Anyone give up 100K+ jobs for med school?

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helpfuldoc2b

helpfuldoc2b

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Anyone give up 100K plus jobs to go to medical school, if so what professions were they and how did you feel or adjustment making the leap?
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umm, im not in the 100k range (yet).... but I been working as a software developer for the past couple years and my income has been pretty good for me (close to 60k per year plus all benefits)... but check it out, I am 25 years old and I don't owe my college 200k+ in debt.

I can easily hit the 90-100K salary by time Im 30 if I jump positions right, but I don't want to stay in I.T..... I want to be in dental medicine, its MUCH more interesting line of work.
 
Leaving consulting gig with a bill rate of $xxx/hr. As to the OP's second question - ask me again once school starts...

EDIT: x'd out actual $ value.

I like being able messing around with new stuff - bluray/hd-dvd, etc. I'll miss that.
 
Yes, with stock options included I was making about 100K a year.
 
Nasem said:
umm, im not in the 100k range (yet).... but I been working as a software developer for the past couple years and my income has been pretty good for me (close to 60k per year plus all benefits)... but check it out, I am 25 years old and I don't owe my college 200k+ in debt.

I can easily hit the 90-100K salary by time Im 30 if I jump positions right, but I don't want to stay in I.T..... I want to be in dental medicine, its MUCH more interesting line of work.
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Are you doing a post-bac?
 
I made a LOT more than I will as a physician, but i can be a physician until I am unable to think- as a pro athlete, my career had a limited shelf life. On the plus side, I experienced a sort of 'reverse retirement', and live on the beach!
 
helpfuldoc2b said:
Anyone give up 100K plus jobs to go to medical school, if so what professions were they and how did you feel or adjustment making the leap?
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As a physician I will NEVER come close to my previous compensation. This doesn't bother me in the least -- I feel like I have "enough" money (admittedly this is different for everyone). Once I achieved my desired level of financial security, the only reason to continue in my former career would have been just to accumulate more money. I didn't have a passion for what I was doing and I am much happier now. Med school isn't something you should do for the money anyway, IMO.
 
hypothetically, what kind of points would someone pick up from an admissions committee by walking away from a quarter mil job? do they care (or would/should they even know)?
 
was on wall street before medicine and was up to more than 100k... glad to be here though. i agree with the 12 year financier above--best decision i ever made...:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
 
MD/DO ALMOST said:
I made a LOT more than I will as a physician, but i can be a physician until I am unable to think- as a pro athlete, my career had a limited shelf life. On the plus side, I experienced a sort of 'reverse retirement', and live on the beach!
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Dude, what type of pro were you?
 
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I'm still waiting for the thread where a keith richards-type gives it all up--the millions, the fame, the girls, the mounds of pure columbian etc.- to become a doctor.
 
CATallergy said:
hypothetically, what kind of points would someone pick up from an admissions committee by walking away from a quarter mil job? do they care (or would/should they even know)?
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They won't know or care - you get no special points for making a non-financially driven decision. Most interviewers of folks coming from objectively lucrative careers will caution the interviewee that s/he is unlikely to ever get back to where s/he would be financially (had s/he staying in the prior career), in medicine. So long as the interviewee is well aware of this, they don't belabor it.
 
Am cap out as a consultant in installing data warehouses and DBA. Each year it gets more competitive and rates are getting lower since 1999. So training in medicine appears better to me.
 
Law2Doc said:
They won't know or care - you get no special points for making a non-financially driven decision. Most interviewers of folks coming from objectively lucrative careers will caution the interviewee that s/he is unlikely to ever get back to where s/he would be financially (had s/he staying in the prior career), in medicine. So long as the interviewee is well aware of this, they don't belabor it.
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So very true! In fact it will be a bad idea to even mention it sometimes. A friend of mine recently interviewed at a local state school and got jackhammered when she said something along the line of "I know this does not make financial sense for me given that I am already making six-figure." After that interview, she was rejected promptly by that school.
 
Yea, the question should have said 300K because most doctors can obtain this... 150K is probably the bare minimum for the laziest doc in the world. Or perhaps an unemployed one... LOL
 
helpfuldoc2b said:
Anyone give up 100K plus jobs to go to medical school, if so what professions were they and how did you feel or adjustment making the leap?
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It doesn't matter. Money isn't important and you shouldn't even consider it. If medicine is your passion and you can't imagine doing anything else then not only should you willingly pay tuition for medical school but also for residency as no amount of debt is too much for the honor and privilege of medical training.
 
I was a rock star and personal advisor to the President of the United States. I was making in excess of $20 million per year. I gave it all up to become a doctor.
 
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Johnny D, waaw Mr. Karl Rove (Presidential Adviser), that beyond comprehesion
 
Johnny D, waaw Mr. Karl Rove (Presidential Adviser), that beyond comprehesion
 
christian15213 said:
Yea, the question should have said 300K because most doctors can obtain this... 150K is probably the bare minimum for the laziest doc in the world. Or perhaps an unemployed one... LOL
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Not in my neck of the woods. Academic FM docs on my campus are paid at about 100K with malpractice covered and benefits on top of it. Of course they are free to moonlight, but then they'd be well beyond the "lazy" label as they volunteer for extra work beyond their full time commitments.

I didn't quite get to 100K, but I was well on track before going the med school route. The only thing is that I had to work long and strange hours (shifts that nobody else wanted).
 
I have been a commercial pilot for the last eight years. The money and benefits were great but the schedules were really tough, I was living in hotels about 75% of my life. It was fun while it lasted but not something I wanted to do for the rest of my life, it would be nice to see my wife more then one day a week.
 
Panda Bear said:
It doesn't matter. Money isn't important and you shouldn't even consider it. If medicine is your passion and you can't imagine doing anything else then not only should you willingly pay tuition for medical school but also for residency as no amount of debt is too much for the honor and privilege of medical training.
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:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Dr. Bear your refined sense of sardonic humor appears to be lost on the masses... ;)

P.S. Your blog, in its recent incarnation, remains a thought-provoking, often inspiring, at times infuriating, and always amusing feast for the eyes. :)
 
100K+, but now I have no more college loans... (only Post Bacc) :) and lots of nice interview suits, and the ability to model my med school budget in Excel. That's hot! :)
 
Johnny_D said:
I was a rock star and personal advisor to the President of the United States. I was making in excess of $20 million per year. I gave it all up to become a doctor.
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best
 
Kr#36 said:
Only those who don't have it
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I've been homeless and poor. I only cared about having enough money to feed myself and possibly have a place to stay (and eventually pay rent once I scrounged up enough money). My philosophy is that money can't buy you happiness, but it's much easier to find happiness when you don't have to worry about money. I forget who said that originally.
 
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Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
My philosophy is that money can't buy you happiness, but it's much easier to find happiness when you don't have to worry about money.
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Speaking as someone who had never earned anything close to a six figure salary before becoming an attending a couple of years ago, I agree. Having more money hasn't made me happier. In fact, I pretty much live the same lifestyle now that I lived before I had a six figure salary. The difference now has to do with how much more slack there is in the system. There are no financial emergencies any more when you have money. Like, when the registrar "lost" my application for an employee tuition waiver one semester and charged me for my classes even though the fees were supposed to be waived, hey, not a problem that couldn't be solved by sending them a couple thousand dollars. Was I happy about giving them that money? No. I have to confess that I'm still a bit miffed about it a year later. But my miffedness wasn't (and isn't) because it affected whether I'd be able to eat or pay my bills that month. These days, I can afford to be miffed about things like the registrar screwing me over just on principle.

Anyway, to get back to the thread, I'm getting ready to give up a six figure salary to become a fellow. And it's because I had a six figure salary for the past couple of years that I am now in a position where I can afford to give up a six figure salary. :)
 
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QofQuimica said:
Speaking as someone who had never earned anything close to a six figure salary before becoming an attending a couple of years ago, I agree. Having more money hasn't made me happier. In fact, I pretty much live the same lifestyle now that I lived before I had a six figure salary. The difference now has to do with how much more slack there is in the system. There are no financial emergencies any more when you have money. Like, when the registrar "lost" my application for an employee tuition waiver one semester and charged me for my classes even though the fees were supposed to be waived, hey, not a problem that couldn't be solved by sending them a couple thousand dollars. Was I happy about giving them that money? No. I have to confess that I'm still a bit miffed about it a year later. But my miffedness wasn't (and isn't) because it affected whether I'd be able to eat or pay my bills that month. These days, I can afford to be miffed about things like the registrar screwing me over just on principle.

Anyway, to get back to the thread, I'm getting ready to give up a six figure salary to become a fellow. And it's because I had a six figure salary for the past couple of years that I am now in a position where I can afford to give up a six figure salary. :)
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Exactly. My wife and I come extremely close to six figures now when you combine our income, and what makes us happy are not things we buy. But the financial cushion we have allows us to be happy because we don't have to worry about emergencies that come up.

Edit to contribute: I have a six figure job waiting for me if I ever decided to go to law school. I was considering it for a bit, and I still think I might go that way if medicine doesn't work out. But I'd rather slave away in the military as a doctor earning just barely six figures than easily make that as a lawyer.
 
I'm giving up a cushy 100K+ job to pursue medicine. Although for a while, I'm going to work/school full time so I can build up some buffer cash. At some point though, I'll have to let it go and focus purely on my studies. Looking forward to that, though admittedly, I'll miss the flexibility that comes with a good income.

Miserable people who win the lottery become rich, miserable people.
 
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IsleyOfTheNorth said:
I'm giving up a cushy 100K+ job to pursue medicine. Although for a while, I'm going to work/school full time so I can build up some buffer cash. At some point though, I'll have to let it go and focus purely on my studies. Looking forward to that, though admittedly, I'll miss the flexibility that comes with a good income.

Miserable people who win the lottery become rich, miserable people.
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If you have a good life why be a doctor ?:/ you can still
Help people by starting your own non profit et
 
Pediateix said:
If you have a good life why be a doctor ?:/ you can still
Help people by starting your own non profit et
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That sounds about as reasonable as responding to someone that says "I like cars, I think I want to be an automotive engineer" with "Well, maybe you should just buy a car and be content with that, or maybe just sit on the stoop contemplating cars". If everyone listened to that kind of advice there would be no doctors, because everyone gets that kind of advice from some naysayer party-pooper. Poop your own party.
 
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