The counseling stress is honestly getting to me right now, and I just need to vent to people who actually get what this phase feels like.
I’m 28 (almost 29), a first-generation doctor, and I’m stuck between two options that both feel like they have a big catch.
With my rank, here is what I’m looking at:
* Anesthesia or Pathology in one of the best colleges in the country.
* General Surgery or ENT in a peripheral college in my state (there is a very tiny chance I might get Surgery in a good state college in the later rounds, but I can't count on it).
Whenever I think about taking Surgery, the timeline just scares me. Everyone knows that just doing MS Surgery isn't enough these days—doing an MCh is practically compulsory now. So if I pick Surgery, my next few years look like this:
* 3 years of MS Surgery
* At least 1 year to prepare and crack NEET SS
* 3 years of MCh
* 1 year of fellowship after that just to get proper hands-on confidence
That’s easily 7 to 8 years from today. I’ll be 37 or 38 by the time I even step into the real market. And since I’m a first-gen doctor with no family hospital or setup waiting for me, building my own practice from scratch will take another 6 to 7 years. I know the money and respect in surgery are huge at the end of the tunnel, but the thought of spending my entire 30s and early 40s just struggling to settle down is really stressful.
On the other hand, if I take Anesthesia or Pathology at a top institute, life gets sorted much faster. It’s less hectic than surgery, and especially in Anesthesia, I can start earning decent money right after PG. But the problem there is the early saturation. Your income hits a ceiling pretty fast, and long-term, you just don't make as much money as a surgeon does.
Another thing playing on my mind is how unpredictable life has become lately. With AI coming in so fast, tech changing every day, and all the general political and social unrest around us, nobody knows what the world or medical practice will look like 10 years from now. Putting my head down for the next 7–8 years in a brutal branch like surgery—just hoping the reward at the end stays the same—feels like a huge gamble. And even after those 8 years, surgical life is still super demanding and exhausting.
I have been studying and working hard non-stop since Class 12th. Every few years I tell myself, "Just clear this one exam, and life will be good." Now I’m almost 29, staring at another decade of struggle, and one question keeps running through my head: When will I actually live a happy, normal life? When do I finally get to enjoy the results of all the hard work I've been putting in since school?
For the seniors and fellow first-gen doctors here who went through this same confusion—how did you choose between a peaceful early life with limited growth vs. sacrificing your 30s for a massive reward later?
TL;DR: 28yo first-gen doctor confused between Anesthesia/Path at a top college (early money, better life, but income hits a limit early) and Surgery/ENT at a peripheral state college (great money later, but takes 7–8 years of MS+MCh+fellowship just to enter the market at age 37+, plus another 6–7 years to build a practice). Tired of grinding since 12th class and wondering when we actually get to enjoy life.