How do the two compare in the rigor in school and the profession? Did you ever contemplate about the two? If you did, did you ever regret your choice of becoming an architect? Anyways, the title basically speaks for it's self so what do you think about the topic?
After practicing architecture for 8 years I nearly left the field to pursue medicine. I spent 2 years in school fulfilling all the prerequisites, shadowed doctors, volunteered at my local hospital, and even worked in a lab studying tumor genetics with an oncologist. It was only AFTER completing my application to medical school that I decided it just wasn't worth it for me. I had already sunk so many years into a profession I was unhappy with and just couldn't stomach giving 7 or more years to another career. If I had left architecture when I first became disenchanted however, I would probably be in medical school today. On the up side, my experience with medicine and biology has given rise to an interest in the relationship between the development of cities and public health.
medicine is multiple's harder than architecture. i was in pre-med until hitting organic chemistry. done in 2 weeks.
don't fool yourselves - these aren't apple to apples. yes, we both 'work hard', but medicine is rigorous machine that grinds up and spits out a lot of incredibly bright people. i guarantee only a small percentage of architects could make it through med school...
@Gregory Walker: They ARE like apples and oranges; because of that I don't think you can say one is harder than the other, they're just different. I did much better in pre-med (O.chem was a breeze!) than I did in Architecture School and enjoyed working with an oncologist more than any architecture office I worked in. Others will find the opposite to be true.
@PREARCHITECT98: A lot of my dissatisfaction toward the profession is pretty typical stuff (i.e. low salary for the hours worked, marginalization in the building industry, lack of meaning in the work I did, etc.) Ultimately I lost respect for architects and grew cynical of the building industry. I still loved architecture, but I hated getting buildings built. I sometimes regret my decision. If I bailed when I first questioned my career path (about 4 years after school) I would likely still be posting at: http://www.oldpremeds.org, instead of archinect.
random - hats off. i loved everything in pre-med i did up to that point. and i probably had the opposite experiences - really enjoyed every firm i worked for prior to starting out. all the doctors i know seem so much more unhappy...
Morale in medicine is not high either, although probably higher than architecture right now. There was a survey by AMA a few years ago that reported almost 2/3 of practicing physicians would NOT want their children to become doctors. Long hours, fighting with insurance companies (architects aren't the only professionals who get stiffed) and malpractice liability.
All professions have advantages and disadvantages.
How would you describe the different personalities?
creativity and conceptual thinking is not evenly distributed among the population, neither is the ability to think fast and stay calm and collective in the face of an emergency situation. Different people are better suited for certain things. Carl Jung figured this out and developed 16 personality types. You can take the test online if interested its called a myers-briggs personality test.
"Be an architect if you want to become poor, and have a life filled with making little custom items for other people."
"That said, you will have more fun studying architecture. And suffer for the rest of your life!"
I always read things like this that architects say but none of them actually seem miserable. Is it actually that bad? Do any of you guys regret choosing architecture as a career? I know that the economy is bad right now and that it really hit architects hard but is it still a bad profession to be in when the economy is stable? And is the money that terrible? I want to live in Manhattan NY when I am done with internship and work there as an architect but will I even be able to afford to live there?
No it's not miserable. We have fantastic offices, work environment and creative work (sometimes, creative work... sometimes, challenging). However; it is stressful; and in my opinion, only because of really one crucial fact: yes, we are paid quite poorly when considering our education attainment and req'd work experience. And when you're out of school a few years, seeing EvErYoNE with even a mediocre college degree making more than you, well... you begin to contemplate, a lot. Pay sucks. And I take that back, maybe two crucial facts... you may have to see yourself thru many career unemployment phases and/or changes in offices... 8:9 architects will complain about money.
So seeing the post "doctor vs architect" gives me a little laugh. Because unlike the 2 crucial point above... the average doctor earns mid-career, what? $160k and up? So considering architects make $78k mid career... not much to talk about. And with the baby boomers retiring, as we all know, the medical industry will do fine for a long while coming... (lastly, if you're being over worked as a doctor or have low-morale .. at least you're making great money and can provide)
But to raise a perspective in the education challenges... I think we architects overreact to our long hours spent in studio at school and how we feel about our 'challenging' degree. I couldn't handle first year engineering... calc 3, differential equations, advanced physics... perhaps no interest here, but perhaps very hard! Architecture school in my opinion was more about how much time you put in and gave a damn about furthering your design projects, since studio credits mattered most. Granted you have a few hard structures coarses. But all in all, simply no comparison in difficulty to engineering or medicine. We are not studying biology or disease or memorizing the countless things doctors must know. ANYWAYS, i kind of get tired of hearing from the college interns how much time they are at studio as if they are eager, willing slaves to some design mission camp that you may not understand 'anymore'. Silly. I agree with RodgerT:
"Oh just get over it... architecture is a world of fashion, styles, arbitrary decisions and pseudo-science, medicine is none of the above." That's right, medicine is serious.
Its all about pecking orders. Doctors are higher up in the pecking order because they (or healers or whatever you want to call them) make sure people live. Without people, there is no architecture.
Its all about pecking orders. Doctors are higher up in the pecking order because they (or healers or whatever you want to call them) make sure people live. Without people, there is no architecture.
My parents always told to become a doctor but I didn't like being in the hospital because it's freaking depressing. It is indeed a lucrative profession but you have to have passion for it. It is similar to Architecture only in following the rules strictly or you'll damage the person or structure.
its not just a comparison of salaries denominated by the years of experience and education or frustration...the availibility of medically-related work has proven to be far more secure that that of construction-related work. doctors, pharmacists, nurses..etc
Doctor vs. Architect?
How do the two compare in the rigor in school and the profession? Did you ever contemplate about the two? If you did, did you ever regret your choice of becoming an architect? Anyways, the title basically speaks for it's self so what do you think about the topic?
If you are intelligent enough, be a Doctor!
Be an architect if you want to become poor, and have a life filled with making little custom items for other people.
After practicing architecture for 8 years I nearly left the field to pursue medicine. I spent 2 years in school fulfilling all the prerequisites, shadowed doctors, volunteered at my local hospital, and even worked in a lab studying tumor genetics with an oncologist. It was only AFTER completing my application to medical school that I decided it just wasn't worth it for me. I had already sunk so many years into a profession I was unhappy with and just couldn't stomach giving 7 or more years to another career. If I had left architecture when I first became disenchanted however, I would probably be in medical school today. On the up side, my experience with medicine and biology has given rise to an interest in the relationship between the development of cities and public health.
I think both fields are damn difficult!
Architecture requires social skills. Medicine doesn't.
@RandomWorks what exactly made you want to leave architecture after 8 years in the profession? And, did you ever regret your decision to stay an architect rather than becoming a doctor?
Both are difficult. It is the doctor, however, that can afford to build a house designed by an architect.
medicine is multiple's harder than architecture. i was in pre-med until hitting organic chemistry. done in 2 weeks.
don't fool yourselves - these aren't apple to apples. yes, we both 'work hard', but medicine is rigorous machine that grinds up and spits out a lot of incredibly bright people. i guarantee only a small percentage of architects could make it through med school...
How many doctors could make it through arch school then?
@Gregory Walker: They ARE like apples and oranges; because of that I don't think you can say one is harder than the other, they're just different. I did much better in pre-med (O.chem was a breeze!) than I did in Architecture School and enjoyed working with an oncologist more than any architecture office I worked in. Others will find the opposite to be true.
@PREARCHITECT98: A lot of my dissatisfaction toward the profession is pretty typical stuff (i.e. low salary for the hours worked, marginalization in the building industry, lack of meaning in the work I did, etc.) Ultimately I lost respect for architects and grew cynical of the building industry. I still loved architecture, but I hated getting buildings built. I sometimes regret my decision. If I bailed when I first questioned my career path (about 4 years after school) I would likely still be posting at: http://www.oldpremeds.org, instead of archinect.
random - hats off. i loved everything in pre-med i did up to that point. and i probably had the opposite experiences - really enjoyed every firm i worked for prior to starting out. all the doctors i know seem so much more unhappy...
Oh just get over it... architecture is a world of fashion, styles, arbitrary decisions and pseudo-science, medicine is none of the above.
How many doctors could make it through arch school then?
Two different things. Takes two different personalities and intellegence types.
How would you describe the different personalities?
Jaffy: "Architecture requires social skills. Medicine doesn't."
I knew you were a doctor!
Morale in medicine is not high either, although probably higher than architecture right now. There was a survey by AMA a few years ago that reported almost 2/3 of practicing physicians would NOT want their children to become doctors. Long hours, fighting with insurance companies (architects aren't the only professionals who get stiffed) and malpractice liability.
All professions have advantages and disadvantages.
How would you describe the different personalities?
creativity and conceptual thinking is not evenly distributed among the population, neither is the ability to think fast and stay calm and collective in the face of an emergency situation. Different people are better suited for certain things. Carl Jung figured this out and developed 16 personality types. You can take the test online if interested its called a myers-briggs personality test.
Doctors are essential to society. Architects ARE NOT.
That said, you will have more fun studying architecture. And suffer for the rest of your life!
Healers are essential to society. Doctors are not necessarily healers.
Planners are essential to society. Architects are not necessarily planners.
"Be an architect if you want to become poor, and have a life filled with making little custom items for other people."
"That said, you will have more fun studying architecture. And suffer for the rest of your life!"
I always read things like this that architects say but none of them actually seem miserable. Is it actually that bad? Do any of you guys regret choosing architecture as a career? I know that the economy is bad right now and that it really hit architects hard but is it still a bad profession to be in when the economy is stable? And is the money that terrible? I want to live in Manhattan NY when I am done with internship and work there as an architect but will I even be able to afford to live there?
No it's not miserable. We have fantastic offices, work environment and creative work (sometimes, creative work... sometimes, challenging). However; it is stressful; and in my opinion, only because of really one crucial fact: yes, we are paid quite poorly when considering our education attainment and req'd work experience. And when you're out of school a few years, seeing EvErYoNE with even a mediocre college degree making more than you, well... you begin to contemplate, a lot. Pay sucks. And I take that back, maybe two crucial facts... you may have to see yourself thru many career unemployment phases and/or changes in offices... 8:9 architects will complain about money.
So seeing the post "doctor vs architect" gives me a little laugh. Because unlike the 2 crucial point above... the average doctor earns mid-career, what? $160k and up? So considering architects make $78k mid career... not much to talk about. And with the baby boomers retiring, as we all know, the medical industry will do fine for a long while coming... (lastly, if you're being over worked as a doctor or have low-morale .. at least you're making great money and can provide)
But to raise a perspective in the education challenges... I think we architects overreact to our long hours spent in studio at school and how we feel about our 'challenging' degree. I couldn't handle first year engineering... calc 3, differential equations, advanced physics... perhaps no interest here, but perhaps very hard! Architecture school in my opinion was more about how much time you put in and gave a damn about furthering your design projects, since studio credits mattered most. Granted you have a few hard structures coarses. But all in all, simply no comparison in difficulty to engineering or medicine. We are not studying biology or disease or memorizing the countless things doctors must know. ANYWAYS, i kind of get tired of hearing from the college interns how much time they are at studio as if they are eager, willing slaves to some design mission camp that you may not understand 'anymore'. Silly. I agree with RodgerT:
"Oh just get over it... architecture is a world of fashion, styles, arbitrary decisions and pseudo-science, medicine is none of the above." That's right, medicine is serious.
Its all about pecking orders. Doctors are higher up in the pecking order because they (or healers or whatever you want to call them) make sure people live. Without people, there is no architecture.
Its all about pecking orders. Doctors are higher up in the pecking order because they (or healers or whatever you want to call them) make sure people live. Without people, there is no architecture.
@pale shelter thank you for your insightful answer. It's nice to hear those many positives compared to those few negatives... Also, I was wondering how much would you guys say an architect might make in a city like Manhattan? I read that it can be around 85K to 90K. Does that sound about right? Do you think it is enough to live there comfortably?
I was laughing when I saw this topic.
My parents always told to become a doctor but I didn't like being in the hospital because it's freaking depressing. It is indeed a lucrative profession but you have to have passion for it. It is similar to Architecture only in following the rules strictly or you'll damage the person or structure.
I would have been a doctor if I didn't have to deal with sick, old, or unattractive people.
Maybe measuring toilet rooms in old dilapidated buildings isn't so bad?
its not just a comparison of salaries denominated by the years of experience and education or frustration...the availibility of medically-related work has proven to be far more secure that that of construction-related work. doctors, pharmacists, nurses..etc