Is medicine (Military or Civilian) worth it anymore?

[DieselDoctor]

I hve been accepted to medical school this fall, and have qualified for a 4 year HPSP scholarship. I have 3 years of prior service, so I'm willing to make a deal with the devil (the Army) in order to pay for med school. I have been working as an engineer for a few years and would have to use all of my personal savings before qualifiying for any student aid; hence the HPSP scholarship has additional benefits for me as compared to a traditional med student with no personal savings. However, I'm starting to question if becomming a doctor (military or civilian) is worth it anymore in this era of managed care, ridiculous malpractice lawsuits and premiums (on the civilian side), while barely being compensated financially for the time involved. I currently have a pretty decent job in a Fortune 500 company as an engineer, and am getting close to a 6 figure salary for roughly a 40 hour work week. I realize life isn't just about money, but I've really been wondering if the intrinsic rewards and satisfaction of being a doctor and helping people is worth giving up a job that pays pretty well and gives me enough free time to enjoy other hobbies and interests. I've heard so many doctors say that if they had to do it over again, they probably wouldn't choose mediciine. Can doctors with 3-15 years of experience give some opinions and advice based on their experience?

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[wife4josh]

I hve been accepted to medical school this fall, and have qualified for a 4 year HPSP scholarship. I have 3 years of prior service, so I'm willing to make a deal with the devil (the Army) in order to pay for med school. I have been working as an engineer for a few years and would have to use all of my personal savings before qualifiying for any student aid; hence the HPSP scholarship has additional benefits for me as compared to a traditional med student with no personal savings. However, I'm starting to question if becomming a doctor (military or civilian) is worth it anymore in this era of managed care, ridiculous malpractice lawsuits and premiums (on the civilian side), while barely being compensated financially for the time involved. I currently have a pretty decent job in a Fortune 500 company as an engineer, and am getting close to a 6 figure salary for roughly a 40 hour work week. I realize life isn't just about money, but I've really been wondering if the intrinsic rewards and satisfaction of being a doctor and helping people is worth giving up a job that pays pretty well and gives me enough free time to enjoy other hobbies and interests. I've heard so many doctors say that if they had to do it over again, they probably wouldn't choose mediciine. Can doctors with 3-15 years of experience give some opinions and advice based on their experience?

Well, I don't have 3-15 years of experience as a doc, but have been close to the field long enough I guess. I am a med student and work in medical field as well. Sure, it's not about money, but if it's not money then you need to get some other kind of satisfaction. Some people choose for medicine mostly becasue of idealistic beliefs, others purely because of financial benefits. There is a large group that wants both - personal satisfaction and good money. Nothing wrong about that. However you should question yourself whether caring for people, seeing them come and go, being able to help them, seeing them smile when they get better, can satisfy you enough to compensate for all the downsides of medicine (potential lawsuits, long hours, tough cases = those you can't medically win as a doc, lots of paperwork driving you crazy...). You should really think hard on that issue, as many doctors seem to "suffer" from professional burnout.

I know it's only part of the truth, but actually nobody can give you a tailored answer. It just depends on you - what you want - and not what others think...

 

[orbitsurgMD]

I hve been accepted to medical school this fall, and have qualified for a 4 year HPSP scholarship. I have 3 years of prior service, . . . . Can doctors with 3-15 years of experience give some opinions and advice based on their experience?

Medicine has changed hugely since I started medical school. I am not sure I would have chosen the same had I known to expect the present practice climate. I am fortunate to have chosen a pleasant and interesting specialty, and have been able to get both a residency and fellowship in fields of my choosing. I think those in internal medicine and other non-procedural specialties are seeing a worse picture of their career choices. For someone with talents and interests that could take them in several rewarding and interesting career trajectories, medicine has more to compete with than might have been the case in the past.

A large cohort of the U.S. population is moving into retirement. Many do not have the pension and savings that their parents had. Medical care is more plentiful in its offerings, but also more expensive, and the taxed and working population of U.S. workers will have to support the demands of these new Medicare beneficiaries at a level that is greater than in the past. Conflict between demands on tax resources and consumption of covered services are likely to become more acute. The allotment to physicians is not likely to become more than incrementally better, if at all. More constraints on eligibility are inevitable. Even those practitioners who presently earn high incomes will eventually feel pressures to accommodate the limits in available resources. That is the climate you will likely face.

You have some special circumstances. Money isn't everything, but debt is no trivial matter, either as a loan or service repayment. The Army is offering you a way to pay for medical school. You will owe service to them in return, on their terms. That will leave you at their mercy as to whether you will be permitted to complete your full training, or have that training delayed or interrupted to do service in ways you might not otherwise choose. You might enjoy the service, or not. Either way, I can reasonably estimate that it will take you at least a decade before your income and lifestyle will equal what you have or are capable of right now. Your liberty in matters of leave, of ability to take vacation, (especially if you work for a good company that treats its employees well) and sense of personal freedom will never equal what you have now regardless whether you choose civilian or military medical training pathways. Resident pay isn't good compared to your present salary, and neither for the most part are the benefits. If you presently live well below your means, your ability to accumulate savings will be greatly reduced. Honestly, with the opportunity costs considered, even with the highly-paid specialties, you may not come out better than if you pursued the engineering/management/entrepreneur pathways that you might otherwise choose. So you should choose medicine only in spite of that possibility. Don't count on coming out ahead, because you can't.

 

[USAFdoc]

I hve been accepted to medical school this fall, and have qualified for a 4 year HPSP scholarship. I have 3 years of prior service, so I'm willing to make a deal with the devil (the Army) in order to pay for med school. I have been working as an engineer for a few years and would have to use all of my personal savings before qualifiying for any student aid; hence the HPSP scholarship has additional benefits for me as compared to a traditional med student with no personal savings. However, I'm starting to question if becomming a doctor (military or civilian) is worth it anymore in this era of managed care, ridiculous malpractice lawsuits and premiums (on the civilian side), while barely being compensated financially for the time involved. I currently have a pretty decent job in a Fortune 500 company as an engineer, and am getting close to a 6 figure salary for roughly a 40 hour work week. I realize life isn't just about money, but I've really been wondering if the intrinsic rewards and satisfaction of being a doctor and helping people is worth giving up a job that pays pretty well and gives me enough free time to enjoy other hobbies and interests. I've heard so many doctors say that if they had to do it over again, they probably wouldn't choose mediciine. Can doctors with 3-15 years of experience give some opinions and advice based on their experience?

I was a nuke operator in the USNAVY for 6 years, and took the HPSP because I wanted a career serving the troops and it gave me financial freedom.

I left the USAF a year ago after serving as a primary care doc. Between my time in the USNAVY as a nuke, as a teacher, as an employee of the Univ of Calif, as even a Mc Donalds worker; the USAF Primary care was easily the WORST organization I have ever seen. Other people on this site, and many other docs I know in other services would say similar things about military medicine at this time.

If you want to join and have some quick financial freedom, go for it. If you want to do what is probably best for you and your family in the long run, and when you become a doc, run the other way and don't look back.

 

[NavyFP]

I usually advise those who are thinking of medicine to look and see if there is anything else they could do an be happy doing it. If the answer is there are other options for happiness, I recommend against medicine.

Being a doctor is just what you do, it is what you are. The training process is long and difficult and even when you are done, it can still hold on to you for 60+ hours per week. Missed holidays and events are not uncommon. Lawsuits and the threat of them are growing. Management by non-physicians is growing as well. As noted in earlier comments, our population is getting older and as Medicare begins to care for more and more, reimbursements will likely drop. It has to or the government will have to raise taxes too much. (which none of them like to do unless it is on the rich.)


Think long and hard, and if you are married, it needs to be a group decision.

 

[Mirror Form]

I have been working as an engineer for a few years and would have to use all of my personal savings before qualifiying for any student aid; hence the HPSP scholarship has additional benefits for me as compared to a traditional med student with no personal savings.

You seem to be considering HPSP for the wrong reason. Never do HPSP if your primary reason is money; you'll likely not come out ahead. Only take the HPSP scholarship if your *primary* reason for doing so is b/c you want to be a military med corp officer and serve you country and its troops.

 

[USAFdoc]

You seem to be considering HPSP for the wrong reason. Never do HPSP if your primary reason is money; you'll likely not come out ahead. Only take the HPSP scholarship if your *primary* reason for doing so is b/c you want to be a military med corp officer and serve you country and its troops.

I agree with the above statment, but the following needs to be added on to the end of the sentence........serve your country and its troops, NO MATTER WHAT. Because the military will give you and your attempts to be a good physician alot of "NO MATTER WHAT" to deal with.