daylast

The most telling part of this article is point #8 (which basically says you will end up blaming and then eventually disliking the patients for your sad lot as a modern day doctor). What I find amusing here (and so comically characteristic of a Doctor's absurd notion of self-importance) is that the author so completely lacks the capacity for self-introspection that he doesn't even realize the truth of who is to blame.

To all the doctors out there that feel the same way as this author does I have one message for you. The only person to fucking blame is YOU!!!

Guess what? You're the one who made the decision to go into medicine and so you're the person at fault for the sad state of affairs in the modern medical profession. It's your fault for failing to do your due diligence on the demands and rewards of the profession. Why didn't you do your due diligence? You probably had some romantic notion of what it would be like as a Doc. Or possibly you went into medicine to make your parents happy? Or you thought it was a respected profession, or you simply wanted to help folks in need because it's an altruistic pursuit.

Well, sorry buddy, but all those things aren't an excuse for not doing your due diligence. It get's worse though...

At the macro level it's a self-reinforcing cycle. The lack of due diligence happens so frequently and by so many aspiring docs, it has repercussions on the profession as a whole. At the aggregate level, it causes wages to fall and working conditions to get worse for docs and interns (since the demand for medical school entrance remains strong regardless of conditions or wages).

You think just because you got good grades and got into med school that makes you smart? Ummm...no. And that is why Doctors get paid less than - and have more difficult working conditions than - Investment bankers. The type of person who goes into I-banking is smart enough and introspective enough to do their due diligence. The type of person who goes into medicine isn't.

I am in my thirties now and it still utterly astonishes me the degree to which the school administrators, teachers and parents in my high school viewed bullying with blithe ignorance. I was never bullied myself and I was never a bully, but I witnessed atrocities that would land any adult perpetrator behind bars for several years. Sexual assaults of mentally handicapped kids, kids having their heads forced into the water of a dirty toilet, kids shot with pellet guns during class, on-going intimidation, beatings, etc. Amazingly, this is just the stuff that I personally witnessed...I'm sure worse things happened that I never saw. All of this transpired with virtually zero repercussions for the bullies involved. It was truly sad. What is even more sad is that the adults at the school essentially turned a blind eye to this behaviour. I sure hope things have changed since then.

One thing I always found odd about DE Shaw is how casual the work environment is. It's like google, but in Manhattan. The problem is NY isn't california and quant finance isn't all software. There's a certain pace and overt competitiveness to Manhattan that enforces a discipline and a work ethic onto people. This works quite well in the Darwinian world of finance. But, from what I saw of various parts of DE Shaw's operations there was somewhat a lack of urgency to some fairly critical areas. A good firing spree every once in a while seems to work wonders in putting the urgency back into the workforce.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, based on the comments you've made in your post, you are most likely a smart fool (as you have so aptly put). In essence, you don't even know what you do not know. I've worked at top-tier Wall St institutions and have had first hand experience working with several of the largest quant hedge funds out there. Here's my advice: if you truly enjoy markets and are sure you want to take this path, you will be much better served by spending several years working at an established quant hedge fund. This will open your eyes to the theory, processes, data, and techniques required to earn alpha consistently and in a risk efficient manner. It's a long road and that road is full of extraordinarily hard working and intelligent people that one has to constantly compete against. If you can handle this though, you will learn a bunch and at some point in the future you can strike out on your own again. At that point you will at least have a chance of success. Good luck!