Hello..!

I have a decision to make now.. As I finished my elementary school + high school (I think that is the equivalent to the thing I went to) and now that I'm 20 I think it's time for me to start studying..

So I have some questions, I love science. I love anything that has to do with science. When I see something I want to see how that works, how I can make something similiar and so on. That has developed my love for programming, building lasers, doing stuff with R/C thingies and so on. But when it comes to the work as a surgeon (which is the second choice I stand between), it doesn't really feel as what I want to do. It feels as if I would have a life as they show it in tv programmes, with nice girls surrounding you and that prestigous work where everybody looks up to you and so on, it isn't the job itself that I like, it's the stuff you would get WITH the job that interests me...

So if you were in my seat - which one would you pick? Surgeon education in Sweden takes about 13 years, with a starting salary of about $10k + 20% holiday (20% of the 10k per month) per month as a surgeon. Engineering in Sweden (civil engineer as it is called directly translated) takes about 5 years to study, and has a starting salary of about $8k per month + 20% holiday (20% of the 8k per month) and by looking at the final salaries, the engineer (39% of them) end up as CEO's in Sweden (it's a small country) with final salaries of around $22k per month (+ all the extras such as holiday) when at the age of around 50-55, while the final surgeon salary is about $15k.

So what would you choose - to pick the work with most salary + that I like the work itself, or pick the work which gives lower salary + that I like the things that comes WITH the work?


(Note: The salaries I mentioned applies to around 39% of all the engineers, some have lower, some have higher. This only applies to people who continued working with the job and not giving it up for other jobs)

(Another note: In Sweden, we have engineer and civil engineer, whereas the engineer is the ordinary engineer that "invents" things. The civil engineer often leads people as a group leader, boss, CEO or whatever, but they are in charge of a lot of the technical aspects aswell. The type of engineer I'm talking about in this thread is civil engineer (directly translated from Google Translate gives "Master of Science"))

Thank you!

Haha, "master of science" that is fantastic.

At first I thought you were deciding between engineer (as in electrical or mechanical - the types that invent) and doctor, and I was going to say they (those types of engineers) don't pay well in the US. Civil Engineering does apparently pay well and is a growing field. At least, our president seems to think so anyway.

Go with the work you actually will enjoy doing. If you don't you'll probably regret it eventually.

I'd say start knocking out your general ed classes at the university, while taking a few electives of things that interest you. Sometimes you'll find, after taking a few classes, that the fields that you were planning on studying aren't quite what you'd thought they'd be... OR you may find something that you'd enjoy doing even more. The point is, you've got a few years of classes to take before you even have to nail down what you'd like to do. Take advantage of it.

Engineering - If u have creativity, skills, and a solid approach of making things work..
Doctor/Surgeon - For that , kid "PASSION" is the word!! and it does take a lot more than that.
Stiff heart, solid grip, steady hands, and a mind of a god!!

I think civil engineering is what I want to do and what I would enjoy more doing.. Applying tomorrow...!

I don't want to put peoples lives into the hands of someone who doesn'tbenjoy the work and only does it for the benefits rather then saving people..