I'd like to start this blog with a short video:

It's no secret that the medical profession is a prestigious one. The society often looks up to physicians and equates the word "doctor"  with "intelligence, wealth, and importance". It's no lie that physicians play an important role in society. But what are the consequences of putting the medical profession on such a high pedestal? Not only can it breed a sense of elitism and entitlement within the medical profession, it can also motivate people to pursue a career in medicine for all the wrong reasons.

Time and time again, I encounter premeds whose true motivations lie in the prestige and respect that come with the medical profession. When asked about why they wanted to pursue medicine in casual settings, some common responses are "I like having the doctor title", "I just don't think I'd be happy with my life achievements if I didn't become a doctor", "I want to be well respected for what I do". Many students have sophisticated rationalization as to how noble their convictions are even though deep down, they are truly motivated by this "prestigious" image of being a doctor. Many applicants are not even 100% honest with THEMSELVES regarding their convictions and thus resort to fabricating reasons for themselves to avoid cognitive dissonance. To me, these people are doing a disservice to themselves by not assessing their convictions in an honest and objective manner.

First of all, I don't fault anyone for wanting prestige. Humans are hierarchical creatures, and the desire to be on top of the social hierarchy is only natural. Second of all, I think it's silly that people have these negative gut reactions when they hear about people wanting "prestige", "money", etc. Those who have lived in the real world understand that our well-being is highly dependent on these supposedly "questionable" things.  However, the problems arise when people fail to assess the amount of personal sacrifice that are required of becoming a doctor.

Most people know that training for medicine is long and arduous. But for many, the intellectual acceptance of this fact does not necessarily translate into an emotional appreciation of the implications.  For example, I knew before entering medicine that to become a specialist generally requires 14 yrs of post-secondary training (4 yr undergrad + 4 yrs medical school + 5 yr residency + 1 or 2 yrs fellowship), but I've never thought much of it. I thought that I was young and that time would fly by when I'm doing something that I love. Now being in 2nd year medical school, I don't feel that I have a particularly enjoyable life. Exams are frequent, free time is sparse, competition for good specialties are stiff, my dating life has evaporated, and it's no fun learning mountains of minutia that have no clinical relevance what-so-ever. The worst of it all is that life is just going to get busier with clerkship and residency. Having dedicated 6 years of my life in post-secondary education, it's not comforting to think that I have another 8 years to go. If I end up in say general surgery, I'd be pulling 80+ hr weeks throughout residency. That's working double the amount of an average person for 5 years. Knowing all this, is this career worth it?

Those who enter medicine with mainly prestige and wealth in mind will often find that it's not motivating enough to keep them going. Everything would become a grind and the only reason they'd stick to medicine would be due to that fact that they've already invested too much. In the end, how much prestige and wealth do you get? Well that depends on your specialty. Let's say you are a family doctor. You may have the title of a "doctor", but within your work environment you certainly don't have any prestige compared to the specialists. If you are a general surgeon, you'd be very well respected by the public, but this would be at the expense of your personal life due to the hectic call schedules. Furthermore, did you know that cardiac and neurosurgeons, perhaps the most prestigious specialties within medicine, have TREMENDOUS difficulty in finding jobs? Did you know that only 10 people in all of Canada applied to cardiac surgery in 2008? I bet many people enter medical school thinking of pursuing such prestigious fields only to find that the job market is horrendous, and that you'd likely need to commit a few more years in getting a PhD to get a position in any academic centers.

I know I'm being biased here by presenting all the negatives, but I hope to warn those who haven't thought through their convictions and goals in life that medicine may not be as rosy as it seems. It requires great personal sacrifice to become a good doctor. If you don't enjoy or believe in what you do, you will end up miserable. Prestige and money will not fix that. I admit that there are things that I am not happy about medicine. Firstly, I feel like I'm sacrificing a large part of my youth. I have regrets that some of my other talents will not be utilized at all in this profession. I've also come to realize that medicine is a lot more routine as I had hoped for. But overall, my appreciation for the value of the work outweighs all of these negatives. So the message here is that you MUST assess your convictions HONESTLY, seek as much information about medicine as you can, and finally have an objective analysis of whether medicine is for you.  Do at least this for yourself; it's no brain surgery.