Why did you enter medicine?

NewFrockTuesday

Like it says in the title. It never even crossed my mind to enter as I'm way too squemish. Id never get through medical training of any sort I know this in myself. (Ahhh...youre bleeding...get out of my hospital!)

A friend of mine is doing her nursing experience in Beaumont at the moment and we have her plauged with stupid questions - one of the my favourites overheard being "Do horrors not bother you now seeing as you see blood and guts everyday?"

The whole issue of desensitisation is one Im wondering about as well. How long does it take? Do you become so used to ripped flesh and agonising cancers that you can zone it out? Was it as you expected it to be your training? Did you ever think "I mad, I should have done arts then gone on the dole" :pac:

Im just curious. Mods, if this is not in line with the nature of the forum, my aologies. Please feel free to move whereever you think appropriate. Thanks.

Ihaveanopinion

Money, women and power... for the most part.

Not doing so well with at least 3 of them

sam34

gosh i could be here all night answering this! i'll try keep it short.

why did i get into it? well, i suppose an idealistic view, if im to be honest. loved the idea of being a hospital based doctor, with very little clue of what that entailed. had a vague notion that id like to work with the elderly, but hadnt formed the thought any further than that. imagined that id be either a geriatrician or a neurologist.

realised in college while doing a six week psychiatry placement, that i absolutely loved it. had never ever considered psych prior to that, and actually knew very little about it. i was totally won over in those six weeks, and have worked in psychiatry since finishing internship. im sub-specialising in old age psychiatry so i guess my half baked ideas were right to some degree!

regrets? not really. i would do it all again in a heartbeat. i love my career and there is nothing else i would rather do. however, i do think i was a bit naive and a little unprepared for the workload and all-consuming effort that goes into it at times. but, as i said, i would do it all again, no question about that.

do we become desensitised?
emm, yes and no. hard one to answer. i suppose, i feel i havent become desensitised totally, but at times i forget/overlook that what is "mild" to me is very serious and important to the patient and their family. but there are times that a case will, for whatever reason, go right to your core. it can be different things that trigger it - eg a person with (relatively) early onset Alheimers who wont get to enjoy their retirement and grandchildren, or (as i saw recently) someone who is so isolated and alone that they have been living in a rat infested house, with noone to speak up for him or get him help.

working in psychiatry brings with it the spectre of patients commiting suicide, that is obviously absolutely devastating when it happens. now, there have been times when ive thought to myself that i can understand why someone did it, and that id have done teh same myself in their situation, but still its a hard blow to take when a patient does it. i still remember details of suicide cases from years ago. they are the ones that stay with you long term.

hope that answers your questions to some degree!

DizeeCalvin

Hey, first time poster here! Have a few questions about studying medicine in college in the next few years. So for any current junior doctors or any fellow aspiring physicians out there.......

Why interested?
Did you get into the course conventionally?
Consider studying abroad?
Do you agree with the new HPAT system??
If planning to go to Dublin are you more drawn to UCD, TCD or RCS?
Is the course what you expected?
What exactly is a pre-med course?
Are there any repercussions of studying Bio, Chem and Phys for the LC??
How's the social life for med students?
How misguided are the average person's views on the course?

I know that's a lot of questions!! Would be great to hear your views..........

smk89

I'd love to say that I do medicine for the starving children but I don't. I did it because I wanted to do research and my work experience doctor told me the best way is via medicine. I spent a summer considering it and finally made up my mind that I would (could always drop out). I got rejected for every UK uni i applied for (others with lower grades got in instead of me) and I took a place in UCD. I realised there that I don't really want to do research full time but the idea of being a doctor appeals to me.
So to cut a long story short sex, money and cadavers is why I did it. And I don't regret it for a moment.

As for DizeeCalvin:

Did you get into the course conventionally?
Yeah through CAO.

Consider studying abroad?
No not really I have no money and can't really be bothered. Most people that say they want to wuss out anyway.

Do you agree with the new HPAT system??
NOOOOOOOOO!! I did the MCAT's in the UK and may I say they are the single greatest waste of time and money in my life. It consists of completing a 90 minute exam based on number skills and general iq question e.g. "what is 20% of 36". At the end I got less than 50% and was down £40. You cannot decide how good you will be at a career by asking 200 retarded questions that a chimp could answer. I guess than make me dumber than 50% of chimps (sorry for the rant).

If planning to go to Dublin are you more drawn to UCD, TCD or RCS?
UCD is fun and friendly. The med building is brand new and the people are amazing.

Is the course what you expected?
Pretty much though college life is a lot better than I expected

What exactly is a pre-med course?
In short its a year in which you learn the basics of bio, phys, chem and other stuff most of which you will wonder why you are learning. For me it was a doss because I did A-Levels and almost all of it had been covered in that.

Are there any repercussions of studying Bio, Chem and Phys for the LC??
Premed is easier and biology is a necessity in my eyes. I know a guy who didn't do bio and he had to learn all the biology whereas doing it gives you a foundation to build upon.

How's the social life for med students?
Good. In UCD there are always class parties organised and excellent house parties (dont host them, your house will be wrecked!) Premed is an excellent excuse for a piss-up and most people party the whole year and then work the last few weeks before exams. The last 2 years of med I hear are terrible and you will end up with the social life of a slug. But hey after that you can attach numerous letters to the end of your name.

How misguided are the average person's views on the course?
Everybody thinks its like a rocket science course but essentially its just like any other: learn facts and vomit on exam paper couse (at least for me anyway). You have to remember stuff and research skills are valued but in my experience buy and read the book and you'll pass. As for the last 4 years of the course I'm not sure. In UCD the last 2 years are clinical (only they count towards your final mark in your degree)

Hope that helps!!

sam34

Deepsense wrote: »

The whole issue of desensitisation is one Im wondering about as well.

i was thinking more about this today.

my parents, siblings and non-psychiatrist friends have often said to me that they think i have a much higher threshold for thinking something is odd/unusual/unacceptable ever since i went into psychiatry.

i suppose, in psychiatry, we get used to seeing and hearing quite odd and bizarre stuff. i mean, we see levels of pure madness and insanity that the general public, and even most doctors, cannot comprehend. (obviously this applies only to a small portion of our patients, but they make up a significant part of our workload and resources).

what is "strange" to most people is now quite low down on the strange spectrum to me, and what counts as "bizarre" to me is outer space stuff to most other people.

i recently rang a gp to discuss a patient that we had admitted, i wanted to find out about her medical history. the gp kept going on and on about the delusions this woman had - "thats so strange, why does she believe that, where did that come from, why would anyone think that" etc etc etc, whereas i was just concerned with the fact that the woman was delusional, full stop.

i think it annoys my parents/sibs/friends at times that i dont react the way they expect me to, when they talk about stuff that they find unusual/odd. thats not to say that i tolerate unusual behaviour any more that anyone else, just that i dont necessarily view it to be on the same scale that they do.

samson09

Wow. I'm still waiting for someone to say they chose a career in medicine because they wanted to help people. Any takers? Dr. Indy surely, I can tell.

tech77

samson09 wrote: »

Wow. I'm still waiting for someone to say they chose a career in medicine because they wanted to help people. Any takers? Dr. Indy surely, I can tell.

Nah, everyone knows it's for the nurses :pac:

eth0_

sam34 wrote: »

whereas i was just concerned with the fact that the woman was delusional, full stop.

Why would you not be concerned with the origin/trigger of the delusion?

mardybumbum

Well I was always big into my guitar, physics, and biology.
I realised that I wasnt going to be the next jimi hendrix or richard feynman so I decided to give medicine a lash.
I actually love the course (Apart from the whole behavioral science/medical ethics segment) and now I cant imagine doing anything else.
Im pretty glad I decided to postpone my career as a musician/theoretical physicist.

Did you get into the course conventionally?

Yep, I applied through the CAO

Do you agree with the new HPAT system??

Honestly, I cant see how it will ease the pressure on those students applying for medicine. Seems a bit pointless.

If planning to go to Dublin are you more drawn to UCD, TCD or RCS?

Im in trinity myself. I cant go to UCD or RCSI as I dont have a third language but TCD would have been my first choice regardless due to a large number of reasons.

Is the course what you expected?

Tbh, I didnt know what to expect so I guess not. Its great though. Extremely interesting and rewarding if you're willing to put the work in.

How's the social life for med students?

Great. Our class reps organized nights out all over the shop. Plenty of class trips as well throughout the year. I hear that changes later on though.

So I guess what Im saying is go for it. Its the only way you will know If you are suited to it or not. If you dont like it then move onto something else.

Best of luck to you whatever choice you make.

tallaght01

I always wanted to be a doctor for all the usual idealistic reasons. Also, biology and pathology always just made sense to me. Even when I was a kid doing first aid in the red cross, I always kept calm when someone keeled over, which was another quality I thought would make me a useful doc.

Doing my undergraduate degree in Biomedical sciences made me even more interested in medicine, and made me realise I had the intellectual capacity to do it.

So, I went straight to medicine after my undergrad degree, and loved it. Took to it straight away. Loved the science, and loved the patient contact. Couldn't wait to graduate.

But then I did :P

I started to think I wasn't really helping people much. I worked in a deprived part of Glasgow, where there were so many other issues affecting people's health. I stayed in clinical medicine, but was always doubting the effect I was really having.

I also spent some time in a hospital in South Africa. There were lots of interesting things to see. But there was so much more to it. Most of my patients were HIV positive. About 10% of the population at large was. The rate was highest amongst the 20-40 age group. So, when driving through some of the poorer areas, I just couldn't get out of my head that up to 30% of the people walking past me had a terminal illness. Medicine has done what it can for HIV, with ARVs, but the bigger problem here is social.

South Africa, like many developing countries, is plagued by violence, poverty and gender inequality. These are much bigger health problems in those parts of the world than anything else.

When I ask students the cause of tuberculosis, I'm looking for "poverty" rather than "mycobacterium tuberculosis".

So, I left clinical medicine (well, left the training programme. I still work as a paeds reg a few hours every week) and started in public health, with a view to working in international health.

Couldn't be happier in public health. I do a refugee clinic most weeks (I've recently been pulled out of it, though,because of swine flu, sadly) and I'm doing a masters in public health. I'm doing my subspecialty in HIV epidemiology. I'm supposed to be going to Papua new Guinea to do some HIV work in september. But that might not be possible because of swine flu. My employers have told me that I can go over seas with an aid agency for 6 months, and they'll count that towards my public health training if I don't make it to PNG, so I'm happy enough with that.

So, basically, I went from being a pure scientist who fell asleep during public health lectures as an undergraduate, to being a public health registrar who remembers a little bit of science :P

Vorsprung

Did you get into the course conventionally?
Yeah through CAO. I got into medicine because I liked the idea of combining the idea of a science based job with a personal touch. Physio didn't cut it for me, so I found myself (luckily) in Medicine.

Consider studying abroad?
Nah. If I was going to do it I would've done it at home. No offence to anyone else, but I considered myself to be driven enough to be able to get a place in Irlend (this was back in 2002)

Do you agree with the new HPAT system??
It's a bit of a scam. The money is ridiculous. I'm not well informed enough about the merits of a mature student vs a student straight from school, but I'm not convinced that a mature student would be any better than a normal student (from personal experience, the opposite is true - non-mature students have more cop on).

If planning to go to Dublin are you more drawn to UCD, TCD or RCS?
I went to UCD. I had a ball, made friends for life etc. TCD is much the same, RCSI has a larger international base. Different horsess for different courses...

Is the course what you expected?
I expected the course to be tough, and it was. That said, there was enough of a social life to distract me from it, and I was grateful for that.

What exactly is a pre-med course?
I learnt the basics of Chmistry, Physics, and Biology in PreMed. I had done Chem and Physics in school for the LC so I was lucky. I had been told that biology was the one to leave out, and I think I made the right choice.

Are there any repercussions of studying Bio, Chem and Phys for the LC??
Premed will be easier. If you're not in a rush to finish Medicine, do PreMed. Life is long enough. Enjoy your course, get ****faced with your classmates and learn that there is more to life than Medicine. That said, premed is a walk in the park anyway - you only have to pass it so I would recommend trying to enjoy it rather than aceing it.

How's the social life for med students?
Traditionally good. UCD MedSoc have a great programme of events. The nights out are a good oppurtunity to meet people from your class and people from other years. Med Balls are great like most other colleges, and to be honest there should be few excuses for not making it out to a class night out.

How misguided are the average person's views on the course?
A lot of people think that medicine is brain surgery. It's not. Like any other course, it's a mere introduction into the science that is medicine. When you start as an intern, that's when the learning curve starts, and it's a steep learning curve. When you're on it, you very quickly learn about what med is like in real life, and confidence grows quickly through the year.

[/QUOTE]

sam34

eth0_ wrote: »

Why would you not be concerned with the origin/trigger of the delusion?

for classification purposes i'd be interested in the kind of delusion, persecutory, referential, grandiose, nihilistic etc.

but what "triggered" it doesnt really make a difference to the treatment approach.... it's a delusion, a psychotic phenomenon, so i'll be using an anti-psychotic.

Chunky Monkey

Major idealist here! Still am

sam34 wrote: »

imagined that id be either a geriatrician or a neurologist.

Those are the two I'm thinking about at the moment too! I love working with the elderly. Can't see myself doing psychiatry (though that's due to HCA experience, no med school experience yet)

My reason isn't anything special, I just loved reading up about different diseases when I was younger (mum's a nurse with lots of books). Plus I like working with people.

charlieroot

>>Why interested?
For the chicks and the spondoolies of course!

>>Did you get into the course conventionally?
Graduate entry route through RCSI. So no I suppose.

>>Consider studying abroad?
Not really. Might have if I hadn't got a place in Ireland.

>>Do you agree with the new HPAT system??
Don't know enough about it to comment.

>>If planning to go to Dublin are you more drawn to UCD, TCD or RCS?
Wanted to go with the graduate route so was limited at the time to RCSI.

>>Is the course what you expected?
Much better than my previous degree course (DCU). Much better facilities.

>>What exactly is a pre-med course?
Don't really know a whole about it. As far as I know its a course in basic science which should give you a foundation to build on and understand the science you come across in medicine. Kind of like doing LC bio, chem and physics just to a slightly higher level.

>>Are there any repercussions of studying Bio, Chem and Phys for the LC??
Hmmm not sure - I don' t think so. If you're smart enough/have the work ethic - to get the points to get in you shouldn't really have trouble with the course content - assuming you put in the work.
In first year you'll probably study alot of anatomy. Having done LC biology you'll have covered some of this - but nowhere near the level of detail required. If the anatomy you learn in med school is likes knowing enough about engines to strip one down and rebuild it. Then LC biology would be the equivalent of knowing where you put petrol/diesel and maybe how to change a tire. I hate car analogies but I can't think of a better one at the moment.


>>How's the social life for med students?
You get out of it what you put into it I suppose.

>>How misguided are the average person's views on the course?
I don't think the average person on the street has a very good understanding of the work of a doctor and by proxy the training thats required. As regards the people on my course - most are very clued in, probably more so than on an undergrad course.

Echani

(2nd year med student)

Why interested?
- I've always been interested for as long as I can remember; grew up in a fairly medical family but lost the determination to do it in around 4th-5th year when my grades were suffering a bit, so I didn't kill myself (or even put it in my top 3 choices) in the Leaving Cert. When I was doing my undergrad in philosophy I found that I just wasn't as suited to the life of the academic as I thought I'd be, and found myself constantly jealous of my friends in medicine. Final year rolled around, I researched my options for what to do next and heard about the new graduate entry program that was being provisionally rolled out, and I made my decision and started working my ass off

Did you get into the course conventionally?
- No I'm graduate entry, did the GAMSAT in 2007

Consider studying abroad?
- I was going to apply for the UK, but I didn't feel like I would have been ready to sit the GAMSAT in before the deadline

Do you agree with the new HPAT system??
- I don't know what the specifics are about it, but I don't think the Leaving Cert alone is a good "screening" tool for prospective doctors. People shouldn't be in medicine because it shows they had 600 points, they should be in it because they made a considered decision that it was what they wanted to do, which I'm sure most people do. If an extra hurdle is what's necessary to achieve this then I agree with it.

If planning to go to Dublin are you more drawn to UCD, TCD or RCS?
- I'm in RCSI; I spent 3 years in UCD and didn't particularly like it, I heard nothing but bad things about TCD medicine, and ultimately my choice in 2007 was between RCSI, UL or deferring to apply to the UK or whatever colleges were given the go-ahead for graduate medicine in 2008. I love RCSI, they've put a huge amount of effort into the program, and I don't regret my decision in the slightest

Is the course what you expected?
- I expected medicine in 4 years to be intense, but the level of work was sometimes pretty overwhelming, especially getting used to studying in a completely different way in 1st year. Other than that, I honestly don't know what I was expecting, but I've been pretty pleased in general.

How's the social life for med students?
- It was fairly busy in 1st year, we'd have fairly big nights out every week or two. This year we're based in a slightly more peripheral hospital so that doesn't happen nearly as often, and we know each other better so the groups tend to be a bit smaller. The college does plenty of nights out early on in the year, but since the various classes have exams at different times they start to slow down a bit as time goes on. In general though my social life is pretty good, though it's harder to keep in touch with non-medical friends than I thought it'd be, particularly when you're based on the other side of Dublin.

Like charlieroot said, you get out of it what you put in. It's entirely possible to study your ass off most days and still have a good social life when you make the effort.

How misguided are the average person's views on the course?
- People don't know that much about the GEP courses, so they don't tend to know how busy it is (or how busy 5-6 year medicine is). In general people tend to romanticize the idea of studying medicine a bit as well, which I think most prospective med students are guilty of as well. But even so I don't regret my decision in the slightest, I find the course far more stimulating and interesting than anything I came across in Arts, and I can't wait to graduate

drzhivago

DizeeCalvin wrote: »

Hey, first time poster here! Have a few questions about studying medicine in college in the next few years. So for any current junior doctors or any fellow aspiring physicians out there.......

DizeeCalvin wrote: »

Why interested?.

the reasons have changed many times over the years, still like the job but many parts really frustrate me

DizeeCalvin wrote: »

Did you get into the course conventionally?.

Yes Leaving cert and CAO

DizeeCalvin wrote: »

Consider studying abroad?.

yes but not medicine, wanted to do something else before doing medicine but finances made that completely unrealistic

DizeeCalvin wrote: »

Do you agree with the new HPAT system??.

Ina word NO, I dont think it will make a hoot of a difference, the people who score 6As are probvably the people who will do well on these tests too

There is no ideal aptitude test, some of the other docs may criticise me for saying this but there is a place for everyone with the various careers,
The social person
The empath
The techincal person
The mathematician
The planner
The schemer
The socialite
The loner
The person who wants to work alone but socialise
The person who wanst to work with lots of people
Person who wanst to be employed vs self employed

Th range of careers is vast and you will never get a handle on that in college or even in your first 5 years working

DizeeCalvin wrote: »

If planning to go to Dublin are you more drawn to UCD, TCD or RCS?.

Makes little odds, course relatively the same, TCD and RCSI in city centre so handy for in town socialising while in college, BUT their hospitals are james/tallaght for TCD and Beaumont for RCSI which can mean quite a bit of moving around

UCD goes to Vincents or Mater, study in Belfield-found that a nice area to live

DizeeCalvin wrote: »

Is the course what you expected?.

college was work wasnt

DizeeCalvin wrote: »

What exactly is a pre-med course?.

dont know has all changed since I went

DizeeCalvin wrote: »

Are there any repercussions of studying Bio, Chem and Phys for the LC??.

Not sure what you are asking this should be an advantage if you have studied all, I think in UCD you might be able to go straight to second year

DizeeCalvin wrote: »

How's the social life for med students?.

social life very good in college, all of them,

DizeeCalvin wrote: »

How misguided are the average person's views on the course? .

very misguided


I know that's a lot of questions!! Would be great to hear your views..........[/QUOTE]

sillymoo

Why interested?
-I had always loved science since I was a kid. My big brother is a atmospheric chemist and got me into all things science related from a young age. My mother has a chronic illness since I was a child and I spent a lot of time in hospitals, GP's, clinics with her. I suppose it all started out as a purely innocent idea that I was going to "cure my mammy" but as I got older and wiser I realised that was never going to happen! When I was in secondary school I began to seriouly think about it. I joined Civil Defence, went out with them on the ambulance and saw some pretty cool stuff (inc a girl who had the top of her finger amputated at a horse show :eek:). I got the points for med in my leaving cert but missed out for 2 years on random selection. During those 2 year I went to study science. I loved the theory but could not stand being in a lab. I then went and worked as a HCA. I finally got in the 3rd year I applied and have not looked back since.

Did you get into the course conventionally?
Applied to the CAO 3 times.

Consider studying abroad?
Yea I had a conditional offer in Scotland but did not make the grade. Looking back it was prob for the best

Do you agree with the new HPAT system??
To be honest I know nothing about it.

If planning to go to Dublin are you more drawn to UCD, TCD or RCS?
Im in RCSI. I used to study in TCD and I have to admit im much happier in RCSI.

Is the course what you expected?
Yes and no. I always knew it was going to be tough but I did not realise how tough until I got there. In saying that I am never going to be top of the class. I prefer to study and have a life at the same time . I am a little older than most my class and I think it really does make a difference. When your older you tend to see the bigger picture and this does make it easier and less stressful.

How's the social life for med students?
Its what you make it to be honest. There is always nights out, either organised by the societies or a group of mates. It tapers off coming up to exams but thats no bad thing!

How misguided are the average person's views on the course?
If you do your research and spend time in the hospital (I would really recommend trying to get some experience as a HCA) you will realise it is not as glamourous as it seems on TV.