What do your parents want to you to be?

[Souljette_93]

Doctor.

[Hutchoo]

Since when did med = success (on a monetary scale) anyway?

Like... I thought that economists/other high business jobs generally make more money than your average GP/hospital doctor?

[DisaFear]

Doctor

But they don't mind if I do Engineering, they want me to have a comfortable job in an office or something with aircon and money

[iamtom]

Mum wants me to never have to struggle.

Dad wanted me to be a doctor, and hasn't spoken to me since I told him I was going to do Computer Science - which was in January, haha.

[mmonn1906]

Mum wants me to never have to struggle.

Dad wanted me to be a doctor, and hasn't spoken to me since I told him I was going to do Computer Science - which was in January, haha.

What a dick!

[taiga]

I'm an ambitious little boy, and when I think of medicine (I'm cocky enough to think that I would have had a decent chance to get in if I had applied) I think there is a level of success that you can not exceed, you can be the Head of Surgery somewhere (not meaning to undermine this, a very noble position). That said I must also say that whilst I personally view jobs such as a GP as perhaps a bit boring (though they can be rewarding), they do earn 250K a year constantly once they are experienced enough.

On the other hand, if you go into almost any other field, Scientific Research, Commerce, Engineering, IT, Marketing, Music, Art, Sport, and so many other things, the limit to which you can get is near endless. You could be finding cures for diseases (may not bring you much money, but that would be damn amazing), CEO of some company, developing new and amazing life altering technologies, be the new Justin Beiber, represent your country in a sport... whatever.

To put my feet back on the ground, yes, on average you would earn less than a doctor, but you too have the potential to be something amazing should you be passionate and put in a lot of effort into it what you do. This could be in the form of whooping a Doctor on Salary, or just being a part of something that you actually enjoy and brings you the money you need to support yourself and your family. So the next time someone tries to force upon that mindset of Medicine or nothing (which I think far too many people have) just know that you can do well in almost any field you choose to enter.

P.S I am speaking as if no one enjoys being a doctor, it can be very rewarding too and obviously a lot of people do enjoy it, I'm just addressing the people who are being pressured into becoming one.

[Mao]

After my parents finally understood I'm hellbent on doing whatever the heck I want, they stopped trying. So as of now I'm doing whatever I feel like. So far it's worked out. Hopefully it'll work out in the future.

[peepers]

Doctor, Pharmacist or Engineer.

[appianway]

Just curious, but does anyone have any idea of why medicine is so prestigious?

As taiga said, medicine essentially has a ceiling: whilst the average doctor earns a great salary, there's more room for monetary success (and often creativity) in other professions. I'm not sure where I'll end up, but for me at least, positions in business, research and academia, communications, analyst jobs, law and politics sound more enticing than being a GP. Being a doctor requires an immense amount of training, ridiculous hours (at least at the beginning), somewhat gruesome work and exposure (with protection) to some pretty dangerous diseases (and some pretty crazy patients). I'm not saying that no-one should be a doctor - to the contrary, I think some people would be well suited to the job and would enjoy it - but from experience, a huge proportion of "high achievers" apply for medicine. Quite honestly, I don't think that all 10 or so of last year's 99.95s are better suited for medicine than any other profession (I mean, saying 30%+ of the top achievers are very well suited to any one profession is a bit naive), so why does medicine draw in so many top students?

[DisaFear]

You become a doctor, you become an asset/resource to the village, you can help them all when they need help
Something alone the lines of what my grandfather said, who lives overseas. Get it?

[xZero]

If you do med, you are guaranteed to find a job anywhere in the world

[b^3]

For me, my parents don't care "as long as I am happy", but this made me a bit lost for direction at times.

[Interficere]

...wealthy? I don't think they care, as long as I make a lot of money. They keep saying, 'if you really became a writer/artist/musician, and made no money, would you be happy? If you worked hard and became a lawyer and made a lot of money, I think you'd be happier.'

Ever since I could talk, they've hoped I'd become a lawyer, because apparently I'm argumentative (I'm not sure this is a good trait for a person, let alone a lawyer) and tenacious. Thanks, mum. They gave up on me being a doctor because I suck at maths. I mean, sure, it's something you could do anywhere in the world, whereas the law differs within the states of Australia, as well as internationally.

[Russ]

there's more room for monetary success (and often creativity) in other professions

This needs a huge qualifier in that every doctor will earn a lot of money. There are no poor doctors (unless you subscribe to the theory that 150k a year means you're not well off). Whilst there is a much higher ceiling in other professions, such as the millions of dollars CEOs make, the vast majority of jobs will actually earn less than a doctor would.

They gave up on me being a doctor because I suck at maths.

?!?

[jane1234]

I'm feeling a need to say the cliched quote... "Find a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life".

For me, I am not looking at the monetary side of things at all... I'd much rather spend the rest of my life in a job I absolutely love (while only earning enough to get by) than be stuck in a job I'm only half happy with that earns me a gazillion dollars a year.

I can only wonder what that job is though...