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Doctors are among the major classic professions. It is very hard to talk about anything professional without the classic refrain of “a doctor, a lawyer…” and continuing from there. With the possible exception of school teachers or the clergy, it is hard to think of a more altruistic and socially beneficial profession. On the other hand, like the clergy and teachers, a doctor works very hard has got to be an extremely self-sacrificing individual.

For one thing, every doctor has to take the Hippocratic Oath, in which the doctor to be swears to do no harm. It takes a certain kind of individual to swear they will help other people no matter what. It takes someone with even more resolve to do this after they have gone through eight years of intense college classes, followed up with an immediate stint doing a residency. This is the kind of nearly masochistic level of schooling that can drive a person to the edge of madness. Doctors are renowned for having poor health because of bad habits they picked up during medical school and their residencies.

For instance, a lot of doctors are chronically sleep deprived. In addition to this, alcoholism and smoking are common vices for doctors. Is it worth it to take the risk that you might develop these problems, just to cope with helping other people? Doctors are expected to act like super heroes, even though they are just ordinary, flesh and blood human beings. If you don’t think you have the right stuff to keep up with a schedule that can include triple digit weeks, you don’t have to.