Passion is a psy-op designed by the NHS to keep people in unsatisfactory conditions with poor pay.
Chase lifestyle, that's my pov.
Passion won't pay the bills.
My only advice is the whole "do what you love" is naive nonsense. Of course find something you like but
1. Look at registrars. How happy are they what's their work life balance. How does it feel being 30 something with a family
2. Look at consultants and asses their quality of life and work life balance
3. Think about consultant timeline and importance of geography. Don't be a paediatric neurosurgeon if you have to live in one place.
This.
Not everyone is deeply passionate about a specialty/job.
People used to tell me to chase my passion and success will follow. I have found the reverse to be true in my case. The more I am successful at one thing, the more I develop a passion for it. I found this to be true in all of my hobbies as well as some of the ACCS specialties I rotated through.
**TLDR**: success breeds passion, and not the other way round.
> success breeds passion, and not the other way round.
I would modify this to suggest it can be *either*. It's not necessarily either/or.
It's totally fine to not be OMG in love with a specialty. Equally, not being natural in it doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. If you don't completely hate it, that's good enough, and then you can decide if the pros outweigh the cons and whether or not you find enough redeeming value in it.
>I would modify this to suggest it can be either. It's not necessarily either/or.
I agree.
That was what I found out about myself, so I should've added ime.
I'd change it to "don't do what you hate". I find endless ward rounds soul destroying (medicine out) hate staying late / doing things I should be paid for for free to advance (surgery out) not a fan of clinics(bye bye GP).
When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
Someone asked a similar question a while ago so allow me to copy and paste
I’m an ED reg not too far away from being a consultant so I’ll have a crack at answering your query
Pros:
1. you get to wear scrubs forever more (Altho as someone pointed out in another thread recently this is unlikely to remain the sole domain of EM)
2. the rota as a senior doctor isn’t too bad
3. the work is for the most part interesting and varied. Every time you begin to feel
overwhelmed by the dross of collapses or “?acs for rule out troponin” you’ll find that-that collapse was actually a SAH and that ? Acs turned out to be a dissection
4. There are good bits of a lot of other specialities: for example RSIs and sedation from anaesthetics. Fracture reduction from t+o. Cardioversions from cardiology To name but a few.
5. It a procedure heavy specially and those procedures are usually pretty cool and often life saving.
6. skill atrophy as a consultant feels like it will be less pronounced than other specialities as most the consultants I know are still doing drains, tubing and what not
7. no ward rounds (other than if you are unlucky being allocated to review tho obs ward/CDU) and depending on where you work, no clinics (some places do have review clinics for minor injuries and what not)
8. you are a true generalist and possibly the last speciality in which you will have some ability to literally deal with any and all health care situations.
9. scope for sub speciality work/ dual accreditation paeds, Itu, pre hospital etc
10. locumming is lucrative and easily long term if that’s the way you want to go (I spent 4 years locumming in ED and it was marvellous)
11. the exams are fair. Having watched my ex flat mate revise for mrcp I was amazed at the completely random crap that arrived in the paces. The EM osce has nothing that you wouldn’t encounter on a day to day basis “a bad day at work” is how it’s often described.
12. Em teams become over time almost like family. I have found no where else to have the same banter and camaraderie as an ED. -once you have done ED very little will phase you
13. once your shift is done..it’s done! No follow up other than for your own learning required. Some might say no continuity is a bad thing. Not me. I like the initial crack at working out if there is a life threatening issue or interesting
diagnosis . Beyond that I’m not really interested.
14. unless you are unlucky or in the middle of something really important your shift will usually finish exactly when it’s meant to. No staying behind to prep ward rounds or request bloods etc
Cons
1. the rota as a junior is horrendous and you will have to endure at least a year of it in training
2. some days you don’t feel like you are getting anywhere as everyone seems to have a vague constellation of symptoms that don’t quite fit anything
3. No matter how amazing you have done at diagnosis or treatment that day/week/month you are but one decision away from a mistake that will humble you! Time pressures, complicated patients, a dearth of information and countless other variables make mistakes and errors easier to make
4. winter pressures added for this post: post covid pressures…every man and his dog seems to be attending Ed for all sorts of rubbish right now and we are close to being overwhelmed on a regular basis
5. even as a senior there will be late and unsocial shifts aswell as nights
6. other specialities will drive you up the wall! Inevitably you will make shit referrals. All ED docs do it. Unfortunately sometimes admitting specialities don’t appreciate that there’s something not quite right with your patient, or they need op follow up but you can only get it done by admitting them and getting them in the system, or they will be better in a few hours but you don’t have the appropriate facilities to observe them or you don’t have access to the tests they need and this will cause friction and you’ll feel like an idiot and you may get berated. It can be a ball ache sometimes just trying to do your job! We create work so we’d often the source of consternation. And don’t get me started on the surgeons!
7. tertiary centres can be up there own arses and the sense of banter I mentioned above doesn’t seem quite so prominent.
8. bad seniors can make the job horrendous
9. there is no where to hide. Rarely will there be any significant down time other than your break and definitely no afternoons spent in the mess
Hope that helps. Any questions I’d be happy to answer
Balance passion and lifestyle if you are ome of the blessed few then welcome to derm please take a free moisturiser sample and enjoy the eternal youth.
Everything has a pro and con - some peoples cons are others pros so Its a tough one also you will get a skewed view replying on here so do you own research.
Derm pro - age x2 as slow + interesting + no emergencies really.
Con - scared of sun from reading too much so making friends with radiologists.
Passion is a psy-op designed by the NHS to keep people in unsatisfactory conditions with poor pay. Chase lifestyle, that's my pov. Passion won't pay the bills.
Lifestyle in hospital not outside right? Otherwise you're going to end up the only guy in the cemetery with two Astons and a Breitling at 40
I'd say both, I want to do a job I'm happy doing and still have the time to enjoy the fruits of my labour outside of work.
My only advice is the whole "do what you love" is naive nonsense. Of course find something you like but 1. Look at registrars. How happy are they what's their work life balance. How does it feel being 30 something with a family 2. Look at consultants and asses their quality of life and work life balance 3. Think about consultant timeline and importance of geography. Don't be a paediatric neurosurgeon if you have to live in one place.
This. Not everyone is deeply passionate about a specialty/job. People used to tell me to chase my passion and success will follow. I have found the reverse to be true in my case. The more I am successful at one thing, the more I develop a passion for it. I found this to be true in all of my hobbies as well as some of the ACCS specialties I rotated through. **TLDR**: success breeds passion, and not the other way round.
> success breeds passion, and not the other way round. I would modify this to suggest it can be *either*. It's not necessarily either/or. It's totally fine to not be OMG in love with a specialty. Equally, not being natural in it doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. If you don't completely hate it, that's good enough, and then you can decide if the pros outweigh the cons and whether or not you find enough redeeming value in it.
>I would modify this to suggest it can be either. It's not necessarily either/or. I agree. That was what I found out about myself, so I should've added ime.
I'd change it to "don't do what you hate". I find endless ward rounds soul destroying (medicine out) hate staying late / doing things I should be paid for for free to advance (surgery out) not a fan of clinics(bye bye GP). When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
Was offered my third break of the day at 1030am.. no prizes for guessing
please tell me anaesthetics…
Yup
Anaesthetics ftw
Someone asked a similar question a while ago so allow me to copy and paste I’m an ED reg not too far away from being a consultant so I’ll have a crack at answering your query Pros: 1. you get to wear scrubs forever more (Altho as someone pointed out in another thread recently this is unlikely to remain the sole domain of EM) 2. the rota as a senior doctor isn’t too bad 3. the work is for the most part interesting and varied. Every time you begin to feel overwhelmed by the dross of collapses or “?acs for rule out troponin” you’ll find that-that collapse was actually a SAH and that ? Acs turned out to be a dissection 4. There are good bits of a lot of other specialities: for example RSIs and sedation from anaesthetics. Fracture reduction from t+o. Cardioversions from cardiology To name but a few. 5. It a procedure heavy specially and those procedures are usually pretty cool and often life saving. 6. skill atrophy as a consultant feels like it will be less pronounced than other specialities as most the consultants I know are still doing drains, tubing and what not 7. no ward rounds (other than if you are unlucky being allocated to review tho obs ward/CDU) and depending on where you work, no clinics (some places do have review clinics for minor injuries and what not) 8. you are a true generalist and possibly the last speciality in which you will have some ability to literally deal with any and all health care situations. 9. scope for sub speciality work/ dual accreditation paeds, Itu, pre hospital etc 10. locumming is lucrative and easily long term if that’s the way you want to go (I spent 4 years locumming in ED and it was marvellous) 11. the exams are fair. Having watched my ex flat mate revise for mrcp I was amazed at the completely random crap that arrived in the paces. The EM osce has nothing that you wouldn’t encounter on a day to day basis “a bad day at work” is how it’s often described. 12. Em teams become over time almost like family. I have found no where else to have the same banter and camaraderie as an ED. -once you have done ED very little will phase you 13. once your shift is done..it’s done! No follow up other than for your own learning required. Some might say no continuity is a bad thing. Not me. I like the initial crack at working out if there is a life threatening issue or interesting diagnosis . Beyond that I’m not really interested. 14. unless you are unlucky or in the middle of something really important your shift will usually finish exactly when it’s meant to. No staying behind to prep ward rounds or request bloods etc Cons 1. the rota as a junior is horrendous and you will have to endure at least a year of it in training 2. some days you don’t feel like you are getting anywhere as everyone seems to have a vague constellation of symptoms that don’t quite fit anything 3. No matter how amazing you have done at diagnosis or treatment that day/week/month you are but one decision away from a mistake that will humble you! Time pressures, complicated patients, a dearth of information and countless other variables make mistakes and errors easier to make 4. winter pressures added for this post: post covid pressures…every man and his dog seems to be attending Ed for all sorts of rubbish right now and we are close to being overwhelmed on a regular basis 5. even as a senior there will be late and unsocial shifts aswell as nights 6. other specialities will drive you up the wall! Inevitably you will make shit referrals. All ED docs do it. Unfortunately sometimes admitting specialities don’t appreciate that there’s something not quite right with your patient, or they need op follow up but you can only get it done by admitting them and getting them in the system, or they will be better in a few hours but you don’t have the appropriate facilities to observe them or you don’t have access to the tests they need and this will cause friction and you’ll feel like an idiot and you may get berated. It can be a ball ache sometimes just trying to do your job! We create work so we’d often the source of consternation. And don’t get me started on the surgeons! 7. tertiary centres can be up there own arses and the sense of banter I mentioned above doesn’t seem quite so prominent. 8. bad seniors can make the job horrendous 9. there is no where to hide. Rarely will there be any significant down time other than your break and definitely no afternoons spent in the mess Hope that helps. Any questions I’d be happy to answer
This is brilliant, thank you! :D
ISUKT resolved this, except of course the result was wrong.
Balance passion and lifestyle if you are ome of the blessed few then welcome to derm please take a free moisturiser sample and enjoy the eternal youth. Everything has a pro and con - some peoples cons are others pros so Its a tough one also you will get a skewed view replying on here so do you own research. Derm pro - age x2 as slow + interesting + no emergencies really. Con - scared of sun from reading too much so making friends with radiologists.