In another thread today, a poster commented that medicine is still the best path to pursue financially. I argued that medicine was a poor financial decision relative to other paths.
To prove my point, I decided to do a quantitative assessment of the the lifetime income of three career paths: Law, Business, and Medicine. To determine which would be the most financially profitable to actually pursue.
From the data, I was completely wrong.
For the vast majority of students, medicine is the most profitable route to pursue in life. Only students who can attend the top Law or Business schools will out earn physicians.
Data here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Ave6DVycqDmKdEUxQ2ZVUmQyZS1zb1U1YWdHV1NJWlE&output=html
Here is the salary and loan interest information: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pUGW-PFf6apBzClCmIQjB_9kjhBeEKSRscY2foZr-rI/pub
I included three different categories of students based on the assumption that not everyone has the same opportunities. They mostly just entail different salary expectations based on opportunity.
Salaries Based on: MGMA survey for Neurology, Law Firm First year associate pay, and starting salaries posted by the MBA programs.
Category A:
1. Student from top undergrad with lucrative starting salary
2. Student capable of matriculating into top medical, law, and/or business schools.
Paths are
Business: Ivy/Top Undergrad-->McKinsey, Goldman-->Harvard, Wharton, Stanford MBA-->IBanking, Management Consulting, Top Executive
Law: Ivy/Top Undergrad-->HYS Law-->Law Clerk--->Top Big Law Firm (think Watchell, Vinson&Elkins and the like)
Medicine: Ivy/Top Undergrad-->Medical School-->5 year Residency-->Sub-specialty Pay (note: Pay differential isn't affected by med school attended)
Category B:
1. Student from decent school with okay starting salary
2. Student academically qualified for good, but not top graduate programs
Paths are
Business: Decent Undergrad (e.g. UC-Berkeley caliber)-->Mid-Range Firms (low tier consulting Navigant, Accenture)-->Cornell, UCLA caliber MBA-->Mid Range management position
Law: Decent Undergrad-->UCLA, Vanderbilt Law-->Mid Tier Law Firm
Medicine: Decent Undergrad-->Medical School-->5 year Residency-->Sub-specialty Pay (note: Pay differential isn't affected by med school attended)
Category C:
1. Student from low/unranked school with low starting salary
2. Student academically qualified for lower range graduate programs
Paths are
Business: Low/Unranked Undergrad (e.g. University of Houston)-->Low Level Administrative Jobs (e.g. HR for a Fortune 500 company or smaller firm)-->UC-Davis caliber MBA-->Low Range management position
Law: Low/Unranked Undergrad-->Low Tier Law School (e.g. Hofstra Law School)-->Low Tier Firm/Doc Review/Unemployed
Medicine: Decent Undergrad-->Medical School-->5 year Residency-->Sub-specialty Pay (note: Pay differential isn't affected by med school attended)
Link to Data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Ave6DVycqDmKdEUxQ2ZVUmQyZS1zb1U1YWdHV1NJWlE&output=html
To prove my point, I decided to do a quantitative assessment of the the lifetime income of three career paths: Law, Business, and Medicine. To determine which would be the most financially profitable to actually pursue.
From the data, I was completely wrong.
For the vast majority of students, medicine is the most profitable route to pursue in life. Only students who can attend the top Law or Business schools will out earn physicians.
Data here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Ave6DVycqDmKdEUxQ2ZVUmQyZS1zb1U1YWdHV1NJWlE&output=html
Here is the salary and loan interest information: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pUGW-PFf6apBzClCmIQjB_9kjhBeEKSRscY2foZr-rI/pub
I included three different categories of students based on the assumption that not everyone has the same opportunities. They mostly just entail different salary expectations based on opportunity.
Salaries Based on: MGMA survey for Neurology, Law Firm First year associate pay, and starting salaries posted by the MBA programs.
Category A:
1. Student from top undergrad with lucrative starting salary
2. Student capable of matriculating into top medical, law, and/or business schools.
Paths are
Business: Ivy/Top Undergrad-->McKinsey, Goldman-->Harvard, Wharton, Stanford MBA-->IBanking, Management Consulting, Top Executive
Law: Ivy/Top Undergrad-->HYS Law-->Law Clerk--->Top Big Law Firm (think Watchell, Vinson&Elkins and the like)
Medicine: Ivy/Top Undergrad-->Medical School-->5 year Residency-->Sub-specialty Pay (note: Pay differential isn't affected by med school attended)
Category B:
1. Student from decent school with okay starting salary
2. Student academically qualified for good, but not top graduate programs
Paths are
Business: Decent Undergrad (e.g. UC-Berkeley caliber)-->Mid-Range Firms (low tier consulting Navigant, Accenture)-->Cornell, UCLA caliber MBA-->Mid Range management position
Law: Decent Undergrad-->UCLA, Vanderbilt Law-->Mid Tier Law Firm
Medicine: Decent Undergrad-->Medical School-->5 year Residency-->Sub-specialty Pay (note: Pay differential isn't affected by med school attended)
Category C:
1. Student from low/unranked school with low starting salary
2. Student academically qualified for lower range graduate programs
Paths are
Business: Low/Unranked Undergrad (e.g. University of Houston)-->Low Level Administrative Jobs (e.g. HR for a Fortune 500 company or smaller firm)-->UC-Davis caliber MBA-->Low Range management position
Law: Low/Unranked Undergrad-->Low Tier Law School (e.g. Hofstra Law School)-->Low Tier Firm/Doc Review/Unemployed
Medicine: Decent Undergrad-->Medical School-->5 year Residency-->Sub-specialty Pay (note: Pay differential isn't affected by med school attended)
Link to Data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Ave6DVycqDmKdEUxQ2ZVUmQyZS1zb1U1YWdHV1NJWlE&output=html
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