Starry Eyed

The problem with many teenies going off to Uni is the fact that they all think they know "everything". I have found this with Hobbits and I tend to just remain silent while they all talk about themselves and their aspirations. I asked one whether it had reflected on its choice in medicine. I advised " You should read around medicopolitics, the fact that many F1s are leaving the UK, the fact that assessments are killing most doctors etc". The response was a blatant shut down. One perks up " Just because your experience was bad, doesn't mean ours will be". Of course, that is true. What is also true is that few doctors are staying in UK medicine. There must be a reason for that. I know the medical fraternity are working on degrees like the EMDP [at Kings] to develop doctors who are "grateful to the establishment for pulling them out of poverty". This no doubt will create a workforce that is grateful and one that does not challenge the status quo or indeed think about it. I have found that the analytical ability of teenagers today is considerably poorer than it used to be. Most are starry eyed, never listen to older people and will do whatever they feel is right without researching or considering the fact that medicine may or may not be the correct career choice. 

For me medicine was a career choice because I was bright, determined and probably would have been successful in anything I put my mind to. My motivation as to help people. I know some of my colleagues are largely motivated by the kudos that medicine brings. There is no doubt a huge amount of kudos but I have often found that tiring in many ways. This is potentially why, I walk around the earth without sporting my "Dr" title too often. It just annoys me that people get so starry eyed about the title. I often think for most teenagers, the glamour of medicine is what attracts them to the career. They then spend the rest of their lives in medicine living up to the image. 

If I had my time again, I would probably do English Literature at University. A much more laudable and human subject, more suited to my nature and I probably would have had far more decent friends who were more developed in their ability to be "human". That is probably my biggest regret. I find many people in medicine to be two dimensional, egotistical, largely indecisive and driven by the decadence of society. When I attend parties with doctors, all they tend to talk about is themselves.

Had someone told me that as a teenager, I would never have entered medicine. It is probably quite important to consider your personality and ask yourself  " what do I want out of life" then progressing to make an assessment of whether medicine or any other career suits you. This is probably a better way to decide upon a career path.

Lastly, I think 18 is far too early to decide whether medicine is the right thing. I am all for students taking a year out, orientating themselves with the world, the opposite sex and being independent. Decisions made at 18 may become bad ones at the age of 30. Mature students probably have more of an idea about who they are in the world. Perhaps they even make better doctors. At least during my time teaching medical students, I felt that the mature students were better equipped while the younger ones remained starry eyed and hell bent on telling everyone they are in medicine and they got AAA. Perhaps this may well be an ageist comment but it is only an observation of teenager kind.