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Doctor or engineer? Which has more money and demand?

Rashmi Bansal | February 07, 2005 | 13:56 IST

here are two kinds of doctors in the world: those who see it as a careerrequiring selfless dedication and those who see it as a job that involvesprescribing medication.

The first kind is becoming a rare, dwindling species, serving in the few large publichospitals which mostly treat the poor and needy.

The stipend that interns earn at these hospitals makes a part time job at McDonald'sappear lucrative.

After years of academic slog, resident doctors make less money every month than freMBAs from Z-grade institutes selling insurance policies or credit cards.

So, yes,the 'noble profession' hangover remains a keymotivator for those seekingcareers in medicine.

A few years down the line, cynicism sets in.

We, the 'brightest and the best' who made it to a medical college, we deserve better.

The most wanted!

Medicine and engineering have long been the two 'most wanted' careers for middle class India.

Slowly and steadily, though, engineering seems to be gaining ground. Four years of engineering study at a decent college fetches you awell-paying job.

Or one can choose to go abroad for further studies with a good possibility of financial aid and a quick job.

Five years of basic medical study-- even from the best institution-- gets you nowhere.

You have to do a post graduate specialisation (another three years). Preferably, you must also go in for 'super-specialisation' (another twoyears).

After these 10 to 11 years of study, the future is still uncertain.

The irony is that the demand for a doctor's service is, by definition, ever increasing. Especially in a populous country like ours.

Setting up practice, though,is not easy becausein thisprofession, reputationbrings in clients.

Moreover, reputations take years to build, especially when senior doctors are too insecure to promote junior talent and seldom, if ever,retire!

The lonely, more difficult profession

Medicine, thus, is not only a difficult profession, but a lonely one.

Many, many doctors rarely take vacations, afraid of losing patients to rivals.

Many others work long, stressful hours not just because it is their duty to attend to the sick but because consulting at threedifferent hospitand running one's own clinic/s is the only way to build a name.

There is also the system of General Practitioners referring patients to particular specialists and labs for a 'kickback'. Newly minted doctorsmay recoil at the thought, but seniors see it as a standard (only borderline unethical) practice.

More troubling are the doctors who order unnecessary tests, prolong hospital stays and generally prove themselves unworthy of thepatient's trust.

These are the rotten eggs that exist in every profession. Except, here, the guilt is compounded by the nature of the work.

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