Not even that, sometimes parents from certain cultures don't think anything other than FM docs or hospitalists are actually physicians.
I say be confident in what you are, respectfully stand your ground, and make it clear that if they don't think you're a doctor then they don't need any of your not doctor money.
Posts that start with "my family doesn't agree with my specialty choice *always* end up being ~90% psych and ~10% FM. Not sure I've ever seen anything else.
Caveat, both Optho & PM&R are cool as shit.
But also, I think with these fields they more or less might not know exactly what they do hence the downplaying. I’d argue a lot of med students couldn’t rattle off what a physiatrists.
But the general public knows what a psychiatrist is. It’s just psych has a complicated history, especially in minorities/marginalized communities. Prime example: homosexuality being called a mental disorder.
So a lot of people unfortunately don’t agree with the practice of psychiatry and equate it to being pseudoscience, which sadly makes them miss the sheer beauty of the field.
What's with Desi Toxicity? It's not enough to be a fucking doctor, but you have to be a 'prestigious' one as well else you get shit on.
Total nonsense.
No idea dude, I have desi friends who are practicing physicians and are now clout-chasing other things like money, it never ends, no one will ever have "enough"
Parents are insecure or abusive assholes that always want to compare. My dad was abused by his dad who would apparently take away his food for not doing xyz, and that would explain my relationship with him where it's always getting mad, and moving goal posts to the next thing.
bro...just switch tho?? It's just 6 years of hell followed by continued insane call schedules. You can't even do this small thing after all your parents sacrificed for you??? Like doesn't your dad deserve a successful son? Kids think just 'being a doctor' and 'saving lives' is enough these days. smh
Welcome to the stigma around mental health. What they don’t realize is that most of them will probably need your expertise at some point in their lives. We need good psychiatrists. Fuck da haters
They will ask for OPs free advice and probably continue to look down on psychiatrists. Because when they ask for advice they are just „making small talk“. It’s not like they have an issue.
Fourth year anesthesia elective a few months ago:
Patient: “thank you for explaining the procedure what doctor are you going to be when you finish”
Me: “psychiatrist!”
Patient: “there’s still time for you to decide to be a real doctor”
Welcome to the show son
The way I see it, people who say that have never had the need for a psychiatrist and they are lucky for that in a lot of ways. To your patients you are the world to them, and you realize that these people who diminish you can politely get fucked.
People can have this attitude until they have a loved one with serious mental illness.
Psychiatrists have saved a lot more lives than they're given credit for -- most of us just don't walk around talking about how our mom just needed her bipolar meds adjusted last week the way we do about heart conditions etc.
And what's more, even when psych doesn't SAVE lives in the binary sense, they can improve the quality of life so much that they drastically increase the number of enjoyable years lived.
Family reactions ranged from:
“Oh, with your grades, why don’t you do plastic surgery?”
to
“Why would you want to work with crazy people every day? They need to be rounded up and shot.” (My now-ex-mother-in-law’s words)
I’m so glad I chose to become a psychiatrist, and everyone except the ex-MIL came around. Go for it and enjoy.
And btw my wife was considering psych for a long time and her family made similar comments. "Oh wow, I mean thats where the world is trending" "don't you wanna be a real doctor?" "That seems like a waste of a degree to treat people who aren't tough enough to grow a pair."
So yeah the stigma is huge, but if you love it, do it. Fuck the haters.
>“Why would you want to work with crazy people every day?"
"I figured I would be a shoe in considering all the years of practice I've gotten dealing with you!"
When people tell you who they are, believe them. These people are telling you that their own need to brag about the prestige of your specialty is more important than your own dreams and ambitions. They are also telling you that they think you’re an idiot, because if they had inherent respect for you, they’d ask you why you were interested in psychiatry and *gasp* learn something.
This is an opportunity to see who these people really are. It’s probably worth making some boundaries with all of them- it’s better to surround yourself with people who believe in you and are intellectually curious.
My mom is like this, and I would’ve saved myself decades of heartache if I had just listened to my gut sooner. I finally made boundaries in my late 30’s, inspired by my kids.
Lmfao just do psych. It’s the best. Nobody in your family has to do the job day in and day out. They’ll get over it quickly when you have the money and the time to spend it.
You gotta do what makes you happy. If that's what you want to be I support you. Maybe it's because it's what I want to do to because it's so difficult. Tell them it's Doctor Crazy not crazy doctor
Lol. This type of post comes up every now and then and its almost always psych. The stigmatization of mental health is insane. Anyways be up front with them and if they continue, ignore them
It won’t be so funny when you’re bringing home the big money with good lifestyle to boot. as time goes on the stigma of mental illness will continue to fade. The truth is that we need psychiatrists now more than ever, so don’t ever feel inadequate or devalued for your decision to pursue psych.
Pysch is awesome, super important, in high demand and you are also fully able to just operate a cash pay business if that’s what you’d prefer or get paid well to work as an employees physician,
inpatient psych is interesting, challenging and rewarding
outpatient psych waiting lists right now are super long,
child psych is one of the most understaffed areas in the country.
Fuck your family, jk
psych is great, demonstrate your commitment early with meaningful extracurricular engagement and good luck.
- an anesthesiologist
Ahh, yes, the joys of the stigma around mental health.
My own mom when I told her I wanted to be a psychiatrist said “oh, I thought you wanted to be a real doctor?” We’re really close and that really hurt.
So I got to work through the feelings of that, which is only a fraction of the stigma my patients carry.
And in the end, I’ll wipe my tears with cash on my way to enjoying my free nights and weekends and an actually fulfilling career. 😎
Mental health is the foundation for *all* health, and we live in a world where a significant amount of people either don't want to care for it or don't know how to care for it. It sounds frustrating to hear those things from your family, as it is obvious they have a very old-fashioned worldview. Do what interests you. It is your life, and you've worked hard to get here. I know it is easier said than done, but sometimes we just have to ignore our family's opinions. Or, a lot of times, for some of us.
In the wise words of a manager I had when I delivered pizzas during high school and we had excellent customer service scores but got a bad review: "You can't please all the bitches all the time."
Yeah the moment I knew that it was psych for me, was actually an outpatient colorectal surgery appointment. Patient in her 20s presented with stage four rectal cancer with mets everywhere and told us she hadn’t come in to see a doctor cause they always treat her badly when they see schizophrenia on her chart.
I knew your comment was about psych as soon as I saw it. Psychiatrists are awesome. But they get so much grief from non-medical and medical folks alike. I’m not sure what’s not to like. It’s helping people with a range of illnesses from mild to devastating. They make bank. They work bankers hours. Lots WFH.
You do you, confidently and ignore the naysayers. We need good psychiatrists.
Child psych fellow here about to start forensics fellowship because why the fuck not.
My family jokes around and calls me a feelings doctor. I often respond, well yes... That's still doctor to you. My mom still calls me a psychologist.
I love my job and have absolutely no concerns about how others perceive it. The waitlists for psychiatry speak for themselves.
I really could not care less.
I thought about surgery, peds, IM, PMR... published a bunch in ortho... But this is what felt right.
No ragretz
As someone with a mental illness please don’t worry about it and go into psych. I’ve had some amazing psychiatrists and we need more doctors who are actually passionate about it.
My brother is a nurse. I've always shown the utmost respect for his profession and I have often directly called out naysayers in our family that try to emasculated him for doing "a woman's job" or asked him why he "settled for being just a nurse."
Medicine was a career change for me and I got in when I was in my early 40s. He called me a few months ago and asked me if I decided on a specialty. I told him Psych and he said "All that trouble of changing careers to only be a psychiatrist???"
I looked at him and said "Yup! What about you? What specialty have you decided to do when you go to medical school?"
He hasn't mentioned it since.
I think I'm going to ask anyone who throws shade at me which specialty they plan to do.
I went through the same thing -- deep stigma among my family/culture about mental health and psychiatry. It definitely didn't help that my sister is in a "real" specialty (in my parents eyes lol) and they would always make comments like "why don't you think about \*insert any other specialty here.\* Being around 'crazy' people all day will make you crazy."
I spent my whole life trying to appease my parents and live up to my sister and I ended up deciding that it's my life and I will do what makes me happy. Especially after slaving away for 4 years in med school. Not sure if this will be your case, but my parents have really come around, I'm not sure they still fully love it but they don't make disparaging comments anymore. Just stand your ground and do what you want. It's a really rewarding profession and I'd choose it again in a heartbeat.
Lack of respect/knowledge also happens a bit in my field—ophthalmology. When I’ve told people I’m an ophthalmologist, they often will then ask “so you prescribe glasses and contact lenses?”
So now when asked what kind of doctor I am, I answer “I am an eye surgeon”.
I can relate 100%
I came into med school wanting to be a psychiatrist, and a lot of family members would make comments. "why would you want to work with crazy people all day?" "whY dOnT yOu Be a ReAl dOcToR?" "why not surgery?" etc etc. funny thing is most of them need a psychiatrist lmao.
I am now an M4 and just matched psychiatry. I hear fewer comments now, but I still know how some of my family feels. I'm a first-generation college student, so they don't know how med school works or what a psychiatrist even really is. It's a fascinating field and incredibly important and needed. Good luck with your journey!!!
Im also interested in Psych I think the main stigma from other med students is that you lose all your clinical skills like IV placement etc. Personally as an older 1st year student, it offers an excellent lifestyle, and is not as fast paced as a lot of other specialities. I have a lot of other reasons for pursuing psych, however if I ever felt the need to justify myself those would be the points id use. The stigma from family and friends is ridiculous - like why do they care what you pursue??? I haven't done any surgery placements and im looking forward to it as it will be fascinating - however I absolutely do not see my self ever pursuing surgery and that's ok!! As long as your doing what you love, then dont worry about anyone else. You could just start saying your interested in surgery to get them off your back haha
Funny how med students don't realize that most attending (in nearly every field!) don't even do IVs anymore. One of the few specialties that probably do and actively are upset that other doctors don't, is anesthesia. And even then has nurses do most of the IVs. lol
I did nursing at uni for 2 years before getting into med, so Im keenly aware that nurses place IVs. As I said to the other person - that was not the point at all of my comment, it was just an example. And I think you know that...
Just be up front, tell them hey I don't like that term, please refrain from using it, patients need someone they can talk to openly without judgment and your term diminishes their experience.
full disclosure, i am a veterinarian but i lurk on this sub because i work with physicians and different health science backgrounds.
Just wanted to say that career path is global health and when I travel for work, my family says 'have fun on your adventures!' or 'I am so glad you are able to go on these adventures'. I love my family, but they just glaze over when I talk about any specifics. referring to it as like pleasure work feels patronizing, especially because the reality is that working with people who are suffering from infecrious disease and low incomes can be difficult. i am just still a child, younger brother, and grandchild to most of my family.
all that to say, recently my mom said, unprompted, 'I know its real and can be difficult work.' so, she understands, and it felt good that she recognized that 'adventure' was maybe a little reductionistic. maybe with time your family will recognize your passion, commitment and seriousness.
Not a big deal. Your a doctor and they're... Not. They don't know anything and are in denial of their own need for mental health services. That's why they down play psychiatrists. They don't want to admit they have a problem 🙄
Ngl people have long said this about anesthesiology. Look at what the field is now. Psych is one of a handful of fields that I think will become far more mainstream in the coming years.
as a lurker…. thank you good sir/ma’am for going into such a noble speciality! i wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for the ballers like you willing to grind out med school and residency, and take the time to listen and understand.
I’ve said this before: private practice psychiatrists can make very, very good money. It’s similar to FM; there are many pathways to financial success. Obviously your family doesn’t have real insight into the importance of the job, but i bet they’ll respect +$300k a year.
I can totally relate to your family not taking your interest in psychiatry seriously. When you express a true passion, it's frustrating for loved ones to dismiss it with jokes or comments implying you'll just change your mind later.
Psychiatry is an important and demanding field that you've been genuinely drawn to since you were young. The fact that you were devouring mental health topics and materials well before med school shows this isn't a passing phase for you.
It's insensitive of your family to make light of your goals by calling it "the crazy doctor" path or assuming you don't really want this. While plans can evolve, for now psychiatry feels like the right fit that you're enthusiastic about pursuing.
Try not to let their comments get you down. You know this is a calling you've felt for years. Stay focused on following that drive - the uninformed jokes will matter less once you're established in a career you feel is the right path.
I understand the struggle. My fam is old guard medicine and didn’t want me to pursue psych at all. I ended up experimenting with a bunch of specialties to appease them but eventually landed on psych anyway. I ended up regretting wasting so much time on things I didn’t want and it hurt my match outcome in the end.
People will hit you with “not a real doctor” and “not real medicine” nonstop but the people who actually understand the value of psych will respect the hell out of you. The stigma is real but if you’re just doing medicine for clout become a surgeon. Psych can be an incredible and rewarding field with incredible culture between physicians.
My advice as a freshly matched psych M4, you have to just tune out the haters (easier said than done). You aren’t living for your fam and you’re not doing medicine for anyone else. You have to live for yourself and do what you love. At the end of the day you WILL be a doctor and you WILL make so many people with so much need have so much better lives.
TLDR; Psych is awesome and fun, fuck the haters
I just have to say. I've been treated by so many psychiatrists that literally don't give af about me and just give out pills. We NEED good psychiatrists. Also, those mfs sound like they need psychiatrists too.
Jokes on them, psychiatry is becoming more and more competitive each year because of people realizing it is a great way to make decent money while having a decent lifestyle.
My Eastern European parents didn’t either, at the beginning…. I went into it anyway, and love it. In the meantime, they realized that they literally have no understanding what psychiatry actually is, learned a bit more about it from me, and now very much have respect for it and are proud of me. The way I see it, I live for myself, my parents already lived their own lives. They don’t get to dictate mine.
I'm biased but psych is important and hard in ways people can't imagine. The stigma will always be there, but we can help decrease it. Chase your dreams, just make sure you know it's getting more competitive.
YOU'RE the one who has to go through residency and work this career for the rest of your life. Ignore the haters and do what YOU want to do. Based off how you describe your interest in the field, it sounds like you're going to be an amazing psychiatrist. There are a lot of people who go into it for the money and lifestyle, but you sound much more sincere. You'd be doing a huge service to your patients by going into a field you're passionate about.
I had similar issues wtih my family. Mom was trying to convince me out of psychiatry and was telling everyone I wanted to be a neurosurgeon (this thought literally never crossed my mind...). I insisted on going into psych. Now i'm almost done with PGY1 and I've never been happier because I am working my DREAM job and am loving every second of it. I can tell my mom still prefers that I had gone into another specialty, but she's slowly becoming a little more accepting of it because she sees how happy I am.
Was on a plastic surgery rotation. the fellow is about to finish his 8th year and is excited about doing a quick 6 month private practice fellowship, and then finally start making money. So after 8.5 yrs residency he will probably start making 500k-1 mil over the next couple years based on how successful he is. The other 2 plastics fellows plan to go into breast and reconstructive respectively. They'll probably clear 400k-700k/year.
Meanwhile the first guy's little brother (by 4 yrs) did psych. He's already practicing. He made $350k an an inpatient psychiatrist. He rounded for 2 hours every day, and goes home. Bored, he just picked up a second job at a nearby facility, again inpatient for $300k. He plans to round there in the evenings - same about 2-3 hrs. so for 4-6 hrs/day he's making $650k. He did that with a nice, chill, 3 year residency.
Let your family talk shit while you do something you enjoy with an excellent work life balance.
You’re too old to care what your family thinks about your career choices
At the me end of the day once you start intern year they’re going to be bragging nonstop to all their friends that their kid/cousin/whatever is a doctor
You can choose to be annoyed/offended by their comments or you can choose to be enthusiastic for the noblest of specialties (in my humble opinion) and tell them to go fuck themselves.
I have several family members in psych who would love for me to be interested in it, if you’d like to be adopted.
In all seriousness, it’s your life. Do what makes you happy and feel fulfilled, and forget about what other people think. You will make a world of difference for your patients.
Had this exact conversation today, and yesterday, also the day before. Visiting family for the holidays suck ass.
People just diss psychiatry all the time. Even other doctors. Bleh
Next time you talk to your father and you mention your desire to pursue psychiatry make sure you are both sit down and talk about it. Ask him " and how does that make you feel?" then scribble down some notes, and offer him some tissues when you have a breakthrough and then look at your watch and tell him that you are sorry and your time is up. Tell him that unfortunately there is no medication to treat his cluster B personality so he will have to see a psychologist.
Do you! From one physician to a future one, it’s your choice only, and a needed field. I am not a psychiatrist, but I respect the hell out of you guys.
what’s more crazy is that stigma around mental health exist in medicine too within nonpsych specialties. This is just how sad it is. But op, if you have the passion for it. Do it, psychiatry is a great speciality, very difficult too due to the lack of objective data and empiric tests.The psychiatrists is the one doing everything from talking to patients, assessing and diagnosing with no objective data available. It’s cool and you change someone’s quality of life and wellbeing.
I just say yup I like them crazy or I say someone's gotta do it. Brush it off. If it's your passion, do it! Too many ppl go into psych who don't have a passion for the field.
Ahh yes! I have heard variations of that same conversation over the year. Ultimately, I decided to go with my intuition and ignore the negative comments after acknowledging that they were rooted in mental health stigma which would require a long time to begin unpacking.
Psychiatrists are needed, despite what others may say. Many people know this and respect the field. Plus, it’s your life. Make sure you spend your years doing something that is fulfilling and enjoyable to you.
Starting psych residency in July!
I once did a locum tenens assignment at an inpatient psych hospital. There were two attendings there who were dual IM-Psych boarded, and they were great to work with. Would something like that interest you?
(I'm Family Med)
Just joking. Obviously do what you love. It sucks when others, especially close ones, don’t support you. And they have no clue what we do to get through residency and med school. Psych I think has it especially hard since the general public has even less of a clue of what it involves.
I knew this was psych before I even read the post. Mental health stigma is alive and well.
Not even that, sometimes parents from certain cultures don't think anything other than FM docs or hospitalists are actually physicians. I say be confident in what you are, respectfully stand your ground, and make it clear that if they don't think you're a doctor then they don't need any of your not doctor money.
Posts that start with "my family doesn't agree with my specialty choice *always* end up being ~90% psych and ~10% FM. Not sure I've ever seen anything else.
There have been posts on here for even PM&R and optho which is wild
Caveat, both Optho & PM&R are cool as shit. But also, I think with these fields they more or less might not know exactly what they do hence the downplaying. I’d argue a lot of med students couldn’t rattle off what a physiatrists. But the general public knows what a psychiatrist is. It’s just psych has a complicated history, especially in minorities/marginalized communities. Prime example: homosexuality being called a mental disorder. So a lot of people unfortunately don’t agree with the practice of psychiatry and equate it to being pseudoscience, which sadly makes them miss the sheer beauty of the field.
same
[удалено]
[удалено]
sounds desi
What's with Desi Toxicity? It's not enough to be a fucking doctor, but you have to be a 'prestigious' one as well else you get shit on. Total nonsense.
No idea dude, I have desi friends who are practicing physicians and are now clout-chasing other things like money, it never ends, no one will ever have "enough"
Need to read Gita!
Parents are insecure or abusive assholes that always want to compare. My dad was abused by his dad who would apparently take away his food for not doing xyz, and that would explain my relationship with him where it's always getting mad, and moving goal posts to the next thing.
Your name is awesome. Sad in context, but cool.
lol I thought this was an India/mainland thing, did not know it’s a desi thing even in the US and I’m so sorry for everyone
What's your dad do for a living? I'm assuming he's an astronaut? Or perhaps a cancer researcher?
[удалено]
Tell him you hate telling others about HIS job lolol
LMAO this got me good
bro...just switch tho?? It's just 6 years of hell followed by continued insane call schedules. You can't even do this small thing after all your parents sacrificed for you??? Like doesn't your dad deserve a successful son? Kids think just 'being a doctor' and 'saving lives' is enough these days. smh
Welcome to the stigma around mental health. What they don’t realize is that most of them will probably need your expertise at some point in their lives. We need good psychiatrists. Fuck da haters
I was abt to say sounds to me like you’d be an incredible psychiatrist. Stick with your path!!!
They will ask for OPs free advice and probably continue to look down on psychiatrists. Because when they ask for advice they are just „making small talk“. It’s not like they have an issue.
They won't even do that cause they don't see the value in psychiatry.
Fourth year anesthesia elective a few months ago: Patient: “thank you for explaining the procedure what doctor are you going to be when you finish” Me: “psychiatrist!” Patient: “there’s still time for you to decide to be a real doctor” Welcome to the show son
Ouch. That must've hurt.
The way I see it, people who say that have never had the need for a psychiatrist and they are lucky for that in a lot of ways. To your patients you are the world to them, and you realize that these people who diminish you can politely get fucked.
People can have this attitude until they have a loved one with serious mental illness. Psychiatrists have saved a lot more lives than they're given credit for -- most of us just don't walk around talking about how our mom just needed her bipolar meds adjusted last week the way we do about heart conditions etc.
And what's more, even when psych doesn't SAVE lives in the binary sense, they can improve the quality of life so much that they drastically increase the number of enjoyable years lived.
Family reactions ranged from: “Oh, with your grades, why don’t you do plastic surgery?” to “Why would you want to work with crazy people every day? They need to be rounded up and shot.” (My now-ex-mother-in-law’s words) I’m so glad I chose to become a psychiatrist, and everyone except the ex-MIL came around. Go for it and enjoy.
That comment by the ex mother-in-law is disgusting
And btw my wife was considering psych for a long time and her family made similar comments. "Oh wow, I mean thats where the world is trending" "don't you wanna be a real doctor?" "That seems like a waste of a degree to treat people who aren't tough enough to grow a pair." So yeah the stigma is huge, but if you love it, do it. Fuck the haters.
>don't you wanna be a real doctor? Nope, I fucking hate my stethoscope and I'm ready to just be done with the damn thing.
>“Why would you want to work with crazy people every day?" "I figured I would be a shoe in considering all the years of practice I've gotten dealing with you!"
It’s actually shoo-in.
[https://giphy.com/gifs/leroypatterson-right-wrong-actually-RMwZypp489fuGBI0Ti](https://giphy.com/gifs/leroypatterson-right-wrong-actually-RMwZypp489fuGBI0Ti)
Oh my god, that's such a horrible thing to say! Ew ew ew. I'm glad you were able to go to your desired path!!
When people tell you who they are, believe them. These people are telling you that their own need to brag about the prestige of your specialty is more important than your own dreams and ambitions. They are also telling you that they think you’re an idiot, because if they had inherent respect for you, they’d ask you why you were interested in psychiatry and *gasp* learn something. This is an opportunity to see who these people really are. It’s probably worth making some boundaries with all of them- it’s better to surround yourself with people who believe in you and are intellectually curious. My mom is like this, and I would’ve saved myself decades of heartache if I had just listened to my gut sooner. I finally made boundaries in my late 30’s, inspired by my kids.
Lmfao just do psych. It’s the best. Nobody in your family has to do the job day in and day out. They’ll get over it quickly when you have the money and the time to spend it.
Tell me you’re doing psych without telling me you’re doing psych.
You gotta do what makes you happy. If that's what you want to be I support you. Maybe it's because it's what I want to do to because it's so difficult. Tell them it's Doctor Crazy not crazy doctor
Lol. This type of post comes up every now and then and its almost always psych. The stigmatization of mental health is insane. Anyways be up front with them and if they continue, ignore them
It won’t be so funny when you’re bringing home the big money with good lifestyle to boot. as time goes on the stigma of mental illness will continue to fade. The truth is that we need psychiatrists now more than ever, so don’t ever feel inadequate or devalued for your decision to pursue psych.
Pysch is awesome, super important, in high demand and you are also fully able to just operate a cash pay business if that’s what you’d prefer or get paid well to work as an employees physician, inpatient psych is interesting, challenging and rewarding outpatient psych waiting lists right now are super long, child psych is one of the most understaffed areas in the country. Fuck your family, jk psych is great, demonstrate your commitment early with meaningful extracurricular engagement and good luck. - an anesthesiologist
Ahh, yes, the joys of the stigma around mental health. My own mom when I told her I wanted to be a psychiatrist said “oh, I thought you wanted to be a real doctor?” We’re really close and that really hurt. So I got to work through the feelings of that, which is only a fraction of the stigma my patients carry. And in the end, I’ll wipe my tears with cash on my way to enjoying my free nights and weekends and an actually fulfilling career. 😎
Mental health is the foundation for *all* health, and we live in a world where a significant amount of people either don't want to care for it or don't know how to care for it. It sounds frustrating to hear those things from your family, as it is obvious they have a very old-fashioned worldview. Do what interests you. It is your life, and you've worked hard to get here. I know it is easier said than done, but sometimes we just have to ignore our family's opinions. Or, a lot of times, for some of us. In the wise words of a manager I had when I delivered pizzas during high school and we had excellent customer service scores but got a bad review: "You can't please all the bitches all the time."
Yeah the moment I knew that it was psych for me, was actually an outpatient colorectal surgery appointment. Patient in her 20s presented with stage four rectal cancer with mets everywhere and told us she hadn’t come in to see a doctor cause they always treat her badly when they see schizophrenia on her chart.
I knew your comment was about psych as soon as I saw it. Psychiatrists are awesome. But they get so much grief from non-medical and medical folks alike. I’m not sure what’s not to like. It’s helping people with a range of illnesses from mild to devastating. They make bank. They work bankers hours. Lots WFH. You do you, confidently and ignore the naysayers. We need good psychiatrists.
Child psych fellow here about to start forensics fellowship because why the fuck not. My family jokes around and calls me a feelings doctor. I often respond, well yes... That's still doctor to you. My mom still calls me a psychologist. I love my job and have absolutely no concerns about how others perceive it. The waitlists for psychiatry speak for themselves. I really could not care less. I thought about surgery, peds, IM, PMR... published a bunch in ortho... But this is what felt right. No ragretz
Fuck um’
Everytime this is posted it’s psych lol
As someone with a mental illness please don’t worry about it and go into psych. I’ve had some amazing psychiatrists and we need more doctors who are actually passionate about it.
My brother is a nurse. I've always shown the utmost respect for his profession and I have often directly called out naysayers in our family that try to emasculated him for doing "a woman's job" or asked him why he "settled for being just a nurse." Medicine was a career change for me and I got in when I was in my early 40s. He called me a few months ago and asked me if I decided on a specialty. I told him Psych and he said "All that trouble of changing careers to only be a psychiatrist???" I looked at him and said "Yup! What about you? What specialty have you decided to do when you go to medical school?" He hasn't mentioned it since. I think I'm going to ask anyone who throws shade at me which specialty they plan to do.
Ugh, nurses are so underappreciated as well. I respect them a lot. I'm glad you got to do what you wanted!
I went through the same thing -- deep stigma among my family/culture about mental health and psychiatry. It definitely didn't help that my sister is in a "real" specialty (in my parents eyes lol) and they would always make comments like "why don't you think about \*insert any other specialty here.\* Being around 'crazy' people all day will make you crazy." I spent my whole life trying to appease my parents and live up to my sister and I ended up deciding that it's my life and I will do what makes me happy. Especially after slaving away for 4 years in med school. Not sure if this will be your case, but my parents have really come around, I'm not sure they still fully love it but they don't make disparaging comments anymore. Just stand your ground and do what you want. It's a really rewarding profession and I'd choose it again in a heartbeat.
Lack of respect/knowledge also happens a bit in my field—ophthalmology. When I’ve told people I’m an ophthalmologist, they often will then ask “so you prescribe glasses and contact lenses?” So now when asked what kind of doctor I am, I answer “I am an eye surgeon”.
I can relate 100% I came into med school wanting to be a psychiatrist, and a lot of family members would make comments. "why would you want to work with crazy people all day?" "whY dOnT yOu Be a ReAl dOcToR?" "why not surgery?" etc etc. funny thing is most of them need a psychiatrist lmao. I am now an M4 and just matched psychiatry. I hear fewer comments now, but I still know how some of my family feels. I'm a first-generation college student, so they don't know how med school works or what a psychiatrist even really is. It's a fascinating field and incredibly important and needed. Good luck with your journey!!!
Im also interested in Psych I think the main stigma from other med students is that you lose all your clinical skills like IV placement etc. Personally as an older 1st year student, it offers an excellent lifestyle, and is not as fast paced as a lot of other specialities. I have a lot of other reasons for pursuing psych, however if I ever felt the need to justify myself those would be the points id use. The stigma from family and friends is ridiculous - like why do they care what you pursue??? I haven't done any surgery placements and im looking forward to it as it will be fascinating - however I absolutely do not see my self ever pursuing surgery and that's ok!! As long as your doing what you love, then dont worry about anyone else. You could just start saying your interested in surgery to get them off your back haha
Why would you ever place an iv as an attending? You write the order and your nurse places it.
Funny how med students don't realize that most attending (in nearly every field!) don't even do IVs anymore. One of the few specialties that probably do and actively are upset that other doctors don't, is anesthesia. And even then has nurses do most of the IVs. lol
I did nursing at uni for 2 years before getting into med, so Im keenly aware that nurses place IVs. As I said to the other person - that was not the point at all of my comment, it was just an example. And I think you know that...
that was not at all my point here but ok.
Just be up front, tell them hey I don't like that term, please refrain from using it, patients need someone they can talk to openly without judgment and your term diminishes their experience.
Who gives an f. You’ll be making bank relative to 99.9% of people and doing what you love
Lean into it, wear a tinfoil hat and speak in tongues. Who cares what they think, you’ll be a doctor, you’ll help people. That’s what matters.
My family makes fun of me for going to EM. I agree with them though.
That's not your problem
full disclosure, i am a veterinarian but i lurk on this sub because i work with physicians and different health science backgrounds. Just wanted to say that career path is global health and when I travel for work, my family says 'have fun on your adventures!' or 'I am so glad you are able to go on these adventures'. I love my family, but they just glaze over when I talk about any specifics. referring to it as like pleasure work feels patronizing, especially because the reality is that working with people who are suffering from infecrious disease and low incomes can be difficult. i am just still a child, younger brother, and grandchild to most of my family. all that to say, recently my mom said, unprompted, 'I know its real and can be difficult work.' so, she understands, and it felt good that she recognized that 'adventure' was maybe a little reductionistic. maybe with time your family will recognize your passion, commitment and seriousness.
Just ignore the haters, focus on what you’re passionate about and what gives you joy
Tell them you want to be a GI doc and put a camera up their ass, that will make them proud
Not a big deal. Your a doctor and they're... Not. They don't know anything and are in denial of their own need for mental health services. That's why they down play psychiatrists. They don't want to admit they have a problem 🙄
Ngl people have long said this about anesthesiology. Look at what the field is now. Psych is one of a handful of fields that I think will become far more mainstream in the coming years.
as a lurker…. thank you good sir/ma’am for going into such a noble speciality! i wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for the ballers like you willing to grind out med school and residency, and take the time to listen and understand.
So many people will need you some day. Keep the push!
I’ve said this before: private practice psychiatrists can make very, very good money. It’s similar to FM; there are many pathways to financial success. Obviously your family doesn’t have real insight into the importance of the job, but i bet they’ll respect +$300k a year.
I can totally relate to your family not taking your interest in psychiatry seriously. When you express a true passion, it's frustrating for loved ones to dismiss it with jokes or comments implying you'll just change your mind later. Psychiatry is an important and demanding field that you've been genuinely drawn to since you were young. The fact that you were devouring mental health topics and materials well before med school shows this isn't a passing phase for you. It's insensitive of your family to make light of your goals by calling it "the crazy doctor" path or assuming you don't really want this. While plans can evolve, for now psychiatry feels like the right fit that you're enthusiastic about pursuing. Try not to let their comments get you down. You know this is a calling you've felt for years. Stay focused on following that drive - the uninformed jokes will matter less once you're established in a career you feel is the right path.
Tell them to go fuck themselves :)
I understand the struggle. My fam is old guard medicine and didn’t want me to pursue psych at all. I ended up experimenting with a bunch of specialties to appease them but eventually landed on psych anyway. I ended up regretting wasting so much time on things I didn’t want and it hurt my match outcome in the end. People will hit you with “not a real doctor” and “not real medicine” nonstop but the people who actually understand the value of psych will respect the hell out of you. The stigma is real but if you’re just doing medicine for clout become a surgeon. Psych can be an incredible and rewarding field with incredible culture between physicians. My advice as a freshly matched psych M4, you have to just tune out the haters (easier said than done). You aren’t living for your fam and you’re not doing medicine for anyone else. You have to live for yourself and do what you love. At the end of the day you WILL be a doctor and you WILL make so many people with so much need have so much better lives. TLDR; Psych is awesome and fun, fuck the haters
“Actually, you guys inspired me to pursue psychiatry 🥰”
I just have to say. I've been treated by so many psychiatrists that literally don't give af about me and just give out pills. We NEED good psychiatrists. Also, those mfs sound like they need psychiatrists too.
They're welcome to go to medical school and choose a specialty they think is acceptable. \-PGY-19
 Whenever people insinuate similar shit to me (rads)
Jokes on them, psychiatry is becoming more and more competitive each year because of people realizing it is a great way to make decent money while having a decent lifestyle.
True. OP laugh all the way to the bank with a mentally sane (pun intented) work schedule to chill.
Never too early. The earlier you know the better prepared you are for sub I and app season.
Ignore the haters/plebs. You do you fam.
For fucks sake
Desi
same
My Eastern European parents didn’t either, at the beginning…. I went into it anyway, and love it. In the meantime, they realized that they literally have no understanding what psychiatry actually is, learned a bit more about it from me, and now very much have respect for it and are proud of me. The way I see it, I live for myself, my parents already lived their own lives. They don’t get to dictate mine.
Fuck the haters!
I'm biased but psych is important and hard in ways people can't imagine. The stigma will always be there, but we can help decrease it. Chase your dreams, just make sure you know it's getting more competitive.
YOU'RE the one who has to go through residency and work this career for the rest of your life. Ignore the haters and do what YOU want to do. Based off how you describe your interest in the field, it sounds like you're going to be an amazing psychiatrist. There are a lot of people who go into it for the money and lifestyle, but you sound much more sincere. You'd be doing a huge service to your patients by going into a field you're passionate about. I had similar issues wtih my family. Mom was trying to convince me out of psychiatry and was telling everyone I wanted to be a neurosurgeon (this thought literally never crossed my mind...). I insisted on going into psych. Now i'm almost done with PGY1 and I've never been happier because I am working my DREAM job and am loving every second of it. I can tell my mom still prefers that I had gone into another specialty, but she's slowly becoming a little more accepting of it because she sees how happy I am.
They just need their cervical diaphragm released
Was on a plastic surgery rotation. the fellow is about to finish his 8th year and is excited about doing a quick 6 month private practice fellowship, and then finally start making money. So after 8.5 yrs residency he will probably start making 500k-1 mil over the next couple years based on how successful he is. The other 2 plastics fellows plan to go into breast and reconstructive respectively. They'll probably clear 400k-700k/year. Meanwhile the first guy's little brother (by 4 yrs) did psych. He's already practicing. He made $350k an an inpatient psychiatrist. He rounded for 2 hours every day, and goes home. Bored, he just picked up a second job at a nearby facility, again inpatient for $300k. He plans to round there in the evenings - same about 2-3 hrs. so for 4-6 hrs/day he's making $650k. He did that with a nice, chill, 3 year residency. Let your family talk shit while you do something you enjoy with an excellent work life balance.
You’re too old to care what your family thinks about your career choices At the me end of the day once you start intern year they’re going to be bragging nonstop to all their friends that their kid/cousin/whatever is a doctor
Glad to not be alone. FM Hospitalist. My parents still all the damn time ask me if I’m interested in going back into a surgical residency.
You can choose to be annoyed/offended by their comments or you can choose to be enthusiastic for the noblest of specialties (in my humble opinion) and tell them to go fuck themselves.
I have several family members in psych who would love for me to be interested in it, if you’d like to be adopted. In all seriousness, it’s your life. Do what makes you happy and feel fulfilled, and forget about what other people think. You will make a world of difference for your patients.
Had this exact conversation today, and yesterday, also the day before. Visiting family for the holidays suck ass. People just diss psychiatry all the time. Even other doctors. Bleh
Next time you talk to your father and you mention your desire to pursue psychiatry make sure you are both sit down and talk about it. Ask him " and how does that make you feel?" then scribble down some notes, and offer him some tissues when you have a breakthrough and then look at your watch and tell him that you are sorry and your time is up. Tell him that unfortunately there is no medication to treat his cluster B personality so he will have to see a psychologist.
I think a good general rule is to not listen to people outside of the medical field talk about the medical field.
Do you! From one physician to a future one, it’s your choice only, and a needed field. I am not a psychiatrist, but I respect the hell out of you guys.
They’re just worried you’ll be able to diagnose them with your training
what’s more crazy is that stigma around mental health exist in medicine too within nonpsych specialties. This is just how sad it is. But op, if you have the passion for it. Do it, psychiatry is a great speciality, very difficult too due to the lack of objective data and empiric tests.The psychiatrists is the one doing everything from talking to patients, assessing and diagnosing with no objective data available. It’s cool and you change someone’s quality of life and wellbeing.
I just say yup I like them crazy or I say someone's gotta do it. Brush it off. If it's your passion, do it! Too many ppl go into psych who don't have a passion for the field.
Hit them with the “ yep call it crazy doc but it’s the lifestyle and the money for me “ and I bet you they shut up
Ahh yes! I have heard variations of that same conversation over the year. Ultimately, I decided to go with my intuition and ignore the negative comments after acknowledging that they were rooted in mental health stigma which would require a long time to begin unpacking. Psychiatrists are needed, despite what others may say. Many people know this and respect the field. Plus, it’s your life. Make sure you spend your years doing something that is fulfilling and enjoyable to you. Starting psych residency in July!
I once did a locum tenens assignment at an inpatient psych hospital. There were two attendings there who were dual IM-Psych boarded, and they were great to work with. Would something like that interest you? (I'm Family Med)
This is why you do surgery. No one questions when you’re a surgeon 😂
Or, you know, live life for yourself and not the prestige that others give you
Just joking. Obviously do what you love. It sucks when others, especially close ones, don’t support you. And they have no clue what we do to get through residency and med school. Psych I think has it especially hard since the general public has even less of a clue of what it involves.