The choice of an occupation for life, or, as it may be, the recognition of a vocation, is, in the majority of cases, an anxious process, alike to the neophyte who is about to enter on his novitiate of professional life, and even more to those to whom his happiness and future usefulness are of the first concern. The cause of this anxiety is the difficulty of arriving at a momentous decision on evidence which is usually not in clear perspective, often misunderstood, sometimes insufficient, and always more or less embarrassing in its rival claims. The profession of medicine, like every other, has its advantages and its disadvantages, and those who entertain the idea of entering it should weigh for themselves the one against the other so that they may know what they have to expect. For the more definite their idea of the life they will have to lead the more accurately will they, their parents and guardians, be able to judge of their fitness for it, and the more surely will they be able to avoid the stones of stumbling that will bestrew their path. The idea of fitness should certainly have as its foundation considerations of physical constitution, and control of what are familiarly known as ways and means, as well as considerations of intellectual capacity, aptitude, and liking for the study of natural objects, and qualities of character such as diligence, perseverance, patience, and moral strength. With the object of helping young runners about to enter on the race of life to avoid making a mistake in a matter of such vital importance as the choice of a profession, we now lay before them a dispassionate statement of what lies before one who adopts medicine as a career—the work he will be called upon to do, the rewards he may fairly look for, the sacrifices he may have to make, and the disappointments that may fall to his lot. It must be understood that we speak here of the man of average abilities, with no particular advantages in the way of money or influence, who will take up medicine for a livelihood, and will expect a fair return for the time and money spent on his education.
(BMJ 1903. ;ii: 501)