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Why do you want to become a doctor?


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Here's the twist - if you can't become a doctor for whatever reasons, what career would you have picked?

 

software engineer writing software that would be medically related. That certainly wouldn't exclude being a professor in a related research area :)

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software engineer writing software that would be medically related. That certainly wouldn't exclude being a professor in a related research area :)

 

We need more doctors like you who will hold "medical software" developers to a higher standard with their user interfaces. Some of the medical imaging and treatment planning software that I've worked with is pretty terrible (although that OsiriX DICOM viewer looks pretty user-friendly, but we didn't have Macs where I worked so I never had a chance to try it out). No wonder my physio friend says that a lot of carpal tunnel patients are actually radiologists! Maybe Google and Apple have taught us to expect too much?

 

To contribute to the thread, being universally useful, no matter where you go in the world, is one of the main reasons I want to be a doctor. Especially if there is a robot/zombie apocalypse and medical skills become highly sought-after.

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We need more doctors like you who will hold "medical software" developers to a higher standard with their user interfaces. Some of the medical imaging and treatment planning software that I've worked with is pretty terrible (although that OsiriX DICOM viewer looks pretty user-friendly, but we didn't have Macs where I worked so I never had a chance to try it out). No wonder my physio friend says that a lot of carpal tunnel patients are actually radiologists! Maybe Google and Apple have taught us to expect too much?

 

To contribute to the thread, being universally useful, no matter where you go in the world, is one of the main reasons I want to be a doctor. Especially if there is a robot/zombie apocalypse and medical skills become highly sought-after.

 

"Especially if there is a robot/zombie apocalypse and medical skills become highly sought-after." LOL...Too much movies for you man...

 

I suppose it's better than the dude i asked yesterday and he answered me "I want to be a doctor for the swag" ;)

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It's definitely not the prestige...for me anyway... I mean there are a lot of positive things about going into medicine, extremely rewarding, but the road after all the academic hurdles is less than easy. Now winning a Nobel Prize that would be prestigious....

 

I guess my reason is it's a career where you're a life learner with a team. That it doesn't exist in a vacuum. In the hospital and outside. You're only as good as your weakest link kind of deal...

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Lol,if you don't work in U.S. and if you didn't get your MBA from a top school,you can forget satisfaction as a Banker,obviously.

 

I work in private banking so there's definitely financial satisfaction. I'm just not into the sales pitch, or targets, targets, targets. Admittedly its a great fallback if things don't work out!

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Yea, my best friend is a CA working for one of the big firms in the US and feels the same way (she is in the process of getting her science pre-reqs and applying for meds)

 

I'm not alone! Its tough to write off an established career but you gotta do whats best for you. You are gonna be doing it for many years after all!

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I had a pretty unique situation that made me want to become a doctor. When I was 16 I had a pediatric surgeon completely botch my surgery. He pinned my tibia wrong after rotating it 60 degrees (the rotation part he did ok :) ). Due to this I've had to have 4 more surgeries (and counting) to try and fix what he has done to me. The 4 surgeries doesn't include another 6 that I've had for other reasons. I am also expecting to have another major surgery in the next couple years (once again due to his mistake).

 

He made me realize that there are so many doctors out there that don't really care. It is shocking to me that he's in peds. Not only did he do a crappy job, he also didn't leave me in the care of another doctor after leaving the country immediately after my surgery. He didn't leave any meds once the IV came out. He left no follow-up orders, no orders for my cast to come off, no discharge orders, and the list goes on. I couldn't even be discharged from the hospital because I had no doctor for my case to discharge me. I never saw him again.

 

On top of this it took 8 years (after major symptoms appeared) of going through the medical system to get a diagnosis of having a bleeding disorder and longer to be diagnosed with hemochromatosis (wonderful combination haha!). The diagnosis of the BD would have been really helpful while going through these surgeries lol!

 

So I've definitely had my share of negative medical experiences and I've had great ones too. I just want the chance to be one of those great doctors who patients really trust and feel comfortable around. I would love to empower my patients so that they really believe that they are their own advocate for their health and body.

 

Sorry for the long story! If I don't become a doctor I might become a physician assistant or keep my job as a Recreation Therapist (which I love but I want to have an even greater impact or at least try!).

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I work in private banking so there's definitely financial satisfaction. I'm just not into the sales pitch, or targets, targets, targets. Admittedly its a great fallback if things don't work out!

 

Yeah,but the problem with Finance/Banking,is that there is a lot of favoritism,hard work doesn't always pay off and if you have contacts in the company,you will DEFINITELY rise faster working less than the ones working their ass off.

Just like Lawyers,Bankers aren't the good'ol'money makers they were once,only a minority enjoy these 150k+1.3m bonus salaries...

Healthcare is possibly the last field that can provide far above average salaries and i expect Physician/Dentist/Pharmacist salaries to drop considerably in the upcoming years,especially with this economy becoming even more strange and impossible to predict.

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Great story Kittykat, its refreshing to see someone not after the money or prestige. I am with you on the advocacy bit. Was a patient for 2weeks in hospital last year and you have to be on top of your healthcare. I was the one that told them i thought my kidneys were shutting down after I started peeing brown. No one told me that I was to watch for that, I was given wrong pills and watched everything they gave me. The staff are great but overworked and mistakes happen.

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