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21 years ago: I finished my fellowship taking the weekend call shift ending on 6/30 and started my first, real (attending) job on 7/1, the very next day, in the same city. A few months earlier we had a honeymoon trip to Hawaii and a few months later we took a Backroads cycling vacation in Napa and Sonoma, so we were certainly far from deprived from travel and leisure. I emerged from school and training with no debt, and my wife had a corporate legal job with a modest school debt burden. There were no kids and no dogs. I would have sooner chewed my arm off than take a vacation before starting my new job.
Today: We recently hired a new colleague, fresh out of training, who despite our urgings to start on July 1, insisted on delaying starting work until the second week of August as she wanted some time between fellowship and work. I do not know her exact financial circumstances, but from what she told me about her family and career path during her interview, I would expect that she probably has a fairly typical six figure debt.
I caught up with her earlier this week and asked her how she spent her time before joining us. Her face beamed as she talked about her trip to Europe and then vacationing with family in the Pacific Northwest. In between, she also enjoyed a music festival that she had always wanted to attend.
Later that night, I playfully chided my wife for not suggesting that we do some lengthy travel when I was at the same station in life, many years ago. While we would have possibly had a month or more with no income, we were both on a trajectory that would quickly erase any shortfall. We could have traveled around the world, unencumbered with children, with no concern for deteriorating elderly parents, staying in cheap places, before the age of email and constant connection, with plenty of knee cartilage and energy in the tank, and with hardly a care in the world. These are times and circumstances that we will never be able to recreate.
The advice: To the young docs coming out of training, I strongly advise taking a pause between training and your first job to do something (or things) that you will enjoy and may never be able to do again. Six weeks traveling in Asia, hitting a dozen National Parks on a road trip (see Strider's thread), completing a Grand Canyon Rim-Rim-Rim challenge, taking a cooking class...in Tuscany, following your favorite band around the country on a summer tour, attending 20 MLB games in 20 different stadiums, or whatever you think is fabulous but just too nuts to do because 1) there is no time/money to do it or 2) you can do it later.
Later is not guaranteed. Don't be like the old Vagabond and live with regret. Just do it.
Today: We recently hired a new colleague, fresh out of training, who despite our urgings to start on July 1, insisted on delaying starting work until the second week of August as she wanted some time between fellowship and work. I do not know her exact financial circumstances, but from what she told me about her family and career path during her interview, I would expect that she probably has a fairly typical six figure debt.
I caught up with her earlier this week and asked her how she spent her time before joining us. Her face beamed as she talked about her trip to Europe and then vacationing with family in the Pacific Northwest. In between, she also enjoyed a music festival that she had always wanted to attend.
Later that night, I playfully chided my wife for not suggesting that we do some lengthy travel when I was at the same station in life, many years ago. While we would have possibly had a month or more with no income, we were both on a trajectory that would quickly erase any shortfall. We could have traveled around the world, unencumbered with children, with no concern for deteriorating elderly parents, staying in cheap places, before the age of email and constant connection, with plenty of knee cartilage and energy in the tank, and with hardly a care in the world. These are times and circumstances that we will never be able to recreate.
The advice: To the young docs coming out of training, I strongly advise taking a pause between training and your first job to do something (or things) that you will enjoy and may never be able to do again. Six weeks traveling in Asia, hitting a dozen National Parks on a road trip (see Strider's thread), completing a Grand Canyon Rim-Rim-Rim challenge, taking a cooking class...in Tuscany, following your favorite band around the country on a summer tour, attending 20 MLB games in 20 different stadiums, or whatever you think is fabulous but just too nuts to do because 1) there is no time/money to do it or 2) you can do it later.
Later is not guaranteed. Don't be like the old Vagabond and live with regret. Just do it.
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