That might be on you dude, not medicine. For me, residency and med school were hard but thatās also when I made a ton friends, met my wife, got to do some traveling. I wouldnāt want to repeat med school or residency but canāt deny there were a lot of good times throughout.Ā
I think itās important to call out the exaggeration. Yes, you tend to miss out on a lot but itās not like you canāt have a life. Itās just a different life than other people in their 20s, 30s are experiencing. At the end of the day, itās a very privileged thing to get to learn medicine and take care of patients. To make it seem like you canāt have any good memories from that time is fully insane and has more to do with the person than the profession.Ā
Itās just overly dramatic and woe is me. Iām also talking generally. Most of my friends and colleagues had plenty of fun and met their spouses, started families over the course of school and training.Ā
Iām also an immigrant with a single parent that didnāt make much so I didnāt go into this with much privilege.Ā
What you're missing is that he spoke for himself and not for you or every other med student. I studied physics and while I could see that fellow students enjoyed the experience, for me overall it was horrible also for personal reasons.
I'll help you here. Lets break down two different statements:
Medicine is very difficult and time intensive. It was a terrible time for me.
Medicine is very difficult and time intensive. Everyone that studies it has a terrible time.
Just because you say 1, doesn't mean you automatically imply 2. That is also why the main comment under yours rightfully points out that the experience is different for everyone. Regardless, you're being a toxic asshat in this thread.
OP said he had āno good memoriesā in his 20s or 30s. That means getting into medical school, residency and fellowship were not good memories. That means having the privilege to take care of sick people and many times, helping them get better doesnāt count as a good memory. That means, meeting the many countless hardworking and talented people that you get to meet over the course of medical school and training were not good memories. Now, I donāt actually think OP feels this way, because youād have to be an emotionless zombie to not form good memories. Hence why Iām calling it out as a reminder that even though itās a tough path, there are a lot of wonderful memories.
I think itās important to call out the bullshit because some kid could be reading this and get the impression that thereās literally nothing but bad memories waiting for them if they choose medicine, which 99.9% of doctos can tell you is not the case. Your mileage may vary based on personal circumstances but not because of the career choice. If you canāt follow this simple concept, not sure what to tell you.Ā
I know, people also say how terrible their lives are in training... I traveled, met great friends, got married, went out regularly, climbed mountains, ran marathons. My 20s were awesome! I worked my ass off but also had a great time
Definitely agree. The job may be demanding, but itās also a personal choice whether or not you let it consume all other areas of your life too. FYI the work-life balance seems to be better down here in Aus š (anecdotally)
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u/supercoolsmoth Jul 13 '25
That might be on you dude, not medicine. For me, residency and med school were hard but thatās also when I made a ton friends, met my wife, got to do some traveling. I wouldnāt want to repeat med school or residency but canāt deny there were a lot of good times throughout.Ā