When To Get Out of Medicine If You’re Unhappy
When to get out of medicine is a choice that plagues a number of medical students who are completely unhappy in medical school. I went through the same questions and decisions, particularly starting around the end of second year and into my junior rotations.
This might be one of the toughest decisions you’ll ever make, and for good reason. Many students have accumulated large debts, and every student has made the sacrifice of their time to get where they are today. Those are huge factors. In addition, many students have families to support, and finding meaningful employment that will allow loan payback as well as funds for supporting the lifestyle of their family is scary to say the least.
These were some of the issues that I was faced with just a few years ago. Believe me when I say that I know what you’re going through. Every day you wake up to dread going into the hospital while you have these worries piled up on top of that. I won’t lie about it either, I went through one of the largest episodes of depression due to thinking about these things on a daily basis. I didn’t talk about it on this blog at the time, because I thought I was too proud. Instead, I vented through other more entertaining posts. But this is a real issue, and something that many students deal with on a daily basis. It needs to be addressed.
As somebody who has already gone through all of this, here is what I recommend that you do:
1. Stick It Out
First and foremost, the ultimate goal when dealing with the question of when to get out of medicine is to keep as many doors open as possible. Quitting medical school outright closes a very big door. Yes, it sucks to be miserable but remember that the bulk of your misery will be concentrated during your junior year. Your senior year will be much better, which leads me to the next point.
2. Try Alternative Specialties
During your fourth year electives, take this time to evaluate “alternative” specialties that you didn’t get to experience as part of your core rotation schedule during your junior year. For example, rotate through a Child and Adolescent Psych month or do a month of Pathology. You never know what you may find that will appeal to you. Just because you hated your surgery rotation doesn’t mean you’ll hate something else. Some of these specialties are actually “undiscovered gems” that might give you the lifestyle and amount of free time that you are looking for.
3. What If That Doesn’t Work?
Quite possibly, you may find that nothing in medicine appeals to you. That’s OK, too. However, by finishing school you’ve left the door open as a “fall back” plan. Some people might discredit you for “falling back” on medicine with some hogwash about you being a good doctor and all of that. Don’t listen to it. You are looking out for you and your family, and that’s all that matters. If that involves falling back on medicine, than so be it.
4. Try Alternative Careers
OK, if you’ve taken the path so far and have found that medicine isn’t for you now is the time to try alternative careers. After graduating from medical school, jump into alternative employment and try to discover your niche. This can involve furthering your education through graduate degrees. It may take you a year, or it may take you three. The idea is to discover if alternative employment is really for you. If you find that it is, then you’re at the end of the road and you’ve made your decision. If not, however, there are still options.
5. Falling Back
Remember when I said that finishing school is important? Here’s where that comes into play. If you ultimately decide that alternative employment isn’t for you, or you weren’t able to find a job that pays enough to support your lifestyle and family, now is the time to re-enter the match and find a specialty that is the most tolerable for you. By finishing school, you’ve kept this door wide open. Take what information you learned via rotating through your specialties of choice during your senior electives, and pick the “lesser of the evils.”
It may not be the most desirable choice, but it gets the job done. Remember, there is no shame in medicine as a fall back career choice.
Follow The Steps
By following the above steps, you can alleviate some of the fears that you may have regarding when to get out of medicine and finding employment that will support loan repayment and maintenance of your lifestyle.
This decision cycle was designed so that it gives you the flexibility to discover alternatives to medicine while at the same time allowing you to re-enter medicine as a last-ditch resort if needed.
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Old MD Girl said
March 4 2007 @ 6:45 pm
Also remember this: if you drop out before finishing med school, you will not have the MD after your name. This may seem trivial when you hate everything about your life, but consider the fact that several years ago (way pre-med school) I held the exact same job with my BA (in SOCIOLOGY, I might add), that a colleague of mine did who had dropped out of med school. Talk about a waste.
Just having that graduate degree will open up new doors for you in the non-medical world. You will enter the job market in business at the 100K level rather than at the 50K level to start, with most likely more interesting work.
The Angry Medic said
March 4 2007 @ 9:35 pm
I never realised this was such a big problem…I thought I was the only one who realised he’s not crazy about medicine (well, at my University it seems so anyway, especially since everyone else seems to be an overly keen gunner with glasses as thick as the Biochemistry textbooks they’re constantly buried in). Unfortunately dropping out doesn’t seem like an option over here, despite the fact that I’ve suddenly realised that hey, maybe all those relatives warning me off medicine and urging me to do law instead may have been on to something back there.
So what, your advice is basically to stick with it and try and find some area of medicine you love? Sound advice actually.
Kickass blog, by the way. I absolutely love the design.
Hoover said
March 4 2007 @ 9:55 pm
Thanks Medic. Yeah, the best advice that I can give (and the only advice I can give based on the route that I took) is to stay the course and at least finish medical school.
Then, if you’re not happy in medicine once you finish school, look for alternatives. If those alternatives don’t work out, then you can always go back to medicine and try to match into the most tolerable specialty available.
MDGirl - The M.D. after your name certainly has its benefits. I’ve found that just having that, however, doesn’t necessarily make students shoe-ins for particular jobs. As you mentioned, the graduate degrees do go a long way for getting those jobs as well.
The Peanut Gallery said
March 4 2007 @ 10:32 pm
Great post. I’m an M3 and am wondering what on earth will happen if I never find something in medicine that really intrigues me. It really sucks to be slogging along without knowing for sure why you are doing it!
I really like your blog - it’s great.
Hoover said
March 4 2007 @ 10:44 pm
Peanut, I feel your pain. I completed all of medical walking in the dark. It sucks to see your classmates all hyped up on some particular specialty when I hated them all. It’s not all doom and gloom, though. If the cards that were dealt to me were any different, I might not be where I am today.
Bob said
March 4 2007 @ 11:09 pm
HOOVER: “I’m doing something now that I absolutely love, making great money, and have more freedom than I ever dreamed was possible. I am truly “living the dream.””
Hoover, what are you doing now? (Sorry if it’s posted in some obvious place.) I am a first year and I’m already thinking of careers other than practice or research…
Hoover said
March 4 2007 @ 11:17 pm
Bob, I haven’t really talked about what I’m doing formally on this blog, but I started a company and have been working hard building it up.
It’s really doing well now, but it doesn’t have anything to do with medicine. Throughout medical school, I focused on learning a lot of tech-related stuff and then I used that knowledge to launch my business.
I’ve always felt “natural” in business, and I absolutely love tech-related stuff, so I felt that it was the obvious way for me to go.
Med School Hell » A Closer Look At Loan Repayment - The NIH Program said
March 8 2007 @ 12:36 am
[…] back to my post on when to get out of medicine if you’re unhappy, I completely forgot to mention this option as a viable resource for those wishing to pursue a […]
Med School Hell » Couldn’t Have Said It Better Myself said
March 19 2007 @ 1:01 am
[…] is a topic that we’ve visited here before at MSH, but the decision is always as tough as nails. This is a great thread for those of you still […]
Med School Hell » When Did I Realize Medicine Wasn't For Me? said
May 25 2007 @ 12:03 am
[…] then I’ve always believed that sticking it out was the most ideal situation. Fall-back plans are great, as you never know what is going to happen […]
marianne said
October 9 2007 @ 10:53 pm
so does everyone hate med school as much as the people on this site do? im thinking pretty seriously about med school… and it seems like the right thing to do– do most people decided that theyve made the wrong choice?
Nathan said
December 14 2007 @ 8:53 pm
I stuck it out, did a residency, practiced for a while and was still miserable. The trouble is that medical education is next to worthless outside of medicine. Going into something else takes a lot of courage. But in my case it was way worth it.
My friends who are still in practice are working more and more for less and less. Reforms are promised, as they have been for 20 years. Never seem to get here.
But if you’re in med school, do finish. I’d even say get licensed, but don’t waste any more time and effort hoping you’ll like it more down the road. Practice gets very old, very fast.
Marianne, if you can get people to be honest, I’d say at least half of 4th year med students regret having started. And far too many stay in the profession not for a love of the work, but because they are too old and too indebted to start over in something else, or at least think they are.
For the time and effort it takes, the pay isn’t great and life is dodgy at best. You can try the non-patient care specialties — derm, radiology, opth, stuff like that. You’ll have work and get to wear a white coat. And avoid primary care at all costs.
But my experience has been people who set out to go into those parts of medicine don’t really want to be doctors to begin with, which is good because they often aren’t good at it. Better they go off where nobody gets hurt. You can see this in action when the radiologist sprints out of the room when a patient arrests. It would be funny if it weren’t so pitiful.
With so many great opportunities outside of medicine I can’t imagine why anyone should put up with all the stuff that comes with it. But I am glad people do. If nobody did, ethically I’d have to go back into practice after working so hard to get out.
But if you want it badly enough that’s where you have to go.
Shannon said
March 19 2008 @ 11:47 pm
Hoover and others who have left comments, I really appreciate you writing about your struggles in medical school. It’s hard to find others that understand or are brave enough to talk about this.
Your story sounds very similar to mine. However, I wanted to provide my experience and get some advice since I am now in my intern year of a residency that I felt was the “lesser of the evils.”
After struggling through medical school for over 5 years - taking a leave of absence during my 3rd year and then spreading my 4th year to over 1.5 years - I finally graduated. Like you recommend, I looked at alternative careers. During my 4th year, by taking “atypical” rotations, I discovered I wanted to work internationally with developing nations through population-based medicine (public health). So, I did a fellowship two summers ago working in Geneva, Switzerland, and taking classes at the WHO.
Through this experience, I learned that I did truly like public health, but to advance to the level I want to do, I need at least a MPH or board certification in a primary care specialty. So, I applied last year for a transitional year internship (basically like 3rd year med school with much more responsibility), thinking I would could then get licensed and get my MPH. Unfortunately, these are very competitive programs, and I had to scramble. I eventually matched at my current program in Family Medicine.
Residency is challenging for anyone, but especially for someone who has the constant voice saying: “I really do not want to do this in my life.” My first 6 months of intern year, I did all inpatient months with every 4th night call. Again, I fell into a very deep depression, but I pushed through until of my attendings noticed that I was working very slowly and having difficulty focusing and answering questions. My residency director pulled me out of this rotation and recommended I take some time off. So, I did take about a month off. I just returned to work on Monday and was on call the very next day.
But, I still have the lingering question of should I stay in this current path or should I change? Am I too late into this path to get out? Many have told me, I just need to push through, and then do what I truly want to do. But, I am not sure I can. Plus, I have been doing this most of my life and I am getting frustrated.
Any advice?
realsb said
April 9 2008 @ 8:53 am
In 4th year medicine and on the brink of dropping out.
maybe someone can enlighten me so I don’t make the worst decision of my life.
I have always been interested in business and for the past 2 years of a six year medical course I have been debating whether I want to leave and start up my own business or not. Now I have been presented with a business opportunity - no sure success - but that I have to act on now or else it will pass me by.
I don’t feel like waiting the 2 years so that I may have something to fall back on as that is expecting failure, maybe burning my boats is the answer so that when the going gets tough I don’t retreat to my medical degree. many business men went through alot of hardship and rejection till they succeeded. having that alternative there will only serve to reduce what I am willing to go through.
when it all goes belly up I might say to myself, well you tried and it just wasn’t meant to be so back to being plan B. but what if I couldn’t fail and that I had to keep going and changing your course until you succeeded.
no one can tell me to make such a decision, especially my unsuccessful parents who see medicine as a world above what they might have hoped for. also my dad dropped out of an accounting course and paid for it his whole life
I dislike medicine for making my decision that much harder to make. I also view it as a boring limited life. I envy my classmates for their fascination and curiosity with the subject but for me it’s all just a chore.
I have thought about maybe the disfunction is in me and not in the outside world as eastern philosophy might suggest, but they would also say life is a daring gamble or nothing.
The how to get rich by felix dennis really has affected me and if any of you feel the same way as me I recommend you check out the book especially the last chapter and the first chapter. i hope this is relevant to some people and would love some feedback. I hope you didn’t find this too rambling. steven
Med School Hell » Volunteering is Overrated said
April 13 2008 @ 11:45 pm
[…] time studying. I still believe this was the best decision for me, as talked about in my post about when to get out of medicine if you’re unhappy. Your mileage will vary, but had I not had student-loan debt incurred during the first two years of […]
When Medicine is not for You « Medliorate said
April 22 2008 @ 3:44 am
[…] When To Get Out of Medicine If You’re Unhappy [MedSchool Hell] […]
Midas said
April 25 2008 @ 12:42 am
realsb I like your comment. I echo your sentiments completely. I too have much more interest in business. I also have 2 years left of med school–the clinical years. That’s an interesting notion you bring up about leaving medicine as a fallback option vs not having it there. I think medicine is limited as well. Business opens up a world of opportunities. I don’t want to go home and have to study medicine for the next many years of my life. I think I’m going to take a LOA and find a way to escape this path. Even Radiology, which my family pushes for, is not something I want to be in.
Thanks said
June 2 2008 @ 10:29 pm
This is an incredibly good blog. I haven’t yet started med school, but I start this year and I have been worried what to do if I all of a sudden find out that I hate it when I get to the rotations.
Hoover said
June 3 2008 @ 12:02 am
Thanks for the comments.
=)
AB said
December 18 2008 @ 7:33 am
would you still hold your advice for a first year who has so far only finished one semester? i am planning on dropping out and letting them know over holiday break.
Hoover said
December 18 2008 @ 9:24 pm
AB, after first semester I’d say it is safe to get out. You’ve invested minimally in both time and money at this point. Get out while the getting is good IMO.
Denise said
December 24 2008 @ 12:09 pm
AB,
If you’re a first year med student who’s having second thoughts, get out now. I’ve been practicing in Ob/GYN and now GYN-only for almost 8 years and I’m practically trapped in it even though I’m back in school getting an MPH and have a part-time clinical job already set up in order to pay the bills because in my attempts to do everything possible to make this work I opened my own practice thinking maybe if I was calling the shots it would be better. All that’s done is make all the responsibility fall on me. In order to be covered by malpractice insurance if I quit I’ll have to pay $66,000 so I’m considering not being covered and taking my chances. I also owe the bank $100,000. This is all much more than the $76,000 in student loans that I was so worried about that made me not quit my first day of residency when I really should have. I’m now considering bankruptcy and don’t know what will happen, so I would give anything to be back in my first year of med school and have the opportunity to quit while the quitting’s good.
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