<p>@ucbalumnus- The athlete thing was half joking. Obviously no one wakes up one day and says “hey I decided I’m gonna be the starting 3B of the NY Yankees.” Those who have a shot try for it all their lives and a small percentage get it, those who don’t are usually not idiotic enough to pursue it.</p>
<p>@silence kit- my point of illustration was directed towards gen practitioners, who will not be making plastic surgeon money and are usually faced with rough start up costs when they open a practice. They take home probably in the 150-200k range depending on how good their business sense is and their location. Its not heard of to have GPs only bringing home 100k or so after costs. </p>
<p>You talked about specialties. Specialties require a lot more training. A lot more training equals more debt and less time paying it off. More debt and less time paying it off equals deceiving pay numbers for heart surgeons with huge malpractice insurance on top of regular costs of owning a business or practice. </p>
<p>To be clear: I am in no way at all saying that medicine is not a good way to make money. What I’m saying is, over the long haul it basically evens out with careers like Business, Accounting, and Finance if you get the right breaks and have the right business sense. Even engineering with an MBA and the right breaks will get you there, again with no huge debt. People hear “$300,000 salary for orthopedic surgeon” and assume that hes banking. Just remember how much time he had to wait to get there and how big of a hole he put himself into to get there. Sure there are specialists that rake in a million a year, but that has as much to do with business sense as it does with medical knowledge. In fact, its way more business.</p>
<p>All in all, medicine is a very good profession. Very rewarding (it seems) and very respectable. I’ve considered it myself but I’m only getting through undergrad due to my scholarships and fin aide, so I just don’t feel comfortable going into that kinda debt and being without income for so long. Therefore I’m choosing what for me is the best, most economically sensible choice. </p>
<p>@you of eh- No offense intended, but it doesn’t sound like your dad is a partner of a very big firm if he’s reached partner status and is only bringing in 100k and works that much. Its still a big accomplishment to get partner in any firm because it shows he’s obviously good at what he does, but my if I had to guess its a fairly small firm, or that he makes more than you think. Usually partners are making stupid money. Which is why the few people who choose to pursue it kill themselves for years to finally get a shot at partner in their later days.</p>
<p>If you own your own office, hours tend to be more demanding. If you work for a private company, its usually more normal and the pay is very good.</p>