Was all of it worth it? Consultant considering going back to school

[potatodumplings]

I was premed in college, took the MCAT and everything, and at the last moment, I decided to take a gap year. I got an offer at a management consulting company, where I have been for 2 years.

I've been on the fence whether to continue in consulting, or go back to school. Financially, consulting makes far more sense: I'm making ~$150K now, can expect to make double that ~4 years, and our partners make $1M >. We typically work 9am - 12am, with no weekend work.

On the other hand, the work is not at all fulfilling. Far from having a "broader impact," I feel like a cog in a machine, and the prospect of grinding up to partner for the next decade of my life is soul crushing.

That's why I'm curious: has it been worth it for all of you? Do you actually feel like you're making an impact? Or do you also feel like a cog in the machine? Competing for the same pool of grants, working in a private-equity owned practice, an employee of a university (i.e., "if I wasn't doing this research, somebody else would be?")

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Splenda88]

It's worth it in my opinion.

I do make some impact but medicine is like any other job when you have a family. I would rather be at home spending time with my family. However, I do think the work is meaningful.

The hours you work are crazy. I work less than that (65-70 hrs) as a hospitalist every other week and I make more than double of what you make.

 

[PandaBaer]

The last part of your question is best answered by attendings, so asking med students isn't necessarily going to provide the best answers.
But I'll comment as a former FAANG cog turned student.

Some days are better, some days are worse, most days I can find something to hang onto as worthwhile, especially now that I'm back in the clinical setting. My prior work experience has been a double edged sword. I don't struggle with navigating the admin BS and politics, but at the same time healthcare and medical education feel like fossilized orgs from the 1800s and the tools, especially tech, are antiquated and cumbersome. Going from a high functioning company and team to dealing with MedEd and the healthcare system feels like death by a thousand cuts. You work with some amazing people but also some who don't necessarily share the same level of motivation or ownership as you. There's a lot of bureacracy both instituitional and governmental which is a huge source of frustration, and my previous role interfaced heavily with governmental regulations.

Job stability is probably second to none, with decent outlook but capped upside. There is probably an easier ramp up and a deeper moat for those with an entrepreneurial streak, but scaling is an issue and liability and risk can be high initially. The hours are hard in training, though the minimum requirements are probably much lower than my prior career. the long on-ramp generates a large opportunity cost, especially if you have decent alternatives. But it's hard to quantify stability and personal satisfaction.

tlr it's a grind, but perhaps less so than the most hardcore of corporate roles, offers good stability and steady returns. You have more immediate impact but limited scalability. It may be easier to gain autonomy and satisfaction given a slightly easier route to individual ownership.

 

[Approach]

Medical student here, worked in consulting and other corporate gigs for some years before starting medical school.

Pandabear's “My prior work experience has been a double-edged sword” is accurate. There’s not a day I look at consulting and wish I still worked in it, as medical school has been great overall. Yet, how MedEd is structured will often make your consulting brain scream (at least mine, lol), and the regular infantilization of adults is…interesting.

It’s a grind, no doubt, yet the days I’m in the clinic or OR shadowing are generally excellent and give a level of satisfaction that my corporate jobs never did. I’ve gone from plugging numbers in PPT to sitting in on goals of care discussions to watching a post-operative surgical patient cry as she thanks the doctor for changing her life. I would never tell anyone to drop consulting to attend medical school for the money; it isn’t worth it for most. But for some, like myself, it is.

W/r/t your last question, obviously not yet an attending, but with how business-oriented American healthcare is, it is not uncommon to see physicians acting as a “cog” in the machine. I have had multiple mentors themselves complain of the relative lack of ability they have to make on a systemic level. From mine (and their perspective), not everything needs to be on a systemic level; physicians regularly directly impact individual lives every day.

 

[Goro]

I was premed in college, took the MCAT and everything, and at the last moment, I decided to take a gap year. I got an offer at a management consulting company, where I have been for 2 years.

I've been on the fence whether to continue in consulting, or go back to school. Financially, consulting makes far more sense: I'm making ~$150K now, can expect to make double that ~4 years, and our partners make $1M >. We typically work 9am - 12am, with no weekend work.

On the other hand, the work is not at all fulfilling. Far from having a "broader impact," I feel like a cog in a machine, and the prospect of grinding up to partner for the next decade of my life is soul crushing.

That's why I'm curious: has it been worth it for all of you? Do you actually feel like you're making an impact? Or do you also feel like a cog in the machine? Competing for the same pool of grants, working in a private-equity owned practice, an employee of a university (i.e., "if I wasn't doing this research, somebody else would be?")

The grass is always greener on the other side.

If you're indeed looking for more enriching work, becoming doctor isn't the only way to do it. But if you've still got the itch volunteer with patients and see if it's still rewarding for you.

 

[Tenk]

If I died today midshift, they’d have someone in the hospital taking over my shift in 1-2 hours and all my shifts filled for the next two months in 1-2 days.

We’re all cogs in a big machine. If you truly hate your work, maybe find something else but understand that this isn’t paradise, it’s just a different type of ball and chain.

 

[ProReduction]

It's worth it in my opinion.

I do make some impact but medicine is like any other job when you have a family. I would rather be at home spending time with my family. However, I do think the work is meaningful.

The hours you work are crazy. I work less than that (65-70 hrs) as a hospitalist every other week and I make more than double of what you make.

I will be shocked if what was posted as "9am - 12am" was not a mistake and the OP meant "9am - 12pm". I do not know anyone in consulting that works those hours. You only see those hours in entry-level IB roles typically.

 

[DrStephenStrange]

I will be shocked if what was posted as "9am - 12am" was not a mistake and the OP meant "9am - 12pm". I do not know anyone in consulting that works those hours. You only see those hours in entry-level IB roles typically.

Idk looking at my keyboard, it’s kinda hard to press an A instead of a P.

 

[DasNotRacist]

I will be shocked if what was posted as "9am - 12am" was not a mistake and the OP meant "9am - 12pm". I do not know anyone in consulting that works those hours. You only see those hours in entry-level IB roles typically.

9 AM to 1 AM tracks for entry level management consultants who are still learning the role

 

[DasNotRacist]

It's worth it in my opinion.

I do make some impact but medicine is like any other job when you have a family. I would rather be at home spending time with my family. However, I do think the work is meaningful.

The hours you work are crazy. I work less than that (65-70 hrs) as a hospitalist every other week and I make more than double of what you make.

Right, but OP is likely only ~25 years old and saddled with only ~$25k private school undergrad debt.

 

[Splenda88]

Right, but OP is likely only ~25 years old and saddled with only ~$25k private school undergrad debt.

OP has a tough decision to make.

He/she is making a great salary for a 25 y/o but the hours are brutal.

I might be a little bias. I started med school in my 30s after being a RN for 8 years and I think it was the best decision career-wise that I made.

The flexibility you have in medicine is underestimated IMO. If one wants to have a life outside of work and still make a decent salary, medicine is the way to go.

Most of us can work 2-3 days/wk and still earn 200k+/yr.

 

[ProReduction]

9 AM to 1 AM tracks for entry level management consultants who are still learning the role

I am mid-career and from a "top" undergrad where dozens of friends went into Big 3 consulting straight from college. I also did med school and residency at a place where many med students forgo residency in favor of consulting and many residents forgo clinical careers for consulting. I have never had a single one of these people tell me that they consistently worked more than 60 hours per week entry-level at a Big 3 firm. This excludes travel time which can add up. Today's entry-level Big 3 workers put in less hours than entry-level 15 years ago. Maybe the OP is at a boutique firm and not Big 3.

 

[Moko]

If I died today midshift, they’d have someone in the hospital taking over my shift in 1-2 hours and all my shifts filled for the next two months in 1-2 days.

We’re all cogs in a big machine. If you truly hate your work, maybe find something else but understand that this isn’t paradise, it’s just a different type of ball and chain.

I echo what @Goro and @Tenk have said. My employer will similarly have no trouble replacing me without any disruption to patient care.

Speaking as a hospitalist (other (sub)specialties may have a different point of view), clinical work is generally very soul-draining and burnout is a very common phenomenon: some patients and/or their families can be rude and abusive, we get crapped on by nurses and subspecialists even when reasonable work-up and treatments have been started, administration is constantly bearing down about hospital metrics we have little control over, and we often do not have the opportunity to truly fix a problem (e.g. I can give steroids for a patient with severe COPD, but they will be back at some point), etc. Work just sucks in general.

However, I am grateful for many things (in no particular order):
1) Being a physician offers amazing job security and flexibility. Even though the pay in academic medicine is less, I still live very comfortably and have a decent work-life balance, which cannot be said for many other professions.
2) I get the opportunity to teach and mentor the next generation of physicians and make a real difference in their training and clinical acumen. This is by far the most rewarding part of my job.
3) I make a small difference in my patients' (and their family members') lives during most of my shifts, whether it be alleviating their symptoms, anxieties, and/or uncertainties; catching something that otherwise would have been missed; and/or preventing harmful interventions from occurring (transitioning a patient to comfort care before they need CPR/intubation/unnecessary testing/procedures is particularly rewarding). I often do not see the full fruits of my labor, but many of my patients do remember me in subsequent admissions as someone who helped them get through their prior acute illness(es).
4) People automatically think I'm smarter than I actually am.

Does this make up for all the crap I deal with? Not fully. But many other professions have to deal with the same crap with so much less to show for it.

Still, if I won the lottery, I would quickly wind down most of my clinical duties. And certainly if I had the opportunity to make millions of dollars and retire by age 40 (or even earlier) and then just volunteer at an animal shelter and/or vacation abroad, I would take that opportunity too. But that's just me. Your priorities are different. So only you know if this journey is worth it for you. My advice is to be very honest with yourself about your priorities so that you don't sacrifice your time, energy, money, and youth for an outcome that may not necessarily be better than what you currently have. Shadowing extensively can help with this decision. Best of luck and just my thoughts.

 

[Splenda88]

Still, if I won the lottery, I would quickly wind down most of my clinical duties. And certainly if I had the opportunity to make millions of dollars and retire by age 40 and then just volunteer at an animal shelter and/or vacation abroad, I would take that opportunity too. But that's just me. Your priorities are different. So only you know if this journey is worth it for you. My advice is to be very honest with yourself about your priorities so that you don't sacrifice your time, energy, money, and youth for an outcome that may not necessarily be better than what you currently have. Shadowing extensively can help with this decision. Best of luck and just my thoughts.

How come you are not a multimillionaire before the age of 40? Lol

If you visit the IM forum, some of these guys/gals have a net worth 3+ mil before the age of 40.

Medicine is kind of a cash cow these days.

Below is a post from a nocturnist in the IM forum. Moderator can delete it if not allowed. Emphasis on since graduating med school (not residency).

"I've been able to make nearly 5 million in medicine since graduating med school 10.5 years ago. I doubt very many physicians can say the same. We have 6 years mortgage left on our primary home, 10 years left on our vacation house. Net worth scraping 3.5M with about half between retirement and brokerage and half in real estate. Because I'm able to set my schedule, I'll never have to miss a game/recital etc. Yes, I have to work a couple holidays a year. I choose new years so I get to spend Thanksgiving/Xmas at home. We don't really care about the summer holidays as much.

In the next 5 years, we'll be nearly done with paying our home, projected net worth 5-6M and pretty close to financial independence. We'll be able to work as much or little as we want and devote even more time to our kids, travel the world even more. Then we'll coast and work just enough to max retirement accounts and pay the bills til our NW is 10M somewhere in 10-15 years. There's honestly not much I would change in hind sight."

 

[Moko]

How come you are not a multimillionaire before age of 40? Lol

If you visit the IM forum, some of these guys/gals have a net worth 3+ mil before the age of 40.

Medicine is kind of cash cow these days.

Below is a post from a nocturnist in the IM forum. Moderator can delete it if not allowed. Emphasis on since graduating med school (not residency).

"I've been able to make nearly 5 million in medicine since graduating med school 10.5 years ago. I doubt very many physicians can say the same. We have 6 years mortgage left on our primary home, 10 years left on our vacation house. Net worth scraping 3.5M with about half between retirement and brokerage and half in real estate. Because I'm able to set my schedule, I'll never have to miss a game/recital etc. Yes, I have to work a couple holidays a year. I choose new years so I get to spend Thanksgiving/Xmas at home. We don't really care about the summer holidays as much.

In the next 5 years, we'll be nearly done with paying our home, projected net worth 5-6M and pretty close to financial independence. We'll be able to work as much or little as we want and devote even more time to our kids, travel the world even more. Then we'll coast and work just enough to max retirement accounts and pay the bills til our NW is 10M somewhere in 10-15 years. There's honestly not much I would change in hind sight."

Academic medicine, slightly non-trad candidate, and some school debt. I'm also too lazy to work too often or too hard and I value sleep. State taxes certainly don't help. Not the best combination of traits to become crazy rich . Still, my total net worth is increasing by ~$125k per year (without stock market gains) while having a good work-life balance and with vacations, which I am very grateful for, and my retirement plan is relatively secured as my partner actually likes working, so no complaints. I am doing much better than the average American, albeit not in the top 1%.

However, I suspect this user may have also been locums or practicing in a rural area? Assuming most of their $5m total income and net worth was earned as an attending, their annual income was likely >$500k, which is highly unusual for hospitalist jobs, as that user also acknowledged.

(Edited as I misread their net worth. I also think it's helpful for attendings to talk about finances to give students a better idea of what medicine can and cannot offer financially, but I'll defer to other moderators if these posts should be deleted)

 

[Splenda88]

Academic medicine, slightly non-trad candidate, and some school debt. I'm also too lazy to work too often or too hard and I value sleep. State taxes certainly don't help. Not the best combination of traits to become crazy rich . Still, my total net worth is increasing by ~$125k per year (without stock market gains) while having a good work-life balance, which I am very grateful for, and my retirement plan is relatively secured as my partner actually likes working, so no complaints. I am doing much better than the average American, albeit not in the top 1%.

However, I suspect this user may have also been locums or practicing in a rural area? Assuming most of their $5m total income and net worth was earned as an attending, their annual income was likely >$500k, which is highly unusual for hospitalist jobs, as that user also acknowledged.

(Edited as I misread their net worth. I also think it's helpful for attendings to talk about finances to give students a better idea of what medicine can and cannot offer financially, but I'll defer to other moderators if these posts should be deleted)

I am somewhat familiar with the poster. I don't think he works rural/locum.

Hospitalist market is not bad right now. For instance, I work ~17 days/month and projected to make 400k/yr. I have a nocturnist friend who on track to make 600k+ this year but she is a working machine (working ~24/days per month).

I agree w/ you that physicians should be open to talk about salary/finances.

When people ask if medicine worth it, I always tell them if you gonna do it for money, job security and flexibility, it's definitely worth it.

 

[emergentmd]

If you have to ask don't do it.
If you are making 6 figures really don't do it.
If you can make 1M, and considering it, then you maybe should be a patient.


The work you put for 8-10 yrs to be a doc is prob less than what you are doing now, costing you 5+ mil, then when you become an attending take a 700K paycut.

Are you crazy? Make your money, and then pretend to be a doc. Or volunteer in a 3rd world country where you really will make a difference after retiring in 10 years with 5M in the bank.

 

[Tenk]

How come you are not a multimillionaire before the age of 40? Lol

If you visit the IM forum, some of these guys/gals have a net worth 3+ mil before the age of 40.

Medicine is kind of a cash cow these days.

Below is a post from a nocturnist in the IM forum. Moderator can delete it if not allowed. Emphasis on since graduating med school (not residency).

"I've been able to make nearly 5 million in medicine since graduating med school 10.5 years ago. I doubt very many physicians can say the same. We have 6 years mortgage left on our primary home, 10 years left on our vacation house. Net worth scraping 3.5M with about half between retirement and brokerage and half in real estate. Because I'm able to set my schedule, I'll never have to miss a game/recital etc. Yes, I have to work a couple holidays a year. I choose new years so I get to spend Thanksgiving/Xmas at home. We don't really care about the summer holidays as much.

In the next 5 years, we'll be nearly done with paying our home, projected net worth 5-6M and pretty close to financial independence. We'll be able to work as much or little as we want and devote even more time to our kids, travel the world even more. Then we'll coast and work just enough to max retirement accounts and pay the bills til our NW is 10M somewhere in 10-15 years. There's honestly not much I would change in hind sight."

That’s net worth, not cash. They are including two inflated housing prices which is probably the vast majority of their NW even though they are not even fully paid off. You should never include your primary residence in your net worth unless you enjoy being homeless.

 

[Splenda88]

That’s net worth, not cash. They are including two inflated housing prices which is probably the vast majority of their NW even though they are not even fully paid off. You should never include your primary residence in your net worth unless you enjoy being homeless.

Inflated? No one knows whether the housing market is inflated or not. I think he subtracts the loan balance he has on them.

 

[emergentmd]

We typically work 9am - 12am

I know a partner at a accounting firm and he works like a dog. This schedule to me stinks. You are essentially working/sleeping for 5 straight days. Come the weekends, you are essentially resting up and doing chores. Partner sounds great but the sacrifice is great.

Such a high income becomes a handcuff. Once you make partner at 40, it is very hard to work less when you are making $1M.

 

[Splenda88]

A schedule like that is not humanly possible for 3+ years IMO.

 

[Tenk]

Inflated? No one knows whether the housing market is inflated or not. I think he subtracts the loan balance he has on them.

Literally everything from a Big Mac to a condo in Hawaii is inflated. Wtf you smoking? I need some.

 

[Splenda88]

Literally everything from a Big Mac to a condo in Hawaii is inflated. Wtf you smoking? I need some.

I used to say that about home prices in south FL but they keep going up.

The market might cool off right now but I am not aware of any significant (> 10%) decline in prices is most major markets except Austin and Phoenix.

 

[Nocturnist]

Academic medicine, slightly non-trad candidate, and some school debt. I'm also too lazy to work too often or too hard and I value sleep. State taxes certainly don't help. Not the best combination of traits to become crazy rich . Still, my total net worth is increasing by ~$125k per year (without stock market gains) while having a good work-life balance, which I am very grateful for, and my retirement plan is relatively secured as my partner actually likes working, so no complaints. I am doing much better than the average American, albeit not in the top 1%.

However, I suspect this user may have also been locums or practicing in a rural area? Assuming most of their $5m total income and net worth was earned as an attending, their annual income was likely >$500k, which is highly unusual for hospitalist jobs, as that user also acknowledged.

(Edited as I misread their net worth. I also think it's helpful for attendings to talk about finances to give students a better idea of what medicine can and cannot offer financially, but I'll defer to other moderators if these posts should be deleted)

I'm that poster 👋

I've never done locums.
I work just a few miles outside a major northeast metro, I can see the skyline from my hospital.
My annual income has been 550-600k a year for the 7.5 years since graduating residency, plus the little bit of moonlighting I did in residency for a total of nearly 5M. I've written pretty extensively about my fianances, but happy to answer any questions you might have.

That’s net worth, not cash. They are including two inflated housing prices which is probably the vast majority of their NW even though they are not even fully paid off. You should never include your primary residence in your net worth unless you enjoy being homeless.

Homeless seems like a bit of a dramatic term for a multimillionaire who could sell their home for a large profit and choose to either rent or go live their second home while re-investing those gains, doesnt it? So please- show me a single resource, financial expert, or financial institution that doesn't recommend including primary residence in net worth calculation? I'll wait. Sure, not for the purposes of calculating retirement income, but for calculating NW? That's just silly.

Anyway, pretty much exactly half of my net worth is in real estate, half is invested between retirement account and brokerage. I keep around 150K in cash (well, mmf or hysa). I've paid off half the loan on my primary since buying it less than 4 years ago (15 year loan, plus extra money towards it during covid when a 2.5% interest seemed like the most expensive money would ever be for a while. Ya..still kicking myself up over locking that money up when I could have made 5-5.5% on it now but hindsight is 20/20).

"Vast majority" seems like another dramatic term. You really have a flare for it. Even if you took away ALL the appreciation on my real estate and they were only worth what I bought them for, that's only about 500k of my net worth so I'd still be at 3M. You could argue stocks are inflated as well, but the price of what they were worth when the market closed on Friday is what one uses to calculate one's NW.

You could argue about whether real estate is inflated or not, usually that's an argument made by folks that don't own to try to justify their decision to perpetually rent. Perhaps in other parts of the country but around here in the northeast real estate didn't even decline in 2010 so I'm not too worried.

Even if you took away real estate out the equation and just let my investments sit there untouched at a conservative 8% yield til retirement age, I'm looking at a 16-18M nest egg if i didnt contribute another penny to it.
If I just keep maxing my retirement account, I'm looking at 25-30M without adding a penny to my taxable. I've even calculated some not too far fetched scenarios with 10% yield and not touching my money for 35 years where I'll be at over 100M. That's the fun part about becoming wealthy young. The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest. it's a snowball that will turn into an avalanche no matter what i really do at this point. Let's just say I'm not losing sleep at night thinking about whether some Chad, Brad, or their dad thinks my real estate is over valued..

 

[Tenk]

I'm that poster 👋

I've never done locums.
I work just a few miles outside a major northeast metro, I can see the skyline from my hospital.
My annual income has been 550-600k a year for the 7.5 years since graduating residency, plus the little bit of moonlighting I did in residency for a total of nearly 5M. I've written pretty extensively about my fianances, but happy to answer any questions you might have.


Homeless seems like a bit of a dramatic term for a multimillionaire who could sell their home for a large profit and choose to either rent or go live their second home while re-investing those gains, doesnt it? So please- show me a single resource, financial expert, or financial institution that doesn't recommend including primary residence in net worth calculation? I'll wait. Sure, not for the purposes of calculating retirement income, but for calculating NW? That's just silly.

Anyway, pretty much exactly half of my net worth is in real estate, half is invested between retirement account and brokerage. I keep around 150K in cash (well, mmf or hysa). I've paid off half the loan on my primary since buying it less than 4 years ago (15 year loan, plus extra money towards it during covid when a 2.5% interest seemed like the most expensive money would ever be for a while. Ya..still kicking myself up over locking that money up when I could have made 5-5.5% on it now but hindsight is 20/20).

"Vast majority" seems like another dramatic term. You really have a flare for it. Even if you took away ALL the appreciation on my real estate and they were only worth what I bought them for, that's only about 500k of my net worth so I'd still be at 3M. You could argue stocks are inflated as well, but the price of what they were worth when the market closed on Friday is what one uses to calculate one's NW.

You could argue about whether real estate is inflated or not, usually that's an argument made by folks that don't own to try to justify their decision to perpetually rent. Perhaps in other parts of the country but around here in the northeast real estate didn't even decline in 2010 so I'm not too worried.

Even if you took away real estate out the equation and just let my investments sit there untouched at a conservative 8% yield til retirement age, I'm looking at a 16-18M nest egg if i didnt contribute another penny to it.
If I just keep maxing my retirement account, I'm looking at 25-30M without adding a penny to my taxable. I've even calculated some not too far fetched scenarios with 10% yield and not touching my money for 35 years where I'll be at over 100M. That's the fun part about becoming wealthy young. The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest. it's a snowball that will turn into an avalanche no matter what i really do at this point. Let's just say I'm not losing sleep at night thinking about whether some Chad, Brad, or their dad thinks my real estate is over valued..

Go open any brokerage account or apply for a loan. They have net assets and always say do not include primary residence.

Zzzz….

 

[Nocturnist]

I was premed in college, took the MCAT and everything, and at the last moment, I decided to take a gap year. I got an offer at a management consulting company, where I have been for 2 years.

I've been on the fence whether to continue in consulting, or go back to school. Financially, consulting makes far more sense: I'm making ~$150K now, can expect to make double that ~4 years, and our partners make $1M >. We typically work 9am - 12am, with no weekend work.

On the other hand, the work is not at all fulfilling. Far from having a "broader impact," I feel like a cog in a machine, and the prospect of grinding up to partner for the next decade of my life is soul crushing.

That's why I'm curious: has it been worth it for all of you? Do you actually feel like you're making an impact? Or do you also feel like a cog in the machine? Competing for the same pool of grants, working in a private-equity owned practice, an employee of a university (i.e., "if I wasn't doing this research, somebody else would be?")

Cog in a machine.
I personally like it that way, because it means I'm replaceable and interchangeable. It means that when my shift ends, I'm done.
It means when I'm on vacation, I'm tuned out.
Not a single person it relying on me and not a single task is pending when I'm off duty, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
It doesn't mean I don't feel like I'm making an impact. Oh, I do. But go and make an impact elsewhere.

To answer your question, financially you'd be a fool to go into medicine with where you're at.

It was personally worth it for me, because there was no other scenario where I'd be making as much as you are outside of medicine. If I was making 150k now, 300k in 4 years, with the potential for a million? Working 9a-noon? Are you nuts?? Go find meaning and make an impact elsewhere. Go volunteer. Go start some cutting edge company or VC fund. Go raise some kids into outstanding humans. Any of those will give you just as much or more meaning than medicine.

 

[Nocturnist]

Go open any brokerage account or apply for a loan. They have net assets and always say do not include primary residence.

Zzzz….

Ya, not about to get in an internet fight with someone who doesn't know the difference between net worth and net assets.
Haters gonna hate..

 

[Splenda88]

It was personally worth it for me, because there was no other scenario where I'd be making as much as you are outside of medicine. If I was making 150k now, 300k in 4 years, with the potential for a million? Working 9a-noon? Are you nuts?? Go find meaning and make an impact elsewhere. Go volunteer. Go start some cutting edge company or VC fund. Go raise some kids into outstanding humans. Any of those will give you just as much or more meaning than medicine.

It might be 9am to midnight.

 

[Nocturnist]

It might be 9am to midnight.

Ah, my bad.
Well that's a soul crushing schedule.
OP should probably go into medicine or something 😂

 

[Tenk]

Ya, not about to get in an internet fight with someone who doesn't know the difference between net worth and net assets.
Haters gonna hate..

You’re actually correct. I was only skim reading and thought we were talking about assets for some reason. Went back and reread. My mistake. Also, I don’t hate you, I don’t even know who you are.

 

[emergentmd]

Imagine making 300K with 1M around the corner. You walk into your 1st day of school and look down the dark tunnel of making almost nothing for 7+ years living like a pauper being told what to do by your upper level who can't even wipe his butt.

This has nothing to do with OP, I think we already know what he should do. Your primary residence does count towards your net worth. It is an asset just like anything else. If I had 1M equity in my home, then I have 1M I can take a loan on without losing a place to live.

 

[Nocturnist]

Imagine making 300K with 1M around the corner. You walk into your 1st day of school and look down the dark tunnel of making almost nothing for 7+ years living like a pauper being told what to do by your upper level who can't even wipe his butt.

This has nothing to do with OP, I think we already know what he should do. Your primary residence does count towards your net worth. It is an asset just like anything else. If I had 1M equity in my home, then I have 1M I can take a loan on without losing a place to live.

True. Although 15 hours a day is suboptimal, 75 hours a week would still be reasonable work hours for residency which all of us have had to do 3-7 years of (not including fellowships where work hours no longer apply). And having every weekend off? Unheard of unless youre in family medicine residency. If one lives like a resident on the OPs salary for 5-10 years and invests the rest in ETFs, you're pretty much all set for life. There'd be no reason to continue working that schedule past your 30s.

I had 2-3 non traditional classmates in my medical school class who left very lucrative careers in business and engineering in their 40s to go into medicine. They felt empty in their careers. They all went into much lower paying fields in primary care and Pediatrics. They all seem very happy. Clearly money was never a consideration for them. It was a calling, it was something they felt they'd be remiss looking back on their lives if they didn't pursue. That's probably the only worthy reason to do it.

 

[potatodumplings]

I echo what @Goro and @Tenk have said. My employer will similarly have no trouble replacing me without any disruption to patient care.

Speaking as a hospitalist (other (sub)specialties may have a different point of view), clinical work is generally very soul-draining and burnout is a very common phenomenon: some patients and/or their families can be rude and abusive, we get crapped on by nurses and subspecialists even when reasonable work-up and treatments have been started, administration is constantly bearing down about hospital metrics we have little control over, and we often do not have the opportunity to truly fix a problem (e.g. I can give steroids for a patient with severe COPD, but they will be back at some point), etc. Work just sucks in general.

However, I am grateful for many things (in no particular order):
1) Being a physician offers amazing job security and flexibility. Even though the pay in academic medicine is less, I still live very comfortably and have a decent work-life balance, which cannot be said for many other professions.
2) I get the opportunity to teach and mentor the next generation of physicians and make a real difference in their training and clinical acumen. This is by far the most rewarding part of my job.
3) I make a small difference in my patients' (and their family members') lives during most of my shifts, whether it be alleviating their symptoms, anxieties, and/or uncertainties; catching something that otherwise would have been missed; and/or preventing harmful interventions from occurring (transitioning a patient to comfort care before they need CPR/intubation/unnecessary testing/procedures is particularly rewarding). I often do not see the full fruits of my labor, but many of my patients do remember me in subsequent admissions as someone who helped them get through their prior acute illness(es).
4) People automatically think I'm smarter than I actually am.

Does this make up for all the crap I deal with? Not fully. But many other professions have to deal with the same crap with so much less to show for it.

Still, if I won the lottery, I would quickly wind down most of my clinical duties. And certainly if I had the opportunity to make millions of dollars and retire by age 40 (or even earlier) and then just volunteer at an animal shelter and/or vacation abroad, I would take that opportunity too. But that's just me. Your priorities are different. So only you know if this journey is worth it for you. My advice is to be very honest with yourself about your priorities so that you don't sacrifice your time, energy, money, and youth for an outcome that may not necessarily be better than what you currently have. Shadowing extensively can help with this decision. Best of luck and just my thoughts.

Many thanks for the response. I've read through all the responses in this thread, and I very much appreciate it. Just selectively responding, but I hope others get a notification too.

After reading through all the responses, I'm leaning towards finally closing the door towards medical school.

1. Financially, it doesn't make sense. In 4 years, I could either be making ~$300k or be in ~$300k of debt. In 10 years, I could either be making ~$1M as a partner or ~$400k as a newly minted attending. Sure, not everybody makes partner, but there are also plenty of other very well paying exit opportunities (PE, VC, director roles).

2. As for fulfillment, this was one of my main motivating factors throughout pre-med and studying for the MCAT: being able to make a small difference in patients lives. However, the past 2 years working in management consulting have had a big impact on my thinking. I have worked on many healthcare private equity deals, and honestly, this has killed some of my desire to be a clinician. I don't want to be a cog in the system.

I have also come to realize that I can gain fulfillment in many other ways: through meaningful relationships with friends and romantic relationships, through travel, through hobbies. There are also many ways to give back to my community, besides becoming a clinician.

__

There's a part of me that is a bit sad. I got a 520+ on my MCAT. I spent thousands of hours in my research lab. It feels a shame to give it all up. But here we are. Hopefully my reasoning makes sense.

Do let me know your thoughts, or if you think I am making a mistake

 

[potatodumplings]

It might be 9am to midnight.

Yes. 9 am to ~10pm - 2am (usually closer to 11). Earlier on Fridays and no weekend work. I imagine it still beats residency and "golden weekends," so I am definitely not complaining on this forum

 

[emergentmd]

If you plan on having a family esp with kids, I have seen some partners in Finances that have broken relationships esp with their kids

 

[Moko]

I have also come to realize that I can gain fulfillment in many other ways: through meaningful relationships with friends and romantic relationships, through travel, through hobbies. There are also many ways to give back to my community, besides becoming a clinician.

There's a part of me that is a bit sad. I got a 520+ on my MCAT. I spent thousands of hours in my research lab. It feels a shame to give it all up. But here we are. Hopefully my reasoning makes sense.

Do let me know your thoughts, or if you think I am making a mistake

Medicine is not for everyone and there are many other fields that can also positively impact others' lives. Congratulations on figuring out what will work best for you. Best of luck in your future endeavors and just my thoughts.

 

[bunkina]

YES. I was working in drug development, and when I decided to apply to med school at the age of 28, I tracked my projected earnings over my lifetime, and realized that I'd probably LOSE a quarter of a million (at a time when docs made 100K). I still went to med school, because I wanted to learn what they had to teach me there, and because I wanted to practice medicine. I am very happy with the decision I made.

The ONLY reason to go to med school right now is if you have a burning desire to practice medicine. So if you want that, do it.

 

[pazzer2]

Do let me know your thoughts, or if you think I am making a mistake

I'm an MD that has been working in biotech/pharma for over 2 decades. If you decide to stay in consulting (which I think is the right choice), you might consider exit opportunities in the pharma industry. Plenty of need for strategic thinkers. And you'll get to give back by helping get drugs to patients in need.

I worked at a blue chip pharma, there was a constant flow of people from McKinsey, Bain, BCG transitioning into strategy roles. The pay is not as good, but work/life balance is much better. Stock options/RSUs over the long term will give you handsome returns.