Would you rather....

[golfman]

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This topic has been beaten to death, but that's okay.

This stems from something an internal medicine doctor told me. He told me that he loved internal medicine, but makes $150,000/year and works about 60 hours a week. He said he doesn't really doesn't think radiology is that interesting, but he has friends that work 40 hours/week and make $600,000 a year. He told me that if he had to do it over again he would have for sure picked something less interesting to him but paid more and had a better lifestyle.

So, I pose the question. Would you rather make 4x the money doing something you don't really find that interesting that also makes you work less hours, or would you do something that you love for a lot less money and more hours/week?

I've had to really think about this one. In an ideal world, you could have both. But that isn't always possible.

I for one, lean towards the $$, but just slightly. A lot of it is based off of this guys advice.

 

[VOP]

Money no doubt

 

[Planet Ocean]

I voted for doing something I love even if its more hours and less pay. I mean to just be able to say that I do something that I love for a living... its pure success. I want that deeper meaning.

 

[Evergrey]

This is an amusing thread. Realistically, because of the fact that we are all planning to go into medicine, we have ALL already chosen the "more hours, something you love" option. I don't see any need to fraction it beyond that.

Edit: Ugh I got suckered into posting into one of the awful salary discussion threads again. WHY do I do this to myself???

 

[DrArete]

This topic has been beaten to death, but that's okay.

This stems from something an internal medicine doctor told me. He told me that he loved internal medicine, but makes $150,000/year and works about 60 hours a week. He said he doesn't really doesn't think radiology is that interesting, but he has friends that work 40 hours/week and make $600,000 a year. He told me that if he had to do it over again he would have for sure picked something less interesting to him but paid more and had a better lifestyle.

So, I pose the question. Would you rather make 4x the money doing something you don't really find that interesting that also makes you work less hours, or would you do something that you love for a lot less money and more hours/week?

I've had to really think about this one. In an ideal world, you could have both. But that isn't always possible.

I for one, lean towards the $$, but just slightly. A lot of it is based off of this guys advice.

 

[golfman]

I voted for the less money, more hours option... But thinking about it, I would switch my vote. Sure, for those extra 20 hours you would be doing something you loved, but realistically, I would be able to spend those 20 hours doing other things I loved at my leisure, such as spending time w/ family, etc.

This is exactly why I made this thread. I initially thought that doing something you love is the obvious choice. But, is being away from my family for 20 extra hours a week, and making 75% less really worth it? Tough call.

 

[Practitioner]

What if what I love to do pays more?

 

[Kimaris]

I'd choose the money. A job is a job and at some point in your 30-50 year career as a physician you'll get bored with it.

 

[chman]

This is an amusing thread. Realistically, because of the fact that we are all planning to go into medicine, we have ALL already chosen the "more hours, something you love" option. I don't see any need to fraction it beyond that.

Edit: Ugh I got suckered into posting into one of the awful salary discussion threads again. WHY do I do this to myself???

Exactly. If you picked number two you might as well go ahead and aim to go to the top b-school in the country or something and save yourself a lot of trouble.

 

[Hifey]

I choose more money for a couple of reasons:

1. No matter what you're doing, everything becomes kinda routine after a while.

2. Those twenty hours could be spent doing stuff with my family, stuff for myself etc. and just being generally happier and healthier. I plan on having a family in the future and I want to participate in raising my kids as much as possible.

3. Those loans ain't gonna pay themselves. The sooner they're done, the better.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

This topic has been beaten to death, but that's okay.

This stems from something an internal medicine doctor told me. He told me that he loved internal medicine, but makes $150,000/year and works about 60 hours a week. He said he doesn't really doesn't think radiology is that interesting, but he has friends that work 40 hours/week and make $600,000 a year. He told me that if he had to do it over again he would have for sure picked something less interesting to him but paid more and had a better lifestyle.

So, I pose the question. Would you rather make 4x the money doing something you don't really find that interesting that also makes you work less hours, or would you do something that you love for a lot less money and more hours/week?

I've had to really think about this one. In an ideal world, you could have both. But that isn't always possible.

I for one, lean towards the $$, but just slightly. A lot of it is based off of this guys advice.

For 4x the money, the obvious choice is follow the money and reevaluate a few years down the road. While making the big $, pay off the big debt and save Alot. While reevaluating, consider how much you like your high $ job, how comfortably you could live doing the lower $ job with the money already in the bank, and go from there.

 

[maxx52188]

I don't know what I would pick. But my primary care physician said the same thing the IM doc said in the first post

 

[Poliscidoc]

Show me the money, say it with me Johnny- "SHOW ME THE MONEY"!!!!

 

[Xinlitik]

I picked the "love" option, but I don't think that IM Dr is a good example. He may be more interested in IM than radiology, but he clearly doesn't love IM, at least the way you described it.

I use my PI as an example. He works more than anyone I know (every single day, all day), makes an assistant professor's salary (decent..110kish?), but absolutely loves it. That is what I'm talking about. If you truly love what you do, the rest doesn't matter...if you like what you do, that is not necessarily the case.

 

[Perrotfish]

Exactly. If you picked number two you might as well go ahead and aim to go to the top b-school in the country or something and save yourself a lot of trouble.

Two things:

1) You significatly overestimate the job security and pay of top business schools. I doubt most physicians would make more money in busienss, and I'm SURE that you wouldn't make more money in business vs. medicine if you chose to work 40 hours or less a week. The opportunity to work relatively short hours for very good money with excelent job security is pretty much unique to medicine.

2) There is a difference between a job you like and a job that you respect yourself for doing. I'm not expecting to get up every morning excited to go to work, but I do need to be able to think of my career as something that has a basically positive impact on the lives of others. I don't thinkI could do that if my career was convincing people to buy Pepsi instead of Coke.

 

[docelh]

This poll is irrelevant. Just about any career that makes any real money requires long hours.

Even those Hollywood nimrods work hard for a living.

 

[loveoforganic]

IM doc getting paid like 50 bucks an hour?

 

[golfman]

IM doc getting paid like 50 bucks an hour?

When you factor in things like dictations, writing letters, visiting people in the hospital (AKA things you don't get paid for) then yeah I guess it may come out to about that.

 

[golfman]

This poll is irrelevant. Just about any career that makes any real money requires long hours.

Even those Hollywood nimrods work hard for a living.

Have you even read the poll? Your comment doesn't even make sense in regards to the poll. I personally know a radiologist that works 40 hours a week and makes $600,000. And he only has 1 or 2 years more of training then my IM doc friend working about 60 hours making $150,000.

So there goes your theory that "real money" requires long hours.

 

[docelh]

Some of the figures I've seen suggest radiologists put in 50 - 55 on average. But hey, that's just a study. Doesn't compare to anecdotal evidence, obviously.

 

[randombetch]

This poll is irrelevant. Just about any career that makes any real money requires long hours.

Even those Hollywood nimrods work hard for a living.

Dermatology? Dermatopathology?

 

[Practitioner]

I use my PI as an example. He works more than anyone I know (every single day, all day), makes an assistant professor's salary (decent..110kish?), but absolutely loves it. That is what I'm talking about. If you truly love what you do, the rest doesn't matter...if you like what you do, that is not necessarily the case.

Yeah this is a good point and also a decent example.

In reality there is a range of things I would enjoy doing and a range of salaries I would give up doing what I enjoy to make more.

If I'm getting $110k/year without any debt I might choose that over a $80k/year salary in a job I love but with debt. But there's a practical limit in terms of pay above which what I don't care any more about what I have to do and would rather enjoy it. Surgery is one of those things.

On the flip side there is a certain number of hours a day/days a week I would not be willing to work no matter how much you paid me.

 

[chman]

Two things:

1) You significatly overestimate the job security and pay of top business schools. I doubt most physicians would make more money in busienss, and I'm SURE that you wouldn't make more money in business vs. medicine if you chose to work 40 hours or less a week. The opportunity to work relatively short hours for very good money with excelent job security is pretty much unique to medicine.

2) There is a difference between a job you like and a job that you respect yourself for doing. I'm not expecting to get up every morning excited to go to work, but I do need to be able to think of my career as something that has a basically positive impact on the lives of others. I don't thinkI could do that if my career was convincing people to buy Pepsi instead of Coke.

All I'm saying is that there are plenty of lucrative careers that don't take > a decade to start. That is way to long to spend training to settle for a specialty that your heart is not in. But, as they say, that is just my opinion.

 

[Cyradis]

Everyone always polarizes these debates to "something you love but pays little vs. something you are indifferent to/hate but pays a lot".

A more realistic picture when talking about medical specializations is probably something you love that pays less, vs something you like but pays a lot.

If it's the extreme, polarized sort of example I'd go with something I love... I couldn't stand to do something I'm indifferent to/hate all day.

However, if it was something I love that pays a lot less than something else that I still like/enjoy, just not as much but pays really well, I'd probably go for the $$$.

 

[Fleabeard]

Everyone always polarizes these debates to "something you love but pays little vs. something you are indifferent to/hate but pays a lot".

A more realistic picture when talking about medical specializations is probably something you love that pays less, vs something you like but pays a lot.

If it's the extreme, polarized sort of example I'd go with something I love... I couldn't stand to do something I'm indifferent to/hate all day.

However, if it was something I love that pays a lot less than something else that I still like/enjoy, just not as much but pays really well, I'd probably go for the $$$.

👍

 

[JmanDO]

What the hell pays $600k/year? Is it the highest possible?

 

[golfman]

What the hell pays $600k/year? Is it the highest possible?

Radiology. Especially if you specialize. Personally know a kid (friend of my brother) who took a job right out of residency in neuroradiology for $675,000. Starting salary.

I think there a quite a few specialties that can make this much. But that is the only one I know of for sure, where I have actual knowledge of actual salaries, and not just numbers off some random salary website.

 

[Frazier]

Radiology. Especially if you specialize. Personally know a kid (friend of my brother) who took a job right out of residency in neuroradiology for $675,000. Starting salary.

 

[golfman]

👍 I've known him since he was a kid, so I guess I keep calling him that. Even though he was older than me.

 

[Cleavername]

i voted for the money. simplily because i like money, so gg. and i enjoy science.