Comments for Monologuing

Comment on My life, in bullet form by Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:28:20 +0000

Ugh, school sucks. It’s only been one week and I miss summer already :( Congrats on getting that interview, best of luck with that! :D

Comment on The age old question by Tamisa

Tamisa — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:12:23 +0000

@Daphne
Interestingly enough, my parents (particularly my mom) were kind of against my decision and are still kind of hesitant about it. They’re not stereotypically Asian in that way, and I’m really thankful — I’m pretty sure I would have been turned off from the profession had my family had a pretty significant impact on what I would do later in life.

Comment on The age old question by Daphne

Daphne — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:48:44 +0000

I think that’s really inspiring, taking things from personal experience of death. I know that a lot of my friends here that become doctors do it out of family expectation more than anything, i.e. they are Asian and have to be doctors or lawyers or something professional.

Good luck with the med school apps my dear!

Comment on The age old question by Tamisa

Tamisa — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:32:05 +0000

@Jenny
Haha I think it’s interesting that business is perceived as being “easier” than medicine. (The majority of my friends who dropped their medical pursuits are now studying business, claiming that it’s much easier.) Having a boyfriend who’s working his way to an MPA degree has definitely allowed me to see that both have their own hardships — business would most definitely be harder to me than medicine because of all the networking you have to do (and I can come off as shy/disinterested at first, only because sometimes I’m not sure how to approach people).

Comment on The age old question by Jenny

Jenny — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 18:52:39 +0000

I thought about becoming a doctor once, but strangely death in the family was never a motivation for me. But as I grew older, the idea of applying to medical school and taking all these science classes was just too much, so I took the easier way out and majored in business. One basic biology class in college was enough to drain me out, so I doubt I would’ve done very well on my path to become a doctor, lol. Hence, I always have great admiration and respect for people who chose that path, because it certainly is no stroll in the park.

Comment on The age old question by Tamisa

Tamisa — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:07:57 +0000

@Tina
I wouldn’t really argue that most medical students are doing it for status or monetary expectations — those who come off that way are usually weeded out of the applicant pool either by 1) the classes we’re required to take during undergrad or 2) during the interviews we have to go through (in fact, I know several friends who were “pre-med” 2 years ago and now are pursuing other professions). And with Obamacare on the horizon, those who are working as a doctor or towards becoming a doctor would be hard pressed to find the grand monetary expectations they might have along with a $200,000+ debt.

That being said, while I don’t think it would be a MAJOR reason someone chooses to pursue medicine, it definitely can be one of the reasons. But with the amount of training we’re required to go through working 80+ hrs/wk with call — some specialties racking up around 10 years+ after medical school (not undergrad!) — I think someone’s going to need a lot more motivation than money and power, especially since you don’t earn “doctor’s pay” until after you’ve completed this training (residency) with a salary of $40-50k/yr and loans to pay off.

But I do think you bring up a valid point that I hadn’t addressed. Certainly there are people like that who’ve slipped through the cracks and are currently in medical school. But I think they’re going to find the glamorous Grey’s Anatomy style of medicine is a lot different than what they expected it to be.

Comment on The age old question by Tina

Tina — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 11:47:26 +0000

I might sound rude or bad here, but I don’t really think most people actually do it for sentimental reasons. Most would do it for the pay, status or just simply, expectations. It’s like when you’re in a job interview and gets the question “Why do you want to work in exactly THIS shop, doing THESE things?”

We all know that the real reason would be “Well, the shop is close to where I live and I really need the money, no other reasons really.” but we can’t answer THAT, can we? :P

Though, being a med student is really respectable in it self, to be able to save people and doing important work.

Comment on The age old question by Tamisa

Tamisa — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 20:35:46 +0000

@Jackie
Haha, it appeals to the inner nerd in me.

I have the Formspring.me widget on the Ask Tamisa! page, but I was looking for something that wouldn’t really require me to check for questions outside of the blog. A form that would direct visitor questions to the WP Dashboard is something that I’m looking for, but I haven’t had any luck finding anything like that.

I looked at some WP FAQ plugins that are similar to that, but all of them don’t work or cost $20 I’m not sure I’m willing to spend. Haha.

Comment on The age old question by Jackie

Jackie — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 07:06:58 +0000

I like the part where you said how being a doctor is like always being a student. :3 That's really admirable, imo. I found this lol. I copy and pasted that guy's code into a Wordpress page draft and it shows a form. I don't know if that's what you're looking for. ?_?

Comment on The age old question by Tamisa

Tamisa — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 02:33:37 +0000

@Mary
I’d say it’s pretty common. If it’s not a death, then it’s the experience of a loved one in a hospital, be it some sort of sickness or accident.

Haha, I hope it’s successful!