Going for medicine or finance?

[JOhnA11]

I am poised to begin my program at medical school this year in Sweden at Karolinska Institutet, which is a top medical school, and I will complete it after 5,5 years.
I feel dubious about this, primarily because I am disappointed with the salary I will receive and the thought of being stuck in Sweden, in a state owned hospital with weak remunerations doesn't seem quite as appealing as it did 12 months ago, when I embarked toward my goal and made my first stride.

As a Medical Doctor I will receive around the following reimbursements after 5,5 years studies at medical school:

54.000$/year for 2 years
72.000$/year for 5 years
100.000$/year for about 15 years
115.000$/year after that until I retire

This feels very lackluster, since the tax rate in Sweden is about 40% and the VAT is 25%, and the housing here is very expensive along with everything else.

I am contemplating going into finance instead, and I have been thinking about studying at Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) which is a target school in Europe with a high pedigree in finance, where I can get a bachelor + master in finance (total of 5 years). I will have to wait an additional year until I can enter (autumn 2015) but my salary prospect should be a lot better, and I don't have to slave around for the government as a businessman.

I have talked to my relatives about this, and they all think I am doing a mistake going for money. I want to hear Your notion about this. Am I doing the right thing entering Medical school or should I wait an additional year and subsequently pursue finance?

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[jonhamm]

While money is important, and it should definitely contribute to your decision, it seems like it is the #1 priority for you. If that's the case, the choice is pretty clear, isn't it?

 

[Cambover]

Everyone has to prioritize what's important to them going forward. If money is your number one priority, that doesn't make you a bad person but medicine is then probably not for you.

 

[woltej1]

I would do finance. If my medical journey were to take the same path as yours, I'd be very unhappy. Money is extremely important as doctors work long hours and want proper reimbursement just like any other person, only difference is we went through many years of schooling and debt to get there. I have been in hospitals for many years now and have yet to find a doctor that is happy and also isn't making much money.

 

[Markymark15]

IMO, choose whichever will make you happier. Personally, I would choose medicine, especially if you are graduating medical school with no debt (I don't know how much the tuition is for Swedish medical schools) and would have a good work/life balance working as a Swedish doctor. If you want to make more money, you can always learn how to invest/manage your money, start your own business on the side or a medical business, or do something else (there's always opportunities if you know where to find them).

 

[BrCo]

I'm curious, how much better are the financial prospects if you pursue finance over medicine?

 

[masaraksh]

Finance is a gold mine. No standardized tests, you can get in with like a 2.0 GPA, and then you make hundreds of thousands of dollars, work <20 hrs a week, drink on the job, and drive lamorghinis everywhere.

 

[BrCo]

This is an entirely inaccurate portrayal of finance. The people who make the big bucks work just as many hours as doctors, sometimes more. They are slaves, albeit rich slaves. I have one friend who has gone into finance. He pushes a 100 hour work week.

Finance is a gold mine. No standardized tests, you can get in with like a 2.0 GPA, and then you make hundreds of thousands of dollars, work <20 hrs a week, drink on the job, and drive lamorghinis everywhere.

 

[wtr24]

This is an entirely inaccurate portrayal of finance. The people who make the big bucks work just as many hours as doctors, sometimes more. They are slaves, albeit rich slaves. I have one friend who has gone into finance. He pushes a 100 hour work week.

Woosh

 

[kkcc]

Seeing how you make your income projections and how you have no projections for finance, means that if you pursue finance there is no guarantee that you will land a job that makes big bucks.
Medicine is still the safer and more stable financial choice. It doesn't make you the most money, but enough that it beats most of those in finance.

Like previous poster, I would go with medicine since you're always guaranteed inflow of income, and find ways to invest or run a side business to grow your fortune. You always need big base capital to build more wealth. I also imagine banks are more willing to give you loans if you're a doctor, since banks perceive doctors to be those with stable sizable income. Leveraging with loans you can get more returns (say capital 10k+loans50k; return 10%: 10% of 60k >> 10% of 10k)

If not too expensive, go to med school now and you still have a year to decide.

 

[GonePostalMD]

I can hopefully shed some light on this. I did do finance for a bit, and now I am doing medicine (for longer than a bit). At the end of the day ask yourself what you want. Is it money? More of it is found in finance for sure, some of my bonuses were around a couple months of resident physician salary. But, the people there were all stressed out trying to pay for their 3 ex-wives, 4 kids, etc. Its a high stress job that has you staring a monitor all day and doing few personal interactions, and the ones you have are usually for some sort of plan you have to get a deal done.

In medicine, I wake up everyday probably around the same hour, get to talk to patients who are genuinely happy that I'm there with them. Do a minor amount of yelling with insurance companies, and then I get to go home. It was an easy decision for me.