<p>Since all this stuff about what to do with life gets confusing when you have all As in undergrad,i will do this:Take the MCAT,LSAT and GRE.whichever Test gives me the highest score,and gets me to the most prestigious school(to increase the number of exit options) is what i will choose.</p>
<p>In my opinion a career as a doctor in the States is well worth all the money and time spent to become one. </p>
<p>You will graduate with 200k+ in debt from Medical School - study for 12 years plus
Have to pay big Malpratice insurance, interest rate fees from loans, fees to set up pratice etc</p>
<p>As a doctor you will be able to make enough money to pay for all your bills, you will be respected in your community, and you will feel good about helping others </p>
<p>There is opportunity to become extremely wealthy as well - My Father is a Pain Doctor (anesthesiologist) and he is making like $150k after tax and all other expenses - </p>
<p>The best part is that he works only 3 days a week, has his own pratice, is currently looking to hire some new doctor to help him with some other procedures. He has access to loans because he is a doctor , and there is only room for growth</p>
<p>I am currently pursing a degree in Finance and Im bulding a website for those planning on studying abroad <a href=“http://www.studyabroaduniversity.com”>http://www.studyabroaduniversity.com</a></p>
<p>IBut why then did you major in Finance,and not some kid of science for med school?</p>
<p>Medicine can pay - I personally know an anesthesiologist who makes > 1 million a year. However there are faster ways of making a buck.</p>
<p>I guess those faster ways are finance and law</p>
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<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/12/business/12money.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/12/business/12money.html</a></p>
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<p>No, this is also dumb.</p>
<p>1.) Admissions to medical school is heavily influenced by extracurriculars.</p>
<p>2.) I assume you mean the GMAT rather than the GRE. But the GMAT is basically useless. What gets you into business school is work experience.</p>
<p>3.) School prestige doesn’t matter that much in medical school. Docs who go to HMS don’t necessarily earn that much more money than docs who go to MUSC. They might even earn less, since they might voluntarily choose lower-paying jobs.</p>
<p>One can certainly make boatloads in medicine, but the thing most people forget is that in those cases the ‘making boatloads’ bit has little to do with medicine and a almost everything to do with business. </p>
<p>Physicians pulling in mega salaries are primarily doing so because they run an extensive private practice in a lucrative speciality–they are running a business that just happens to be about practicing medicine. </p>
<p>Most physicians do not fall into that boat. They are mostly salaried, either working for an HMO/similar or are an employee of one of the previously described practices. </p>
<p>These are certainly well paying positions relative to the general workforce, but when you consider the investment required to get to that point, the time-value of money, etc. then yes it can be nearly impossible for such in individuals to catch up financially with their similarly higher educated peers.</p>
<p>Again, as has been sad countless times on this forum you should not go into medicine for “the money”… judged on those grounds “the money” isn’t actually very good relative to other high paying professions. </p>
<p>People on these forums always say “oh well my friend’s dad who is 55 makes $xxx,xxx and so yeah he’s just raking in the cash” never bother to do the math and work out the net lifetime financial situation for their friend’s dad and scores of other professions for intelligent and outgoing people. </p>
<p>You should go into medicine because you love the work and would do it, and accept the hours and necessary lifestyle changes required, regardless of the “money” one might make decades down the line. Honestly, if your sitting there with visions of “hmm how much can I make” then you should really really do something else. Period.</p>
<p>How does becoming a quantitative analyst stack up with the law school path?</p>
<p>Purely anecdotal but I feel compelled to say this…over the years I have been to a ton of events populated with lawyers and very likely an equal number filled with doctors. All of the operational and financial muck aside, I have been around many, many more doctors that well into their careers still speak with real enthusiasm, and even passion, about the substance of their work.</p>
<p>[PhD</a> Quantitative Analyst Jobs](<a href=“http://www.comprehensiverecruiting.com/jobs.aspx?Category=PhD-Quantitative-Analyst]PhD”>http://www.comprehensiverecruiting.com/jobs.aspx?Category=PhD-Quantitative-Analyst)</p>
<p>I haven’t the slightest idea what a quantitative analyst is. But if it requires a PhD, it’s likely not a financially winning strategy. The idea is to start early, and this isn’t it.</p>
<p>A Phd in math at MIT takes 4 years straight from undergrad.If one gets that ,then head to Wall street,he wont have any loans,and plus a $400k a yr,i think he would be doing better than the lawyer.The lawyer will be paying a 3 yr loan,and the quant wont be paying anything</p>
<p>I think companies like Renaissance Technologies and D.E Shaw prefer such applicants straight from a phd.I could be wrong,though.This piece is old,but it gives a fair idea about quant jobs
<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?;
<p>you cant aim for those jobs. they barely hire…</p>
<p>You all are comparing lawyers big firms to “docs”. That is more equivalent to lawyers big firms to plastic surgeons or eye docs. Most lawyers make much less than most family practice, peds or int med docs. Most docs are not ambulance chasers, etc</p>
<p>Quick Question, I have been reading through this post for awhile.</p>
<p>I am a current junior in high school and have been looking around at colleges to apply to next year. A factor in my college search is majors offered and I absolutely love chemistry/biology hence my want to be a doctor (specialized surgeon). Is there certain majors that I should look into if I want to go to med school and then become hopefully a surgeon? I was thinking like biochemistry. </p>
<p>Also, I was wondering about residency. I know this is the first time a med graduate starts to learn about a specific practice (ie. orthopedic surgery) but is it like a shadowing experience where you basically follow around doctors and closely learn everything they do? Cause I know there are residency programs at hospitals and such, but what is involved in a residency program? And what is a fellowship and when is it needed?</p>
<p>Pick any major. No major is going to help you in either A) getting into med school or B) getting “a leg up” for med school classes. So pick a major that interests you and that you can be passionate about. Don’t get stuck thinking you have to be a science major - I personally was a sociology major because it interested me and was something that I enjoyed learning about, while also giving me more freedom in picking the science classes I actually did take (like looking for good profs or great content).</p>
<p>As for residency, it’s much more learning by doing. There are some portions which are merely observing, but for the most part as a resident you do it while someone supervises you.</p>
<p>For example, I’m a pediatrics resident. I have a set number of months spent in the Neonatal ICU, the Pediatric ICU, the inpatient wards, the ER and the general peds clinic. I have requirements to do a month in the Adolescent Clinic and with the Behavioral and Developmental Pediatricians. These are experiences that the Pediatric Section of the American Council on Graduate Medical Education have deemed essential for all pediatricians whether they go into a subspecialty or simply work at a clinic in a small town doing general pediatrics. I am required to take a certain number of core electives in things like Peds Infectious Disease, Pediatric Nephrology (kidneys) or Peds Neurology while having the options to take more specialized (but less essential) fields like Peds Anesthesia or Sports Medicine which may be of more personal interest but not something everyone wants or needs. There are increasing responsibilities as you progress through the three year residency. For example, as I’ve become more experienced in the ER, I have more freedom to stitch up lacerations and do lumbar punctures on my own. My hospital has an active helicopter transport service, and after completing our PICU rotation we can work on the transport service for extra money, but it means we have to fly out to small hospitals and operate fairly independently (though help is a phone call away). </p>
<p>If you were to do general surgery, you’d have set periods of time on the vascular service, the trauma team, the pediatric surgery group and the colo-rectal service among others. There may be some elective time, and just like in any other residency, there’s increasing responsibility as you progress. </p>
<p>Fellowship is further training to subspecialize even further. For example, I LOVE being in the Peds ICU and so I plan to pursue a Peds Critical Care fellowship. A PICU Fellow functions above the level of a resident, providing supervision and guidance to them, while also learning the finer, more nuanced aspects of taking care of really, really sick kids. Peds Critical Care is multisystem, but Pulmonary Fellows (lungs) get to learn everything there is to know about the lungs - asthma, allergies, chronic home ventilation, and Cystic Fibrosis, while Renal Fellows learn all about high blood pressure, nephrotic syndrome and dialysis. To a certain extent they almost can ignore the rest of the body when taking care of a patient. Fellowships out of Gen Surgery include things like Peds surgery, Surgical Critical care, Trauma, vascular and colo-rectal. If you did an ENT residency, you can do fellowships that focus more on the ear, more on the neck, or with a specific patient population such as pediatrics. </p>
<p>As a HS student focus on getting good grades and finding the best college for you. You have plenty of time to tackle the residency and fellowship questions.</p>
<p>*This is in reference, in large, to the earlier posts.</p>
<p>I hate threads like this. They make so many good potential doctors completely rule out becoming one at all because they read almost completely negative comments. When was the last time someone on this thread talked out how rewarding being a doctor is? Maybe 15 times on a 34 page thread. That’s sad. </p>
<p>I, for one, have known I wanted to be a surgeon since I was 7. I got to watch a surgery as a birthday present (it was a routine appendectomy but still) and I was captivated. Yes, it’s a lot of work and most doctors don’t make as much as people think but people on here make it sound like doctors live in poverty, which is what happens when you compare their salaries to those of CEOs and really what are your actual chances for becoming a CEO? Maybe a tenth of one percent? Being a doctor is an interesting and rewarding career, just thought I’d put another outlook on it.</p>
<p>I just got the awesome experience of shadowing an orthopaedic surgeon at a nearby hospital for a day and as a 16 year old, it was probably one of the most amazing experiences I have ever experienced (and I have a had a pretty awesome life so far 
). I got to see a hip resurfacing and also two knee replacements and it was incredible and I was suprised how violent the surgeons are! Anyone who has shadowed one or is one, you guys pound away at the body as if you are nailing in hardwood flooring and after they dislocated the hip during the resurfacing, I started getting a little light headed and had to leave the room but I assume that in the next 16 years that will start to go away haha.</p>
<p>Anyways, even if doctors and surgeons have to work long hours and to some dont get paid enough, if its something you really like and are interested in, its a field full of fun and cool people, and is very rewarding no matter what some people are saying about some of it.</p>
<p>As for the previous few people who shadowed a surgeon and felt really great: I applaud you interest in but would like to issue some caveats. I am a college student that comes from a family of doctors and is interested in applying to medical school, and I have to say that observing a surgery only gives you part of the picture. When you live with a physician or surgeon, you get some sense of the stresses and responsibilities of medicine. A lot of fellow college students are really gung-ho about becoming a doctor. It’s NOT the easy money. It involves seeing humanity at its most vulnerable, most pitiable. I really wish students could get to know a doctor personally like I did before considering medicine…</p>