The pressure and stress of medicine

LegacyUser

So I graduated from a science level 8 course last year. It was a very bad year for me, very stressful. I developed anorexia, bulimia and major depression, in fact after the first semester I was so miserable, I had messed up said semester so badly that I tried to commit suicide (it was a rather feeble attempt that did not even warrant hospitalisation). I was in a very bad place. I was extremely stressed and miserable. The perfectionist in myself could not accept how terrible the semester had went, which to be completley honest was greatly influenced by the above factors. I had these problems before entering my final year of the course, but they were in no doubt hugely exasperated by the stress and pressure of final year (perhaps not the stress of the work itself but my mindset and the pressure I was putting myself under as it was my final year). I am now on medication for these issues and am in somewhat a better place.

However, unfortuantely, and I hate that it does, the idea of pursuing medicine keeps nibbling away at me. I wish it didnt. People talk of how awful of a career it is to pursue, the stress and pressure of the job, never even mind the course. As a graduate student I would also have to take out a massive loan that would take several years upon graduation to repay. I would plan on becoming a GP as well, which can be difficult to get into and the pay is apparently not great compared to medical specialities and thus loan repaymeny may be especially difficult. The career is apparently incredibly disheartening and stressful and pressurised. An old friends mother was a doctor and she always seemed to allude that it was a miserable career path and regretted having pursued it, and infact told her daughter not to pursue it when she was in LC. It seems that it only leads to a life of misery and stress and regret, and given how awful and stressful I found my first college course I donot know if its for me, if I'm cut out for it. I knew medical students when I was in college as well, they were incredibly competitve, and tbh I hate competition and competitve people, I crumble if ayone comes in any way competitive with me. So tbh it seems to be a bit of a heart vs brain matter. I have no other reason to pursue medicine that it keeps nibbling away me, it seems to cross my mind so very often, but I have so many doubts and fears and reasons not to, and I'm just not quite sure what to do.

Any thoughts? Thank you for your time.

Airyfairy12

Medicine clearly isnt for you, is there another related area that you could use your degree in? maybe pharmaceuticals, therapy or social care work?
Once you have atleast a 2.2 level 8 degree in any subject the list of masters courses you can pursue are endless, they don't need to be related to your undergrad degree like ive a friend that studied fine art and is now doing her PME in primary education, theyre crying out for primary school teachers and the applications are still open in allot of colleges and universities, youd possibly get paid work experience and any PME or teacher training course you do you'll be entitled to a grant and government funding, all you need is a level 8 degree and competency in Irish or you could do a course in adult education and teach medical related subjects in further education colleges, you could do a PME in post primary teaching science subjects. Maybe teaching doesn't appeal to you but its something to consider.

Limerick university does a two year masters course in occupational therapy, that could also be an option or with a medical degree you could possibly get into a psychotherapy or counselling course or other science/health related areas, you could work in care homes, you could study speech, art or play therapy and become a creative therapist.

Having a level 8 degree opens so many doors for you, you can use your degree to get into loads of different professions so it's definitely worth having.

You should be so proud that you graduated despite everything you went through, allot of people would have given up but you worked through it for your degree, thats very admirable.

Make an appointment with a local guidance counsellor that can talk to you about different courses, funding and other options.


EDIT - Just to add, ive seen today that grants for postgrads have been reinstated so thats something to look into if finances are a concern.

benjamin d

If a level 8 science degree made you suicidal and mentally and physically ill then I strongly suggest not doing medicine.
I have a level 8 degree in science, as do huge numbers of my friends and acquaintances, so I know what's involved. My girlfriend, however, is doing medicine, and the workload is worlds away from what mine was - I would say it's literally 3-4 times the work and pressure. It's a constant slog, ridiculous hours, horrifically competitive to a nasty degree at times. Find something else to do, you sound like you don't need that stress.

panda100

I echo the above posters. It really doesn't sound like you want to do medicine at all from your opening post. Why do you want to be a doctor? It sounds like your desire to study medicine could be linked to your high-achieving behaviours rather than a genuine desire to practice medicine.

I studied medicine years ago as an undergraduate and like you I suffered from an eating disorder. Its a course that attracts these types because of our desire to be the best and society has this ridiculous notion that being a doctor is a very prestigious job. I am sure you will be able to handle the demands of the course but would you genuinely like being a doctor and practicing medicine? I didn't and that made me very depressed. There are so many more options out there beside medicine. I really think you should meet with a career adviser, be true to yourself and find a career that you genuinely want to do. I did this and now work in a profession that makes me much happier than medicine. Your are clearly a bright individual, you should focus on doing something you are passionate about rather than a course you don't appear to have an interest in at all.