Very Discouraging....

Started by acromonkey
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acromonkey

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Let me start by saying, I am SOO thankful and so happy that I have been accepted to medical school. I've worked very hard to get to this point and am thrilled and I know there are so many people dying to get into school.

With that being said, every physician I talk to (of all specialties and different areas, including prestigious university hospitals) tells me not to go into medicine. So at this point, with school about 2 months away, I'm nervous and wondering why all of these people, who like ourselves at one point busted their asses to be where they are and are now encouraging the young generation of doctors to choose other occupations so they can have better quality of life.

Is anyone else feeling this way? I also think that if I was accepted to the school I am wait listed at (the school I really want to go to), maybe I'd feel different. But I guess you never know. So please tell me I'm not the only one!!
 
acromonkey said:
Let me start by saying, I am SOO thankful and so happy that I have been accepted to medical school. I've worked very hard to get to this point and am thrilled and I know there are so many people dying to get into school.

With that being said, every physician I talk to (of all specialties and different areas, including prestigious university hospitals) tells me not to go into medicine. So at this point, with school about 2 months away, I'm nervous and wondering why all of these people, who like ourselves at one point busted their asses to be where they are and are now encouraging the young generation of doctors to choose other occupations so they can have better quality of life.

Is anyone else feeling this way? I also think that if I was accepted to the school I am wait listed at (the school I really want to go to), maybe I'd feel different. But I guess you never know. So please tell me I'm not the only one!!
Click to expand...

#FirstWorldProblems.

Yes, Doctors have told me that their friends who did other careers are going to probably make more than you and have a better lifestyle which is why you have to absolutely love medicine to go into it today. Better start loving!!
 
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Anicetus said:
#FirstWorldProblems.

Yes, Doctors have told me that their friends who did other careers are going to probably make more than you and have a better lifestyle which is why you have to absolutely love medicine to go into it today. Better start loving!!
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It's not that I don't love it. I have spent years working my ass off to get into school and I have always loved it. It's not really about money for me. It's just about being happy and being able to enjoy life. I don't want to be a miserable doctor one day, because that won't be good for me or my patients.
 
BABSstudent said:
Calm down. If you don't like someone, just block them. I have blocked a few people and never see their posts anymore (mostly because they end up getting banned for trolling).
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Thanks for being a voice of reason. I appreciate it. Just checked out your MD Apps profile...congratulations on your success and I wish the best for you and your future career!
 
To answer your question, I think it is easy to become bitter in this profession. We are currently going through a cultural shift where physicians are given less respect and blamed more.

This is going to cause some to become bitter because things have changed for them during their careers. I have hope for us because we are being trained in this shift and (hopefully) will be more prepared/accepting of change.

Granted, I have no idea if this is actually true. It would be nice to have a resident or attending who recently finished residency comment on this further.
 
People always claim that they have the hardest job, its not worth it, and they don't get paid enough. Nearly everyone thinks this is true about their career.
 
acromonkey said:
It's not that I don't love it. I have spent years working my ass off to get into school and I have always loved it. It's not really about money for me. It's just about being happy and being able to enjoy life. I don't want to be a miserable doctor one day, because that won't be good for me or my patients.
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The thing is, you shouldn't being seeing it that way. You worked your ass off to be able to do what you WANT to do, which is medicine. Comparably, yes, medicine doesn't look like you get the best bang for your buck compared to other professions, but as long as you are doing the job you want to do, the work is worth it. I have only shadowed two doctors, but both of them tell me the workload gets even worse, but they love what they do.
 
rkmoto121 said:
This literally made me LOL. I think the same thing every time I open a thread like this. We work really hard and really want to go in to medicine and then you see a thread like this and get all depressed.
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Don't be depressed. Most people don't know how ****ty the job market really is.

EnergyDrink said:
People always claim that they have the hardest job, its not worth it, and they don't get paid enough. Nearly everyone thinks this is true about their career.
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A lot of people going into medical schools have not had "real" jobs to compare it to. People think 'OH YEAH I COULD HAVE MADE WAY MORE MONEY WORKING IN FINANCE" might be a tad delusional mostly based on the fact that not every person in finance is making a **** ton of money. Not just that, they haven't felt the pressure of finding jobs/careers out here. It's pretty dismal for a lot of positions, especially non paper pusher positions.

Anicetus said:
The thing is, you shouldn't being seeing it that way. You worked your ass off to be able to do what you WANT to do, which is medicine. Comparably, yes, medicine doesn't look like you get the best bang for your buck compared to other professions, but as long as you are doing the job you want to do, the work is worth it. I have only shadowed two doctors, but both of them tell me the workload gets even worse, but they love what they do.
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This right here. This is whats up. You can make a ton of money and hate your job and be over/underworked. You can also make a little bit of money and hate your job and be over/underworked. Medicine seems to give satisfaction and comparably good pay with the only caveat being the workload. On the flipside, you'll probably always have a job.

If you hate working, it's probably the wrong field to be in
 
I remember my first day of work at a heart hospital two years ago. My supervisor walked me around and introduced me to the docs I'd be working with. She introduced me as, "This is Sassafrass23, she wants to go to medical school." 90% of them shook their heads and said, "Get out while you still can," or, "Don't do it". I don't think they were all completely serious but it gave me something to think about. You just have to decide if you're getting into medicine for the right reasons. I would probably hate being a physician too if I was only in it for the money. There are much more efficient (and less stressful) ways to make money than by getting into medicine.
 
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No matter what field you go into, there will always be people that think they aren't paid enough, respected enough, work too hard, etc... I'd agree with the 'first world problems' call. 95+% of these doctors wouldn't change places with a mid level manager at a dept store. Tell them to quit whining. Everyone works hard. Not everyone is lucky enough to either be smart enough to get to med school or have any chance at making a six digit salary. If I hate being a doctor 20 years from now, I'm still better off than a LOT of people. They can always go do work using their bachelor's degree. The thing I always say when actors, athletes, doctors, etc. complain about work is that it's easy to go from upper middle class or rich to being lower income. Low income people can't wake up one morning and decide to make a lot of money that day. Doctors are allowed to quit if I'm not mistaken.
 
You're definitely not the only person out there- student or professional- who have misgivings. But for what it's worth (not much), here is my two cents:

I am a non-traditional applicant. If I get accepted to medical school, I will be 27 when I start. I've had several years to live among twenty-somethings and see what life is like for those not in medical school.
I think a lot of people who go to medical (or law or grad) school right out of undergrad have a "grass is always greener" syndrome going on. Sure, I know one or two people who are absolutely living it up- they somehow ended up with no undergrad debt, a stable job, and lots of friends, social events, etc. they are they exception, not the rule (again, just my experience). Much of my Facebook news feed and conversations with close friends are full of reminisces about college, extreme Sunday night blues, complaints about difficulty finding work, people hating their chosen careers already, not having enough money to buy a house /car/clothes, etc. and don't forget the bachelor parties as an excuse to pretend you're on college again.
Don't go into medicine if you don't like to work hard, hours that don't match suburban America, and dealing with sick and perhaps dying people. But don't avoid medical school if you genuinely love the material and the job/role of a doctor because you think medical school will get in the way of mansions, ragers/parties, and fancy vacations at 25. Sure, there's a few outliers-I know some. But the vast majority of your non med school peers don't have that either. And if you end up with a career you love and accomplishments you're proud of, you're wealthier than the average American, anywhere.

One thing I do urge you to do however is to seek the opinion of a professional if you feel really down and depressed. Medical students and physicians have some of the highest rates of depression and one problem is they show some of the lowest rates of help-seeking behavior. Keep your mental health in check and never be afraid or ashamed or embarrassed to let someone know you need help. All medical schools have a counseling center. If you need local resources before then, call the suicide prevention lifeline for some assistance (1800273TALK)

Good luck and congratulations on your accomplishments! And for being brave enough to share how you're feeling. There's always at least one other person in the world feeling just like you do!
 
Just remember that although it is the primary path after getting a medical degree, you don't necessarily need to go the traditional route of treatment after residency. There are plenty of companies that are happy to hire physicians and pay them a buttload if that's your thing.
 
BABSstudent said:
To answer your question, I think it is easy to become bitter in this profession. We are currently going through a cultural shift where physicians are given less respect and blamed more.

This is going to cause some to become bitter because things have changed for them during their careers. I have hope for us because we are being trained in this shift and (hopefully) will be more prepared/accepting of change.

Granted, I have no idea if this is actually true. It would be nice to have a resident or attending who recently finished residency comment on this further.
Click to expand...

It's not true. We're not any different. We just have too many cable news channels. There was medicare/medicaid, then there was HMO's and the constant changes that have come along with changes every year to those programs. Every doctor in the last 50 years came up through healthcare economics arguments. People just get old and bitter. Our generation will do exactly the same thing. We'll think the young doctors are stupid, we don't get paid enough, etc. and the cycle will continue. Except for the people that are actually happy and not cynical. They'll go home, play with their kids, watch a movie and go to bed happy.
 
generally the vibe I get from my parents (both doctors who tried the hardest to steer me clear of medicine) is that pay is decreasing for doctors (relative to inflation/what they were paid a generation or two ago, not necessarily in gross terms), patients have become more "know-it-all" telling doctors what to do because they read it on webmd, malpractice insurance/cases really beat the living hell out of you even when you are not the defendant (my mom gets subpoena occasionally to give testimony which causes her to have to take days off from work that she would rather be with her patients), people seem to blame doctors for many of the problems with the health systems because of a, generally untrue, stereotype of a porsch-driving, playing golf at 4pm stereotype. also the belief that tey could have made much more money in finance in the 80's (they graduated med school in 79 and they have more than a few college friends who made more than them doing finance).

however neither of them would trade their jobs for anything and both love being a doctor. they love their patients, they love helping them, they love the daily challenges they face and the stories and bonds they form. they also enjoy great job security (as evidenced by the fact that every time there is an economic downturn medical school applications go up), and they make more than enough to not only live comfortably but also be wealthier than most americans.

so I think many gripes are true about medicine and most physicians feel that way but whenever you hear a physician or anyone else say, "get out now" it is most likely a "grass is greener" notion and when push came to shove most would not change professions and only those who got into medicine for the wrong reasons/expected to be like a doctor on tv or something, will truly complain about their profession and want to change or elderly physicians who are retiring anyways.

just what I have gleaned by knowing many physicians both young and old
 
Although I am not yet in medical school, I find it difficult when I see friends who are fresh out of high school with five figure salaries already, people with bachelor degrees with six. Watching these people succeed/make more than my expected salary even when I do get an MD, I sometimes also felt as if I chose a "harder" path and wondered if it would be worth it in the end so I can see where these doctors are coming from.

However, I also think this is a biased way of thinking. Work/success/happiness isn't measured by only money. All jobs have heavy work loads/parts that suck but I think that if one truly enjoyed their job, then work doesn't feel so much like work. After trying a bunch of different things, I know that if I were to do the same jobs as my friends, I would end up hating my life even if I got all the money.

So in short, I really don't think you should worry about it! 🙂 If you think medicine is awesome, it will be awesome in the end.
 
The older you get and as you start having friends in established careers, you'll begin to realize everyone says this about nearly every job.

There are a lot easier, quicker, and cheaper ways to make money if that's what you're getting at.
 
All of the docs I've shadowed and worked with love their jobs and told me that medicine will be ****ing awesome if it's what I want to do. Sorry you got a sampling of debbie downer physicians.

Also, as already pointed out, the grass will always be greener for a lot of those who never had other careers. They'd probably be singing a different tune if they'd been laid off or forced into early retirement during the recession. And yeah, medicine is changing a lot in ways that I wouldn't like if I'd been in practice for decades either, but as someone entering the field now I think my expectations are fairly different than someone becoming a CT surgeon in the 80's or something.
 
Most of the physicians hating on the profession today are the ones that experienced the heyday of the 80's. Things have certainly changed since then and I can see why they would comparatively be discouraged. However, we will never experience those boom times. Most young graduates I meet seem quite content.

Survivor DO
 
A lot of the bitterness comes from spending most of your time doing really tedious paperwork for medicolegal instead of focusing on treating your patients. There's also a lot of politics between doctors vs nurses/NPs/CRNAs encroaching on their turf. These are a lot of things you as premeds don't really think about when applying to med school. Granted like someone above said, every field has its downsides but I feel it's especially true in medicine when you have sacrificed a lot only to find things are different than what you had originally in mind. I love medicine and am blessed to be in my field. I wouldn't know what else I'd love better but there are still days you can't help but wonder.

Another thing to keep in mind is how old the doctor is and what field he/she is in. Surgeons tend to be unhappy due to work hours, etc. Older docs are annoyed at all the changes in regulation/compensation/Obamacare. So some concerns are legit, some are more picky. At the end keep in mind doctors have been bitching about changes and the doom and gloom about medicine since the 70s but the profession is still here and never more popular. Was it better back then? Yes. Is it worse now? Most likely. Will it continue to change? Definitely. Is there anything you can do about it? No. You just need to evaluate why you want to go into medicine. If you like it enough you'll adapt or you leave.
 
survivordo said:
Most of the physicians hating on the profession today are the ones that experienced the heyday of the 80's. Things have certainly changed since then and I can see why they would comparatively be discouraged. However, we will never experience those boom times. Most young graduates I meet seem quite content.

Survivor DO
Click to expand...

That's a good point. I hadn't thought of that.
 
survivordo said:
Most of the physicians hating on the profession today are the ones that experienced the heyday of the 80's. Things have certainly changed since then and I can see why they would comparatively be discouraged. However, we will never experience those boom times. Most young graduates I meet seem quite content.

Survivor DO
Click to expand...

We also have to remember that today is a much different place than the 80s. Most kids who graduate college end up working part-time or **** jobs just to stay on top of their bills. There are very few careers out there that will come out ahead of medicine today and certainly none with the security of medicine. Everyone hears of that rockstar business owner, but no one talks about the 100,000 failed businesses that occurred while this one guy got his start. That's pretty much the story in nearly every profession today.

Remember, back in the 80s, graduating college was basically a ticket to a well-paying job.
 
acromonkey said:
Let me start by saying, I am SOO thankful and so happy that I have been accepted to medical school. I've worked very hard to get to this point and am thrilled and I know there are so many people dying to get into school.

With that being said, every physician I talk to (of all specialties and different areas, including prestigious university hospitals) tells me not to go into medicine. So at this point, with school about 2 months away, I'm nervous and wondering why all of these people, who like ourselves at one point busted their asses to be where they are and are now encouraging the young generation of doctors to choose other occupations so they can have better quality of life.

Is anyone else feeling this way? I also think that if I was accepted to the school I am wait listed at (the school I really want to go to), maybe I'd feel different. But I guess you never know. So please tell me I'm not the only one!!
Click to expand...

Good lord this wreaks of some ignorant kid who has never lived a day outside the ivory tower and is quickly realizing the real world doesn't allow 4 hours of Frisbee golf everyday. Go talk to someone in engineering, law, teaching, business etc...they will probably tell you they hate their job too. In fact I never in my life met someone who said, "I would recommend xx profession to you." Instead, every lawyer wishes they were a doctor, then they would be happy. Every doctor wishes they were a businessman, and every businessman wishes he were a lawyer.

Here is s hint, every career is going to take you away from your family and the things you love for 40+ hours a week. And even the coolest job gets old when you do it for 40+ hours a week.

You can get over it and realize you picked a pretty good career, with decent earning potential, where every now and again you get to actually change someones life. Or you could go become an accountant, I hear they freaking love Excel.

Medicine is a solid gig, not as good as sitting on the beach, but if you have to work it's the best.
 
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annonymous819 said:
Good lord this wreaks of some ignorant kid who has never lived a day outside the ivory tower and is quickly realizing the real world doesn't allow 4 hours of Frisbee golf everyday. Go talk to someone in engineering, law, teaching, business etc...they will probably tell you they hate their job too. In fact I never in my life met someone who said, "I would recommend xx profession to you." Instead, every lawyer wishes they were a doctor, then they would be happy. Every doctor wishes they were a businessman, and every businessman wishes he were a lawyer.

Here is s hint, every career is going to take you away from your family and the things you love for 40+ hours a week. And even the coolest job gets old when you do it for 40+ hours a week.

You can get over it and realize you picked a pretty good career, with decent earning potential, where every now and again you get to actually change someones life. Or you could go become an accountant, I hear they freaking love Excel.

Medicine is a solid gig, not as good as sitting on the beach, but if you have to work it's the best.
Click to expand...

Yes. And, as it is often pointed out on here. There are tons of unemployed business men, lawyers, engineers, etc. and there are tons of business men, lawyers, engineers, etc. making under 50k a year while working hard. Most unemployed doctors choose to be unemployed at the time and not many doctors make less than 110k/year. Like he said, it's a pretty good gig. As a ~7.5 year engineer that works 45-80 hours/week and makes ~60k, I don't want to hear doctor's complaints. Not to mention, once you make over 70-80k per year, your potential to save/invest lots of money skyrockets, especially if you have a working spouse. Almost any doctor that saves/invests well should easily have ~3 million dollars in liquid assets before age 60 in a reasonable market (honestly they should have more). Those that don't probably drove nicer cars and owned nicer houses than they should've.
 
jr93 said:
yes. And, as it is often pointed out on here. There are tons of unemployed business men, lawyers, engineers, etc. And there are tons of business men, lawyers, engineers, etc. Making under 50k a year while working hard. Most unemployed doctors choose to be unemployed at the time and not many doctors make less than 110k/year. Like he said, it's a pretty good gig. As a ~7.5 year engineer that works 45-80 hours/week and makes ~60k, i don't want to hear doctor's complaints. Not to mention, once you make over 70-80k per year, your potential to save/invest lots of money skyrockets, especially if you have a working spouse. Almost any doctor that saves/invests well should easily have ~3 million dollars in liquid assets before age 60 in a reasonable market (honestly they should have more). Those that don't probably drove nicer cars and owned nicer houses than they should've.
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b-b-b-but if i went into finance i know i would be successful beacaws i mades it into medical school which is sooooo much harder than teh finances!!! I kould hve been a millionair!!!111
 
At one interview I attended I had an older CV surgeon tell me that If I haven't encountered them already, I will encounter people who will tell me that medicine is not worth it. He said not to listen to those people.
 
Also, what kind of person says stuff like that knowing that you have invested so much in pursuing medicine? Regardless of whether they really believe it.


"A truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent."

-William Blake
 
annonymous819 said:
Good lord this wreaks of some ignorant kid who has never lived a day outside the ivory tower and is quickly realizing the real world doesn't allow 4 hours of Frisbee golf everyday. Go talk to someone in engineering, law, teaching, business etc...they will probably tell you they hate their job too. In fact I never in my life met someone who said, "I would recommend xx profession to you." Instead, every lawyer wishes they were a doctor, then they would be happy. Every doctor wishes they were a businessman, and every businessman wishes he were a lawyer.

Here is s hint, every career is going to take you away from your family and the things you love for 40+ hours a week. And even the coolest job gets old when you do it for 40+ hours a week.

You can get over it and realize you picked a pretty good career, with decent earning potential, where every now and again you get to actually change someones life. Or you could go become an accountant, I hear they freaking love Excel.

Medicine is a solid gig, not as good as sitting on the beach, but if you have to work it's the best.
Click to expand...

I think it's kind of rude to say I'm an ignorant kid and all this other crap of 4 hour frisbee...I'm actually from a lower middle class family, who has worked for everything that I have and certainly did not live in an ivory tower. It's not about the money for me at all. In the last few months I've had some things happen that make me realize that life is really really short and time with family and loved ones really is important. And when I have medical professionals constantly telling me to choose another career, it's really hard to see things differently. They are in the field now, and I'm not. So sorry for taking advice rather than thinking I know it al.
 
acromonkey said:
I think it's kind of rude to say I'm an ignorant kid and all this other crap of 4 hour frisbee...I'm actually from a lower middle class family, who has worked for everything that I have and certainly did not live in an ivory tower. It's not about the money for me at all. In the last few months I've had some things happen that make me realize that life is really really short and time with family and loved ones really is important. And when I have medical professionals constantly telling me to choose another career, it's really hard to see things differently. They are in the field now, and I'm not. So sorry for taking advice rather than thinking I know it al.
Click to expand...

It's not really advice to tell you something sucks though. That's just a comment. What do they recommend that you do? That would be advice. Finance is boring and the chance of being a typical middle class guy is very high. Doctors know these super rich finance guys because they live in the same neighborhood together. Also, as much as doctors are disrespected, I'd like to think that finance pay will come down much more than doctor pay. Most high-paying finance jobs are able to pay that well because of corruption in that industry. If the industry was fair, people could not make this much money. Doctors are paid well because of skill and exclusivity. I'll take that any day along with the feeling that I'm paid to help people, not play some money game that screws the whole for the benefit of a few.
 
DrEnderW said:
The older you get and as you start having friends in established careers, you'll begin to realize everyone says this about nearly every job.

There are a lot easier, quicker, and cheaper ways to make money if that's what you're getting at.
Click to expand...

Why do people keep saying this?
 
My father once told me how he defined success in life, and the older and wiser I get, the more I realize how very true it is:

When you look forward to going to work in the morning,
and you look forward to coming home in the evening.

It really is that simple. When you have interesting, rewarding work to do that challenges you and allows you to make a difference -- How cool is that? And having a loving family to return home to, however you define that. That's a good life.

And medicine certainly fits that definition --
 
jr93 said:
Yes. And, as it is often pointed out on here. There are tons of unemployed business men, lawyers, engineers, etc. and there are tons of business men, lawyers, engineers, etc. making under 50k a year while working hard. Most unemployed doctors choose to be unemployed at the time and not many doctors make less than 110k/year. Like he said, it's a pretty good gig. As a ~7.5 year engineer that works 45-80 hours/week and makes ~60k, I don't want to hear doctor's complaints. Not to mention, once you make over 70-80k per year, your potential to save/invest lots of money skyrockets, especially if you have a working spouse. Almost any doctor that saves/invests well should easily have ~3 million dollars in liquid assets before age 60 in a reasonable market (honestly they should have more). Those that don't probably drove nicer cars and owned nicer houses than they should've.
Click to expand...

or, you know, have kids
 
Making enough money to feed yourself, party, find girls, buy nice clothing is easy to do in North America. One can work a minimal wage 9-5 job and support themselves comfortably with enough spare time to pursue their hobbies. But being worth something to society, that's hard and takes dedication and work. That feeling of self-worth is something we all strive for, and motivates our day to day decisions.

If you won't get any self-worth from medicine, you won't be happy. It's a conundrum, because as much as we all say we want to pursue medicine, I can't sit here and pretend how it feels like until I'm actually a Doctor. Maybe for these physicians, their views of medicine as a premed did not match up to the reality of medicine, and they feel betrayed almost to have invested so much time in their lives to do something they don't enjoy.

Anyways, it's all subjective. You need to make sure you know what you want before diving into it.
 
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circulus vitios said:
Why do people keep saying this?
Click to expand...

People keep saying it because it's very typical for people that are discontent with medicine to complain about the "hours worked, amount of bs, years training, etc does not equate with the pay."

I've heard it for multiple docs and I'm sure others have as well. You also meet docs that are the happiest people in the world doing what they love and making a great living. It's just simply worth noting that who knows what will happen with physician reimbursement and don't go into medicine if you're primarily driven by a large salary.
 
jr93 said:
Most high-paying finance jobs are able to pay that well because of corruption in that industry. If the industry was fair, people could not make this much money. Doctors are paid well because of skill and exclusivity. I'll take that any day along with the feeling that I'm paid to help people, not play some money game that screws the whole for the benefit of a few.
Click to expand...

I agree with this, and would even expand on it. There are other jobs in the business realm where you can make six-figure income that aren't as crazy-rare and whose successes aren't necessarily a result of corrupt policies. I have one of them, and I am starting medical school in the fall. I have lots of other friends that worked with me and are also changing paths - 1 is also starting medical school in the Fall, 1 just finished PA school, 1 is currently applying to dental school, 1 moved to NY, earned a Masters in film and is now working in film production.

The point is that for a large number of people that have already found monetary success, they realize that this is not all you need in a career to be happy. We all felt bored, overworked and unappreciated in this career - and realized that if we have other options, no amount of money could make us willing to spend 60 - 80 hours a week doing something that we hated so much for the next 40 years.

For many of us, we needed somethign more, which includes having a passion for what you do, obtaining a feeling of fullfillment from being able to have a positive impact on other people's lives, and feeling mentally challenged on a regular basis. There are certainly other professions that could fit this bill, depending on your own passions, but most aren't compensated as well as physicians are.
 
circulus vitios said:
Why do people keep saying this?
Click to expand...

I hate that quote too. The doctors or premeds or whatever saying that have an incredibly skewed perception of what an MBA is/does/earns. Or lawyer. Or engineer. If anything were an "easy" path to getting money, it would be beset with people trying to get on the inside and do that thing, and then there'd be a supply problem which would kill the money making. Of all those various things, MD is the one that is the "easy" or "sure" money, hence the glut of people willing to gouge their eyes out to get into medical school. Luckily (for us), there is a firm cap on the supply of MD's and DO's that keeps all the people who want in on the pie from making the slices smaller and smaller.
 
fourhumours said:
or, you know, have kids
Click to expand...

Shouldn't matter unless you have some crazy amount of kids and take them on 3 vacations per year (which some people do). As an engineer, and my wife with a science job as well, we were well on our way to having a nice nest egg (ignoring 401k's) in the next few decades and plenty of doctors make more with one salary than we make with 2. As long as you don't try to keep up with the Joneses, you'll do fine. Like they always say...The Joneses are broke.
 
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