Does anyone want to do medicine for the right reasons?

[kenhung123]

an example why medicine isnt an area you should do for the money:
say for example, youre a gp, and you just want to pump through as many patients you can to get the most money,
therefor you give everyone either amoxicillin or telling them to rest up, or come back in a few days, then 5 minutes later saying the same thing to the next patient, and when they come back you just tell them its stress or just a bug and they should take it easy, then after the third visit they'll either tell you the same thing or finally do some tests, then after changing doctors 2 or 3 times you see someone whose worried and finally does the right tests on you, and finds out whats wrong

There's a big difference between doing medicine for the money and being criminally negligent

This pretty much answered the concerns of the OP

[FlorianK]

At the end of the day if your life is saved by surgeon you're not going to give a shit why he or she did the operation.

I don't want that to happen

[Stick]

Why is it wrong to desire a job with a high status and financial benefits? Seems like a rational choice.

It may be wrong to desire medicine, which has a high status and financial benefits, if you do not care about people at all.

[paulsterio]

We talk about "right" reasons, but what the hell are "right" reasons and whose definition of "right" are we using?

There are many reasons one could have for doing Medicine, but as long as one performs his job properly, are there really "right" or "wrong" reasons for wanting to become a certain thing (e.g. doctor...etc)? If there are certain "right" reasons to wanting to do Medicine, are there such "right" reasons to wanting to do Engineering or Law or Education or Arts?

We can't really discuss right or wrong reasons because they are things which are abstract, there are certain things which are outright wrong - e.g. wanting to do Medicine to kill people, but for the majority, there is a lot of overlap depending on what is "right" and what is "wrong".

I just think that as long as you act morally, you aren't doing anything wrong. If you were treated by a doctor, do you really care whether that doctor did it for money, for fame or whatever? No - doctors, like everyone else, have a job to perform and they should perform that job professionally, the same regardless of what their motives are - as long as that is the case, this is a redundant discussion.

What we should be discussing is - do all who end up in Medicine truly want to do Medicine - that's probably a more interesting discussion.

[charmanderp]

I'd suggest the right reason to do medicine isn't to 'help people' - there are better and easier ways of doing that. But anyone who genuinely has an interest in health sciences and the theoretical side of medicine who pursues it is definitely in the right.

[pi]

My reasons, as outlined in a previous post:

Why I wanted to study medicine?

For a number of reasons, I guess I've always been a Science kid and furthermore, have always relished a challenge and a new learning experience in this field. Medicine does this for me, it is a dynamic field that is constantly mentally stimulating. This combined with the patient and colleague interactions, makes it the most challenging and interesting profession around. Additionally, any hesitations I had about Medicine immediately disappeared after my week at the RCH, the environment was simply inspiring, to say the least.

Yeh, so that's pretty much it

I maintain that even now.

As you can see, money and prestige weren't really the main goals because I knew of the reality of the medical pay scale, and how long it takes before you can earn the big $$$$ (not that I'm saying interns and the like are poor) and in terms of the prestige or respect, I'd prefer that people show me respect only if I've earned it by being a good person, rather than it simply being a label attached to my occupation.

Now you can call them right or wrong reasons, I don't really care. But I think those drive my passion, and to me that's all that matters.

[malekv]

This thread made me feel a bit queasy as I am determined to get into medicine.
My reasons are yes, to help people, but I am also really interested in health sciences and the different ways the body responds when there's something wrong with it. For me it's just phenomenal. At the same time I am interested in the many different decisions a doctor gets to make, such as the prognostics, the ethics of their decisions - and not just the caring involved (in which case, I would apply for nursing). I am a natural leader and I think that becoming a doctor would provide me with an intellectually challenging career and something that caters to my interests and strengths.

And abuse starts... now

[brenden]

AN doesn't do abuse. AN does taking apart your post logically and politely and making you feel intellectually inferior.

[malekv]

AN doesn't do abuse. AN does taking apart your post logically and politely and making you feel intellectually inferior.

Haha, will wait for that then

[HighLatency]

As long as they can do their job who gives a flap about what their reasons are?

[Limista]

As long as they can do their job who gives a flap about what their reasons are?

the MMI interviewers unfortunately ~ that's one of the things that determine whether they get in, in the first place

[pi]

As long as they can do their job who gives a flap about what their reasons are?

the MMI interviewers unfortunately ~ that's one of the things that determine whether they get in, in the first place

I actually think the MMI interviews don't actually ask much of "why" people want to become doctors at all

[Limista]

As long as they can do their job who gives a flap about what their reasons are?

the MMI interviewers unfortunately ~ that's one of the things that determine whether they get in, in the first place

I actually think the MMI interviews don't actually ask much of "why" people want to become doctors at all

Strange, I thought that would be one of the questions they would be most likely to ask?

[Stick]

It's taken me a while to formulate an opinion on the matter, but I think I've got my wording around it all now.

Basically, I pretty much agree with the sentiments shared here, as long as patient care is not compromised (I think we all have our own horror stories from the hospital).

[pi]

As long as they can do their job who gives a flap about what their reasons are?

the MMI interviewers unfortunately ~ that's one of the things that determine whether they get in, in the first place

I actually think the MMI interviews don't actually ask much of "why" people want to become doctors at all

Strange, I thought that would be one of the questions they would be most likely to ask?

Nope, it's all scenarios. Testing your ethics, teamwork, cooperation, analytic skills, explaining ability, etc.