Would you do it over again?

[UnicornDemon]

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Knowing what you know now, if given the option to go back all the way to undergrad, would you choose again to pursue medical school? And, if so, would you re-select pathology as your specialty?

If no, what would you have done instead?

 

[2121115]

Knowing what you know now, if given the option to go back all the way to undergrad, would you choose again to pursue medical school? And, if so, would you re-select pathology as your specialty?

If no, what would you have done instead?

1. Yes.

2. No, very unlikely.

3. Surgery or gas maybe.

Just being honest.

 

[pathololology]

I would go to med school again. Probably wouldn't chose pathology though. More personal reasons than anything. Hard to find a job in an ideal location (and when I say ideal I am just talking mountain west and west coast . . . something I didn't originally think was too picky). I would look at advertisements for jobs either online or in JAMA and pick a specialty that actually needed a specialist in an area I really wanted to live. Just being 100% honest. I am also not all doom and gloom. I think there are definitely opportunities out there in pathology. You just have to be willing to move (sometimes across the country). For me, however, the costs have outweighed the benefits in the long run. . . .

 

[pathstudent]

First off I absolutely love pathology.

However not sure I would do med school again. And if I knew then what I know now I wouldn't choose pathology and would roll the dice with subspecialty surgery (ent, ortho, etc.)

 

[Humpy]

Yes and yes.

 

[mlw03]

I probably would do engineering if I had it to do again. This has nothing to do with my job (FP, which I enjoy), but rather the fact that medicine in general takes so long (and path is relatively short) to complete one's training, that starting a family gets delayed. I have friends who got jobs right out of college with multiple kids, house, etc... But perhaps the grass is always a bit greener on the other side - aside from other medicine friends, few make the money that physicians do. So I don't know....

 

[Path or bust]

I probably would do engineering if I had it to do again. This has nothing to do with my job (FP, which I enjoy), but rather the fact that medicine in general takes so long (and path is relatively short) to complete one's training, that starting a family gets delayed. I have friends who got jobs right out of college with multiple kids, house, etc... But perhaps the grass is always a bit greener on the other side - aside from other medicine friends, few make the money that physicians do. So I don't know....

1. Medical school yes
2. Pathology, no way.
3. Surgery or anesthesia.

 

[deleted314957]

no. I love pathology but i think my good fortune could not be repeated. knowing what i know and looking at the field NOW i would probably do a trade like electrician, etc and hope to start a successful multi-employee firm in the business.

 

[BU Pathology]

Would absolutely do medical school again and pathology. The intellectual opportunities are unparalleled. For me, the job satisfaction could not be greater.

 

[zao275]

1. Med school: yes

2. Pathology: absolutely yes. The joy I derive from going to work everyday more than makes up for any unique difficulties in our field (for me at least).

3. Other specialty: If I was forced to NOT do pathology, I think I would have enjoyed radiology or dermatology. I also loved surgery but do not think I would be happy with a surgeon's life.

 

[KLPM]

3. Other specialty: If I was forced to NOT do pathology, I think I would have enjoyed radiology or dermatology. I also loved surgery but do not think I would be happy with a surgeon's life.

What about a dermatological surgeon? 🙄

 

[mlw03]

Would absolutely do medical school again and pathology. The intellectual opportunities are unparalleled. For me, the job satisfaction could not be greater.

Come on... this line is a bit of hyperbole, no? While I agree pathology present a satisfying array of intellectual stimulation, to say it's unparalleled is a bit insulting thousands of other highly skilled and knowledgeable professionals, within medicine, law, engineering, public health, public policy, and lots of other fields.

It's interesting how many threads on here over the last few years rapidly devolve into the same topic, and there's 3 camps as I see it:
1) Pathology is horrible and should be avoided at all costs.
2) Pathology is the greatest profession ever and should be pursued by every medical student.
3) Pathology is an interesting and satisfying career with some real challenges facing the field in the next generation.

I firmly believe the 3rd situation is the accurate one, and think we (practicing pathologists) owe it to the field and to med students who read this form to be truthful and accurate.

 

[rollwithit]

For those mentioning surgery, do you think you would enjoy the lifestyle? Would the money/prestige/security make up for the lack of sleep and social life? The 5-6 years in residency/fellowship @100+ hours/wk is brutal and it doesn't exactly get cut in half when you are on your own.

Of course, there is plenty of variation within what you want to specialize in, but as a general rule, I'd have to say for what you gain in job security/money, you lose with increase in physical stress. That's definitely one of those "married to your career" type paths where all other aspects of life is forced to take a backseat. I'm not suggesting preferring it is right or wrong, just curious about the perspective of pathologists that now think they would have been better off a surgeon...

 

[icpshootyz]

I would most likely do it again. There's no other medical field that interested me. Clinical medicine was not what brought me to med school, it was always pathology. So I wouldn't choose some other medical field. I love what I do, I'm comfortable, and I can't really imagine myself doing something else. If I didn't do pathology I don't really know what I would do.

 

[KCShaw]

If I did med school, then I'd still do path -> forensic path. Financially I'd probably have been better off doing almost anything else, but y'know.. I had so much fun in med school that that part of my life would be very, very hard to trade away. I got to do things I otherwise never would have done. I know a lot of folks barely saw the light of day during medical school and found it stressful, etc., but on the whole that wasn't the case for me.

So..I'm not sure. The boring bottom-line me would skip med school and do something else -- anything with a steady income but no debt from 22-23 years old onward, or even some brief additional degree or certificate and a little better income with minimal debt from ~25-26 or so onward. I was surprisingly close to getting into the fish & wildlife service after college, and probably would have enjoyed that, or enjoyed it enough anyway.

 

[LADoc00]

A.) Im glad I passed on IBanking before the crash came.
B.) Im glad I passed on going to Law school.
C.) Im glad I passed on wasting the money on a MBA.
D.) Im glad I passed on going into research.
E.) Im glad I passed on specialized consulting with Bain/BCG/McKins.

but honestly I passed on the Harvard Dental program and I that probably was a mistake in retrospect...

but you cant live your life in regretsville. You have to wake up and make the best of the crappy situation of modern medicine under Obama and his villianous allies.

 

[gbwillner]

Knowing what you know now, if given the option to go back all the way to undergrad, would you choose again to pursue medical school? And, if so, would you re-select pathology as your specialty?

If no, what would you have done instead?

1. yes, definitely

2. Probably. Looking back I would have had the same opportunities had I gone into IM and sub-specialized in Onc, with an even better defined career path. But I am happy where I am now and I have zero regrets.

 

[2121115]

The poor lifestyle in surgery is exaggerated IMO. General surgery is the same time in residency as pathology. Sure, there are more call/nights in residency, but with the work hour restrictions it isn't much worse than a resident on surgical pathology logging 70+ hours per week. In private practice after residency, at my hospital now, the surgeons have a pretty good lifestyle. I'm signing out until 6:30 on a regular basis while they are leaving the hospital by 4:30 usually. Almost any time I call them after 4:30 with an important/unexpected diagnosis, I can hear their kids playing in the background because they are already at home. The "good lifestyle" of pathology is also exaggerated, if you are going to stay competitive in a saturated market in a high volume practice.

 

[Tiki]

1. Yes to med school
2. Yes to pathology, because after all of the job hunting stress I endured, I found a great job in my desired location.

 

[LADoc00]

The poor lifestyle in surgery is exaggerated IMO.

This. The enduring MYTH of the general surgeon with a crappy lifestyle like it is something out of the 1950s is ludacris.

The individual with the best lifestyle on my entire medical staff is a general surgeon. He works trauma with 3 x 12 hr shifts per week and the rest of the time off. He owns a huge baller house, no wife or kids and pretty much has the ultimate bachelor lifestyle and ALL the time in the world to enjoy it.

And he pulls down very nice $$ and is planning to cut back to 1/2 time at age 50..of course he is already 1/2 in my book so 1/4 time?!

Lucky bastard.

 

[rollwithit]

The poor lifestyle in surgery is exaggerated IMO. General surgery is the same time in residency as pathology. Sure, there are more call/nights in residency, but with the work hour restrictions it isn't much worse than a resident on surgical pathology logging 70+ hours per week.

Haha. If you suggested that to a general surgery resident, that conversation would likely come to blows. "Work hour restrictions" are reported hours. Surgery residents very often work well beyond those hours to see the cases they want to see. After all, you can't pick and chose when someone needs a certain type of surgery, especially if it is an emergency situation. Ask a surgery resident to go home and sleep when it means missing out on a case they may only see a handful of times a year. They are machines.

And again, I'm sure there are many surgeons out there with great lifestyles just as there are pathologists with stressful situations and/or make a boat load of money. I'm just stating that, generally speaking, surgery has more income/security with a trade off of physical stress/less time for life and pathology has less income/security with a trade off of more time for life and less physical stress. Again, generally speaking, pathology has a controllable lifestyle and surgery has an uncontrollable lifestyle. Did I mention, I'm making generalities?

ETA: I suppose it would also be helpful to know what people's expectations were heading into whatever medical specialty before stating they would have been happier in something else. If someone entered pathology expecting to retire in Key West at 50, I at least know their frame of mind. Not suggesting those wants are right or wrong, but they are certainly misaligned with reasonable expectations for their chosen specialty. Needless to say (or maybe it is necessary on this particular forum?), there are trade-offs with most any chosen career-choice.

 

[BU Pathology]

Come on... this line is a bit of hyperbole, no? While I agree pathology present a satisfying array of intellectual stimulation, to say it's unparalleled is a bit insulting thousands of other highly skilled and knowledgeable professionals, within medicine, law, engineering, public health, public policy, and lots of other fields.

It's interesting how many threads on here over the last few years rapidly devolve into the same topic, and there's 3 camps as I see it:
1) Pathology is horrible and should be avoided at all costs.
2) Pathology is the greatest profession ever and should be pursued by every medical student.
3) Pathology is an interesting and satisfying career with some real challenges facing the field in the next generation.

I firmly believe the 3rd situation is the accurate one, and think we (practicing pathologists) owe it to the field and to med students who read this form to be truthful and accurate.

I do not think it is hyperbole.

Based on my experiences working as
Intelligence analyst for the National Security Agency
Sargent in the Air Force
Computer programmer
Furniture mover
Developing public policies regarding research and healthcare reform
Teaching at college, graduate, and medical schools

and my extensive contact consulting and collaborating with
Multiple physician groups
Business analysts
Lawyers
Pharmaceutical industry liaisons
Physicians who left other disciplines to train in pathology

My opinion is still that the intellectual opportunities as a pathologist are unparalleled.

However, I have never played a musical instrument or a sport at an elite level, so it is possible that other disciplines have more intellectual stimulation.

One of the things that has been very enjoyable is that pathology training allows one to participate and lead in multiple venues with relative ease. There may be other professions that allow easy portability of skills, but pathology training gave me this opportunity.

To be fair, this opinion is based on my experiences and may not be true for others. And while I have worked as a furniture mover that job is not really in the same category as the others.

 

[KCShaw]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I worked stacking diapers at the end of a production line.

I don't recommend it.

 

[deleted314957]

The poor lifestyle in surgery is exaggerated IMO. General surgery is the same time in residency as pathology. Sure, there are more call/nights in residency, but with the work hour restrictions it isn't much worse than a resident on surgical pathology logging 70+ hours per week. In private practice after residency, at my hospital now, the surgeons have a pretty good lifestyle. I'm signing out until 6:30 on a regular basis while they are leaving the hospital by 4:30 usually. Almost any time I call them after 4:30 with an important/unexpected diagnosis, I can hear their kids playing in the background because they are already at home. The "good lifestyle" of pathology is also exaggerated, if you are going to stay competitive in a saturated market in a high volume practice.

Granted, my exposure was limited but I did a 1 year surgical internship and that convinced me I did NOT want to do surgery. Operating was fun ( we got the appys and inguinal hernias with an easy GB on a skinny person as a "going away" present.) But the lifestyle was a bitch. up at 3:30 am on operating days so i could round from 5-6, then round with the "bosses" from 6-7. non-operating days up at 4:30 so i could round from 6-7, then with the bosses from 7-8. one intern screwed up his back so for 2 months on SICU/shock-trauma i was on 36hrs, off 12hrs for 2 straight months.

i was NOT going to do that for another 4 years. this was jan 1978-1979.

 

[pathman124]

Granted, my exposure was limited but I did a 1 year surgical internship and that convinced me I did NOT want to do surgery. Operating was fun ( we got the appys and inguinal hernias with an easy GB on a skinny person as a "going away" present.) But the lifestyle was a bitch. up at 3:30 am on operating days so i could round from 5-6, then round with the "bosses" from 6-7. non-operating days up at 4:30 so i could round from 6-7, then with the bosses from 7-8. one intern screwed up his back so for 2 months on SICU/shock-trauma i was on 36hrs, off 12hrs for 2 straight months.

i was NOT going to do that for another 4 years. this was jan 1978-1979.

Things have changed. There are times like that in general surgery residency, but after training there is little difference between surgeons' and pathologists' lifestyles.

 

[MetroPath]

A.) Im glad I passed on IBanking before the crash came.
B.) Im glad I passed on going to Law school.
C.) Im glad I passed on wasting the money on a MBA.
D.) Im glad I passed on going into research.
E.) Im glad I passed on specialized consulting with Bain/BCG/McKins.

but honestly I passed on the Harvard Dental program and I that probably was a mistake in retrospect...

but you cant live your life in regretsville. You have to wake up and make the best of the crappy situation of modern medicine under Obama and his villianous allies.

Would you be a general dentist or a specialist. I hear the dentistry field is saturated. In some areas subspecialists are saturated as well from what I hear.

 

[trailblaze]

Granted I'm still a resident, but for what its worth, I would do it all again and I would choose path. I almost went into IM which I know now would have been a huge mistake.
And I'm not sure a out the sugeon lifestyle myth thing. For every sugeon I know who has a decent lifestyle, I know 10 others who work like dogs (many have the personalities to embrace this, however).

 

[MOHS_01]

Granted, my exposure was limited but I did a 1 year surgical internship and that convinced me I did NOT want to do surgery. Operating was fun ( we got the appys and inguinal hernias with an easy GB on a skinny person as a "going away" present.) But the lifestyle was a bitch. up at 3:30 am on operating days so i could round from 5-6, then round with the "bosses" from 6-7. non-operating days up at 4:30 so i could round from 6-7, then with the bosses from 7-8. one intern screwed up his back so for 2 months on SICU/shock-trauma i was on 36hrs, off 12hrs for 2 straight months.

i was NOT going to do that for another 4 years. this was jan 1978-1979.

I had the exact same experience (albeit a decade or two later). You never ran across anyone by the name of Hiram Polk, perchance???

 

[deleted314957]

I had the exact same experience (albeit a decade or two later). You never ran across anyone by the name of Hiram Polk, perchance???

Nope. My Demigod was Steve Shackford. Last I checked he was/is a bigtime shock/trauma guy.

 

[Substance]

I had the exact same experience (albeit a decade or two later). You never ran across anyone by the name of Hiram Polk, perchance???

Hiram Polk has his own wikipedia entry.

 

[Ruination]

I wouldn't go to med school if I could do it all over again. Likely would go the engineering or actuary route.

 

[Thrombus]

If back in undergrad, would do engineering of some sort and then get MBA.

If early med school, would quit and get MBA.

If late med school, would do procedure oriented specialty, Gi, GU, ENt, Surg, Derm.

If early path resident would quit and do above.

If late path resident, would finish and do FP res and specialize in Skin, and read own biopsies.

If fellow would hope for good job and if I didnt get it would do above.

Now trying to make ends meet and perhaps open up another business to supplement this deleveraged, oversaturated, non-autonomous career.

 

[WEBB PINKERTON]

With physicians headed toward hospital employee status, lifestyle isn't going to be an issue anymore.

I would probably still recommend going to med school but NO WAY would I pick pathology. Its shocking to hear people say they would have chosen gas or rads. I rank those down near the bottom with pathology. Their ranks seem full of frat boys that somehow became physicians.

 

[MOHS_01]

With physicians headed toward hospital employee status, lifestyle isn't going to be an issue anymore.

I would probably still recommend going to med school but NO WAY would I pick pathology. Its shocking to hear people say they would have chosen gas or rads. I rank those down near the bottom with pathology. Their ranks seem full of frat boys that somehow became physicians.

QFT

 

[pathstudent]

Like I said above, I got to work stoked pretty much everyday.

But I think the "unparalleled intellectual stimulation" is a bit of an overstatement, especially if you actuall practice pathology as opposed to doing basic science reaearch about pathobiology. The practice of pathology is challenging and interesting, but how about cosmology, particle physics, theoretical mathematics, composing a symphony, molecular biology, choreographing a ballet, directing a play, being a political strategist,, and the list could go on and on.

There are all sorts of ways to be intellectually stimulated.

 

[Thrombus]

Like I said above, I got to work stoked pretty much everyday.

But I think the "unparalleled intellectual stimulation" is a bit of an overstatement, especially if you actuall practice pathology as opposed to doing basic science reaearch about pathobiology. The practice of pathology is challenging and interesting, but how about cosmology, particle physics, theoretical mathematics, composing a symphony, molecular biology, choreographing a ballet, directing a play, being a political strategist,, and the list could go on and on.

There are all sorts of ways to be intellectually stimulated.

I would certainly agree with this. Path can have a few challenging cases here and there but is essentially fairly routine compared with the above careers.

 

[Silent Cool]

With physicians headed toward hospital employee status, lifestyle isn't going to be an issue anymore.

I would probably still recommend going to med school but NO WAY would I pick pathology. Its shocking to hear people say they would have chosen gas or rads OR ORTHO. I rank those down near the bottom with pathology. Their ranks seem full of frat boys that somehow became physicians.

Fixed.

 

[2121115]

I would probably still recommend going to med school but NO WAY would I pick pathology. Its shocking to hear people say they would have chosen gas or rads. I rank those down near the bottom with pathology. Their ranks seem full of frat boys that somehow became physicians.

As pathologists, we should be careful about promoting stereotypes of other fields. After all, we don't want to play the stereotype game because we'll lose. Fill in the blank here.

"Its shocking to hear people say they would have chosen pathology. I rank those down near the bottom. Their ranks seem full of ____ that somehow became physicians."

 

[veo1]

Yes. Would definitely go to medical school. While in medical school and residency I might have given a different answer. Now being on the other side of things and given the current state of the economy, I am fortunate to have a stable job (for now at least).

That being said, I don't think I would go into pathology given the current job market which l don't believe will improve in the next 10 yrs given the glut of residents and middle-aged pathologists out there. I would give serious consideration to anesthesiology. Great salaries and tons of job options.

 

[yaah]

It's somewhat amusing to see people say they would, in retrospect, ditch med school and "get an MBA" or something like that. Because of the pathology job market? The pathology job market is, whatever it is, still loads better than the job market for most other professions. Those that do find "good" jobs either end up working onerous hours with lots of travel or are shipped somewhere they don't want to live. I'm generalizing, of course, but if you're going to go with generalizations about pathology you have to compare them to real world generalizations. You think you're going to get an MBA and just fall into a career that immediately pays as well and gives you as much autonomy?

I would do exactly the same thing I did, unless of course I could go back with knowledge of the current stock market and economy and cash in on that knowledge. That's almost as realistic as some of the things you guys are talking about.

Compare the true unemployment rate of law school and MBA grads to that of pathology grads. I can assure you that neither of the first two are as low. And compare starting salaries.

There are all kinds of reasons for picking careers. If you picked pathology for the wrong reason and hate the field, of course you would have been better of doing something else. But if you think other professions are so much better you're a little delusional.

 

[Silent Cool]

It's somewhat amusing to see people say they would, in retrospect, ditch med school and "get an MBA" or something like that. Because of the pathology job market? The pathology job market is, whatever it is, still loads better than the job market for most other professions. Those that do find "good" jobs either end up working onerous hours with lots of travel or are shipped somewhere they don't want to live. I'm generalizing, of course, but if you're going to go with generalizations about pathology you have to compare them to real world generalizations. You think you're going to get an MBA and just fall into a career that immediately pays as well and gives you as much autonomy?

I would do exactly the same thing I did, unless of course I could go back with knowledge of the current stock market and economy and cash in on that knowledge. That's almost as realistic as some of the things you guys are talking about.

Compare the true unemployment rate of law school and MBA grads to that of pathology grads. I can assure you that neither of the first two are as low. And compare starting salaries.

There are all kinds of reasons for picking careers. If you picked pathology for the wrong reason and hate the field, of course you would have been better of doing something else. But if you think other professions are so much better you're a little delusional.

+1

As someone who has spent time in the "real world" at a very large biotechnology company, with lots of people who had PhDs, MBAs, etc.., I can say this post is SPOT ON.

Perfectly stated, Yaah.

 

[Thrombus]

There are a few sectors that are begging for upper level competent management.

An MBA and an engineering degree in one of these fields is a golden ticket. I will let you guess what these sectors are. Shouldn't be too difficult.

 

[deleted314957]

There are a few sectors that are begging for upper level competent management.

An MBA and an engineering degree in one of these fields is a golden ticket. I will let you guess what these sectors are. Shouldn't be too difficult.

law with the proper "niche" is still very cool. Masters degree in political campaniging, top 20 law school, graduate with honors and get into campaign finance law in the washington D.C. area. My son did it and it works well. Traditional law school avenues generally suck now.
but you need the "niche"

 

[Silent Cool]

law with the proper "niche" is still very cool. Masters degree in political campaniging, top 20 law school, graduate with honors and get into campaign finance law in the washington D.C. area. My son did it and it works well. Traditional law school avenues generally suck now.
but you need the "niche"

I would say one of the best Law markets for science and tech people is Patent Law.

 

[deleted314957]

I would say one of the best Law markets for science and tech people is Patent Law.

very true. the most successful in that "niche" get PhD's in a tech field then go into patent law or intellectual property law.

 

[mlw03]

Well said, as usual. Everybody (on here, in medicine, pretty much everyone) would do well to study a little basic economics, in my opinion. This "would you do it again?" question relates well to the concept of opportunity cost. I wish I'd studied more econ during college, to the point of minoring in the subject.

In any case, I still think the biggest trade-off to a career in medicine (of any sort) is the lengthy training, which puts you well behind most of your peers in the "starting life" department (most of the time, of course there are always exceptions). These are all "first world problems", and it's interesting that some of the most important life decisions get made when a kid is 20-21 years old. The college sophomore thinking "do I go pre-med or stick with ____?" probably has no idea of the life-long implications of that decision.

It's somewhat amusing to see people say they would, in retrospect, ditch med school and "get an MBA" or something like that. Because of the pathology job market? The pathology job market is, whatever it is, still loads better than the job market for most other professions. Those that do find "good" jobs either end up working onerous hours with lots of travel or are shipped somewhere they don't want to live. I'm generalizing, of course, but if you're going to go with generalizations about pathology you have to compare them to real world generalizations. You think you're going to get an MBA and just fall into a career that immediately pays as well and gives you as much autonomy?

I would do exactly the same thing I did, unless of course I could go back with knowledge of the current stock market and economy and cash in on that knowledge. That's almost as realistic as some of the things you guys are talking about.

Compare the true unemployment rate of law school and MBA grads to that of pathology grads. I can assure you that neither of the first two are as low. And compare starting salaries.

There are all kinds of reasons for picking careers. If you picked pathology for the wrong reason and hate the field, of course you would have been better of doing something else. But if you think other professions are so much better you're a little delusional.

 

[rollwithit]

very true. the most successful in that "niche" get PhD's in a tech field then go into patent law or intellectual property law.

Yeah a lot of the patent guys I know have very technical backgrounds and education (bio engineering, chemistry, etc.) that spent years working in a field and later decided the law part was attractive. These "niche" areas aren't really areas where someone follows a well-defined education path that gets them into a secure and well-paying profession. It's "niche" because it's hard to find someone uniquely qualified to do the job. It usually happens after one realizes they can be in a position doing something of value that not a lot of people are prepared for through their technical experience + future law or business education. It also has to do with who you know and when you know them (i.e. luck)

In reality, the bulk of MBA folks and JD folks end up being middle management. MBA is a prerequisite for management (not the executive type, either) these days and JDs are a dime a dozen. You want to bitch about the job market? Talk to a recent law school grad.

Don't get me wrong, there's still money to be made at that level if you are good at what you do, but JD/MBA doesn't offer the same odds of being well-off as medicine offers. If you want a well-defined path to a stable, prestigious, and high paying career, medicine still blows business/law out of the water. Things can change, but I still don't think the earnings potential of the "average MBA/JD" is anywhere close to your average med school and residency trained physician. Yes, you are never going to be some hot shot portfolio manager that's pulling in 7 or 8 figures a year, but those are the extreme upper echelon of earners on Wall Street and certainly the country. Yes, those that go the medicine route are very likely putting in more hours of work in med school/residency/fellowship. Who cares? Having better odds at making excellent money isn't supposed to be easy. That's why it's better money.

I'd still say pursue medicine if it is a genuine interest. If the business side end up being more appealing to you for intellectual or financial reasons, you can then pursue a solid MBA and get into the mega-hospital admin or consulting work. Just remember, at that point, it's not just the MBA working for you. It's your unique combo of practical health care related experience, technical knowledge, plus business knowledge that's earning your paycheck.

 

[yaah]

law with the proper "niche" is still very cool. Masters degree in political campaniging, top 20 law school, graduate with honors and get into campaign finance law in the washington D.C. area. My son did it and it works well. Traditional law school avenues generally suck now.
but you need the "niche"

Yes, and you also need to work several years (typically) at low pay and long hours with lots of travel you get anywhere close to the level of a starting salary for a physician. Some people like to compare it to residency but it really isn't comparable except maybe for the hours. Residency is a lot more stable with a MUCH higher likelihood of success at the end. Basically once you get into residency you aren't going to fail out or get fired unless you do something terrible. That is most definitely NOT true of any other "similar" apprenticeship.

Part of the problem is that on forums like this, people compare the best case scenario from the alternative life to the worst case scenario in the field they picked. Well duh, it's going to work out fine if you create such a choice for yourself. You have to compare reality to reality.

Could I have gone into investment banking or management of some sort out of college? Probably. It was the late 90s and I had a good background and a good education. Could I be wealthier than I am now? There is a chance but I have no idea how likely it would be. Lots of things would have to go in my favor. I can pretty much guarantee you that I wouldn't be as happy as I am now though, since I really can't imagine a better career and life than I have now.

 

[pathstudent]

I really can't imagine a better career and life than I have now.

Really!

Imagine being Ernie els or Phil Mickelson.

 

[yaah]

Really!

Imagine being Ernie els or Phil Mickelson.

Thinking realistically, of course. That's the whole point. People aren't comparing their current lives to reality. They are comparing them to fantasies where everything went well and they don't have to face the real problems that those in those careers actually have to face. I can create all kinds of alternate realities for myself where I am the best golfer in the world, create a billion dollar business, or win the lottery. I'm crazy that I never chose those options! Screw pathology!