Doctors vs Engineers

A couple of weeks before I went to meet my doc friends back from school days. It has been ages since we met. I had gotten busy with my work and career plans. While these guys have been chasing their dreams of making it to AIIMS. Dr. Gautam is an M.B.B.S from MMC and Dr. Guruprasad is a B.D.S from the same college. Both of them were my closest pals at J.G.V.V., the place I have spent my entire school life in.

I still distinctly remember the endless chats we used to have about our careers.

Me: "Guys. I just can't imagine myself sitting in a small clinic and cashing in on others diseases. I want to become a great scientist and spearhead some new technology." I would proudly say

Guru: " I love Biology and I don't understand how you ppl manage to mug up those formula in physics and math. I have always dreamed about being a doctor and thats it". This guy would get 199/200 in physics and still make such pathetic statements no one believes in.

Me: "OK fine what about the endless slogging that is required. I will start earning in 4 years You ppl will have to study till you are 35. Ready for that? hahaha "

Gautam: " No comments" (He is one of those silent kinds who never speaks up. but does it instead)

So they went on the take up the obvious choice and I ditched a precious doc seat to become an engineer.you see i am still proud of that :))

Were we really mature enough to take our decisions in the first place? I mean what were the tools we used to short-list our career options? We were probably being carried away by other's advises. weren't we?

Waidaminnittt!!! That was 6 years back. And we were supposedly proud of our decisions. But what do we think now.?

Me: " While I cribbed about working in a small 12x12 ft clinic, now I am apparently sitting in a 6x6 ft cubicle staring at a machine craving for freedom. Intherrrsting..?? :)"

Me: "Well atleast if I had been a doc I would have been rendering services for a person who trust me and who I can see. Now I work for a client who never trusts the Indians and never gives a damn about knowing us. The worst part is I am earning $$$ for the company just to carry home a bag of peanuts."

It might seem an exaggeration for my fellow doc friends who haven't started earning. But ya dudes my salary is still just peanuts for the ppl running the company.

Gautam: "I have never seen a guy from software who is satisfied with his job. Every profession has its pitfalls. I face a lot of hassles in GH everyday. People take it for granted that these doctors at GH only work for money. Its very sick when someone show me a recommendation letter from dean instead of his transcription to get admitted. "

He started unraveling the mind of a physician slowly. It was so nice to know how docs really felt about their profession. He will have to sacrifice most of his personal life in the formative years. We discussed about the lack of proper rooms, ICUs being occupied illegally by politicians, deaths due to poor infrastructure, frivolousness of nurses etc.

Its indeed true that the problem is not with the profession but the kind of work we do, the place we do it in and the people we do it for. With that thought we found salvation. :)

Slowly our discussion digressed towards another important facet of life. Making money. I had once stated him, "At the end of the day its all about making money. And I don't want to confuse that with rendering service to the society. The inherent nature of a doc's life is so that he will always have to live among such ethical dilemmas. Whereas I can make a lot of money and still manage to serve for the society and I can do that without losing integrity" Seems a pretty hard statement to refute right??

My doc friend didn't seem to have a perfect answer for that. But one thing's for sure. All these thoughts about money haunts you only till you earn a decent living. Once the food,cloths and shelter are taken care of its only the human might that decides what it wants to chase next. Search for more money or otherwise.

The story doesn't end here. I will be joining IIMA, a place synonymous for making huge money in this world. Lets see how my life takes shape and whether I take back my words of wisdom soon. :))