Alright, so I'm currently a rising sophomore pre-medical student looking at becoming an anesthesiologist. I've also been interested in a dental career, more specifically as an orthodontist. Yesterday, I spoke with an anesthesiologist who said he worked 60 hours a week and was paid around $400,000/year (he was in his 60's and had worked at that hospital for a while). However, he said that when Obamacare was implemented, his pay would most likely drop to $130k-$150k/year. He said his career wasn't very family friendly and that the lowering pay would definitely make it harder for him to get up every morning and make that low amount for a career he invested so much time and money in. However, with orthodontics, most of the patient's pay is out-of-pocket and isn't really associated with insurance companies. Also, Obamacare doesn't really have anything in it concerned with dentistry.
Another option that was introduced to me was being a CRNA or a Nurse Practitioner. The anesthesiologist said that those two careers would be in high demand with Obamacare and though they make around $100k-$120k each right now, they'd likely make the same amount of money as specialists such as anesthesiologists or more under Obamacare (if anesthesiologists salary dropped to $150k/year).
My main issue right now is dealing with my pre-professional pathway. If I'm going to change to a nursing major, I need to do that when school resumes for me next month. If I'm going to stay pre-med or switch to pre-dental, those both have the same requirements so I'll be fine there. Nursing majors and Chemistry/Biology Pre-med/Pre-dental majors have very different required courses at my school and I'd really like some insight as to what other people think about all of this. Most of my friends are business and technology majors and seem very disinterested and unhelpful when I talked to them about these things, so that's been really frustrating. 🙁
So, is the schooling worth it? Orthodontists need around 10-11 years of schooling (work 5 days/week, usually 9-5), Anesthesiologists around 12-14 years (working 60 hrs/week, not the best hours), and CRNA and Nurse practitioners around 8 years (work about 3 days/week, flexible hours). I'm just wondering if the pay averages out the same under Obamacare, will I spend all these extra years in school to make the same as someone who went through a lot less schooling than I did? Hope to hear some opinions and insights from others!
Another option that was introduced to me was being a CRNA or a Nurse Practitioner. The anesthesiologist said that those two careers would be in high demand with Obamacare and though they make around $100k-$120k each right now, they'd likely make the same amount of money as specialists such as anesthesiologists or more under Obamacare (if anesthesiologists salary dropped to $150k/year).
My main issue right now is dealing with my pre-professional pathway. If I'm going to change to a nursing major, I need to do that when school resumes for me next month. If I'm going to stay pre-med or switch to pre-dental, those both have the same requirements so I'll be fine there. Nursing majors and Chemistry/Biology Pre-med/Pre-dental majors have very different required courses at my school and I'd really like some insight as to what other people think about all of this. Most of my friends are business and technology majors and seem very disinterested and unhelpful when I talked to them about these things, so that's been really frustrating. 🙁
So, is the schooling worth it? Orthodontists need around 10-11 years of schooling (work 5 days/week, usually 9-5), Anesthesiologists around 12-14 years (working 60 hrs/week, not the best hours), and CRNA and Nurse practitioners around 8 years (work about 3 days/week, flexible hours). I'm just wondering if the pay averages out the same under Obamacare, will I spend all these extra years in school to make the same as someone who went through a lot less schooling than I did? Hope to hear some opinions and insights from others!
