Is med school right for me?

frugaldoctor
Wed, 23 Oct 2013 11:15:36 +0000

There is a lot involved with medicine beyond a doctor who schedules a lot of patients per day. The overhead costs are usually equal to 100-125% of a typical physician’s income. Therefore, a surgeon has to produce approximately $500,000 in revenue to earn $250,000. Furthermore, most physicians are employees at some point in their careers, usually when they join a group. They have to produce and schedule a lot of patients to meet the budgetary requirements of their employers. If a physician chooses to start their own practice, this has become very rare, he or she will wait 90-180 days for the reimbursements from the insurance companies. Yet, they have to pay for overhead day one. Plus over the last several decades, reimbursements have plummeted.

I can not agree more that pursuing medicine for wealth is absolutely crazy. But deciding on whether medicine is right fo you can wait as you mature in college and explore several majors.

My family prepared me to become a doctor as far back as I can remember. It was an expectation I wanted nothing to do with. I couldn’t imagine dealing with blood, pain or patients. So, I rebelled and became an engineer. Well, after taking a biology class during my senior year in college, I became hooked with biology and wanted to pursue medicine. By then I had matured as a person and student. Everything about medicine became very rewarding to me (except the business end). I continued with my pre-med after graduating college and each class made me want to learn more. That is how I decided.

Take your time and explore. You have a LONG way to go. But don’t beat up the physicians who are whisking you through their office. You are seeing the end result of the last 3 decades of changes in medicine and the cost of practicing medicine.