Why are fewer and fewer young people choosing to become doctors?

Sophia Martinez65 said:I heard they actually believe they have to consume the placenta 🤮 🙂 🙂

🙂 I honestly can't imagine how one would even go about doing that😕

🙂 We are talking about a placenta here😁

Susan Martin24 said:If you asked her, she’d tell you our entire healthcare system—myself included—is basically garbage.

Honestly, I’m right there with her, especially regarding what she thinks about my daughter. 😈

Susan Martin24 said:My darling lives in Vienna, and he had to wait two months just for an appointment with a private ophthalmologist—paying 100% out of pocket, of course.

He actually made a pretty bad call there. Tell him to just find a specialist online, drive a bit north, and he could probably get seen immediately. I suppose if you judge every doctor by that one experience, it makes sense why he was hesitant to go.

Sophia Martinez65 said:I heard they believe they have to eat the uterus

Heh, you've got that backwards, according to placidscout9. They keep the uterus. Besides, if we're being honest, the population would probably drop by at least 50% every generation anyway. Not exactly a tragedy for the world at large, is it?😈

Justin Fox 😘
honestly, I love you just as much as you love me 😈
if not even more 😂

It was just a slip of the tongue—obviously we're talking about bedding. The mere thought of it honestly made my skin crawl. 🤮

Justin Fox said:Medicine has this massive gray area—wondering if things could've gone better or if a different approach would've changed the outcome. Even when it's medically obvious someone messed up, colleagues tend to cover for each other and claim nothing went wrong. Take that scandal in Washington, D.C., for example, where a doctor failed to react properly and botched the treatment; the woman died. The commission—only called in because the media made such a stink—ruled it negligence and incompetence, and they punished the guy with what, a short suspension? So, you accidentally cause someone's death because you were too distracted to pay attention—like some guy who wasn't focusing because he was watching a game on TV—and your punishment is a few months off work? Where’s the jail time? 👎

You're mixing up your stories, Justin Fox. If you're talking about that situation at Petrov last year, I remember the "doctor watching the game" case pretty clearly. But FYI—the baby died during birth, it wasn't the mother. No single doctor is to blame here; there's a lot of gray area in that specific mess, but I don't feel like getting into the weeds right now. Regardless, those two doctors at Petrov aren't the guilty ones—they were just the last links in the chain. And for the record, he wasn't watching a game; he was operating on another patient.

It’s entirely possible I’ve got my wires crossed here, >, since I’m writing this purely from memory without checking any actual sources. But surely we can agree on the basic facts: someone died, it turned into a massive scandal, an official commission found a doctor liable, and his punishment was nothing more than being suspended from his practice. If he’d killed someone with a car, he’d be facing prison time.

Ergo: negligence resulting in death equals a suspension. What kind of logic is that?

Justin Fox said:If someone actually ran someone over with a car, they'd be looking at prison time.

Given how broken our legal system is right now, they’d probably be out on bail before the sirens even stopped. 🙂

*ahem* listen up. I finally tracked down an answer to the question being debated in this thread. Let me quote one of our fellow forum members here:

"There are plenty of architects out there who never actually finished their degrees. I was just reading about a top-tier architect in the States where they highlight that he only ever finished high school.

As for doctors, you see them working in private clinics—and while you wouldn't exactly trust a doctor without a degree, it is technically possible. "

[By the way, this was pulled from the thread "Can you be a lawyer without a degree?" ]

🤣 🤣 😂 😂

So, go ahead, burn your diplomas and drop out of college, because apparently, you can just land a job at a private clinic without a medical degree. 🙂 😁

🤣
And when I eventually get bored of this, I might just pivot to architecture🙂
As for practicing law, I guess I'll save that for my retirement years🥳

Justin Fox said:Look, don't give me that nonsense. Instead, why don't you explain to everyone here what a "requiem for a surgeon" actually means? Let's be real—when one doctor screws up, there's a huge chance another one will just cover for them. If you mess up in IT, sure, you might crash a system, kill the power, or tank some bank accounts or tax filings—which is bad—but the odds of you accidentally killing someone are slim. Plus, it’ll be obvious who messed up, and the bosses will nail them for it.

In medicine, there's this massive gray area where people debate if things could have gone better or if a different approach would've changed the outcome. But even when it's medically obvious that someone totally botched it, colleagues tend to stick together and claim nothing went wrong. Just look at that scandal back in Washington, D.C., involving that family case—where a doctor failed to react properly and then handled things incorrectly afterward. The woman died. A commission was called in because the media went wild, and they ruled it negligence and incompetent treatment. The guy responsible? He just got a short suspension. That's it. You can cause someone's death through pure carelessness—like, this guy wasn't tending to his patient because he was too busy watching a game on TV—and your punishment is a few months off work? Where's the jail time?👎

And don't even get me started on how patients are treated. There's so much zero communication, treating people like cattle, or keeping them in the hospital longer than necessary just so they can bill Medicare for an extra bed. Or when you have to wait months for an exam—unless, of course, you have a "recommendation," then you're in immediately. Or after surgery, they just stitch you up in a rush, thinking, "Eh, they aren't a model, we don't need to worry about neat stitching." All these little instances of sloppiness go unpunished, even though they cause actual physical pain and mental anguish. Imagine being in pain, needing a diagnostic exam, and being told you have to wait months. It's ridiculous.👎

Well, why don't you just major in medicine then? Maybe that'll finally cure your inferiority complex, sweetie!

Honestly, I’m starting to think mechanical engineering is actually tougher than med school. You’ve got the massive workload, the endless lab sessions, and don't even get me started on that soul-crushing technical drawing stuff.😲 I’ve got buddies who went the engineering route, and man, it’s brutal. Medicine is, in principle, manageable if you just have a solid system and stay consistent—like, maybe two hours a day when things are chill, ramping up to four hours before an exam like physiology, or sticking to four hours daily for about two months. If you pay attention during labs and seminars and happen to catch a decent professor... that’s pretty much it.👍 But those engineering types? They have all that on top of the math and the drafting.
BTW, dentistry is on another level of hard. The hands-on work is constant, and once you hit junior year, you're straight into clinical rotations. All in all, you can actually wrap up a medical degree with less misery than most people assume.😎 Unfortunately, though, being a doctor isn't the "cool" career it used to be. You really need to land a residency or a specialist spot, otherwise, the money isn't great unless you've got a massive patient load. And those residencies drag on forever; if you aren't truly passionate about it, it gets repetitive fast because patients tend to come in with the same old issues over and over. At the end of the day, the paycheck isn't even that huge.🙄 Personally, I haven't worked directly with patients in quite a while, yet I still pull in a solid salary and I'm actually running the show as a manager now.😬 So, I’m really not surprised that fewer and fewer people are aiming to become doctors these days.
BTW, regarding that mess over at ExxonMobil, I heard a rumor that the whole thing was caused by the daughter of some former politician from the old America era???😕 Of course doctors look out for their own, and yeah, there are definitely doctors out there who wouldn't know their profession from a hole in the ground!😲 😠 That kind of nonsense exists everywhere, including here in the States.
BTW, the best doctors are Arabs, like from Libya.

But let’s be real, there’s a whole lot of doctors out there with some seriously massive egos. I mean, take me for example... :-)))))

brightmarlin44, I’ve got to agree—Mechanical Engineering might actually be the toughest major in the city. I’ve heard the exams are even more brutal than what they throw at you at MIT, and then you have to deal with all that tedious drafting work on top of it. It’s honestly a tragedy that you can grind through such a grueling degree only to struggle with job prospects afterward. It definitely explains why so few people even bother applying to the FBI.

Petrov & politicians: It’s possible. I remember hearing stories about Med school students who had deep connections, getting straight A's without anyone even asking them a single question—which obviously meant they didn't study. Everyone used to whisper: god help the patients when those types start practicing.

Why are you citing Arabs as the best doctors, especially from Libya? Are you forgetting those horrific incidents involving Bulgarian staff being sentenced to death over the AIDS outbreak?

brightmarlin44 said:Honestly, I feel like engineering is actually tougher than med school. You have to grind through endless studying, labs, and that brutal technical drawing stuff😲 I’ve had friends go through engineering—it’s soul-crushing. Medicine is mostly about memorization; if you have a solid system and stay consistent—like, say, two hours a day when things are quiet, maybe four hours a day leading up to an exam like physiology, paying attention in seminars, and getting lucky with your professors—you’ll make it...👍 Engineering students deal with all that plus the math and the drafting.
BTW, dentistry is even more intense because the hands-on lab work is constant, and by junior year, you're already in clinical rotations... All in all, you can wrap up a medical degree with less struggle than people realize😎 Unfortunately, though, being a doctor isn't the "glamour career" it used to be. To really make bank, you need a specialized residency, otherwise, the money isn't great unless you have a massive patient load. And those residencies last forever—if you don't love the work, it gets repetitive fast (seeing the same issues over and over)... In the end, the pay isn't even that huge.🙄 Personally, I haven't worked directly with patients in a while, yet I still pull in a good salary and I'm actually in management now.😬 So, I'm really not surprised that fewer people are aiming for MDs these days.
BTW, regarding that mess at Petrov, I heard a rumor it was caused by the daughter of some former politician from the old America era???😕 Of course doctors look out for one another—and yeah, there are definitely doctors who know absolutely nothing about actual medicine!!!😲 😠 That kind of thing happens everywhere, even here in the States.
BTW, the best doctors I've seen are Arab, like from Libya

Did you study engineering? Is that why you're putting it on such a pedestal??? 😈

Justin Fox, I had absolutely no clue that those doctors from Libya had put together😕 👎 and all that other crap😕. Honestly, though, I know for a fact that medical students back in the 80s were miles ahead of what we see here now—the curriculum used to be brutal back then.

Lawrence Wells, look, I didn't go through the ringer at MIT like a mechanical engineer would, but I spent enough time hanging out with those geniuses to know one thing: I am definitely not hardworking, diligent, or precise enough to pull that off. I’ll say it again for the people in the back—every single doctor out there knows that medical school isn't nearly as grueling as the rumors make it out to be!! There are plenty of majors out there that are way more brutal than that.

brightmarlin44 said:Justin Fox, I honestly had no clue that those doctors from Libya were actually trained😕 👎 and all that crap😕. I just know for a fact that back in the 80s, their students were way ahead of our guys—medical school was seriously intense back then.

Oh, come on, who are you kidding??!!?? 😕
Most of the Arab students studying during the 80s were basically there on political assignment, or they were part of the PLO looking for a place to lay low for a while.
If you want to see how "good" those students really were, just look at the facts: most of them were already in their forties by their sophomore year, and the average degree took about 15 years to finish.😬
I even remember hearing about this messed up scandal down in Cleveland where two of those medical students ended up killing each other.
The only guy I ever knew who actually finished his degree on time was this one Palestinian dude from Syria. He eventually married a girl from Indianapolis and just said, "Peace out, Palestine!"😈

Susan Martin24, I’m totally with you on what you said about those Arab students who used to come over here to study back in the old days—man, there were all kinds of different groups back then—but I was actually talking about the Libyan students studying back home in their own country👍
Trust me, they were lightyears ahead of our local students at the time. Almost everyone who enrolled actually stuck it out and graduated. Honestly, just for context, the so-called "Europe" we talk about could probably hide behind those students, and us? We wouldn't even stand a chance if we tried to compete🙏

Look, just to be crystal clear so there’s no misunderstanding—I’m definitely not being a bigot here. I actually know quite a few brilliant doctors who originally came from Asia, Africa, or the Middle East, and they are absolute rockstars in their fields. But the thing is, most of them did their training right here in the USA 😬
And honestly, I haven't heard much about the medical standards in Libya being anything close to Excellence 😈