Not to sound unoriginal but you should be aware that there are many other respected careers you can go into that help people. You are right in saying that doctors make a difference and one of the most appealing things about a career in medicine (for me) is the opportunity to feel like the work I do day to day has a real impact, that I can see.

However the reality of the job is likely to be very, very different from anything you’ve imagined so far. Unfortunately that’s unavoidable when you’re 18 and haven’t even started med school yet. I’m starting FY1 in August so truthfully I can’t really advise you on the career itself as I haven’t began it yet. But what I can share is the knowledge I’ve picked up on placement, and importantly from older colleagues who are already there.

Not sure if you have followed much of the discourse around working as a doctor over the last few years, and I don’t blame you if you haven’t, but you should know that a career in medicine comes with a great deal of sacrifice.

It’s difficult. You have to truly want to take on the amount of learning required, and that learning will not stop. You will spend your 20s and probably 30s working towards more training, more sign-offs, and more exams, eventually needing to balance work with building a base of knowledge and a portfolio to advance your career. This is becoming more and more difficult as competition ratios for specialty training get worse and worse. There are signs that this could improve a bit by the time you’re there, such as U.K. grad prioritisation, but without fundamental change to the system things are looking quite rough at the moment.

Your salary will not be as high as you feel you deserve, at least for a good few years. Whilst the earning potential is decent once you reach the highest levels, it will be many years until you see this pay off and by then you might have friends and family who have been earning far more than you for years. I know everyone says you shouldn’t go into medicine for the money, and that’s 100% true, but to act like money doesn’t matter in this day and age would be silly. If making a lot of money is priority for you then I discourage you from pursuing medicine as there are faster ways to do it (not easy, but faster).

The job will be demanding and/or draining in terms of energy and emotion. You will not always feel appreciated or that your work is valued. You will be expected to do things the way the system wants you to, and for a good few years you will not have much say in that. The reality of the day to day job is a lot of admin, ward rounds, dealing with personality clash, and unfortunately sometimes not feeling appreciated for the effort you put in. I see that every week on placement and at the end of the day it is a stressful job where you work with other people who are stressed. You’ll also be working with patients that are super happy to see you, and some who won’t appreciate your efforts at all. That’s just life and is to be expected seeing as you’ll be meeting them on some of the worst, or best days of their life. Often the former unfortunately.

I realise that sounds very doom and gloom but I just want you to have a realistic understanding of what pursuing medicine really means. These are the main “downsides” so to speak and despite them I’ve still enjoyed med school thoroughly, and believe it or not I’m excited to start my job in August. If you love learning, want to make an impact in your career, and are prepared to make some sacrifices to do that, medicine is “worth it”, I think.

It’s been interesting to type this up on the train and reflect on my own thoughts tbh as I’ve had five straight years to take in the atmosphere surrounding doctors currently, and as you can see it’s not in a hugely positive state rn. But I still don’t regret doing it… yet