Today I am showing you 5 things that you probably didn’t know about doctors, and what it is like to have a medical career. A lot of people have some very wrong perceptions of the career and think that it is all smooth sailing.
Some of these facts, I hope will encourage you and excite you and others I hope will give you food for thought.
Becoming a doctor is not a decision to be made likely, but one that when made well is rarely regretted.
1. They can have extra side hustles.
One of the things you probably didn’t know about doctors is what they do outside of the hospital. Ali Abdall is a qualified doctor who makes really informative and useful videos on youtube. He also made over £1,000,000 this year from youtube related activities alone, and medicine is his side hustle!
He is a great proof that if you really enjoy something, you can make money doing it as well as a career in medicine.
If you enjoy sports like me you will be glad to know that the England netball player Layla Guscoth is also a full-fledged doctor in the NHS!
I used to think, much like many other aspiring medics that if you wanted to do medicine everything else has to be forgotten.
This is simply not true, many opportunities and freedoms are within a medical career.
The NHS is so short-staffed that most of the time they are happy to have doctors onboard who decide their own hours and how much time they want to invest in a medical career.
This is not to say that it is easy to do lots of things as well as medicine, but it is definitely possible to pursue medicine and other things that you love.
Things you probably didn’t know about doctors:
2. Doctors starting salary is 24.5K
Did you know that a school receptionist has a national advertiser average salary of £35,386?
This is not to undermine the value of receptionists but to say that regardless of the 5 years of medical school and all the grades and extracurriculars it takes to get in, you still won’t be earning the big bucks for a very long time. This is a hugely overlooked thing that most people probably didn’t know about doctors.
However, knowing this can be released as you know that the career has been chosen out of love, passion and dedication and not just for the money.
To add to that, medicine is a very unique and rewarding career, unlike many others, the privileges that Doctors get, to be included in the personal lives of so many is worth far more than money.
Things you probably didn’t know about doctors:
3. Doctors don’t just treat patients.
This infographic shows you a whole heap of alternative careers you can pursue with a degree in medicine.
From translating medical texts into different languages to being the doctor on a team that climbs Mount Everest. Medicine can take you places.
Never listen to anyone that says that studying medicine puts you into a box. The opposite is true! Having such a high-quality education and outstanding credentials as most doctors do, it allows you to do pretty much anything you like!
Knowledge is a great thing and becoming a doctor will ensure you have lots of it, to do with as you please.
4. Doctors have the highest rate of suicide and depression amongst all professions.
This is a very unfortunate thing you probably didn’t know about doctors but there is a point in me saying this.
Doctors work long shifts, with physically exhausting work sometimes. They see things that are really upsetting, put their career on the line and all with little to no thanks.
If you have read this is going to hurt, you would probably have heard the worst of it.
If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it as if you can read all that and still want to do medicine that is really saying something.
(This is an affiliate link: if you purchase this item, I will receive a small amount of this at no extra cost to you.)
If you would like some wider reading on the realities of life as a doctor check out this blog post.
I say all this to point out what absolute legends doctors are and how incredible their work is.
As I said earlier, it is almost worth putting up with all manner of terrors just for the satisfaction that saving a life gives.
However, there is much to be done to support doctors in their work and ensure that they don’t need to result in such terrible and saddening measures to cope with what they are experiencing.
The royal medical benevolent fund does some great work to support doctors on the frontline who need emotional and financial support during difficult times, as I wrap up. Consider donating or volunteering to help them with the work they do.
Things you probably didn’t know about doctors:
5. Anyone can be a doctor
Yes, that’s right. Doctors aren’t superhumans, they are just people who decided to follow up their passion with a whole lot of hard work and determination.
That means, that if the things I have said today or anything else makes you want to be a doctor. Go for it, 100%. As long as you are not like the head of a mafia ring, nothing is stopping you from achieving it.
Notice that I haven’t mentioned your academic success as a determining factor, that’s on purpose!
No matter what you got in your exams there is a route into medicine, if you look hard enough, it might be long and hard but you can do it!
It also doesn’t matter what your personality is like, yes of course you have to like people to some degree, but you can choose the direction of your career to suit you!
To wrap up!
I hope this has inspired you to keep going with your medical journey or to even start it, I believe in you!
If you need more advice or want to chat, DM me and follow me on Instagram where I post even more helpful tips!
Also, don’t forget to join the Medical Zoe team by joining the exclusive email list! I send out even more useful tips and information to help you succeed on your medical journey.
Zoe
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