<p>So, I was reading the thread about having kids in MS and was horrified to see how long it can take to become a "full fledged" doctor. Mid-thirties to 40 is pretty old relative to other professions. I assume most are pretty broke by that point (I know you get paid as a resident, but the loans are heavy too, right?)? Is it a financially sound decision to become a doctor when one could command a high salary at a much younger age?</p>
<p>If you're loan-averse, and/or you want to do medicine for the money, that's probably not the best idea in the world.</p>
<p>After high school doctors have 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of med school, then 3-6 years residency, then possibly a fellowship after that. Most doctors, once they finish all the training are paid well enough that they can pay their med school loans fairly comfortably.</p>
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If you're loan-averse, and/or you want to do medicine for the money, that's probably not the best idea in the world.
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I am definitely not interested in medicine just for the money. But, obviously the most important reason why people work is to earn a living, so making a financially sound decision is paramount...</p>
<p>Thanks for the links. The stuff in them was very depressing. It's kinda hard to know if you really want/can go through all the schooling, training, and poor years. I'm a junior in college now. I have finished all of my prereqs and I have taken my MCATs. I have shadowed, volunteered, etc., but I honestly don't know if medicine as a career is worth it for me. I don't want to enter and then drop out...esp. since I'll have to pay for a year of school, which is such a loss. Do med students really KNOW they want to pursue medicine before entering med school or are there people who are still wishy-washy?</p>
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Do med students really KNOW they want to pursue medicine before entering med school or are there people who are still wishy-washy?
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<p>We all say we know that we want to be physicians. I don't doubt that there are people who are faking it and are still unsure of their decision. </p>
<p>The problem is that after a year or two of med school, you're probably in tens of thousands of dollars of debt, not including whatever loans you brought from undergrad. If you were to leave medical school, you'd still be responsible for the loans you acquired while in medical school. Relatively speaking, there are very few jobs where you can reasonably expect to make enough to pay back those loans. I imagine that a significant number of people who discover that medicine is not really for them end up being trapped into the profession because they decide they can't make enough anywhere else to cover what they've already borrowed, so they just plow through it all.</p>
<p>The on-running joke at my school with 2nd year med students is that after they take that loan check for the first part of second year (because while you only get half the money at that point, the loans for the whole year have been issued), they're already in too much debt to be anything other than a doctor.</p>