When asked about the one piece of advice they would give to themselves early on in their medical career, eight physicians addressed a plethora of topics, including the mental and emotional role medicine can play in one's own health and the financial drain one may incur.
Here is how eight physicians would advise their younger selves, according to Medical Economics.
1. "Go to law school or business and become a banker. Medicine has been intellectually and emotionally very satisfying. Financially, it has been a disaster." — John Bakos, MD, PhD, an internal medicine and pediatrics physician from Sacramento, Calif.
2. "I would be more realistic with my expectations of being a doctor due to the pressures of administrative authorities. I thought my biggest challenges would be the diagnosis and treatment of patients. But after a long career and taking a look back, I can state that the biggest challenges were from the unrealistic expectations from administrative and legal requirements that often detracted from the time I needed to study, spend time with my patients and practice medicine holistically." — Allan Purdie, MD, a family medicine physician from Rome, Ga.
3. "None of it is hard once you break through the fear and intimidation. If you conquered anatomy and pathophysiology, you can do this. It's just different numbers and simpler equations. After all, your fiscal future depends on it." — Steven Thau, MD, a pulmonologist from Stamford, Conn.
4. "Go to medical school earlier. I gave up trying to get into a U.S. school after several tries and went to a foreign school at age 30. In retrospect, I should've applied to a foreign school after my first U.S. rejection, and I would have six years more practice (and physician-level income) behind me." — Jeffrey Kagan, MD, an internal medicine provider from Newington, Conn.
5. "Be prepared to learn, understand and keep up with the changes in coding." — Elizabeth Seymour, MD, a family medicine practitioner from Denton, Texas.
6. "Always remember that it is all about taking good care of patients. Everything else is noise and craziness you can roll with." — Joseph Scherger, MD, a family medicine provider from Rancho Mirage, Calif.
7. "Forget men. Don't date or marry in school and residency. You can't maintain both. Sometimes it works out for some people, but it will not work out for you. Just study hard, focus on your work and practice your music in your spare time. Prince Charming is not coming. … Every man you will ever date will want you to quit your dream and work in urgent care, which you tried once and hated. You will always be poor, so keep that Indian Health Services job until you pay off your loans. Maybe just stay in public health. Solo practice is going to really struggle to survive during your lifetime." — Susan Osborne, DO, a family medicine physician from Floyd, Va.
8. "To not stay as long as I did in clinical practice. I have more influence now to affect change with larger populations through non-direct patient care activities." — Wayne Chen, MD, a geriatric medicine practitioner from Los Angeles.