Let me try to put things in perspective. I'm a non-trad applicant that has been in the workforce for 8 years since undergrad. I work in a sales career selling to industry (Mostly automotive, but also medical equipment etc.) Our customers range from all the Big 3 automakers to Steris and Innvocare (medical equipment).
There was a point where the top sales guys in our industry could make 300-500k per year. 150-200k was not uncommon at all. This started to change about 10 or 15 years ago. But, in the "good old days", sales guys MAY have had a CAR phone, had no internet or email, and actually received purchase orders through the mail! Customers were a LOT more loyal, margins were much more robust, and it was generally a "better" sales environment.
In today's environment, companies need to be ISO certified. This means that you need to pay a high priced consulting firm to help you set up "standard procedures" for every office function. If you don't get back to a customer in 4 hours on an quote request, they will go elsewhere. For many of our components we must provide a HUGE amount of supporting paperwork such as failure modes, mean time to repair.... And much more.
Sales guys are now doing much of the engineering, and paperwork functions that used to be handed by others much of the time. It takes 1/2 day in the office to support a full day of sales appointments etc.
With increased pressures on profits, and a world-wide economy, companies often make "knee-jerk" decisions depending on the marketing strategy of the "VP of the day". For publicly traded companies, management is held to super high levels of accountability from the shareholders and board of directors. Also, companies are doing much more with a lot less.
***The point is that this is just the way it is. The above conditions are not exclusive to my industry, but rather to all industries (healthcare included). I have family members that are business owners, investment bankers, teachers, you name it. They will all say that business is a lot less "fun" than "it used to be".
In the U.S. News articles, it showed that many docs that were around for the "good old days" are the most frusterated. I can see this, as I see our top management (the older guys- it's a male dominated industry) equally as frusterated. I've talked to people in many different industries, and they say the same. I was just talking to a buddy of mine yesterday. He'll have an MBA from UofM, works for a small, private equities company that handles buying and selling of companies. He's like, "man, it's tough. I feel like we walk in, do our presentation, and as we walk out, we're saying hello to our competition waiting in the lobby".
***So, will there be an increase in paperwork, beauracracy, and BS in healthcare? Yes, probably. Can this change down the road? Yeah it could.
Are patients loyal and respectful as they once were? According to many, not as much. It is what it is.
The way I choose to look at healthcare and becoming a doctor, is that it will always be a "high barrier to entry" field. Look how tough it is to get in!! It will always be interesting in terms of applied science and technology, and you will always be learning. Also, from my personal experiences as a volunteer, patients are still very appreciative of the care they receive. Regardless of the fact that docs really have to keep moving and can't spend too much time with them (kind of sucks).
Your colleagues will all be quite educated compared to the general public. And there will always be personal rewards such as being able to make a difference in someone's life.
Will docs make as much money as they once did? I don't think so (personally). Is it still worth it? Yes. I was recently chatting with a buddy that's a family practitioner. He said, "you'll make great money, and will be able to pay back your loans without much difficulty". Yeah it's expensive, but these are lowere interest loans (much lower than a mortgage!), and you can pay them back over longer periods of time. He said not to let that be a factor in your decision.
I volunteer in the ED at a local hospital. I've seen some burned out docs and nurses. But, it's obvious that the majority of the docs enjoy what they do. You can just tell. Also, when I ask around "So, would you do it again?". I'd say 70% say they would. And it's the older docs that tend to be a bit more jaded, since they see how healthcare has changed so much. But, most of the younger docs (under 40) seem to really like what they are doing, and seem quite happy, and fullfilled.
