Is It Worth It?

I've always been interested in driving a truck and though I'm not yet 21 although I will be in 3 months. I'm split between wanting to be an anesthesiologist or a driver (both for different reasons) but my home life ATM isn't so good and I don't see myself being able to live at home for the next 12 years. Any advice

Not much here but seems to me your interest in trucking is to get away from home If that is the case I say you are looking at this for all the wrong reasons. There's a saying ... No matter where you go, there you are. In other words you can't run away from your problems. 2nd anesthesiologist a make a better living. Ie better money which will allow you to move out. Again don't know your reasons but that is my two cents worth Is trucking worth it? For many it is for others it's not. Get in for the right reasons or don't

Good luck

Well I've been going otr with my uncle since I was little and I really have a passion for traveling and driving so its not "just to get out" I just don't wanna regret anything

The time to get into medicine is when you're young. Now or very soon. I don't know if you already have a college degree but that will take a solid 4 years if you major in biology or another pre-med type major. You will have to have a solid GPA of 3.6 or above and a high MCAT score to get into med school. Med school takes another 4 years and then off to your residency. The number of years in residency depends on the specialty. In your case, anaesthesiology will be 3-4 years. (a specialty like neurosurgery is 12.) By then you will be in your mid 30s, if you don't already have a bachelor's now, which is cool. You won't be ancient. Career-wise, medicine is more difficult to "break into" as a profession, at any level than trucking, although trucking has its acceptance level too. This (medicine) is a very tight club and you'll find yourself doing a lot of volunteer work to get exposure and experience. Many people complain about their doctors etc. and there are bad ones out there, but most of them have dedicated a considerable amount of time in their lives to get where they are because it's a calling and requires dedication from the heart. Anaesthesiology is a very cool specialty because you get to be the guy who takes everyone out of pain or manages their body systems and keep their lives afloat, while they're in surgery.

For either trucking or medicine, keep your mind wide open. Trucking (I'm only a CDL school graduate waiting on jobs, so far) requires a considerable amount of dedication too because you have to keep your life clean and be responsible on the road, among other things. However, you might want to consider the possibility of balancing both trucking and school. I'm sure there must be a way to do this and by "balancing both" I'm mean, CDL school is fairly short (for me, 4 weeks, full time) while college and med school equal 8 years. But ... ...

What if there were a way to go through CDL school, put in a full year of trucking to establish yourself, keep your CDL through school and use that skill as a way to earn money (during long summer breaks, etc.,) while you went through all these years of school? I haven't asked Brett if there were a way to do this but it might be something to consider. While you spend all this time in school, you're not gaining a whole lot of time in experience at a profession until you're done with school. Sure, a lot of med students and pre-med take a lot of summer jobs at hospitals and doctor's offices or at universities working on research for low pay, to gain time and exposure. It's a bit of a gamble and you have to be seriously dedicated to it. Not a problem at all, if you are dedicated. From another perspective, wouldn't a CDL under your belt be a nice back-up skill to have, with some experience too, if medicine (for some unforeseen reason) didn't work out or if you just needed more cash in your pocket during the school year? Another thing to consider, is that by the time you're finished with med school, there will be a bit of a shortage of physicians (because that shortage is coming) and therefore a demand for them. I'd say, stack the odds in your favor on both fronts. With a very open mind, the two are not necessarily diametrically opposed.

-mountain girl

That is a very good idea. I've never thought about that I will have to ask brett

That is a very good idea. I've never thought about that I will have to ask brett

Lemme know what you find out. I'd be verrrry interested to know his perspective.

-mountain girl

That was an incredible post Mountain Girl! Very well thought out and helpful.

When it comes to a career in trucking, it's very low-risk to take a shot at it as far as money and time are concerned. There are few, if any careers nowadays where you can pay a few thousand bucks to attend school for a few weeks and start making $35k right away, and up to $50k within 3-5 years. If you paid for school out of pocket and invested a grand total of 6 months of your life to trucking you'd make that schooling money back four times over and probably visit most of the 48 states, maybe even Canada. That's a lot of life experience, great memories, and plenty of lessons learned to take with you throughout the rest of your lifetime, and only a few months have gone by. Hard to beat that.

So from that perspective, it wouldn't hurt to give trucking a shot for a short time and see what happens. If you like it - great! Do it until you don't want to do it anymore. If you don't like it - great! Go back to school and pursue the next challenge that excites you.

As far as finding part time work.....it's certainly a possibility, especially if you can get 12 months of safe over the road driving experience under your belt. You would probably have to do a lot of digging around town for local companies to give you an opportunity. Could be anything from bus services to farms, logging companies, beverage distributors (Pepsi, Budweiser, etc), dairies, dump trucks, or who knows what. The harder you look for opportunities the more likely you'll be able to dig one up, especially if you live near a reasonable population.

On a personal note.....since we're talking about the medical profession - I would think you would want to dedicate 100% of your resources to that profession once you made the commitment. I couldn't see driving around all summer in a dump truck while my classmates (competitors) are doing internships, attending summer classes, networking, and attending conferences.

I know I'm the type that goes all out when I'm on a mission. And I'm always on missions. I'm just highly motivated and fascinated by almost any challenge. So if I was going into the medical field I'd be putting in 70 hours a week, 52 weeks a year on average to make sure I got to the very highest level. Granted, most people aren't like that. But you know in the medical profession there will be plenty of people who are. And in the end you're only going to get as far as your knowledge, talent, and experience will take you.

So if I were considering a career in the medical field but would really love to give truck driving a shot, I think I'd give trucking a shot first. It's a short, inexpensive commitment that you can walk away from anytime you like with a ton of great experiences and memories. Then, once I had that out of my system I would go after the medical field 100%. I could always fall back on trucking or use it for part time work while working my way through school if need be.

That was an incredible post Mountain Girl! Very well thought out and helpful.

Thank you. That's a really nice compliment, coming from you.

.....since we're talking about the medical profession - I would think you would want to dedicate 100% of your resources to that profession once you made the commitment. I couldn't see driving around all summer in a dump truck while my classmates (competitors) are doing internships, attending summer classes, networking, and attending conferences.

True... These med students are highly competitive, in school and once they're finished. The competition is constant. Not a problem, if that's your nature. ...and isn't that what you'd want, if you were a patient seeking the best care, possible?

Then, once I had that out of my system I would go after the medical field 100%. I could always fall back on trucking or use it for part time work while working my way through school if need be.

I couldn't have said it better ...

Thanks for articulating all the above, Brett! Thank you!

-mountain girl

Mountain girl sounds really smart and I think I would listen to her!

I found some companies that will let me drive in the summers and let me go to school in the fall and spring. Conway was one of them and western express was another.