What Are Some Challenges Facing Future Doctors

[john7991]

I’m a premed. I love medicine. I don’t love student loans. I don’t love it when doctors are making less and less. I don’t love it when doctors are complaining about their jobs and telling premeds to pursue something else but they don’t give specific reasons as to why they feel that way.

With that being said, what are some challenges I and my fellow premeds will be facing as we become doctors? Insurance? Low pay? Automation? PAs doing most of the work?

In my opinion, when career searching, this is one of the most important questions because the reality is that we all will die one day and we have bills to pay. I am not looking for some sugar coated answer. Give it to me straight.

And don’t tell me that if I’m second guessing becoming a doctor, that means I shouldn’t become a doctor. That’s a ridiculously naive statement. If doctors are going to be in debt for 15 years without pay, with loans and interest, with poor salary prospects, I don’t care how much you love it, you just shouldn’t do it. It’s stupid.

Telling someone to stay on track with medicine because they love it is the same as telling Mary to stay with her spouse despite all the wrongs things he does because she loves him.

Love alone isn’t enough.

Please help

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[Doctoscope]

The 3 most common worries/complaints on the physician forums here seem to be:

1) Scope Creep
2) PE buying out practices => having less control over how you want to practice/your income
3) Burnout due to insurance BS and patient noncompliance

 

[deleted1025488]

For your second point, honestly everyone I've talked to in most fields (and conversations I've observed) just says they hate their job. People in SWE say it's boring and depressing, people in law say the people are terrible and the work is often unfulfilling, etc. every job will have its negatives that people sometimes cling on to.

To be frank the only person I know who actually liked their job was a prof at my state university studying quantum computers; 35 years old full professor. Won some 1.5 million dollar prize and practically gets infinite funding form the uni. Must be nice. They worked at a public uni so I could see their salary and it was like 1.2 million. But obviously this is such an outlier that it's not even worth considering lol just thought it was funny

 

[Dogruffle01]

For your second point, honestly everyone I've talked to in most fields (and conversations I've observed) just says they hate their job. People in SWE say it's boring and depressing, people in law say the people are terrible and the work is often unfulfilling, etc. every job will have its negatives that people sometimes cling on to.

To be frank the only person I know who actually liked their job was a prof at my state university studying quantum computers; 35 years old full professor. Won some 1.5 million dollar prize and practically gets infinite funding form the uni. Must be nice. They worked at a public uni so I could see their salary and it was like 1.2 million. But obviously this is such an outlier that it's not even worth considering lol just thought it was funny

I agree with this wholeheartedly. People always say IB and SWE are waaay better paths than being a doctor, but every friend I've met who went into these fields said they hated it within 2 years. I know several people who went to much lower paying ( or in some cases took several "gap years") jobs to move into entirely different fields.

It's always greener on the other side. Based on the docs I've talked to and shadowed, if you treat medicine like a job and not life's purpose than its more enjoyable than being a drone for some big company.

 

[MyOdyssey]

I’m a premed. I love medicine. I don’t love student loans. I don’t love it when doctors are making less and less. I don’t love it when doctors are complaining about their jobs and telling premeds to pursue something else but they don’t give specific reasons as to why they feel that way.

With that being said, what are some challenges I and my fellow premeds will be facing as we become doctors? Insurance? Low pay? Automation? PAs doing most of the work?

In my opinion, when career searching, this is one of the most important questions because the reality is that we all will die one day and we have bills to pay. I am not looking for some sugar coated answer. Give it to me straight.

And don’t tell me that if I’m second guessing becoming a doctor, that means I shouldn’t become a doctor. That’s a ridiculously naive statement. If doctors are going to be in debt for 15 years without pay, with loans and interest, with poor salary prospects, I don’t care how much you love it, you just shouldn’t do it. It’s stupid.

Telling someone to stay on track with medicine because they love it is the same as telling Mary to stay with her spouse despite all the wrongs things he does because she loves him.

Love alone isn’t enough.

Please help

In the short run, scoring at the 90+% on the MCAT is definitely a challenge.

 

[jhmmd]

I’m a premed. I love medicine. I don’t love student loans. I don’t love it when doctors are making less and less. I don’t love it when doctors are complaining about their jobs and telling premeds to pursue something else but they don’t give specific reasons as to why they feel that way.

With that being said, what are some challenges I and my fellow premeds will be facing as we become doctors? Insurance? Low pay? Automation? PAs doing most of the work?

In my opinion, when career searching, this is one of the most important questions because the reality is that we all will die one day and we have bills to pay. I am not looking for some sugar coated answer. Give it to me straight.

And don’t tell me that if I’m second guessing becoming a doctor, that means I shouldn’t become a doctor. That’s a ridiculously naive statement. If doctors are going to be in debt for 15 years without pay, with loans and interest, with poor salary prospects, I don’t care how much you love it, you just shouldn’t do it. It’s stupid.

Telling someone to stay on track with medicine because they love it is the same as telling Mary to stay with her spouse despite all the wrongs things he does because she loves him.

Love alone isn’t enough.

Please help

1) Healthcare equity (and whether or not this should even be a goal)
2) Mounting paperwork due to CYA litigation and malpractice lawsuits
3) Tort reform w/respect to malpractice lawsuits
4) Midlevel creep as Octo mentioned above

Hope that helps

 

[Proudfather94]

In the short run, scoring at the 90+% on the MCAT is definitely a challenge.

Meh I got 84th on my second try while working 3 12 hour night shifts a week. I think if you have good planning skills and determination it isn't so bad.

I want to add to this so it doesn't seem like I'm coming off as conceited. I think intelligence gets you through the door to scoring well on the MCAT and your determination and study habits take you the rest of the way. I think you need a high intelligence to do great on the MCAT but I think people overestimate how much intellect one needs. I honestly think at least half the people taking the MCAT could make above 80th percentile if they studied consistently and correctly.

 

[YCAGA]

This will be fun…

 

[Bulliedinschool2doc]

I’m a premed. I love medicine. I don’t love student loans. I don’t love it when doctors are making less and less. I don’t love it when doctors are complaining about their jobs and telling premeds to pursue something else but they don’t give specific reasons as to why they feel that way.

With that being said, what are some challenges I and my fellow premeds will be facing as we become doctors? Insurance? Low pay? Automation? PAs doing most of the work?

In my opinion, when career searching, this is one of the most important questions because the reality is that we all will die one day and we have bills to pay. I am not looking for some sugar coated answer. Give it to me straight.

And don’t tell me that if I’m second guessing becoming a doctor, that means I shouldn’t become a doctor. That’s a ridiculously naive statement. If doctors are going to be in debt for 15 years without pay, with loans and interest, with poor salary prospects, I don’t care how much you love it, you just shouldn’t do it. It’s stupid.

Telling someone to stay on track with medicine because they love it is the same as telling Mary to stay with her spouse despite all the wrongs things he does because she loves him.

Love alone isn’t enough.

Please help

Here's one: medical schools coming out like law schools. The field is going to get over saturated making it harder to get in. I think with more residencies opening that should be no issue but the competition is only going up

 

[jhmmd]

Here's one: medical schools coming out like law schools. The field is going to get over saturated making it harder to get in. I think with more residencies opening that should be no issue but the competition is only going up

Yeah this is a big issue as residency funding comes out of govt. Medicaid money for some reason (at least in the U.S.)

Source before anyone screams at me
"Few taxpayers know that significant financial public support underlies the graduate-level training of the nation's physicians."

 

[Spine MD]

For your second point, honestly everyone I've talked to in most fields (and conversations I've observed) just says they hate their job. People in SWE say it's boring and depressing, people in law say the people are terrible and the work is often unfulfilling, etc. every job will have its negatives that people sometimes cling on to.

To be frank the only person I know who actually liked their job was a prof at my state university studying quantum computers; 35 years old full professor. Won some 1.5 million dollar prize and practically gets infinite funding form the uni. Must be nice. They worked at a public uni so I could see their salary and it was like 1.2 million. But obviously this is such an outlier that it's not even worth considering lol just thought it was funny

Correct. Most people just b*tch their way through life. Not a winning strategy.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

For your second point, honestly everyone I've talked to in most fields (and conversations I've observed) just says they hate their job. People in SWE say it's boring and depressing, people in law say the people are terrible and the work is often unfulfilling, etc. every job will have its negatives that people sometimes cling on to.

To be frank the only person I know who actually liked their job was a prof at my state university studying quantum computers; 35 years old full professor. Won some 1.5 million dollar prize and practically gets infinite funding form the uni. Must be nice. They worked at a public uni so I could see their salary and it was like 1.2 million. But obviously this is such an outlier that it's not even worth considering lol just thought it was funny

Those people are WAY too smart to be doctors. My neighbors wife was an engineer before going to med school. I tell her that all the time.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Yeah this is a big issue as residency funding comes out of govt. Medicaid money for some reason (at least in the U.S.)

Source before anyone screams at me
"Few taxpayers know that significant financial public support underlies the graduate-level training of the nation's physicians."

This is true. I think the money comes from Medicare, but it's still tax dollars just the same.

 

[ccp005]

From what I've seen it's a mix of:
1. Burnout from having a demanding career
2. Increased documentation, which increases overall work
3. Declining autonomy... as a result of corporate healthcare and insurance companies
4. Scope creep

At the end of the day, becoming a physician (financially) is still a solid career choice. It's not like Pharmacy, Vet, Physical Therapy, Law, etc where the markets have gotten bad and the low income/debt ratio. Dental is getting bad too now if you don't go in with a game plan to tackle the debt.

Even if you go Primary Care you'll have significantly better debt/income ratios than the above on average. You might not be super rich, but you'll be well off for sure.

imo you just have to decide how much you love it because it's a very demanding career with no exit options (or at least very few). You kind of have to decide if you want to be working that hard. It's not like investment banking or consulting where if you decide it's not worth it you can just leave. With med you're stuck for the ride bc of the debt. The hard part about this is though, is how are you supposed to know if you 'love' it before you even do it? Shadowing doesn't tell the whole story unfortunately.

As far as some of the things go like scope creep, automation, further corporatization of healthcare... it's too hard to tell. All of these will likely progress, but who knows how quickly it will be. People were telling my father at the beginning of his career not to do anesthesia bc of CRNA scope creep... that was like 30 years ago. It ended up being fine bc it didn't progress fast enough to make his career 'obsolete' like everyone was saying. So who know what the future holds.

I personally think that a lot of people regret it because they didn't realize how hard it was going to be. Honestly though, if you want a high paying job in general you will be working very hard regardless of the industry.

In all honesty you can make a good life for yourself no matter what path you take. Just keep that in mind when making your decision. Don't stress yourself out too much because no matter what you do your attitude will determine how happy you are.

Disclaimer: I am not a physician.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

I’m a premed. I love medicine. I don’t love student loans. I don’t love it when doctors are making less and less. I don’t love it when doctors are complaining about their jobs and telling premeds to pursue something else but they don’t give specific reasons as to why they feel that way.

With that being said, what are some challenges I and my fellow premeds will be facing as we become doctors? Insurance? Low pay? Automation? PAs doing most of the work?

In my opinion, when career searching, this is one of the most important questions because the reality is that we all will die one day and we have bills to pay. I am not looking for some sugar coated answer. Give it to me straight.

And don’t tell me that if I’m second guessing becoming a doctor, that means I shouldn’t become a doctor. That’s a ridiculously naive statement. If doctors are going to be in debt for 15 years without pay, with loans and interest, with poor salary prospects, I don’t care how much you love it, you just shouldn’t do it. It’s stupid.

Telling someone to stay on track with medicine because they love it is the same as telling Mary to stay with her spouse despite all the wrongs things he does because she loves him.

Love alone isn’t enough.

Please help

Corporate or govt Healthcare all take us to the same end point. Limiting access and cutting costs. Both blow smoke about quality and its all rhetoric. It's all about the money, just like every other healthcare system on the planet. Doctors are being moved farther and farther away from medical decisions. These are the greatest challenges imo.

 

[deleted462159]

The 3 most common worries/complaints on the physician forums here seem to be:

1) Scope Creep
2) PE buying out practices => having less control over how you want to practice/your income
3) Burnout due to insurance BS and patient noncompliance

Agreed here. Two thoughts to expand on #2:

First, the doctors selling to PE are making a lot of money. It's a short-term win for them, but is it good for physicians or the public long-term? I don't believe it is. Now that said, PE is definitely more focused in a handful of specialties (though that list seems to be expanding) - and not others, e.g., less profitable ones. So it depends what specialty you're going into.

The second thought is, it's not just PE buying out practices. In the past 10 years, health systems have been buying out a ton of practices as "feeders" into their hospitals, etc. And there definitely are fewer doctors going into private practice like they might in decades past (due to $$, administrative burden, etc.).

 

[account4premed]

What's PE and what does it mean when they're buying out practices?

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

What's PE and what does it mean when they're buying out practices?

It’s probably referring to private equity. Rather than buying publicly traded securities, these firms allocate capital to equity stakes in private, non mark to market entities.

Why are they buying out practices? I would guess it has to do with the comically low interest rates since 2008. Investors are chasing yield and any business that produces steady cash flows (even if it requires high costs upfront) is a prime target.

 

[DoctorFate]

It’s probably referring to private equity. Rather than buying publicly traded securities, these firms allocate capital to equity stakes in private, non mark to market entities.

Why are they buying out practices? I would guess it has to do with the comically low interest rates since 2008. Investors are chasing yield and any business that produces steady cash flows (even if it requires high costs upfront) is a prime target.

Responses like this are why I'm especially glad you joined SDN.