Is it worth it? What are some better alternatives?

Pre-Med & Medical School Careers in Medicine
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<p>I realize that this question has probably been asked dozens of times, but I’d like to have a conversation about how horribly med school is depicted, its infamy for emotional and financial stress, the percentage of MD’s that say that they regret going to med school, etc. </p>

<p>I have heard some horror stories from people who took the med school route - both from real-life friends/family members and also online forums (SDN) - and it sounds like it is very stressful and time-consuming for even the most well-balanced of people. I keep seeing articles about how almost half of current doctors regret their job choice (<a href=“Physician Frustration Grows, Income Falls -- But a Ray of Hope”>Physician Frustration Grows, Income Falls -- But a Ray of Hope). Is this information consistent with the experiences of anyone on this forum who has been though med school?</p>

<p>Anyway, this information has really made me re-think some life choices. Ever since the beginning of high school, I have wanted to be a psychiatrist. I am a rising sophomore at a big ten university, with a major related to biopsychology/cognitive science, who took on a freshman year courseload with many med pre-reqs. While I am okay with working hard, I am also a person who values trying my best to live a happy life. I am afraid to spend 4-8 years of my life being stressed out, to have a stressful job after med school, to have to deal with student loans, etc. </p>

<p>I’m just not really sure what to do anymore. I’m not very interested in being a psychologist (hard to get a job, doesn’t pay as well, more interest in drug side of treatment), and I do not want to pursue a career in academia. So, I guess I’m just looking for advice about my future. Are psychiatric PA’s really a thing? Like, would I be able to get a job? What else is there that pays reasonably well/is pertinent to my interests?</p>

<p>On a side note, I heard that psych residencies are among the easiest to get into… would this mean that I could relax a bit more during med school? </p>

<p>I apologize for coming off as a slacker. I am willing to work hard at something if I am passionate about it, or if I think that it is worth it. I’m just worried about spending my 20’s as an unhappy person, is all. Sorry for the rant. Any sort of discussion is greatly appreciated! </p>

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<p>PsyD-clinical psychologist doesn’t pay as well as MD-psychiatrist, but generally the stress level is lower and job satisfaction is higher. Also the job outlook for Clinical Psychologists is strong. (Don’t know where you heard it’s hard to get a job. Are thinking about a research PhD in psychology maybe? ) </p>

<p>Clinical psychologists have limited prescribing rights in some states. (Limited to psychoactive/therapeutic meds.)</p>

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<p>Psych PAs are a real thing. Your employability will depend on many factors–including the passing the national licensing exams every 3 years, the reputation of your PA program, your location (some regions use psych PAs, but not everywhere does), and whether you’ve completed a post-PA psychiatry fellowship.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.mypatraining.com/physician-assistant-specialty-psychiatry”>http://www.mypatraining.com/physician-assistant-specialty-psychiatry&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Psychiatry is considered a low competitive specialty, but that doesn’t mean you can “slack off” during med school. Why? Because med school covers enormous amounts of material in a very short time. While you don’t need to be at the top of your class, you do need to pass everything. You will also need to pass all 3 of the national licensing exams–USMLEs (which are 9 hours long and include a broad coverage of all topics in medicine). These exams are enormously stressful and require mastery of all your med school coursework. Also there’s no way in the world to relax during your clinical years (MS3 & MS4) where you rotate thru all departments. You will be working insane hours (80+ hours/week at times, including overnight in-hospital call). Your early years of residency won’t be much different in terms of work hours–60-80 hours/week. (Approx 1/3 of ER admissions at the local public hospital are to psych–which means someone from psych has to be there to exam, admit and treat them. And psych emergencies don’t just happen between 9am-5pm.) </p>

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<p>Other jobs that are similar include–clinical social worker, and MS-level certified counselors. </p>

<p>You might also look at becoming a clinical studies coordinator or clinical research assistant in neuroscience/clinical psychiatry/clinical neurology. </p>

<p>(D2 was a clinical studies coordinator for a neuro-psychiatry research group at a medical school before she applied to med school. One of her college friends now manages large scale clinical autism studies for the NIH.)</p>

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<p>You need to spend some time volunteering at a psychiatric facility or shadowing a psychiatrist. Psychiatric diseases are very interesting and thank goodness there are physicians who specialize in treating them. That said, I would not do medicine if I had to be a psychiatrist. Regarding stress levels, stress is what you make of it. There are neurosurgeons operating on brain aneurysms and cardiothoracic surgeons with their patients on bypass who don’t feel stress and there are pediatricians doing well child checks who are totally stressed out. In pretty much every field of medicine you have to be competent and do the right thing or people will suffer. Medicine is not so much about wellness. It’s mostly about sickness-- sometimes curing it, but mostly managing it. For every happy story of a medical cure or of an operation that totally fixed the person’s problem, most physicians have about 5-10 patients who don’t get all better or who get worse in spite of his/her efforts. Kids tend to have the best outcomes as they have the fewest co-morbities, but those that have bad outcomes are some of the hardest to deal with for all the obvious reasons.</p>