YouMDbro, though there is an intuition within me that is suggesting you are simply another SDN troll, I felt the need to respond.
First, it is undeniable truth that physicians
do benefit from a respectable, upper middle class income and a level of job security that is essentially unmatched by [
most] any other profession. No matter what specialty you go into, you will be able to afford the house with a yard and a picket fence in a nice, suburban neighborhood with quality schools; if you budget, save and invest intelligently, you may even be able to afford that much coveted sports car.
That said, though your income and job security will be significant, your lifestyle is a tad more uncertain. While there are some high-paying specialties that afford you the ability to balance work and family level well, those also tend to be at the more competitive end of the specialty spectrum. Some of them, such as integrated plastics and dermatology, are absurdly competitive at any program in the country, as I am sure you already know. Others, such as radiology and anesthesiology, can be incredibly competitive at the top programs and those programs in desirable areas of the country; however, if one is simply interested in matching into any, non-malignant program, even a mediocre student should be successful. If one works hard and is reasonably intelligent, the consensus seems to be that one can make decent (in most cases, not absurd) money, have job security and, with effort, maintain a life outside of work.
Even so, you should be prepared that you will be working long (80/a week+) hours throughout most of your training for sometimes no or very little money and that, though a decent lifestyle is possible, outside of fields like dermatology, it is still a medicine lifestyle. How will you feel when, as a third year student on rotations, you have been in the hospital since before the sun has risen for days in a row? How will you feel when, as a resident, you have worked 80 hours or so in the past week and are too exhausted to go out with friends/spend quality time with family? How will you feel when, as an attending, you have to leave your kids at home and not see them for a day or so while you take call or when, despite your best efforts, you just can't make it to every single game?
These situations would be painful and exhausting for the most passionate students and physicians, creating the potential for doubt in even those "premedical student from the time of conception"-gunner types. But for the student and/or physician who doesn't like what they're doing? They could be excruciating, festering more regret, bitterness and dislike for one's life than could ever be healthy.
Because, here's the thing: as much as I think it would be wonderful if everyone went into medicine for passion and altruistic desire, that isn't the reality. You don't have to want to selflessly devote your lives to others to be reasonably happy in medicine; but you do have to like, to some extent, what you are doing. You have to
want the job, not just the money and job security that come along with it.
Thus, in light of all of this, it makes sense that you are having doubts. It's normal and, if most of the users here were to be honest, they have had them at some point, too. It's important not to see having these doubts as a crisis; but as an opportunity to truly look at the path one has set out on, reevaluate it it, look into the alternatives and make an informed decisions. I think that is what you were, what you are, trying to do with this thread.
Even if you did not like the responses or felt they were too harsh, you did get quite a bit of quality input and advice here. Posters such as mmmcdowe, Nick Naylor, Law2Doc, Captain Fantastic and others all offered a perspective that is coming from a place of much greater experience than you or any of us premedical students have. In academic and career respects, they are our elders/superiors. Yet, instead of respecting that, you continually ignored what they were saying, invalidated it and, as soon
as one other premedical student said something that you wanted to hear, you clung onto it above all else. Not only is this irrational, it is a poor attitude to have and one that I think anybody who has ever held a job in which they were accountable to a higher up would be, quite frankly, appalled at. I would suggest getting rid of it as soon as possible.
Right now, you need to consider this an opportunity to pause, take a step back and look into -- and plan for -- other career possibilities. Don't drop your program just yet; but, perhaps for the first time in your educational career, branch out. If it ends up that medicine is for you, then no harm was done; if you do decide it is not for you, then you will have an out. Take finance classes and look into potential transfer schools, as was already suggested; shadow as many physicians as possible and question if you could yourself doing that for most of your adult life; and shadow other professions, as well. Have you looked into law? H
ow about dentistry (known for its lucrative income AND good lifestyle. You can even start by reading the
profiles here on SDN)? And so on. There's a whole world out there besides medicine and, as soon who seems to have committed themselves to a field a bit too early, I think it's time to get to know that world.
Best of luck.
Star
. By income/estate ratios, some fancy toys are well within the budget of a doctor. Personally I dont plan on having kids so the money saved is going to buy me a DB9 some day (and don't nobody tell me any different! 
)
so...... whatever
