Pathways

Good news: I sort-of get what calculus is about. Bad news: Dad's friend turns out to be another ignorant loser. He was asking about how I was doing at school, then offered some woooonderful advice about what I should do in the future.

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Dad's friend: "I wanted my daughter to do med, but she was really against it. I guess that's the thing with kids these days, you can't REALLY force them to do what they don't wanna do."

*Dad looks at me with shifty eyes*

Dad's friend: "My daughter originally wanted to study psychology---"

At this point, Dad looks at me and is like, OMG THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT TO DO

Dad's friend: "But I told her that if she spent too much time around crazy people, she'd go crazy herself"

So I burst into a rant about how there are many aspects to behaviour, and it's not like every psychologist has to treat "crazy" people. They're not crazy, they're just mentally ill, and they wouldn't be that much of a pain if we had doctors with enough balls to treat them.

Dad's friend: "See, you're doing what's best for society, but you gotta think of yourself."

Then he prattles on about how his daughter also wanted to be a therapist or whatever, and how proud he is that he guided her and dissuaded her from those pathways. Wanna guess what his daughter does for a living?

...She's a lawyer.

Not sure whether she shouts "OBJECTION!" though

By the end of that conversation Dad comes up to me and has the "you decide your own future, make your own decisions" talk. Realistically, what he's saying is: doctor or lawyer, take your pick. FFS.

What's so good about being a doctor anyway? The money? There are many others who earn more- I'm quite sure that the richest doctor is also an entrepreneur. You don't get a lot of money from treating sick people- unless you can somehow guarantee that your patients are filthy rich.

So we're in it for the reputation then. If you're a doctor, people look up for you. Apart from that 5 seconds worth of admiration in your first introduction, I don't see where it'd get you. Yes it feels good to be respected by everyone else- then what? Once people get over the fact that you're a doctor- that's it.

Hmm, what's left? The satisfaction of saving lives? Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that being a doctor is not like being on House. There will not always be some sort of strange, life-threatening illness that no one but you can treat. Chances are, if it's rare enough, you'll have no idea what to do. Also, remember that these cases are rare. I swear GPs spend most of their time swiping peoples' genitals for herpes or prescribing placebos for a cold.

I can guess what you guys think of me, and this may be surprising to you, but...

I don't actually enjoy the idea of swiping the genitals of people who were too retarded to use a condom.

See, this little packet here-

It can save you from a world of pain

And it can save the miserable doctors from having to look at your herpes-infested penis.