mkm56

How true impactangel! We have a neurologist friend who is still paying off his medschool education loans, while acquiring debt on his own children's educations.

matrixrebloated

yea my friend's dad...im thinking around 40-50...really famous cardiologist, just finished paying off medical school debt last month

btw, he went to john hopkins

bigdaddy06

Everyone talks about how horrible it is... presumably because it used to be a profession where the family practice guy drove a 911 twin turbo (I know when I was a young kid in the 80s my family doc has a black 911). With medmal, and the government telling you what you are worth and why.... the question becomes this.... Is it worth it? Do the rewards one gets in the field as a job outweigh the costs? I have a job were I make a lot of money and have a lot of freedom but I am not happy, it is not fullfulling.... how do people in the field of medicine feel about what they do on a daily basis? Is it fun? Rewarding? Challenging? Invigorating? or does it stink?

impactangel

If I had to guess, I would say most docs are really happy about their job. If their intention was to help people, the hours could get worse, the pay could drop, the lawyers could get more vicious, and many of these doctors would still leave the office with a smile because they have the opportunity to help people. It's an opportunity that is probably all those things you mentioned: fun, rewarding, challenging, and invigorating.

That being said, there are some docs who are so disillusioned with the way medicine is practiced today that it is a drag going into the office every single day. I can only imagine how much that must suck to pay all that tuition, slave through all the work, and burn away 4+ years of the best years of your life in residency only to realize you're unhappy with your final destination.

I'd definitely do all the research I can about the medical landscape today (and see if I could live with it) before deciding on being a doc!

msdoc

I have been reading this thread with amused interest. I have been a practicing physician for over 20 years and would never consider any other profession for my life's work. I have witnessed significant changes in medicine, most of which have had a detrimental effect on the ability of doctors to control their lives, their incomes and their level of job satisfaction. Having said that, however, I wouldn't trade my life for any investment banker's, entrepreneur's or lawyer's. The continued advances in medical knowledge and technology makes the field challenging every day. The opportunities in medicine are so abundant that you will never be pigeonholed. You can teach, you can do research, go into medical management, work at a university, private practice, etc. Many physicians I know have been getting MBA's in an attempt to influence policy decisions locally and nationally. The field is one with limitless boundaries. Not to even begin to describe the feeling you get when your stopped by a patient at a restaurant or a sporting event who thanks you for treating or caring for them or a loved one.

Jo.InC.

from what i heard, when your married and still and intern or resident, family life crumbles. *shakes head*

msdoc

I was married in my 4th year of medical school. My wife had a job and on-call was tough, but we handled it without difficulty. I had my first child when I was a third year resident, and again, it was a bit difficult, but nothing that I would consider insurmountable. Again, when you and your partner believe that you are both working for a valuable future life,things become much easier to deal with.

impactangel

Nice!

I read somewhere that the divorce rate jumps up to 70% when one person is a physician as opposed to 50% when neither person is a physician. Pretty scary if that data is true.

dcb07

What does "comfortable" living mean? Nice cars, nice house, ect?

ihateCA

It doesn't mean anything where I live. Unless you inherited your house, it will NOT be "nice." You usually spend 800k on a 100 yr old, 3 bed shack and spend another 200k to make it livable. So "comfortable" is relative. But I live in the most insanely expensive state, CA.

bigdaddy06

Try Manhattan on for size.... I have a 1400 SQFT 2 bedroom new construction condo.... 1.5 million on the upper east side.... price per sq foot is unbelievable...

CA you get nice weather and more space, than cold NYC

dcb07

OK so say I'm aspiring to become a doctor. Because itll be difficult to pay off heavy amounts of debt, would it be much wiser to go to a state school and pay much less on tuition instead of going to other prestigious and expensive schools. Even though the prestigious schools may give you a better education, is the extra amounts of money really worth it?

impactangel

I would definitely go with the state school (unless you come from a state with an absolutely atrocious med school). Dedicated, ambitious, and hardworking students can become good doctors from any medical school. Repaying $250,000 in loans (especially during the residency years) is torture!

dcb07

Yeah well I'm from Illinois so we have good schools. I was thinking the state school would be a better choice financially speaking, but if I changed my mind on what i wanted to do, which is possible, i would say the better college might be a better choice even though it is way more expensive. But money is an issue and serious thing to consider.

msdoc

I concur. Go to the state school and do well. When I look at the CVs of the physicians who apply for positions in my practice, the name of their medical school is only slightly less important than the name of their college. The most important component of a CV is the quality of the last place they trained and I have found that is not often well correlated with the quality of the academic institution that preceeded it. I would prefer to take a physician who was chief resident at a good program and attended a quality fellowship who hailed from an average medical school and college over a Harvard, Hopkins, MD that did their residency and fellowship at average programs. Again, don't believe the nonsense that the only way to get a good residency is through a good med school, which means a good college, etc, etc. I've seen many applicants' CVs and that logic just ain't true!