Career advice - medicine or law?

[Astraeus]

It ain't as good as it used to be.

 

You'll hear disillusioned doctors and lawyers issue that refrain in equal measure. Humorously, you'll most often hear it from doctors and lawyers who haven't been in the profession for long enough to know it any other way. Ignore them all. British people just love a good moan.

 

I am a lawyer. My best friend is a doctor. We both lament the direction of travel of both professions and extol the virtues of a simple 9-5 job without the pressure, extra work and sheer dedication of time necessary to succeed in either Medicine or Law. At the end of the day, when we've had our moan and rubbished our profession, would either of us change it? Would we 'eck.

 

We both take enormous pride in what we do. We are both fiercely ambitious and have enormous drive to be the best we can be and to get to the top of our game as quickly, and as successfully, as possible. We both relish the challenges that every day brings to us and we both love success - for him on an operating table, and for me on letterheaded A4 paper. The fact is, underneath the daily grind, we both have brilliant jobs and are proud and privileged in equal measure. Could life be easier? Sure. Would we be half as happy? Absolutely not.

 

We are almost on par with salaries. He has banding, I have an annual bonus. He has overtime, I enjoy a handsome business development expenses budget. Both of us have decent pensions and private medical cover. He works 50+ hour weeks every week, and so do I. The parallels are endless. Both of us will end our careers on enough money not to worry about money, unless something goes drastically wrong, and both of us are significantly ahead of our peer group in terms of pay. Both of us know that the best times in our career will be at the end of it, and we're both prepared to invest our youth in order to achieve our goals as early as possible.

 

To your daughter - bide your time. Get experience. Think what drives you. Both require very different attributes. Academia is a fundamental. Beyond that, in order to succeed in both, you need character, you need people skills and you need resilience. You will not make it to where you want to be without being knocked back - maybe once, maybe twice, maybe twenty times - but you'll make it if you persevere. You may have to suck it up and work as a paralegal to prove your worth as a trainee. You may have to spend a year as a locum or an SHO before getting a job as a registrar. These are sacrifices that people who succeed have to make. Good luck. Go get 'em.

[Cyclone]

If he's a surgeon then he's not going through any of the pain that junior doctors are suffering right now...

 

Re:money - None of the solicitors I know make a packet, they get by, they're well paid compared to someone unskilled, but they make less than a self employed Software Developer, and put in many more hours. And that's after they've managed to find the training contract and actually qualify. The one guy I know who is doing well has quit practicing law directly and is general council for a SME, so he works on legal issues all the time, but rarely in court, it's all contracts, negotiations, HR issues, etc...

Edited June 28, 2016 by Cyclone

[vwkittie]

It's worth noting that you don't have to get in to medical school right away after A Levels to become a doctor.

 

My sister had a place at Oxford to study medicine but then disaster struck and she didn't get the Chemistry A level predicted.

 

She instead did a biochem degree at Durham followed by an accelerated graduate Medical course at Warwick and is now on her way to becoming a GP.

 

Clearly a LOT of work experience and dedication was necessary to get in, I can't imagine anyone making it as a doctor too easily without having a real passion for it.

[Skink]

my limited experience of working with these types of organisation (Law Firms, NHS and medical companies) would suggest that these types of roles are all very different - and the cultures of these types of organisations strongly affect the 'types' of people who work there

 

So I would start with what kind of person is she and what kind of environment would she blossom in? and talk to some people who really do this - maybe gate crash a graduate job fair at one of the Unis

[Cyclone]

It's worth noting that you don't have to get in to medical school right away after A Levels to become a doctor.

 

My sister had a place at Oxford to study medicine but then disaster struck and she didn't get the Chemistry A level predicted.

 

She instead did a biochem degree at Durham followed by an accelerated graduate Medical course at Warwick and is now on her way to becoming a GP.

 

Clearly a LOT of work experience and dedication was necessary to get in, I can't imagine anyone making it as a doctor too easily without having a real passion for it.

 

is Warwick unique or one of just a few accelerated courses?

One of my friends did something similar (decided on medicine after getting her original degree) and also went to Warwick.

She's now in her 4th or 5th year as a junior doctor.

[vwkittie]

is Warwick unique or one of just a few accelerated courses?

One of my friends did something similar (decided on medicine after getting her original degree) and also went to Warwick.

She's now in her 4th or 5th year as a junior doctor.

 

Not all medical schools offer it that's true but there are quite a few to choose from, see here

 

Graduate entry schools are also coming to St Andrews and Dundee in a couple of years too.

[Owethemnowt]

Medicine without a doubt.

 

Morally it's much more satisfying, respected in society and dioes make a difference in every action. Litigation doesn't come near in so many aspects. Also, morally you are never the wrong side of right, having to perform indefensible actions and deny the truth. Something that lawyers, especially higher up the pole constantly do.

 

That can't be squared with the belief that you are guaranteeing someone a fair trial, when you withold evidence that proves guilt.

 

Contrast it with medicine, hypocratic oath, and the constant pursuit to do what's right with every ounce of your being.

 

A wonderful career. On ethat is rewarded for doctors but unfortunately not so for nurses.

[999tigger]

Medicine without a doubt.

 

Morally it's much more satisfying, respected in society and dioes make a difference in every action. Litigation doesn't come near in so many aspects. Also, morally you are never the wrong side of right, having to perform indefensible actions and deny the truth. Something that lawyers, especially higher up the pole constantly do.

 

That can't be squared with the belief that you are guaranteeing someone a fair trial, when you withold evidence that proves guilt.

 

Contrast it with medicine, hypocratic oath, and the constant pursuit to do what's right with every ounce of your being.

 

A wonderful career. On ethat is rewarded for doctors but unfortunately not so for nurses.

 

Are you a lawyer?

I didnt think everyone litigates?

You seem to have experience of being the wrong side of right?

Denying the truth?

Witholding evidence that proves guilt?

[Astraeus]

Are you a lawyer?

I didnt think everyone litigates?

You seem to have experience of being the wrong side of right?

Denying the truth?

Witholding evidence that proves guilt?

 

Beat me to it. What a stupid post above.

 

Law is about a heck of a lot more than litigation. In fact, litigation makes up a fraction of the work that lawyers do. Don't be swayed by the thought that law is adversarial, court-based or aggressive. It isn't. Unless you watch Suits.

 

Also, to rubbish another daft post above. I am living proof that you do walk out of university and go straight into earning an above-average graduate salary.

 

Oh, and to another nonsense post. I also get paid more than most software developers that I know. The one exception I can think of has his own company and is on a six figure salary so I'm not quite at the level of comparing myself to him yet.

[Owethemnowt]

Are you a lawyer?

I didnt think everyone litigates?

You seem to have experience of being the wrong side of right?

Denying the truth?

Witholding evidence that proves guilt?

 

There is an-pleasantness to being a lawyer. There isn't in medicine, major difference. The adverserial nature makes for an abrasive character trait that has to be acquired. Also, there is the morality issue. The law is not about the truth. It is about the evidence presented or suppressed. Whereas there is a constant truth in medicine.

 

The other negative post is focussed upon salary, wealth, earnings. How sad. I've never heard of a Doctor going into medicine for the pay. It's all about serving society.

 

The greed of the psoter is self-evident as is the shallow defence of their own self-serving background. Boastful and money motivated.

 

There is a nobility in public service and medicine is the finest example. Clearly, the law is not.

 

Lawyers, Judges too constantly disappoint and fail us. The latter are rarely ever punished and certainly not removed. Yet the medical profession has the most stringent of standards consistently applied. They may have life and death in their hands but we accpet they are not god. The legal profession does not deal in life or death matters. it just ruins lives, applying baffling decisions and applying all their skills and intellect to avoid prosecution of, for example, rapists and paedophiles.

 

There is a choice over the type of arena one would wish to serve or work in.

 

The medical profession is an unquestionably, and that is the difference, an unquestionably noble service.

 

Society does not unequivocally respect the legal profession.

Edited June 29, 2016 by Owethemnowt