Hey anon, thank you for the question ^_^
Now, bear in mind that both my parents are surgeons, so I might have completely different views from someone else. Plus, my goal is probably not medicine, but nonetheless….
To put it simply, I have never respected anyone who goes into medicine with that sort of mentality, but then again, I don’t know what exactly your friend is thinking to be honest. However, if she is that sort of person where she is only going into a field (which might I add is aiming towards helping others) only for the prestige, money and the job stability, then my advice to her would be to look into another disciplinary.
1.) I’d like to tackle the money thing first: It’s a common misconception that doctors earn a crap ton of money because contrary to popular belief, there are many fields in which they may be earning a median pay for their level of expertise (example: many family doctors internal medicine doctors, nuclear medicine etc) or the city/town they work in. Being $200K+ in debt from med school is something to think about as well. I know that for my parents when they were doing their fellowships they did not nearly earn as much as they do now. Still, that’s not always the case for many specialties. If you want money, go be a banker or something.
2.) It’s extremely important that whoever is aiming for medicine have their primary intention as being a healer or helper, in my opinion. Doctors work long, hard, gruelling hours. There is absolutely nothing “glamorous” or “prestigious” about standing in a cold, secluded room for 20 hours straight with the smell of blood and guts surrounding you or having to inform someone that their loved one has passed away. Now again, this is only through what I’ve seen both my parents do, so again, this might not be the case for other doctors.
There is no way to deal with people like your friend, unfortunately. Just focus on yourself and what you want to do. Honestly, put that effort into yourself to make yourself become a better caregiver whether it be so that one day you save someone’s life or help someone overcome an addiction or give hope to a terminally ill patient. Whatever it may be, be passionate in what you do and pay no mind to anyone else. Good luck!
