<p>What make you want to become a doctor? Is it helping people or for the money? If I want to become a doctor, what am I getting myself into? Thanks.</p>
<p>You might want to shadow a doctor to learn more about this. You can see what they do in a day to day basis.</p>
<p>DO NOT become a doctor for the money because 1. You wont be happy. 2. You WILL NOT make it. 3. You wont make as much as you think
Also, if you are money hungry go into business and become a CEO
Most people hve a passion for medicine not necessarily helping people only.
Becoming a doctor is A LOT of work. It takes four years of intense study in undergrad in which you need a 3.6GPA in the hardest classes and a 33 on one of the hardest exams you will ever have. The average is about 24. Also, you will be fighting against some of the most competitive students in the nation. If you do get accepted into medical, you have another four years of intense study in which more national testing must be done. Then, you have residencies which last anywhere from 4-7 years in which you work laborous 70-80 hours for minimum wage, still having to take more exams. After that, you are finally a physician and you will continue to work intensely for about 60 hours a week but at least you will make 180k+. As you can see, you are in it for the long haul and you had better LOVE medicine or else you truly wont make it. Dont worry though, if you arent cut out for medicine, they'll weed you out before sophomore year</p>
<p>As some one only a semester away from graduating medical school, I can promise you that for most people, the reasons they're physicians are multiple. They go far beyond just dollar signs and the vague "helping people" mantra, simply because you can get those in any number of careers.</p>
<p>For me, what draws me to medicine is the combination of intellectual rigor, the application of science to problem solving, the social nature of the position (I love spending the great majority of my day talking to people), that I don't have a "desk" job, and the fact that the outcomes of my work aren't measured in stock prices or money earned. I'll admit too, that (at least for the moment) the stroking of my ego when I tell someone what I do is a draw. </p>
<p>The thing is, if you are thinking about medicine, it has to fit your personality. Certainly there is a wide variety of physicians, and my friends going into radiology, pathology and neurosurgery (among others) have very different demeanors than I do (I'm going into pediatrics), but the point is, going into medicine is a decision that has to be based on more than just money and "helping people".</p>
<p>The majority of people want to go into medicine because of $$$. Although most physicians don’t make $1,000,000+, average primary physicians double the salary of an engineer. Most specialists can rake in $250k+. So yes, you will live comfortably as a doctor. Whether you are willing to do something you don’t like for money, that’s up to you.</p>
<p>And you won't be making as much money in business. Most MBAs don't become CEOs.</p>
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And you won't be making as much money in business. Most MBAs don't become CEOs.
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<p>This is true, unless you decided to take your 70-80 hour work weeks in something like i-banking, and then move on to a higher level i-banking job, or private equity or something. Then, you will probably outearn most doctors, but you won't be a CEO.</p>
<p>The reality is physicians make far less when it comes down to it than you realize. While they may make $150-500k/yr in most cases, they are paying out about 40% of that in taxes, another 30% of it in malpractice insurance, another 10% to school loans, etc... pretty soon, that $250k/yr becomes a meager $50-100 of actual liquid cash to spend. The reality is that it's not the glamorous job people think it is from a financial point of view.</p>
<p>"they are paying out about 40% of that in taxes" </p>
<p>Everybody pays taxes not just doctors.</p>
<p>250k to $50-100? hmmmm</p>
<p>It's so sad to think 40% of your hard earned money goes to taxes. And don't give me the lecture of what taxes are used for and how it helps.</p>
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f you do get accepted into medical, you have another four years of intense study in which more national testing must be done.
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While not detracting from the message of this post, this snippet at least is not true. There are 2 years of classes, then the 2nd two is spent in the wards on various rotations. Its still hard work and you have to become current on the journals, but its nothing like the classroom-based instruction in college and the 1st 2 years of med school.</p>
<p>Once you become a physician there are so many different levels of how much people work and get paid it's not even funny, even within a certain specialty. I'm shadowing an Orthopaedic surgeon and have talked a lot with her over the past couple months. She doesn't work 60 hour weeks... I promise you that. She works 9-5 two days a week, sometimes leaves at six sometimes at four, and then works friday afternoon from 2-5. That's clinics, and they take an hour and a half lunch every day from 11-130. The other two days a week (and occasionally the morning of her half day) she has surgeries. Usually starts at eight and is done by noon or one, sometimes earlier sometimes later.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure that's barely 40 hours a week... and I guarantee you she makes more than most other people. Granted, she doesn't make as much as most doctors, but she does well... very well...</p>
<p>The point is, if you want to be in medicine but don't want to be a slave for the REST of your life, then it can be done. If you plan on being in cardio then that's just a fact of life. Things like Derm and ENT and whatnot... you're rarely going to have emergency cases that make you get out of bed at 2am for.</p>
<p>As far as the money, anyone who says they're not doing it for the money at all is a liar. Every doctor I've talked to said money was a factor. Few people will go through that much work to become a doctor if they got paid a mediocre salary. They make good money, but they've earned it.</p>
<p>As far as taxes, and this so called 40% or whatever, that is totally irrelevant to medicine. A CEO and a Neurosurgeon both making 600k a year are going to pay the exact same amount in taxes. Yes you have liability and things like that but as far as taxes go, that's a moot point.</p>
<p>^ its true the taxes isn't a fair comparison, but malpractice insurance definitely is - you won't see a CEO paying for that. And for many specialties, the amount is absolutely ridiculous (into the hundreds of thousands of dollars). This is one area where I really think something needs to be done to reduce the amount of frivolous lawsuits. Our society is way to eager to "make a quick buck" from a lawsuit that they'll sue for anything.</p>
<p>I'll refer you to Scrubs to illustrate my point :) - watch from about 45 seconds to a minute into the video
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YouTube</a> - My Malpractical Decision 409 (1/2)
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<p>I was thinking of becoming a general practitioner. Any advice for that?</p>
<p>^ don't worry about how to get into a particular specialty until you get into medical school, so focus on that for now. But I will say that the primary care specialties (Family Practice, Internal Medicine, and Peds) are typically the easiest to get.... and we are in desperate need of such physicians, so there are special low-interest loans and whatnot that you can get if you commit to going into primary care.</p>
<p>Icarus is right, but I will say that GPs are becoming less and less common (that is... there's a shortage of them) because of financial issues (they don't make much due to overhead and so forth and so they aren't as well-endowed as other specialties, making it much more difficult to live comfortably while paying off those lousy loans)</p>