Question: Pros and Cons Med or Law?
Jeff Hochman
Hi..
I have a couple of semi brief questions for anyone who might like to
answer..or actually has any input to offer at all. My main question is
this, given the choice..is it better to go to Medical school and
pursue Medicine or better to study Law? I am curious because I honestly
feel my "calling" (or whatever you feel like calling it) is in medicine.
However, I have seen posts here from med school grads who want to get JDs.
Now, I'm honestly quite interested in both fields (as well as the field
I'm in currently..i.e., engineering)...and don't know if I agree with
this "you have to devote your life to one Noble Monastic Order".
Afterall, when I was in college the people there claimed "most people
work at several different careers over the course of their lifetime"..now
all of a sudden I have to promise to accept being classified as an X for
my entire life :-{ Anyhow, my question is fairly complex..I would like
to know about job satisfaction, comparison of salary/societal respect,
stress, workload (in school and afterwards), the "glut factor" (i.e.
these stories I've been hearing about such and such profession
experiencing an "oversupply" of graduates), and such related issues.
Also, if anyone could point me in the direction of papers or books on
these issues I'd appreciate it as well. I'm sorry to be blunt about
this decision, but I'm getting to the point in my life that I need to
consider the "bottom line" (i.e. cost vs. reward) just like everyone
around me has for years. Anyhow, thanks for any and all info.
-JH.
BTW: Also, please reply to my email: hoc...@netcom.com
since I usually don't have access to newsgroups
Thanx again.
Joann Pheasant
classmates will be whining about either going blind from reading or too
many hours on call you can be master of your own universe:the ant farm.
On Fri, 3 Mar 1995, Jeff Hochman wrote:
> Hi..
>
> I have a couple of semi brief questions for anyone who might like to
> answer..or actually has any input to offer at all. My main question is
> this, given the choice..is it better to go to Medical school and
> pursue Medicine or better to study Law? I am curious because I honestly
> feel my "calling" (or whatever you feel like calling it) is in medicine.
> However, I have seen posts here from med school grads who want to get JDs.
> Now, I'm honestly quite interested in both fields (as well as the field
> I'm in currently..i.e., engineering)...and don't know if I agree with
> this "you have to devote your life to one Noble Monastic Order".
> Afterall, when I was in college the people there claimed "most people
> work at several different careers over the course of their lifetime"..now
> all of a sudden I have to promise to accept being classified as an X for
etc. ....->
>
>
>
Brendon A. Carr
Jeff Hochman <hoc...@netcom.com> wrote:
> I have a couple of semi brief questions for anyone who might like to
>answer..or actually has any input to offer at all. My main question is
>this, given the choice..is it better to go to Medical school and
>pursue Medicine or better to study Law? I am curious because I honestly
>feel my "calling" (or whatever you feel like calling it) is in medicine.
I've been having similar thoughts the end of first year approaches,
especially since I've been getting the Heisman treatment in my job
search. But, I've decided my true calling is to be a porn star: although
I don't *have* a big prick, I am known *as* a big prick, and I think that
will be enough. Plus porn actors are more socially accepted than
lawyers -- my parents won't be so ashamed when their friends find out
what I'm doing.
BAC
Jeff Hochman
>What a question
>
>Take some time off, get a job and work for a while. Law school or med school
>are not the places for soul searching. You better know what you're about
>when you go.
>cheers
>Tom
>
>--
>Thomas C. Shanahan
>Occupational Consultant
>8277 Cole Road
>Colden, New York 14033
Hmmmm, you make a few assumptions here. First, the poster (me!) has a
real job and has had one for a few years now. Also, "soul searching" is
not the issue here. The thing is....suppose you have a job/make decent
money and like the pople you work with, BUT everyday you wonder.."Gee, I
really wanted to get into medicine when I started out in college...I was
discouraged by people who gave me bad advice and made me feel "unworthy"
of my goals..so I went the route of getting a job only to make a living".
Would you suggest to this person to continue living a life of regret over
his career choices? I mean, there must be more to a career than making
money right? Is there such a thing as a career you are "meant" to do?
Also, what about this noise that people always say about life being
a journey of multiple/varied careers where you switch a few times in your
lifetime? The question about whether medicine or law was "better" was
not meant for me exactly, per se but more to address the reason why
people post things like "Wow....I lived thru residency but now see the
way to go is to head for law school". I have seen these posts once or
twice here and was curious if anyone had any input as to why law is now
"the way to go"..especially when I always assumed it was a question of
personal choice.
Anyhow thanks for the help.
Thomas J. Shanahan
Jeff Hochman
>Never assume. Thanks for the repeat lesson.
It's ok, just wanted to make the point that you (i.e. a person) can work
in many possible postiions not all of which they find fulfilling, but all
of which maybe pay well. I have a job, but everyday wonder (not if I can
"hack" this job) if I was "meant" to be where I am. Now, plenty of people
would say...hmmm, you can pay the bills and have enough left over to live
a fun life....isn't that enough? Hmmmmm, well....when I was in college
and faced with the prospect of no job at all maybe my standards were abit
less intense. But these days I've been having questions about it all.
>Still, you seem to confront the question that many intelligent, successful
>students, uh, career people confront. There are so many possibilities for
>which you qualify. How do you decide? My only point is that you should
>find your passion BEFORE starting school. Sounds reasonable, right? I mean,
>you'll do better, enjoy life more, and not have to put up with the unreasonable
>financial burden posed by the possibility of law school AND medical school.
Uhh, yes...most excellent point! Except for a couple minor details.
When I started college I was 17. At 17 maybe some people know what they
want to do with the rest of their lives but I guess I didn't. I thoguht
that college would give me the education/experience to come to a good
decision. However, in the course of this process my grades were less
than the "close to perfect" that (I've heard) MD/JD programs like to
see. So, I went on to graduate school for science (spec, Physics).
Posed with the difficulty of finding a job in physics I switched to
engineering after having earning the MS. Afterall, I did have college
loans to repay some day. So, now I have 2 MS degrees (EE, Physics) but
always wanted to do medicine but was nudged this direction because I was
told at a young age (when I didn't know any better) to give up the idea
of what I wanted to do with my life (i.e. medicine) because my GPA proved
I wasn't "worthy". So, in a nutshell I knew what I wanted to do early
on, but was discouraged..now I have a few pretty decent academic
accomplishments and don't really buy into this "worthy" thing anymore.
However, I also have a good/comfortable job that I can earn decent bucks
in for a few years at least. Nice choice huh? :-{
>Another thought: Apply to Duke, Yale, Southern Illinois for their 6 year
>MD/JD programs if both these fields are your passion.
Ok, thanks alot for this info..I'll keep it in mind. However, I'm gonna
try to focus in on medicine if it's still doable.
>Sorry again for my blunder.
No problemo. ;-)
Again, thanks for the info/help and chance to chat.
-Jeff H.
Thomas J. Shanahan
Still, you seem to confront the question that many intelligent, successful
students, uh, career people confront. There are so many possibilities for
which you qualify. How do you decide? My only point is that you should
find your passion BEFORE starting school. Sounds reasonable, right? I mean,
you'll do better, enjoy life more, and not have to put up with the unreasonable
financial burden posed by the possibility of law school AND medical school.
Another thought: Apply to Duke, Yale, Southern Illinois for their 6 year
MD/JD programs if both these fields are your passion.
Sorry again for my blunder.
Tom
Joshua M.K. Masur
> Hmmmm, you make a few assumptions here. First, the poster (me!) has a
> real job and has had one for a few years now. Also, "soul searching" is
> not the issue here. The thing is....suppose you have a job/make decent
> money and like the pople you work with, BUT everyday you wonder.."Gee, I
> really wanted to get into medicine when I started out in college...I was
> discouraged by people who gave me bad advice and made me feel "unworthy"
> of my goals..so I went the route of getting a job only to make a living".
> Would you suggest to this person to continue living a life of regret over
> his career choices? I mean, there must be more to a career than making
> money right? Is there such a thing as a career you are "meant" to do?
> Also, what about this noise that people always say about life being
> a journey of multiple/varied careers where you switch a few times in your
> lifetime? The question about whether medicine or law was "better" was
> not meant for me exactly, per se but more to address the reason why
> people post things like "Wow....I lived thru residency but now see the
> way to go is to head for law school". I have seen these posts once or
> twice here and was curious if anyone had any input as to why law is now
> "the way to go"..especially when I always assumed it was a question of
> personal choice.
Don't be a schmuck -- live your desire, or spend the rest of your
life regretting it. Aside from anything else, if you're in either
law or med school, and not completely driven, you're not going to do
all that well. These programs are designed to weed out those who
don't want it so much they can taste it.
Look, I shilly-shallied between getting a Ph.D. in Sociology and a
J.D. for a year, before I woke up one morning and realized that, for
what I want to do with it, the J.D. made it possible to meet my
goals. Just woke up, realized it, and called schools for admissions
material.
_____________________________________
Joshua M.K. Masur -- jm...@echo.net
Director of MIS, The Center for Reproductive Law & Policy
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My opinions are my own, and not necessarily those of CRL&P.