No — being a doctor does not automatically mean you will be well-off financially.

In Medicine, most young physicians are almost $1 million dollars in debt and have to work miserable hours every week with only 1 month off as vacation time every year broken up in 1 week periods. Most residents are required to work around 100 grueling hours per week and make less than a teacher would.  

Relationships and social lives suffer when you are a resident, and it is often a miserable 4 years of anyone's life. If you want money, I recommend a career in absolutely any field except for Medicine. Even those students who are more concerned with the next keg party or what sorority has the next "Grab-a-Date" in Undergrad may have a pretty well-paid job on Wall Street, and can have a much better life than you, materially speaking at least. If you have even half-a-clue of what to do on the Stock Market, you can easily make a nice profit in a short amount of time and can do this from the comfort of a tropical beach.  

You may make more money — but having to pay at least $50,000 a year in malpractice coverage, needing to fight with insurance companies to reimburse you for some procedures, or dealing with the bureaucracy of the Hospital Administration can make any doctor unhappy. As a new doctor, your phone will always be ringing and you may have problems trying to find the time to be there for your family.  

READ Questions To Ask Yourself When Wanting To Study Medicine

Medicine is not a glamorous profession and even if you may think it is one full of dignity and respect, all that comes at a price. As someone deciding to become a doctor, you sacrifice a lot, may not have much appreciation, and are yelled at more often than you are thanked. It is those small moments when you aren't scrambling to finish a patient discharge, or running up the stairs to help the nurse figure out how to manage hypertension, when you may see a glimpse of a patient who knows and understands that you are doing your best for them.

The most important thing for you, as you choose whether to go into the medical field, is if you are willing to take all the negatives that come with Medicine and be satisfied with the few positives that come with the field.