One of my friends has several jobs and one of them is appearing in court representing the bank in home repossessions. She generally doesn't feel bad about it - often it's people's second homes or company's premises, and the system in the UK isn't as brutal as the US one, but occasionally she is aware that she's causing homelessness and she hates it.
I just had a very useful 40 minute phone call with the woman I wrote about contacting last month (and how that was a big step for me as I hate contacting strangers to ask for favours). It was very interesting, she answered lots of questions and was also forthright and to the point in the manner I've grown used to from a certain type of woman - successful, busy, highly-achieving and well-educated - in telling me that a) it would be a waste of everyone's time for me to contact prisons asking if I could visit (I thought this was probably the case but wanted to confirm) and b) I have an obligation to society to make use of the investment in my education. The undertone was "don't waste your talents on being a midwife". I see her point, as I saw the point of the other people who have said similar things, and I didn't argue, but sometimes I do get a bit frustrated that people don't recognise the value of intelligent, well-educated people being on the front line of healthcare services. It is in the day-to-day decision-making that it is most essential for people to know and understand research, policy and ethics.
Also my health wouldn't allow me to do the quantity and intensity of work she does, but there's no point going into that nest of hornets with strangers.