What's the obsession with medicine?

irish_man

One word = MONEY!!!!

Sid_Justice

High prestige.
Professional course (course gives you a profession, unlike a Law degree that doesn't make you a lawyer)
Unless you screw up you have high job security (you might have to move but you'd never be on the dole with med degree).
Better money than 90% of the jobs out there.
Glamorised by television and film.

And all the stuff you've already mentioned about exclusivity and people wanting to spend their points on the most expensive item they can.

J_E

irish_man wrote: »

One word = MONEY!!!!

The problem is though there's not as much money in it as you'd like to think; At least, not for the first 5-10 years or so. If you're in it for the money you're in the wrong career, why would you not go for business or law if you wanted money? Much easier way to get it.

eyescreamcone

It would be interesting to find out how much money they actually make.
For instance 1st year out of college.
How much? after overtime etc?

irish_man

Cydoniac wrote: »

The problem is though there's not as much money in it as you'd like to think; At least, not for the first 5-10 years or so. If you're in it for the money you're in the wrong career, why would you not go for business or law if you wanted money? Much easier way to get it.

A relative of mine is a doc and is on €300,000 a year. He's 33. I know he worked very hard to be where he is not but people hear that and think "I'd like that" then they try for medicine. Also, at least for the first 5-10 years you have a job. How many courses are you guaranteed a job at the end? These days people want job security, so business is a no no (look at Aviva a week ago), same with computers and some types of engineering. The almost certainty of a job at the end of medicine attracts many to it.

In relation to B&L, there aren't as many jobs for B&L graduates nowadays. A lot go abroad. Don't know why the points in trinners are so high.(555 I think) A good few people who I know who got B&L from UCD have spent the last 12 months on the dole.

Personally, I'd hate to do medicine. I don't think I could deal with people dying or cutting someone up. I'd prefer a brainless enough job. One where you go home and have no worries about what happened in work that day. (if you were a doc you may have preformed surgery and could be stressed about it that night). It would have to have a decent wage too. I know people saying "Don't do X for the money" but realistically if you work hard you want to receive a fair wage for your hard work. Would you honestly refer to enjoy your job and not be able to live comfortably or to slightly dislike your job and live comfortably and be able to provide for your family?

Chuchoter

Medicine, not only does it have horrendous working conditions, far from guarantees you a permanent job here. I'd more say it guarantees you a permanent move to Austrailia, I'd strongly advise anyone considering medicine and thinking that sure they can handle 'hard work'. You won't have a permanent job, your overtime won't be paid half the time and you will work illegal numbers of hours. The Irish system is a catastrophe. If you want more info head over to the health sciences forum

eyescreamcone

Chuchoter wrote: »

Medicine, not only does it have horrendous working conditions, far from guarantees you a permanent job here. I'd more say it guarantees you a permanent move to Austrailia, I'd strongly advise anyone considering medicine and thinking that sure they can handle 'hard work'. You won't have a permanent job, your overtime won't be paid half the time and you will work illegal numbers of hours. The Irish system is a catastrophe. If you want more info head over to the health sciences forum

Not too many unemployed Med Graduates though is there???

Chuchoter

Did you know that for most NHCDs, there is no such thing as a permanent contract? Just 6 monthly ones. Go read the health sciences forum. Medicine isn't the career it used to be.

dambarude

Konata wrote: »

It's really, really hard to not feel that pressure to do something "great" with your points - even I, who was so serious about not doing medicine, doubted my choice a little bit after I got my results. But it's also pretty sad when people DO give in to that pressure and hence take away college positions from people would would make fantastic doctors and may have just missed the points cut.

I think it's understandable in the immediate aftermath of results for people to be making the 'wasted points' comment. But it gets pretty annoying a few years afterwards... that's what I find anyway. Especially when you they say things like 'shur you're only doing X, and you could have done Y - you're mad!'. And tbh I'd be lying if sometimes it wouldn't make you wonder... especially with the way things are with the economy, and medicine being a reasonably safe bet of employment and big bucks. But then you think of all the reasons why you didn't buckle under the pressure and you realise you've made the right decision.

It's the you're 'only' doing comments which really get to me!

QueenOfLeon

This thread is an interesting read for anyone who likes to idealise the career. Probably something along the lines of what Chuchoter was referring to earlier.

jumpguy

If you really wanna do it, do your best to get work experience, check do your interests line up with the job, talk to doctors who've been in the job for a good few years and go for it. Fúck people who say you can't get it, pretty much nobody believed I would until I did.

Anyway, what's the obsession? Lots of people wanna do it - it's a class course. I can't think of many other courses where you must push yourself as much. It's tough as fúck and challenges you on all levels, academically, physically, emotionally, etc, but think of what you get to do at the end of it - you get to apply your skill and knowledge to help people. You might be the reason a person's cancer goes into remission, or why someone's brain damage from a stroke has been vastly limited. You might just be the reason someone dies a comfortable death and the one who makes the death a bit less traumatic to loved ones.

Perhaps I've an idealistic view - but pay-wise, you're never gonna have to worry about it too much, at the end of the day you're a doctor. It's the trust and responsibility society places on you, which is both a privilege and a great lot of pressure at the same time. Sure, people do it for the "wrong" reasons, but they either won't last or will just fade out, nobody can stick at something they hate doing for the rest of their lives.

I've rarely heard the stuff I've read on Health Sciences being said by highly experienced doctors. It's hard at first - but no job starts out easy. My brother works in finance and when he started he'd often work 13 hour days. The bottom of the ladder never gets it easy - in any profession.

0mega

I'm surprised at most of the opinions here on people who want to do medicine. I'm sure that there is a small percentage of those who just want it to set themselves apart from others, but think of the workload involved in first of all - getting the points to do medicine and then the amount of work needed to do the course.

I really doubt that many people who have no interest in medicine and no real desire to work as a doctor would put themselves through that for a sense of superiority.