Why Become a Doctor?

Admissions

6/7/2023

Before applying for medicine, make sure you understand the advantages and disadvantages of life as a doctor

Why become a doctor? Pros and cons - infographic

What are the pros and cons of becoming a doctor?

Making a conscious effort to know the both sides of the story is particularly good preparation for medical and dental school interviews.

Interviewers may ask about how much you've thought about medicine as a career choice and whether you are being realistic about the nature of the role.

The cons

Cons of becoming a doctor: it takes a long time to finish medical school

1. How long it takes to become a doctor

Getting into medical school is tough.

As an undergraduate in the UK, it takes five or six years depending on what medical school you go to or if you intercalate to complete medicine.

Graduate Entry Medicine typically takes four years, five if you don't have a science background.

Whichever option you choose, the training never really stops. After med school, there is a two-year foundation programme and then many years to become a registrar and finally a consultant.

Cons of becoming a doctor: Medicine is stressful

2. Medicine is stressful

There is growing awareness that health care workers, especially in the NHS, experience high levels of burnout. Ultimately, this role can become highly stressful very quickly.

Cons of becoming a doctor: Unsocial hours

3. Unsocial hours

Doctors work notoriously long hours and night shifts are commonplace. Sleep is majorly disrupted.

Prof Matthew Walker, Sleep Expert at Harvard University, has highlighted the sleep loss epidemic occurring in the medical community.

This means doctors often have to sacrifice spending time with family and loved ones due to on-call responsibilities.

Cons of becoming a doctor: The emotional toll

4. The emotional toll

Unfortunately, some of your patients will have negative health outcomes. This is part of working in healthcare. What is even more difficult is having to break bad news to patients or loved ones.

This can be difficult to handle and can take a toll on your mental, emotional and physical health if not properly taken care of and monitored. Doctors need coping strategies to remain effective and consistent.

***

There are pros and cons to every career option but medicine has more of an impact on the lives of others - good and bad.

The question is whether the pros outweigh the cons for you personally.

The pros

Pros of becoming a doctor: You can really make a difference

1. You can really make a difference

Unlike many other professions, in medicine, you can have a significant positive impact on the life of someone else. In doing so, you can have connections with patients that are unmatched elsewhere. Naturally, how you can improve someone's life depends on what area you choose to work.

Pros of becoming a doctor: It's a challenge

2. It's a challenge

Medicine can be satisfying for several different reasons. One main reason is that medicine is challenging. As a result, it is intellectually satisfying to learn about ideas and science that impact people directly. Finally, it is very variable so even if you have been working in the same speciality for a long time, there will always be new situations, patients, technologies and treatments that you will get to learn and implement in practice.

Pros of becoming a doctor: Job security

3. Job security

People will always need doctors: those with the relevant skills and experience who can diagnose and treat conditions. In fact, despite large swathes of job-losses in a range of industries due to automation; doctors remain in massive demand all across the world.

Pros of becoming a doctor: A wide choice of career paths

4. A wide choice of career paths

There are many sub-specialties within medicine. For example, you can become a specialist medic, surgeon, educator, or general practitioner working in your community. This means that you can fit your career specifically around your interests, which is highly rewarding.

Pros of becoming a doctor: Working in a team

5. Working in a team

Medicine is an increasingly interdisciplinary profession. This means that lots of sub-specialists have to work together: including doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals.

This can be a major positive if you like working with others to care for patients. It can also be challenging and test your communication skills.

If you'd like to find out more about what doctors do take a look at our Admissions Guide.

Medify's UCAT helping hand

Do you need help with preparing for the UCAT? Please don’t worry, head over to our UCAT Online Course and we’ll get you signed up to guide you through the whole process.

We provide a huge bank of over 20,000 questions, 24 unique full mock exams, 40+ mini-mock exams, 50+ hours of video tutorials, and performance feedback. We've also upgraded our UCAT mock exams 13-24 and revised our practice question bank to enrich your preparation journey.

Access example video responses to interview questions from real students

Learn More

Succeed in your medical school interview. Start today for only £25

Membership will expire on 31 March 2024 23:59 UK time

Enroll Now

Boost your BMAT score with 2,000+ practice questions

Discover More

Write your personal statement. Try Medify Today

Buy Now

2 in 3 students prepared for UCAT with Medify. Try Medify Now

Boost your UCAT score with 24 mocks and 40+ mini-mocks

Discover MoreBuy Now

2 in 3 students prepared for UCAT with Medify. Try Medify Now

Boost your UCAT score with 24 mocks and 40+ mini-mocks

Discover MoreBuy Now

Boost your BMAT score with 2,000+ practice questions

Discover More

Write your personal statement. Try Medify Today

Buy Now

2 in 3 students prepared for UCAT with Medify. Try Medify Now

Boost your UCAT score with 24 mocks and 40+ mini-mocks

Discover MoreBuy Now

2 in 3 students prepared for UCAT with Medify. Try Medify Now

Boost your UCAT score with 24 mocks and 40+ mini-mocks

Discover MoreBuy Now

2 in 3 students prepared for UCAT with Medify. Try Medify Now

Boost your UCAT score with 24 mocks and 40+ mini-mocks

Discover MoreBuy Now