Would You Be Happy as a Doctor? Here's How to Find Out

and some surveys over 50% of physicians would not choose medicine again nor would they recommend the profession to their children doctors are becoming increasingly disillusioned with medicine and burnout rates are at epidemic levels here's how you can know whether you'll be happy or miserable as a future doctor dr. jabal med school insiders calm there are two types of people in this world those that love the rush and reward from facing and overcoming a challenge and those who are easily discouraged stressed or bitter of the obstacles that stand in their way the path to becoming a physician is arduous it's a marathon not a sprint and one riddled with obstacles and challenges along the way so if you find yourself energized or eager to overcome obstacles you'll be much happier as a physician there are multiple flavors of challenges along the way most obviously the academic rigors are immense starting as a pre-med with cutthroat competition been to medical school with tremendous volumes of information and finally residency with long hours and increased responsibility at each stage there are additional challenges such as the MCAT USMLE clinical rotations away rotations difficult colleagues Gunners and more it's common for aspiring physicians to focus on the light at the end of the tunnel what will it be like to be an attending physician don't forget that during the prime of your life for all of your 20s and until your early to mid 30s you'll be training while your non physician friends are enjoying a relatively more relaxed and free life but even as an attending physician you better enjoy a good challenge medicine is a mental puzzle providing intellectual stimulation and it's best suited to those with an inquisitive mind if you want to help patients but with less intellectual stimulation another healthcare profession may suit you better even in the operating room as a surgeon you'll be constantly working with the technical challenge of fine motor control particularly if you go into something highly meticulous like plastic surgery if you're able to find pleasure and the silver lining to the expected and unexpected challenges that arise in your life you'll be much happier as a doctor for similar reasons being process oriented rather than outcome oriented will serve you well as a future physician this manifests in two main ways have you ever realized that when you're constantly focused on how long it takes until you reach your destination but trip seems much longer and when you forget about time it seems to fly by because medical training is a marathon focusing on the outcome of being a physician rather than the process will only make the actual training seem that much longer similarly being to outcome oriented is detrimental in patient care situations despite the marvels of modern medicine there are often times when we cannot save a patient or the outcome is far from what anyone wants in certain specialties such as neuro surgery or oncology being outcome oriented can be disastrous as average outcomes in these fields tend to be poor there will be many times when you follow every best practice by the book but still the results are not what you or the patient wanted this does not necessarily mean you did anything wrong or that you should do it differently next time sometimes there are simply factors outside of your control by learning to love the process the details and mishaps in the day-to-day become less relevant you'll cherish the opportunities to learn how challenges and setbacks stimulate growth and will begin to appreciate the small victories most people hear of the large salaries that most physicians pull in and come to the erroneous conclusion that physicians are tremendously wealthy truth is being a doctor is not nearly as lucrative as most people think in my years of training I've spoken with dozens of attending physicians about what it means to be an attending how their expectations compared to reality and what surprised them most about life as a fully trained doctor one of the more common themes I see is attending physicians with stress negative associations or misalignment of expectations with regards to finances one plastic surgeon told me that growing up he came from a financially disadvantaged background therefore making money and having financial security was important to him he went on to become a plastic surgeon and thought he'd make the big bucks and live a lavish life after four years of college another four years of medical school followed by six years of plastic surgery residency and then two years of fellowship to specialize in esthetics and micro surgery he was in his mid 30s he had no savings student loans had luned with interest and now he was building a family with his wife and his second child on the way upon finishing his training he was making $400,000 per year but after taxes student loan payments saving for retirement the mortgage on his new home and the added expenses of starting and supporting a family of four he still felt the financial strain he worked so hard to avoid if you're a broke student watching this just like I was not too long ago you may scoff at this and think how can someone making four hundred K not feel super wealthy wealth does not come from a high income but rather from having assets that means money saved or investments not how much you actually pull in every year training to be a physician means that while wealth accumulation is accelerated after your training the opportunity cost is massive and takes several years to make up for did this plastic surgeon eventually end up in a great financial position yes but only after diligently saving living below his means and paying off debt for several years but now he's also in his late 40s most physicians lead an upper-middle class lifestyle which is not nearly as lavish as you may think the type of money doctors make doesn't lead to extravagant homes and cars but rather comfort and security and you'll make enough to save for retirement to have a comfortable home and to hopefully not have to stress about money but apart from the few outliers you won't be balling out with a new pagani every year perhaps the most overused cliché amongst pre-meds during their medical school interviews is stating that they want to become a doctor to help others while stating this as a primary reason to become a doctor would likely prove detrimental to your medical school application there is some truth there look I despise the self righteousness and moral high-ground that is assumed or taken when people speak about how much pleasure they derive from helping others let's put that nonsense aside this isn't about whether or not you're a good person or how lucky we are to have you grace us with your presence if we remove all this morality and judgment from helping others and even focus on purely selfish motives it becomes apparent that the pursuit and desire to bring joy and be of service to others actually makes you feel better the pleasure and joy one derives from helping another is almost universal but there are people who are not able to tap into the satisfaction in the health care setting due to other factors for example a strongly cynical outlook being easily annoyed or not being a team player are just a few factors that can obstruct you from finding joy here to thrive as a physician finding the pleasure in being of service to patients is essential the year is 2020 and the candy s climate is reaching new heights outrage porn is in and having an ounce of resilience or not adopting a victim mentality makes you the outlier with most things in life the truth is somewhere in the middle and nuance is key on one end of the spectrum burnout is a systemic issue not an individual one medical students and residents don't need more mandatory wellness lectures those actually just make the problem worse what we need is a systemic overhaul of medicine and medical training whereby trainees aren't abused or used as cheap labor on the other end of the spectrum personal responsibility and resilience is necessary to not only survive but thrive as a future doctor recently on reddit I came across a medical student who was shaken up from an attending commenting that his tie didn't match his shirt if you're that easily offended good luck to you in life let alone in medicine pick up meditations by Marcus Aurelius or watch my video on stoicism for students so you can face the inevitable challenges empowered not as a victim take responsibility for every challenge life throws your way responsibility does not equate to fault but responsibility allows you to take action and do something about the challenges you face rather than just cowering in a corner complaining about them is it my fault that family genetics predisposed me to developing Crohn's colitis is it my fault that he driver ran a red light and t-boned our car obviously not in both instances but both became my responsibility and by taking responsibility I was able to do something about it if you meet these five criteria congratulations chances are you'll be quite happy as a future doctor unfortunately becoming a doctor in the United States is insanely competitive the overwhelming majority of pre-med in college give up and their life path before they even get to the point of applying to medical school and if you are one of the few that do end up applying you should know that 60% of applicants fail to get a single Medical School acceptance I know that applying to medical school is confusing and daunting I was the only person in my family to become a physician let alone work in healthcare and I also know how much the process to becoming a doctor can crush you if you don't approach it properly I created med school insiders with the mission to empower a generation of happier healthier and more effective future doctors we've developed a course specifically designed for pre-meds to reduce confusion and increase their effectiveness called the pre-med roadmap to medical school acceptance and if you want to work one-on-one with an actual physician who was eager to mentor you to becoming the best doctor you can be we've got a team of over 60 doctors on standby ready to assist that's what we love doing and it's why our customers love us our results and customer reviews speak for themselves visit med-school insider.com to learn more out of the five factors how many do you personally resonate with let me know with a comment down below if you liked this video please give us a thumbs up to keep the YouTube gods happy make sure you're subscribed with the notification bell enabled so you don't miss future content like this much love to you all and I will see you guys in that next one

Channel: Med School Insiders

Views: 445,219

Rating: 4.9529839 out of 5

Keywords: Pre-med, Premed, Med Student, Medical School, Med School, Medical Student, are doctors happy, should i become a doctor, do not go to medical school, don't go to medical school if this is you, happy physician, how to be happy as a doctor, burnout, depression, suicide, physician burnout, resilience, intellectual challenge, process oriented, outcome oriented, growth mindset, fixed mindset, doctors rich, is medicine rewarding, is being a doctor rewarding

Id: HLkyw9fCGaI

Length: 10min 15sec (615 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 21 2020