There are a ton of misconceptions when it comes to what a career in medicine would actually be like. Sometimes those are harmless, but others can prevent someone from pursuing a career they would love! Whether you’re applying to medicine or just intrigued, here are some of the most common “medicine expectations vs reality” busted.
Click here to read: “The 5 things you probably didn’t know about doctors”
“Rolling in Money.”
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. However, regardless of the 5 years of medical school and all the grades and extracurriculars, it takes to get in, there won’t be big bucks for a very long time.
Many people assume that Doctors in the Uk are earning loads of money right from the get-go. Although the salary is respectable, it is nowhere near as much as people might assume.
Doctors also work long hours, if you divide the pay they get by the hours they work it’s not a lot!
That said, medicine is very rewarding and the rewards stretch far beyond just the $$$.
Although, so many patients invite you into their lives. This is worth far more than money.
Medicine expectations vs reality: “No life.”
Many aspiring medics think that if you want to do medicine everything else has to be forgotten.
My freinds always said whilst applying to med: “ You do know you’re not going to have a life, right?”
This is simply not true, there are so many opportunities and freedoms within a medical career.
The NHS is critically short-staffed. As a result, most of the time they are happy to let doctors decide their own hours and how much time they want to invest in a medical career.
In addition to that, doing things you enjoy will keep you going in such a tough career.
It might be tough to find the time, but a bit of good organisation goes a long way.
Medicine is a lifestyle and not just a job, but it is definitely possible to pursue other things that you love.
Medicine expectations vs reality: “Medicine is upsetting.”
There is no doubt that medicine has its ups and downs. However, many people write off a career as a doctor because they think “ I wouldn’t be able to handle it!” In any job, there are tough times, but with medicine, those tough times come with an enormous privilege. That is, being someone who can hopefully make things a bit better/more comfortable.
That said, I am not a doctor. So let’s see what a Paediatric consultant I interviewed says about treating sick children:
“Overwhelmingly, the biggest misconception is that it is really sad. If I placed a bet on what the first phrase people say will be when I tell them my job, I would be a rich woman. They say, “Oh, that’s so sad, I couldn’t do that.” Actually, very few children die, most children that are very sick will get better. Yes, we see really sick children. However, the beauty of Paediatrics is that one day you have a child on death’s door. Yet, three days later is running round the ward playing hide-and-seek! The turnaround time for recovery is very quick, children get better quickly. We are well-supported when it is sad and there are losses.
We attend the funerals as a team, we cry, we organise psychological support, we mourn and it stays with us. We acknowledge the losses when they happen. In adult medicine, the loss is so much more common you don’t do that, in a way I think that makes it sadder.”
DR P
So, medicine is there to help people get better and when that happens it feels great! Even when things aren’t so positive, there is support if you need it and the idea of sadness seems worse than it is in reality.
Medicine expectations vs reality: “Medicine is prestigious.”
Another misconception is that being a doctor is a really prestigipus thing.
There is some truth to that, it’s an extreme privilege to be able to help patients in their toughest times. The job they do demand a lot of respect and admiration!
That said, not every Doctor gets the respect they deserve dished out to them
A lot of the job is hard slog, and behind that MB ChB or MBBS there is a lot of unrecognised effort thrown in.
Many patients come into the hospital feeling vulnerable, angry and frustrated. As a result, doctors and other healthcare staff can be met with a good deal of rudeness or unpleasant behaviour from patients and their families.
Part of the job is being able to take it on the chin, and get to work anyway.
The best Doctors get their hands dirty too! It is a team and the best patient care comes from everyone playing their part.
Prancing around the wards in a white coat like on TV is not the reality of being a Doctor!
“You can only be a doctor if you’re naturally smart.”
This is one that trips many people up before they even get their GCSEs. So many people immediately write themselves off from the career because they think they are “not cut out for it.”
But I’ll let you in on a secret, absolutely anyone ( without criminal convictions of course) could become a doctor if they really wanted to from an academic perspective!
Yes, that’s right. Doctors aren’t superhuman, 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!