Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Views & Reviews Live from Liverpool

Would you advise anyone to become a doctor?

BMJ 2008; 337 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.a2739 (Published 25 November 2008) Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2739

Rapid Response:

Yes, I Would Advise Medicine as a Career!

I enjoyed this thought provoking article.

I am an inveterate promoter of medicine. I teach and
encourage and try to enthuse school students as well as
those in medical school.

When talking to prospective medical students applying to
University I always tell them that I look for the element
of  "passion" to become a doctor. I often see it at
interview and later. Somewhere though , many do lose this
enthusiasm.

Medicine is fascinating, rewarding as well as fun and all
the patients who had waited an hour to see me at my pain
clinic which ran late the other night , were pleasant and
appreciative of my time with them.

When anaesthetising a young woman recently she commented
on the way in which we were chatting and laughing with her,
which was very different from the minimal communication
going on in the ward.

Why do others not find pleasure, interest and reward in
their practice?

Over time I have observed that there are many doctors who
lose interest in medicine as a subject and in patients as
people to meet. Some see it as a 9-5 job. Others become
negative to all and sundry and constantly moan although
this is rarely about clinical activity.
Whilst my generation worked far longer hours than the
current one yet the dissatisfaction with the career seems
to be in the latter.

I feel this is something that needs exploring, challenging
etc. I don't know what can be done and I hope we can find a
way to encourage those who are losing interest younger ( I
have a vested interest at my time of life).

Willy Notcutt
Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine
Great Yarmouth

Competing interests:
A happy doctor

Competing interests: No competing interests

06 December 2008
William Notcutt
Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine
James Paget University Hopsital, Greta Yarmouth NR31 6LA