This is a very real fear for many soon-to-be-medical students, truth is, not only does life not END with medical school, I would say my acceptance to medical school is when my life really got exciting! So many of my colleagues complain… it’s not fair… so much school… we don’t get paid enough… But here I'm saying why Becoming a doctor is exciting! The steps to become a physician are pretty damn straight-forward and can be found easily by even the most rudimentary Google search. Whenever I start having an “Ah shit, this kinda sucks” moment I remind myself of this. At some time or another you wanted this and you wanted it REAL bad. When you start having doubts hearken back to how excited you were to get that first acceptance letter! You’re learning what you’ll use Yes, a good majority of 1st and 2nd years of medical school is full of information you will likely never use again. But even then you are building a base of knowledge and at least this information is RELATED to what you want to do with your life. It’s a hell of a lot better than writing essays for some English Lit class you had to take just to graduate. Here’s the kicker, after those first couple years it just keeps getting better! Everything you do, everything you read is somehow contributing to making you better at what will one day be your job and hopefully your PASSION. You think surgeons don’t need to know internal medicine? Wrong! Embrace everything you do during your training with open arms, you’ll be surprised when it comes in useful. There is always a next step Maybe not this exciting… One of the most important reasons becoming a doctor is exciting is that there is always a next step, always something to push yourself toward. First its acceptance to medical school, then Step I and Step II, then residency and so on. Physicians are very goal oriented people and this constant pressure to achieve the next step is the kind of environment we thrive in. Physiciandom* is certainly the opposite of a “dead-end job” there is always room for advancement and always room for improvement. What we do is 10 times more exciting than most jobs You know what the ultimate form of scutwork is? Flipping burgers for some snotty nosed kid. Face it, what we do really IS exciting. There is a reason medical dramas are so popular! Throughout my vacation people seemed genuinely enthralled to hear about what I have been up to over the last year or so. They let YOU cut people open and take out their organs?! You work 24 hours… straight?! What’s the craziest thing you have seen?! Our most boring day at the hospital is still a heck of a lot more exciting than pushing papers at an office and we will (eventually!) get paid rather handsomely for it. Never forget it! Source
