I'm an anesthesiologist eight years outta residency. The educational process, although arduous and ate up my second decade on this planet, exposed me to people, places, and situations that I could not have experienced had I not taken this route. Not all were good experiences, but many were. By investing in myself instead of a company, I'll always have a job somewhere, even if the bottom falls out of medicine. Contrast that to airline pilots with twenty years seniority with their airline who could be out on the street tomorrow if their carrier goes bottom up (i.e. Pan Am, Braniff, People's Express, etc etc). I came from an airline family so not pursuing that career path was a difficult decision, but a good one in light of the industry today. I still love to fly but my living is not dependent on it and I don't sleep out of a suitcase in a hotel 10-15 days a month.
I initially took a job with a group in a small town where the money was great but the lifestyle/area was not, but it enabled me to pay off all my loans (200k) in five years and put a buncha money in the bank.
Now I live in the city where I want (well..I live in the city where my boss..aka wife...wants, which is almost as good). I have no financial worries and the other docs and I have worked our schedule out so we work 2 weeks of days, a week of nights, and a week off.
I take care of patients every day in an air conditioned operating room, I have night call one week out of four, one weekend out of four, and I get 13 weeks vacation annually. I don't know many other professions that could offer me the level of cerebral stimulation/income/lifestyle offered to me as a result of my large sacrifices during my twenties.
Could be much, much worse.
