If I made that at my current job, I would still go to med school. If I win the lottery, I'll still go to med school. If it's something you really want to do, why does salary change that?
My hero.
I made over $200K. I have zero regrets.
$500K is alot of money. I have not met anybody in medical school circles with that kind of history. I have friends who are wealthy. I am in medical school thanks, in part, to them, and my savings, my family, the grace of God. But money is not everything. The physicians doing the whining today are the ones who made twice the salary ten years ago. They "miss" their money. Yet they are still making a killing.
As I write in my blog regularly (The Road Less Traveled to MD), the transition to pursuing an MD Degree for me is about a journey.
It is not about arriving. It is about getting there. I try to enjoy the ride and not focus on what so many do here on SDN: Medical Rotations, Step Exams, Residency, Fellowship Training, paying off student debts. You need to relax.
I'm on a journey and I'm enjoying the ride. Why push it? Relax. It'll come to you eventually. Just enjoy your station in life right now. It won't be with you forever.
Physicians, sadly, are poor business men/women. Perhaps its all the Physics, Organic Chemistry, MCAT, Step 1, 2 3 grind that precludes developing the areas of the brain that accounts for having a mind for business success. I don't know why it is that physicians have chosen, in large part, to relinquish control of the livelihood to Insurance Company Executives while those executives make a 7 figure income. It makes no sense.
Medicine, for me, is about being in the moment: as a first year student, as a Resident, as a Fellow (if I choose that route), as an Attending.
This is a thought that is lost on most.
I wrote in another thread on SDN about the phrase "golden handcuffs". Only one person on that thread understood the phrase b/c they too walked away from a career that was all about money (golden) but made them feel like a prisoner (handcuffs)
Alot of physicians feel that way about their profession. They hate the business landscape, try to disuade many of us from going into medicine, yet remain in the field.
They should retire.
They should make room for new blood
There are plenty of Valet Parking Jobs available in tourist towns. I once met a Valet Parking Attendant who had an MD Degree! He said he was much happier. He got to drive Rolls Royce and Aston Martin cars for a living.
So, consider looking at your medical training as a journey. Stop harping on what your earnings will be. Michael Crichton earned his MD Degree, walked away from the medical profession, and made a killing in writing. Frank Netter did the same thing. Netter is a hero and a role model for all medical students. But are they paying attention to his story? No, they are not.
What is your niche as a future physician that is not necessarily fee driven and dependent on reimbursement by Insurance Companies?
That's for you to discover.
