Occasionally, many points of view develop surrounding what a day in the life of a doctor is like. What’s more is that most, if not all, have truth behind them. The stress, pressure, lack of sleep, and the long commitment are only a few examples of what a doctor will experience. There are also times where misconceptions seem to be the norm, such as doctors having a fat bank account. This is nowhere near the truth because the huge amount of student debt that they have acquired will sometimes outweigh their annual salary. No matter what, there will always be things to consider before you trek down your chosen career, and for a doctor, we have a few listed below that will give you a heads up on what to expect.
1. Having no life outside of work
The life you had will soon disappear once you step into the first hospital you work at. This is due to the level of commitment you must have. This means no more weekends off, holiday parties, or nights at home enjoying a flick. You are expected to always be available for any and all hours, and shifts and vacations are never guaranteed.
2. You will likely be indecisive about the specialty you want to pursue
When you are in medical school, you will likely become indecisive on which specialty you want to specialize in until you are near graduation. There are many medical students who get into medicine with the thought of being able to help those in need but are clueless about what they want for themselves. Although this does not happen to all, it is considered to be normal and nothing to worry about.
3. The Specialty You Select Is the One You Stick To
Unfortunately, a doctor is unable to change thief specialty as easily as any other career without first needing more schooling. If it was so easy, then there would probably be more of one type of specialty than all of the rest in medicine. So when you decide to choose, take everything into account before leaping in.
4. You can expect shifts to be a lot longer than 24 hours
Besides the normal shift lasting 24 hours, you can expect it to go much longer and even past 30 hours in some instances. A lot of extra time also goes into it, such as the dive to the wok, meal beaks, and paperwork that need to be completed before you leave. Then when you get home, you may have family errands to take care of. Ultimately, when you get everything said and done, you will likely be out sleeping another 24 hours.
5. Be Beyond the Best
Being a doctor will require you to become and remain strict with the way you do things, as well as having yourself well-organized throughout your medical schooling. However, you also need to be even more so as soon as you obtain the license to practice medicine. You will see many of your colleagues having a high amount of dedication and doing everything perfectly throughout the day. You need to be sure that all of your time can be made available for your job to be able to become and remain the best.
6. Don’t expect to be the Biggest Brain
It is ok to think that you were the smartest medical student. However, once you get into the real world, you may have your eyes opened by even more people who are also highly intelligent. You need to understand this so that you will be able to work cohesively as a medical team. You may find it difficult to adjust knowing this, (https://blog.accepted.com/what-to-expect-after-medical-school/) but you will just need to lay the thought aside and concentrate on the patients.
7. You are only as smart as you think you are
It is good to start now to realize that you are only as smart as you think you are and will not know how to fix everything.
As time passes, you’ll see yourself with an increased amount of knowledge that you can use in your specialty. The good thing with this is that many new treatments and medicines are always being developed, so you will have a wide range of available options.