Becoming a doctor

VSGPeanut101
Wed, 24 Sep 2014 20:58:00 +0000

Salaries today are somewhat higher, but the “starting date” for a physician is 5 or more years later in life. So in addition to the debt of medical school, the opportunity cost of missing out on those years of higher salary in your 20s need to be considered. In the future, as the ACA/Obamacare matures and the system adjusts, I have no idea what medical specialty salaries will look like. It is getting harder for young physicians to find employment, and many experienced docs I know (I do emergency medicine) are having difficulty finding “additional hours” they are used to working to make extra money.

It is not easy to pay back that level of debt. Most people are getting married, having children, buying a house by the time they finally get that first “150K” paycheck. Most physicians I know are well into their 40s before they pay of the med school debt.

No you don’t have to have Mother Theresa like compassion to be a happy and successful physician. But you do have to have a “calling”. There are some misanthropic surgeons I know, but they LOVE operating and would rather be in the OR doing a procedure than home with their families or at the movies. You cannot do medicine for the money. Being a “good person with a great work ethic” will not sustain you. You have to love the work. Whether that is love for helping people or love for other aspects matters little.

Keep exploring and you’ll see if medicine might be the career for you.