Another fun, stupid poll

[thegenius]

I was talking to a scribe the other day who wants to go to medical school. I asked her whether I could convince her not to go to med school...and she said "try me." So I postulated the following scenario:

Prior to going to medical school you have the option of accepting a fully taxable annuity that pays you $200,000 / year for the next 50 years of your life. The only condition behind this is you cannot go to school to become an MD or DO. You can do anything else with your life. If you want to go into health care, you can be a nurse, admin, PA, etc. You just cannot become an MD or DO.

Much to my surprise she told me she would go to medical school. I told her that I bet 85-90% of all practicing doctors would accept the annuity.

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[skougess]

I was talking to a scribe the other day who wants to go to medical school. I asked her whether I could convince her not to go to med school...and she said "try me." So I postulated the following scenario:

Prior to going to medical school you have the option of accepting a fully taxable annuity that pays you $200,000 / year for the next 50 years of your life. The only condition behind this is you cannot go to school to become an MD or DO. You can do anything else with your life. If you want to go into health care, you can be a nurse, admin, PA, etc. You just cannot become an MD or DO.

Much to my surprise she told me she would go to medical school. I told her that I bet 85-90% of all practicing doctors would accept the annuity.

Unreal, that is an absolute no brainer.

 

[thegenius]

It's stunning, really. I asked another scribe the same thing and she wanted to go to med school also!

 

[gamerEMdoc]

Yeah thats a no brainer? If you could get paid not to work, why would you work? I mean I love medicine but its still a job. If someone would pay me to not work, I’d be on the golf course every day.

 

[Frazier]

They might have felt you were "testing" them, so provided the answer they thought a person [who already devoted their life to medicine] would most likely want to hear.

...au contraire mon frère

 

[GeneralVeers]

I actually think they are genuine. Most Millenials and Gen Zers are entirely on-board with socialism and government run healthcare. They are cool with working for low pay so long as they get virtue-signaling points for "helping people" while having job security and the ability to buy the latest iPhone to keep the world up to date on TikTok about their fabulous lives.

 

[Apollyon]

Much to my surprise she told me she would go to medical school. I told her that I bet 85-90% of all practicing doctors would accept the annuity.

Right at this moment, that's exactly where you are!

 

[WilcoWorld]

I actually think they are genuine. Most Millenials and Gen Zers are entirely on-board with socialism and government run healthcare. They are cool with working for low pay so long as they get virtue-signaling points for "helping people" while having job security and the ability to buy the latest iPhone to keep the world up to date on TikTok about their fabulous lives.

Not all good deeds are done for virtue signaling.

 

[turkeyjerky]

I actually think they are genuine. Most Millenials and Gen Zers are entirely on-board with socialism and government run healthcare. They are cool with working for low pay so long as they get virtue-signaling points for "helping people" while having job security and the ability to buy the latest iPhone to keep the world up to date on TikTok about their fabulous lives.

I'm on board with socialism and gov't healthcare, but I'd still rather have a guaranteed 200k a year for sitting on my ass.

Also, it's not like we really have great job security anymore and I rarely ever actually help anyone...

 

[RustedFox]

I'm on board with socialism and gov't healthcare, but I'd still rather have a guaranteed 200k a year for sitting on my ass.

Also, it's not like we really have great job security anymore and I rarely ever actually help anyone...

I lost the perception of "actually helping anyone" about 2 years ago. One too many shifts in a row where it was just "what does THIS patient want so I can minimize face-time with them and continue to hide here behind the computer screen.

90% of EM is adult babysitting.

 

[Rekt]

I lost the perception of "actually helping anyone" about 2 years ago. One too many shifts in a row where it was just "what does THIS patient want so I can minimize face-time with them and continue to hide here behind the computer screen.

90% of EM is adult babysitting.

I've transitioned to "What are you worried about, what are you expecting today, and what do you want?" So I can get them out of the department as fast as possible.

Buffet Emergency Medicine.

 

[emergentmd]

I would take a 100k annuity in a heart beat even if I was guaranteed plastics or Derm.

In a heart beat I could get a 200k job in 10 yrs.

 

[skougess]

I would take a 100k annuity in a heart beat even if I was guaranteed plastics or Derm.

In a heart beat I could get a 200k job in 10 yrs.

For real. Not accepting borders on delusion. You can live a fully realized, satisfying life on $100k, especially if you start making that in your 20s.

 

[emergentmd]

If you get into MD school, you are the cream. a 200K annuity is a no brainer, not even worth discussion.

100K is even a no brainer.

At 21, most would get a job for 60K and lets say you cap at 100K.

From age 21 to 28 (get out of a quick residency), I would put 100K into a rental property every year and by age 28, have 8 rental homes cash flowing prob 100K/yr + my 100K job + 100K annuity. So I would essentially be making 300K with probably 1-2Mil in property equity.

At 28, continuing buying property with my annuity I would have 200K to live on and by 38 have 18 properties and cash flow 200K/yr. So At 38, I would be making 400K/yr.


If I went to residency, I would have 200K in debt going to the cheapest med school. At 28 even if I made 400K a year, I would never catch up to my annuity twin. NEVER.

 

[Janders]

Annuity all day. I still really enjoy EM (caveats as always). But there are a lot of things I enjoy, and a lot of ways to “help” that don’t involve the profession of clinical medicine. DOOR NUMBER ONE!

 

[docB]

I find this to be a really common attitude in premed people. It's a lot like mountain climbers or athletes. You can tell them all day that the pay off is not worth the cost and they won't believe you. They've convinced themselves that the ordeal will validate them and they've tied a lot of their self worth to achieving that goal. We were all pretty neurotic about this at some point.

 

[miacomet]

They are falling apart now that they aren't matching, aren't matching in their specialty, or are halfway down their rank list. And they all believe in the mythical "physician shortage"

@emergentmd I like your style with the number crunching. You are 100% right. In retrospect, nursing or the trades.

 

[thegenius]

I'm on board with socialism and gov't healthcare, but I'd still rather have a guaranteed 200k a year for sitting on my ass.

Also, it's not like we really have great job security anymore and I rarely ever actually help anyone...

That's what I tried telling them. I told them I feel really good taking care of a patient about 1/week. 1/month I personally save someone's life. The rest of the patients just love getting access to a doctor for free anytime they want. They get pissed off if you can't diagnose their nebulous complaints.

Then she said maybe I won't go into ER (most scribes seemingly want to go into ER). Then I told her outpatient doctors have to get authorization to do any testing. That takes weeks and patients get frustrated and come to the ER, and we discharge them without doing the test. Everybody gets frustrated, the patient and doctor never win, and the only ones who make out are the admin jobs we keep creating to maintain this wasteful practice.

 

[gutonc]

That's what I tried telling them. I told them I feel really good taking care of a patient about 1/week. 1/month I personally save someone's life. The rest of the patients just love getting access to a doctor for free anytime they want. They get pissed off if you can't diagnose their nebulous complaints.

Then she said maybe I won't go into ER (most scribes seemingly want to go into ER). Then I told her outpatient doctors have to get authorization to do any testing. That takes weeks and patients get frustrated and come to the ER, and we discharge them without doing the test. Everybody gets frustrated, the patient and doctor never win, and the only ones who make out are the admin jobs we keep creating to maintain this wasteful practice.

...at which point she went online to schedule her GMAT and started researching MBA in healthcare administration programs.

At least that's what she would have done if she had an ounce of sense.

 

[dadaddadaBATMAN]

I was talking to a scribe the other day who wants to go to medical school. I asked her whether I could convince her not to go to med school...and she said "try me." So I postulated the following scenario:

Prior to going to medical school you have the option of accepting a fully taxable annuity that pays you $200,000 / year for the next 50 years of your life. The only condition behind this is you cannot go to school to become an MD or DO. You can do anything else with your life. If you want to go into health care, you can be a nurse, admin, PA, etc. You just cannot become an MD or DO.

Much to my surprise she told me she would go to medical school. I told her that I bet 85-90% of all practicing doctors would accept the annuity.

I’m with Frazier. They thought you were testing their faith.

If helping people was your goal the annuity would let you do more of that. Nursing helps people. Pharm helps people. Starting a charity with 50k a year would help a lot of people.

Being a doc helps people, but I often feel like if I weren’t there any doc would have done the same things, or close to it. I’m a pretty bright guy, but I’m relatively confident my number of “saves” and “misses” based on pickups or attention to detail are about a wash by comparison to the top 75% of my colleagues. The bottom 25% do sometimes make me feel special....and concerned

 

[emergentmd]

50x$200000=$10,000,000

You can go to med school or win a $10M lottery. Anyone picking medicine is dishonest.

Many docs don't even make 10M in their career.

 

[Tenk]

Any premed who answers they would choose med school over that should be banned from ever attending med school because they are either a liar, psychotic or just plain dumb.

 

[namethatsmell]

I actually think they are genuine. Most Millenials and Gen Zers are entirely on-board with socialism and government run healthcare. They are cool with working for low pay so long as they get virtue-signaling points for "helping people" while having job security and the ability to buy the latest iPhone to keep the world up to date on TikTok about their fabulous lives.

I have trouble understanding why people happily rail against government-run healthcare when our current dumpster-fire EM reality has been designed and executed by a multitude of private equity and for-profit corporations intent on paying physicians as little as possible.

 

[bravotwozero]

6 people still voted to go to medschool. Wonder if they read any of the posts in this thread...

 

[turkeyjerky]

6 people still voted to go to medschool. Wonder if they read any of the posts in this thread...

Meet your future CMG facility medical directors...

 

[Airborne Flt Doc]

I was talking to a scribe the other day who wants to go to medical school. I asked her whether I could convince her not to go to med school...and she said "try me." So I postulated the following scenario:

Prior to going to medical school you have the option of accepting a fully taxable annuity that pays you $200,000 / year for the next 50 years of your life. The only condition behind this is you cannot go to school to become an MD or DO. You can do anything else with your life. If you want to go into health care, you can be a nurse, admin, PA, etc. You just cannot become an MD or DO.

Much to my surprise she told me she would go to medical school. I told her that I bet 85-90% of all practicing doctors would accept the annuity.

I pray there are still doctors who will care for me who also went into medicine because it truly is a calling and not just for a job.

Remember there are still medical missionaries & Doctors without Borders and many who truly do this out of passion for humanity. I believe that is rooted in faith /spiritual health and without it , medicine or any job will make you miserable taking on everyone’s pain and suffering day in and out. It is only by my faith and that recharging faith in my Savior that I can keep doing what I do .

 

[thegenius]

Any premed who answers they would choose med school over that should be banned from ever attending med school because they are either a liar, psychotic or just plain dumb.

I agree...and I advised my scribe that there is only one right answer to this question, if ever asked.

 

[thegenius]

I pray there are still doctors who will care for me who also went into medicine because it truly is a calling and not just for a job.

Remember there are still medical missionaries & Doctors without Borders and many who truly do this out of passion for humanity. I believe that is rooted in faith /spiritual health and without it , medicine or any job will make you miserable taking on everyone’s pain and suffering day in and out. It is only by my faith and that recharging faith in my Savior that I can keep doing what I do .

If medicine was all about that...then I would have Ortho, Gyne, Cards, Ophtho, Rheum, Pain Mgmt, IM, Nephrology, GI, General Surgery, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Pulmonology, Heme/Onc, Urology, ENT, Plastics, and uh.....who am I forgetting, Radiology, IR, anybody else.....?...

....all in the ER with me ready to help with a big smile on their face. When I asked them, 24 / 7, 365.

Alas...all of the specialties mentioned above actually avoid the ER at all costs.


I bet it would be fun to work with a bunch of specialists in a medical missionary. Because they are actually there to help people, and I bet the patients are compliant.

 

[Clean7795]

If medicine was all about that...then I would have Ortho, Gyne, Cards, Ophtho, Rheum, Pain Mgmt, IM, Nephrology, GI, General Surgery, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Pulmonology, Heme/Onc, Urology, ENT, Plastics, and uh.....who am I forgetting, Radiology, IR, anybody else.....?...

....all in the ER with me ready to help with a big smile on their face. When I asked them, 24 / 7, 365.

Alas...all of the specialties mentioned above actually avoid the ER at all costs.


I bet it would be fun to work with a bunch of specialists in a medical missionary. Because they are actually there to help people, and I bet the patients are compliant.

If all of those specialties were in the ER 24/7, 365, there would be nearly no need for a ER-trained doc.

 

[MechEDoc]

I've transitioned to "What are you worried about, what are you expecting today, and what do you want?" So I can get them out of the department as fast as possible.

Buffet Emergency Medicine.

Same, fewer angry patients and I sleep better.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

If all of those specialties were in the ER 24/7, 365, there would be nearly no need for a ER-trained doc.

I'm not sure that's true. You still need someone who can figure out which specialist is needed in an undifferentiated patient.

 

[thegenius]

I'm not sure that's true. You still need someone who can figure out which specialist is needed in an undifferentiated patient.

No it's not because you can't have all the specialties come for all the different complaints. Imagine if you had a pregnant woman with some vaginal spotting, chest pain, headache, and GERD. You're not gonna call OB, Cards, Neuro, and GI for this pt. You put in an IV, give a liter of fluid, tylenol PO and discharge with some pepcid and diclegis. LOL

 

[Franzd'Epinay]

I have trouble understanding why people happily rail against government-run healthcare when our current dumpster-fire EM reality has been designed and executed by a multitude of private equity and for-profit corporations intent on paying physicians as little as possible.

 

[WilcoWorld]

6 people still voted to go to medschool. Wonder if they read any of the posts in this thread...

I'm guilty.

Of course, that's in large part because I have a tremendously rewarding unicorn of a job...one that I accept a substantial financial penalty in order to have. It's totally worth it IMO