your opinion

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Hey everyone, so I found this article on forbes talking about medical school finances. What do you all think?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/danmunr...sessment-of-future-with-500k-in-student-debt/

 

[mimelim]

Summary: Don't go into medicine to make money. Really want/need to be a physician or go do something else.

 

[nokia stuff]

Summary: Don't go into medicine to make money. Really want/need to be a physician or go do something else.

I do agree on the concept that no person wanting to go into medicine should do it for the money. I also think if it is for the money that person is going for, they will be weeded out eventually in school. But do you think that being in that much debt is crippling especially for one person to handle. To go to work, save a life or two, cure someone, make someone better and then come home to a half a million dollar debt. I can not imagine that to be a good feeling after the work a doctor just did. My question is would you take a massive pay cut to 80,000 a year, but pay maybe 10,000 a year for med school, or have a typical pay that doctors have now but have the heavy load of debt?

 

[mimelim]

I do agree on the concept that no person wanting to go into medicine should do it for the money. I also think if it is for the money that person is going for, they will be weeded out eventually in school. But do you think that being in that much debt is crippling especially for one person to handle. To go to work, save a life or two, cure someone, make someone better and then come home to a half a million dollar debt. I can not imagine that to be a good feeling after the work a doctor just did. My question is would you take a massive pay cut to 80,000 a year, but pay maybe 10,000 a year for med school, or have a typical pay that doctors have now but have the heavy load of debt?

I have a fair amount of debt. My wife did grad school and then law school. Combined we have under 500k in loans, but not by much. My wife has always wanted to go into the public sector and intends to join the DA after she passes the bar. I'm in Vascular surgery. Yes, money is very tight, we budget, we aren't even really paying our loans back right now (income based repayment on my salary = next to nothing paid back). It is scary. It is stress inducing. But, at the end of the day, I will make a decent pay check. My wife will have a solid pay check and good benefits. More importantly, I love my job as a resident when I have next to zero control over my schedule or pretty much anything else for that matter. Taking care of patients every day makes it worth it for me. If you can't see it being worth it, find something else. There is no shame in it. It is just the practical reality of going to medical school. Would I take 80k / year to have no med school loans? No. I would be living better right now, but 10 years from now, I wouldn't.

 

[nokia stuff]

I have a fair amount of debt. My wife did grad school and then law school. Combined we have under 500k in loans, but not by much. My wife has always wanted to go into the public sector and intends to join the DA after she passes the bar. I'm in Vascular surgery. Yes, money is very tight, we budget, we aren't even really paying our loans back right now (income based repayment on my salary = next to nothing paid back). It is scary. It is stress inducing. But, at the end of the day, I will make a decent pay check. My wife will have a solid pay check and good benefits. More importantly, I love my job as a resident when I have next to zero control over my schedule or pretty much anything else for that matter. Taking care of patients every day makes it worth it for me. If you can't see it being worth it, find something else. There is no shame in it. It is just the practical reality of going to medical school. Would I take 80k / year to have no med school loans? No. I would be living better right now, but 10 years from now, I wouldn't.

Thank you so much for that response. It is interesting to see how people think of finances and the different views they have on it. I only asked that question on pay and debt is because I know in Europe, schooling is cheap but when they come out, they are making roughly 80k a year. It is also really hopeful to hear that the work done while being a doctor surpasses the mountain of debt. I can only imagine the gratification you get after helping someone and to know it was you that helped. I wish you all the best in your field and hope to see what other people have to say on this topic in this thread 🙂

 

[allantois]

Med school tuition reminds me of some bubble, much like the real estate one. Leaves me wonder whether it's going to burst.