My parents only care about prestige

The other issue is that a new physician will probably have $240,000 to $300,000 or more of debt just from medical school. Even at physician pay levels, that can take decades to pay off, and can lead to a life of choices under financial pressure (e.g. pressure to choose a high paying medical specialty due to the need to pay off the debt, ethically dubious choices in patient care due to being able to bill more).