<p>Someone cited a lower debt burden than others (e.g. 120k not 200+) however don't forget that there is often a huge difference between 'educational' debt and overall debt. Whilst in med school you still need a roof over your head, food on the table and other basic living expenses (e.g. a car depending on where you are)... these things also cost a lot of money and, given that most folks don't have second jobs at that time, results in additional debt. The flip side of this equation, the income bit, has seen lots of comments, but there are several overall comments that I think everyone would agree on:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The debt picture is not pretty, no matter how you look at it.</p></li>
<li><p>Even if you do end up in a position that pays well in the long term, that's only after an extended period of relative hardship. A very conservative estimate would be to say that you'll be in your early 30s until you can start doing some of the desired things (buy a house, drive a nice car, have some 'free' money, start meaningful retirement savings) that many friends will have done up to a decade prior to you.</p></li>
<li><p>General rule of thumb... don't go into medicine if a major ambition in life is to make a lot of money and live an upper class lifestyle. There's no question that can still happen in some cases, but it often doesn't. Furthermore, the future is very uncertain and all the pressures on salaries down the line are only negative. The future is a picture of more regulation, more oversight, more standardization, and less freedom, less entrepenurialship and less self-control (the sorts of things that, in a lot of other fields, often allow one to break away and become 'self made'). </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Now, much of this thread has focused on the financial aspects (name debt and salary). However, let's not forget that this is only one part of a much larger overall picture to consider. </p>
<p>Someone mentioned that a career practicing medicine isn't very compatible with the 'Type A' or ambitious and overachieving types. This is very true and another factor to consider (especially since most people applying to med school would likely fit into this group). </p>
<p>In the past, an MD was an employer and 'the boss.' Today, and into the future, the MD is largely an employee. For the 'Type A' and ambitious, creative and overachieving individual this alone is likely to be the source of much more discontent than any financial situation. </p>
<p>On the whole, relative to most other positions for highly educated individuals (e.g. doctorates) an MD has much less individual freedom in the day-to-day life of their career. It's a, very unfortunate, reality that an MD is essentially a cog in a much larger machine (e.g. the HMO). Even if down the line we end up with a quasi-governmental health care system that might help fix some of the financial problems of today, but it won't change the career picture in terms of the MD as an 'employee.' </p>
<p>Again, I don't think we've seen anyone on here saying "don't go to med school" just saying "make sure you know what you're signing up for" because all too often young and eager students have no idea about reality.</p>
<p>Finally, on a side note there were a few comments about research and someone suggesting that an MD was much better if someone wanted to enter a research career. This might be true in a tiny minority of cases (e.g. some specialized medical research with a clinical aspect), but on the whole an MD doesn't add that much to the prospects for a research career in general. </p>
<p>Remember that not all research is medical research and even in the medical research arena much of the groundbreaking work occurs far from patients... most of it is in test tubes on cultured cells and generally by PhDs as practical medical training has little relevance to such research. The MD (or where an MD/PhD may help career wise) would generally come into play towards the very end of a major breakthrough or study (when things move from the lab and into a clinical environment for testing and study) but if one has an interest in pure research up front then, apart from a few specialized cases, there isn't much point in going to medical school.</p>