Why I left Medicine... Forever
Money
One can argue that the only purpose of work is money. You can have fun, help people, find purpose, and boost your social status in many other ways. But not money. All those things are privileges that you start caring about once you get to the point where you make enough money.
Fun/Satisfaction
Where do fun and work satisfaction come from?
Intrinsic Fun
Some jobs are genuinely fun: you enjoy the work so much that it’s actually fun going to work.
Fun Social Vibes
For some of us, the work itself may not be inherently fun. Going through spreadsheets is not inherently fun. But the good social vibes, the fact that all our friends are at work, that’s what makes it fun.
Intellectual Challenge and Learning
Helping People
We need to differentiate two factors of helping people: the personal joy, and the actual impact.
Let’s say I’m an investment banker and I make $10.000/hr, and let’s say I volunteer at the local soup kitchen because I like to help people. I’m not actually helping that many people by volunteering at the soup kitchen. If I wanted to genuinely help people, I could just put in an extra few hours of work, make $20.000, and then donate that money to the soup kitchen to allow them to hire a bunch more people to help. The investment banker has far more actual impact if he just donates his money rather than his time, but it feels pretty good to be able to help the person who’s in front of you.
When it comes to a developed work healthcare system, is really the system that saves lives rather than the amazing prowess of an individual doctor. Maybe if you’re the world expert on some niche condition and you’re the only person in the world who can solve the thing, then you’re genuinely making a difference as an individual. But, for example, there’s nothing special junior doctors offer to the medical profession, so the real reason they keep doing it is for personal joy and satisfaction rather than the actual impact.
Purpose/Meaning
Social Status
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