Pros and Cons of Going to Medical School

Medical school can be an intense and life-changing experience; the path of becoming a physician, one of the most esteemed professions in the world, is not easy. For many, being a doctor is a dream that has been long held, and who want to not only help others, but also achieve professional excellence, have a career that is meaningful, and have the potential to help people on a grand scale.

Nevertheless, the process of acquiring an MD or DO degree can be challenging, expensive, and sacrifices will be made in your personal life too.

This article will consider the advantages and disadvantages of attending medical school to give you some information to reflect on in your journey as you decide whether to attend medical school or not, and to consider whether it is the right decision for your future.


Pros of Going to Medical School


Cons of Going to Medical School

  • Highly respected and meaningful career.

  • Strong earning potential and job security.

  • Wide range of specialties and global opportunities.

  • Intellectual challenge and lifelong learning.

  • Expensive education and high student debt.

  • Long and demanding training period.

  • Emotional, physical, and mental stress.

  • Risk of burnout and heavy administrative workload.

Advantages of Attending Medical School

1. Rewarding and Fulfilling Career
 There are few professions that are more rewarding than going into medicine. As a doctor, you will have the ability to save lives, relieve the suffering of others, and positively impact the lives of your patients.

2. Earning Potential
 Physicians, especially those in specialty fields, tend to have high salaries. Although the path is lengthy and expensive, the earning potential of being a physician can be significant during a career in medicine.

3. Security-Demand
 The healthcare field continues to demonstrate a need for physicians. Medical professionals do not worry about job security, and there will always be a demand for medical professionals in almost every area of the world.

4. Prestige
 Members of the physician profession are highly regarded members of society. The title of “doctor” provides you with the ability to exert authority, respect, and trust from both peers and society in general.

5. An intellectual test-challenge
 Medical school will be a rigorous and challenging learning experience. If you enjoy science and solving problems, the academic challenge can be very rewarding.

6. Broad range of specialities
 Between paediatrics, surgery, and psychiatry, medicine certainly provides one with a plethora of career choices. You can mould your practice to be about your interests, personality, and preferred lifestyle.

7. Chance to travel or work abroad
 With a medical degree, you may get to participate in global health initiatives, global health missions, or work abroad.

8. Opportunity to affect public health
 In general, physicians are able to affect health policy, research, and teaching whilst having an impact beyond individual patients.

Cons for Going to Medical School

1. Expensive Education
 Medical school is very costly. Students often graduate with hundreds or thousands of dollars in debt, which takes years to pay off.

2. Long Path of Education
 Most students can usually expect to or have to complete at least 8–12 years of formal education including undergraduate, medical school and residency training.

3. Commitment of Time
 Medical training and practice requires time and more often than not, commitment that includes overnight, evenings, weekends, and holidays. It can leave a hard balance between personal life and relationships.

4. Emotional and Physical Stress
 Medical education and clinical practice take a toll on one’s emotions. The competing demands of professional responsibilities usually include making life and death decisions on an hourly basis as well as seeing the suffering of others, so it comes with a risk of burned out rates that are often observed.

5. Competitive and Rigorous Admissions Process
 There are only so many slots in medical school per year, and getting into medical school takes a lot of dedication and top performance in academics and in extracurriculars as well as develop your personal motivation.

6. Delay Financial Independence
 Most of your peers that are in similar areas as you start working full time and start earning money at least years prior to when you will become earning a salary, whereas you are spending this time in training.

7. Risk of Burnout
 The lifestyle of medical education and practice is most certainly demanding and results in physicians’ frequent rates of burnout. Balancing work/life is not always achievable without dedicated effort.

8. Administrative Burden
 Doctors deal with a lot of paperwork, insurance, and regulatory issues and it takes away significant time directly with seeing patients.

Conclusion

Applying to medical school is a significant process and a fulfilling one if you choose to pursue a career in health care. There are very large benefits to the process – financial security, social status, and impact – but the costs are equally overwhelming – the high cost of tuition, long hours of education, emotional scars.

If you have a passion for medicine, are prepared to go through this process and have a genuine need to serve others, medical school is worth a close look. Plans and mentors help make a decision about what is most fulfilling and addresses the needs of your soul.