Re: Going into medicine
From: Efrain Ramirez (eramirezt@coqui.net)
Fri Jan 28 16:35:37 2005
Nice, thoughtful post...
>At Fri, 28 Jan 2005, D. Ashley Hill wrote:
>
>Joanne-
>
>As a full-time faculty I have college students "shadowing" me several
>days a month. In addition, the local high schools send interested kids
>by to talk about entering medicine or nursing. I spoke to 300 potential
>pre-med students last month at a nearby university, and told them:
>
>1. Medicine is changing rapidly and it's hard to tell if it will be
>better or worse by the time you graduate.
>
>2. There are wonderful aspects of being a physician, such as meeting
>patients you have helped in public, receiving holiday cards thanking you
>for your care, and having someone say "that doctor saved my baby's
>life." In addition, you are using your talents on a daily, sometimes
>hourly, basis to do good. Unlike many folks who hate their jobs, at the
>end of the day you usually feel good about yourself and what you have
>accomplished.
>
>3. However, there are many negative aspects, such as little free time,
>and tremendous pressure each day as you juggle patient care,
>administrative tasks, office management, dealing with payers, employee
>issues, and sorting through the maze of local, state and federal
>regulations, in addition to your role as a spouse, parent, child,
>caregiver or whatever. A major negative is the current litigation
>crisis, which makes practicing medicine much less fun than it used to
>be.
>
>4. Don't go into medicine for prestige or money. Only choose a
>profession (any profession) because you are passionate about it. That
>way, no matter what challenges you face, you will be able to adjust
>better than if you dislike your job.
>
>5. Finally, despite the challenges, there are few professions that
>guarantee this degree of financial success while using the skills you
>acquired through hard work to do good things for other people. True,
>some careers are less stressful and more lucrative, but not many, and if
>you look at folks who have those careers, they, too, have a lot of
>stress and work long hours. Put another way: there is no free lunch, so
>choose something you are passionate about.
>
>Ashley
>
>At Fri, 28 Jan 2005, Joanne Bulley, MD wrote:
> What is your response when a
>>patient says "my daughter / son wants to go into medicine ... can he /
>>she come talk with you?"
>
>--
>D. Ashley Hill, MD
>Associate Director
>Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
>Florida Hospital Family Practice Residency
> and Loch Haven Ob/Gyn Group
>Orlando, Florida
>
--
"The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement.
But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth."
Niels Bohr (1885 - 1962)
