Urgency
Amongst my peers there's a sense of urgency. Travel now, have fun now, while you STILL CAN. (imagine maniacal laughter inserted here). We all have a fear that after this summer, our last summer off, we will never be able to have fun again because we will be working all hours god sends and we won't have any vacation time. Whether this is true or not is probably dependent on your specialty and how much you're willing to sacrifice to take time off and travel and do all of those other things, but it is true, this is probably the easiest time to do it. Unfortunately, this is also the time when we all have no money.
It is true, any bank here will give you a loan if you say you're a med student. Some of my friends have lines of credit that extend up to a quarter of a million dollars. A QUARTER OF A MILION!!!! But, do I want to pay later for the fun I'm having now? How long will I be working to pay off the fun I have now? Lots of people in my class are going travelling this summer on their loan money. I am lucky. I don't currently have any loans. My parents have worked hard to ensure that I can graduate without debt. But, now I'm heading into a summer where I'm not going to make any money and I want to do some fun things. I'm struggling with whether to take out a small loan or not. It sounds silly, but, what if my parents are disappointed that they did all that work to put me through med school just for me to go off and take out a loan to travel? Is it all worth it in the end for the life experience of one last summer of freedom?
5 comments:
I got really frustrated with the attitude that people gave me last year before my "LAST SUMMER EVER." Just because you don't have summers off doesn't mean you can't do really amazing things with the time you do have off. I personally got an internship and learned more about social services in the US. I know people who did amazing things abroad, and I would have liked to have done the same, but, for me, earning a little bit of money over the summer was important to me. It's not the last time you'll ever have time off to do something great. Just remember that
Ok, here is an idea I'm extremely serious about.
Think about living in a warm climate, where they have palm trees, they have sun every single day. You'd get at least 30 days vacation per year .... Sounding good already? And you'd be paid so much you wouldn't believe it. Nurses there make about $80usd per hour! So figure out how much an MD would make.
Where is this?! Where they have so much money, that the locals don't work, where they import most of their labour.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emerates.
I'm dead serious about this suggestion.
I'm a European and I lived in this area for quite a while. This is the hidden jewel of medicine. They need educated physicians and nurses, and majority of them are i.e. British, Australian, Canadian etc.
Worth checking out!
Oh, and I forgot to mention free housing and free tickets for family to travel, I believe at least one p/year. And many times they'll pay for your move.
As long as you're NOT American you're safe in that area. They don't generally like Americans much, (depending on country) But the LOVE Canadians, Europeans, Australians etc. etc.
You will still have fun even after med school. I'm PGY-7, an interventional cardiology fellow, and even on Q-2 pager call (not in-house call) I make plenty of time to exercise AND do fun things.
So relax, this isn't the last chance of your life to have fun.
Absolutely do NOT, I repeat, do NOT even CONSIDER taking out loans. You have no idea how hideous it is to have debt. Those who have debt would give their right/left arms/ all legs to be as you are. Please, please, PLEASE don't even CONSIDER taking out loans for fun.
Once the fun is over ~ then what? You owe debt on fun. It compounds interest. Then less of your paycheck is yours since some of it goes to debt. You can still have "fun" without taking out loans. Fun that is paid for. It's fun without guilt or interest!
I LOVE your blog, by the way, and have been reading for quite a while. Just don't go into debt. Don't. Especially for something that is a want and not a need.
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