I think knowing everything I know now, I'd still probably go to medical school (my decision would be between that, and having studied computer science primarily - but I hadn't really been considering that when I finished high school - so I don't think that ever would have happened). I also think it might have been cool to study to be an architectural engineer or automotive engineer, but I didn't have the required background in high school to really pursue that - and I have no idea if I'd be good at it or successful. I don't think that's what you're really asking though 🙂

The stress of medical school and residency is pretty bad - there is no point in trying to sugar coat it. I'm at a point now, though, where I'm happy with the work options I have available to me, and the type of work I can do in the psychiatric field.

For psychiatry it is a 4 year program. I believe the requirements are still similar to when I trained, where you are required to do 6 months of internal medicine (or pediatrics) which you typically do at the beginning of the residency. Those months can be extremely tough, or not so bad, depending on where you do your residency. You also have to do 2 months of neurology, which can vary a lot from program to program. You will probably do around 1 years worth of inpatient psychiatry, and at least 1 year of pure outpatient psychiatry. Other rotations will include "consultation-liaison" psychiatry (do they now call the rotations on CL psychiatry "psychosomatic medicine" - the new name of the specialty?), child and adolescent psychiatry, substance abuse treatment, and possibly / probably ECT, emergency psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, eating disorder treatment, and partial hospital treatments. You'll have elective time available, which probably varies from program to program as far as what's available and how much time. Most programs are probably similar where you'll be required to take "in-house" call the first 2 years - meaning that you will have to stay at the hospital overnight to cover all psychiatric issues that occur there during that time. You do have back-up more senior people available to call for assistance if you need it. Depending on the program, you will probably get either no sleep, or very little sleep. Maybe there are some programs where you can actually get sleep on call. I think most programs will expect you to take call 4-6 times per month.

During those 4 years, you do get paid, and I believe the starting salaries at most programs are around $40k right now, and you are provided with benefits (insurance, etc).

As to your question of I hated it - I definitely didn't hate medical school. I loved the topic of study, and I didn't mind working hard. There were some parts that I didn't particularly enjoy and I'm glad I don't have to do them again. As for residency, I also enjoyed most of the experience, but there were parts of it that I did really hate - fortunately not many. I think most people are likely to have similar experiences whereever you train - some things will be good, some not good.

Hi there... I am still in the slog of the first two years of medical school, so I can't speak to what Dr. Admin has shared about the residency experience. I am, however, quite intimately familiar with medical school (at least the beginning part), and I can tell you two things:

1) Yeah, it is as hard (heck, harder) and as stressful as everybody says.
2) It is, far and away, one of the coolest and most exciting things I have ever done in my life.

My feeling is that becoming a physician is a worthy aspiration, and it takes a lot to become a doc because it is a pretty big friggin' deal. Nothing worthwhile comes easy, at least not in my experience, so medical school is worth the effort.

If you want something easy, do something else. If you want something rewarding, medicine is a fine thing to do. It is certainly not the ONLY rewarding profession, and there are others which require far less sacrifice and effort. So, hey, make an informed decision and you will be OK either way.

As tough as medical school is sometimes, I look back at my years working in the business and academic worlds and I can honestly say that I don't miss that life a bit. Even when med school sucks, I know that it is part of the road to becoming a doc, and it is worth it to me.

Don't let the stress freak you out... if you develop good stress-relieving activities and skills now, you will be equipped to handle it. Mostly. 😛 Every gig has stress of some sort.

Good luck to you!

There were a bunch of years after residency that I would have said I'd rather have made a different choice (especially when one's relationship to greed is challenged by the occaisional peer who went into finance or high-tech being retired at 35) but now at age 45, I am in a position to dictate the terms of my professional life, and that is a very precious thing.

The stresses of training are real, but temporary, and you get through.