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Is NYU’s med school really free? Coming from a doctor wannabe… : nyu
Main Post: Is NYU’s med school really free? Coming from a doctor wannabe... : nyu
Why is getting into med school becoming more competitive ...
Main Post: Why is getting into med school becoming more competitive ...
Does anyone regret going to medical school?
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Hello, I'm a pre-med student trying to explore career options before choosing one for the rest of my life.
I would like to know if there is anyone (current med student, resident doctor, physician, follow doctor) who regrets going into medical school.
Please share your thoughts, and be honest.
- What career would you do if you could go back in time?
- Is the physician's salary worth it?
- Do you have enough free time?
- How much is your student debt?
- What would you recommend to another person who is thinking of applying to med school?
If possible share your state to have a better understanding of your situation.
Top Comment: i’m mainly going to answer 5. if you can see yourself doing anything else and being just as happy, do that. the main thing that gets me through medical school is knowing that there is nothing else i’d rather be doing. salary is nice but most of us are coming out with 200-500k in loans, then entering residency which doesn’t pay well while those loans accumulate interest. much easier ways to make that much, i’m sure.
Is it worth it to go to med school?
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Something that always annoyed me was that in college I never did well on the MCAT (took it 3 times). I retook it and got a 517.
I am in my mid 20s and in an established career making 110k, with only 4 days of work which is fully remote and a good work/life balance thanks to the medium level of workload. I like my current job and career path, and will most likely end up reaching around 150k in my mid 30s.
With this in mind, do y’all think it’s worth it to give this up to pursue becoming a physician? It’s always been my dream as a kid and I know right now I’ll easily get into a med school due to my gpa, mcat, and job. But at the same time, I like my life as is. I’m just not sure on what to do.
Top Comment: I know right now I’ll easily get into a med school due to my gpa, mcat, and job. Yeah right. You're in for a very humbling experience buddy.
Doctors, residents, med school students: is it really worth it?
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I read a lot of posts on the clinical side of reddit that talk about how medical school and being a doctor isn’t worth it. Most of the posts consist of how the journey is too hard, expensive, and time consuming. Many medical students also talk about how they’ve developed depression, anxiety, and need extensive therapy while juggling life and school. I’ve even seen M3/M4 students tell people that the doctors they’ve shadowed tell them to choose another profession. All of this (while I understand the struggle) is very sad and unnerving to hear as a pre-med student.
I’m passionate about the field of psychiatry and neuroscience. I’m aware that the road ahead of me is not easy, and requires a shit-ton of effort, hard work, and expenses. So far, I love being pre-med and enjoy all of the hurdles being thrown at me during the process. However, seeing some of these posts concern me, and it makes me wonder if the journey is really worth it once you make it. Does anyone enjoy the process after undergrad? Do/did you still enjoy your twenties outside of school? And most importantly, do you love the profession you’re in?
Top Comment: It’s interesting to see someone say they are passionate about any medical field. The reality is you have no idea what you are signing up for until you actually do it yourself. Shadowing can give you a small idea, but it is not the same as practicing. Psychiatry specifically, the day to day work involves mostly managing medicines, and not any particularly fascinating issues. The fascinating stuff, like someone calmly talking to demons in their periphery, and taking about their third eye uniting all realities, is something you would hope never walks in your door, because the treatments are not very good, and it can be a legal mess. The issues one may run into more commonly in psychiatry, is people coming to you for life problems hoping for a medicine fix (my manager demeans me and going to work gives me anxiety now, what do I take for that?) Or, I am depressed and can’t work anymore, fill out my disability paperwork. Or give me a controlled RX prescription because I say so, and I know myself better than you. The day to day work of psychiatry is no where quite as fascinating as one would think and involves a lot practice driven based off financial realities. Not to tell you what to do, I am a psychiatrist myself after all. All things considered, I would do this job over any other as I have no idea what it would else I could do, but I wonder everyday if I would be happier doing something that is simple, like being a massage therapist lol. But there is good job stability and you don’t have to sit through pointless work meetings or suck up to anyone. The dealing with people aspect and various personalities can be rough. For example, I have already been threatened for not wanting to do what one person demanded from me. I also work full time in private practice, and my take home salary is about 125k after taxes. No where near as much as I thought it would be. To make really good money you need to do procedure based stuff.
does the med school you go to actually matter?
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like, does going to a T20 MD school actually matter vs. going to a lesser known MD school? would it affect my ability to match into a competitive residency? is that what it comes down to? is it worth taking a gap year that would likely make me a strong(er!) applicant for top med schools vs. applying this year (w/ no gap year) if i think i've got a pretty decent shot at lesser known med schools?
Top Comment: Yes, but also no. Better school = more resources and connections. But like anything else, the question is whether or not it would actually change your own individual outcome. You can still match ortho at an Ivy going to a state school, but you’d probably have to be an objectively better applicant than a similar student that went to Harvard.