<p>Why the question specifically about doctors’ kids? I find it interesting based on four characteristics of stereotypical doctors:</p>
<ol>
<li> Doctors almost uniformly fall in the income range above qualifying for FA</li>
<li> Doctors typically are working professionals, not “old money”</li>
<li> Doctors are generally bright students who value education</li>
<li> Doctors have attended one (and often two different) major universities</li>
</ol>
<p>Based on the relative homogeneity of the sample group, it is interesting to hear the diverse college decisions made by their families.</p>
<p>Neither of my children are interested in medical careers; able but unwilling. Most of the children of doctors I know are becoming dentists or entering non-medical professions. Contributing factors include loss of autonomy, high educational costs and length of training, and uncertainty due to government/insurance changes. I also believe many don’t want the physician lifestyle, particularly children reared by two physicians.</p>
<p>My father is a doctor, and my sister and I both attend top private universities. Many others kids of his colleagues do as well, but a few attend LACs, and flagships like Michigan. The more studious ones are usually at universities (most of my father’s colleagues are at places like Hopkins, Harvard, MD Anderson, Sloan Kettering). In regards to whether kids of doctors become doctors, I think it is very mixed. Some seem very attracted to becoming a doctor, some very repelled by the idea. For me, it was more of a realization that it would not be a good career match for me personally rather than a disdain of medicine. Much of this was based on things I observed and heard from my father.</p>
<p>My husband is a physician and his brother is a physician and both our kids and his attend the University of Miami. For those who disregard UM I would like to remind them that is the home of the Bascom Palmer Institute, the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and Ryder Trauma Center among others fine medical institutes. Regarding finances, I do agree that debt is never a good deal. No matter if is Princeton or your local school.</p>
<p>OP here again. I made the original post based on an observation I had made, from my own world. I was curious to know if others had thoughts on the topic. Some of you think that the distinction of doctors and their kids is meaningless or irrelevant. So be it. I thank you for sharing your thoughts.</p>
<p>Others have offered some interesting perspectives and new areas of inquiry. Thank you to you as well.</p>
<p>A broker told me years ago, “Doctors earn their pay one patient at a time. They are cautious about how they invest their money.” Of course it’s a generalization, but an interesting one, yes? And what is a greater investment than your children’s education?</p>
<p>Someone should start a thread, “Where do attorneys’ kids go to college?” I’m curious about that, too!</p>
<p>“Someone should start a thread, “Where do attorneys’ kids go to college?” I’m curious about that, too!”</p>
<p>Attorneys are a much more varied group, financially, than doctors. With the exception of a handful who work on Indian reservations and the like, doctors make upper-middle-class incomes, and there is no unemployment problem for doctors. Attorney unemployment is significant and lots of mid-career attorneys make $40k per year.</p>
<p>Attorneys also represent a broader educational range than doctors. Even the least selective medical schools require decent grades and a robust science curriculum. The least selective law schools take kids with a 2.5 from a Mickey Mouse major. So the category “attorneys” is almost as varied as the category “college graduates.”</p>
<p>I wonder if there’s a difference between Doctors who don’t graduate with a lot of debt, and those who do?</p>
<p>I can understand that doctors who had parents pay would more immediately be able to start significant savings/college funds, while those who had big debt to cover may have had to delay getting investments going.</p>
<p>That’s a great hypothesis - I’m not sure the answers would be appreciably from “any upper middle class professional who graduated with a lot of debt versus not.”
I also think the norm in one’s region of the country has a lot to do with it. In the Midwest, there isn’t as much of a perceived need that kids “have” to go to top northeast schools to be successful, since you can get plenty successful from any Big 10 state flagship.</p>
<p>Around here, University of Washington is the most obvious choice for high-academic kids. It is also the one with the med school. We just do not have the variety of universities they have on the East Coast.</p>
<p>That said, S1’s prom date is the daughter of a pediatrician. She is an only child and an athletic recruit, ended up at a D1 private where she was offered a spot, though she would have liked to attend UW. Many UW women’s sports are nationally competitive and recruit only state champ level athletes.</p>
<p>One of my cousins is half of a two-physician marriage in Chicago. Their oldest kid is in 10th grade, so things have not completely solidified yet, but they are sure acting like they care whether their kids go to “top northeast schools” (which may include Chicago, Nortwestern, WashU, and Duke, and certainly includes Stanford). Now, my cousin went to Dartmouth, with parents and sibs who went to Dartmouth (x2), Harvard, and Smith (x2) (and Vermont, too . . . no family is perfect), and the other spouse is the product of a foreign educational system where there is a prestige hierarchy and it matters.</p>
<p>My H’s med school career was entirely financed by debt. We had our kids before/during that time, so they were brought up very income-limited for a good chunk of their childhood. Basically, when they were in early teens, we got the debt paid off, but stayed in same tiny house in moderate income town. Savings went to school. Actually, we mostly financed out of current income, as we kept our current expenses to lower-income levels.</p>
<p>So we don’t fit the profile of “older-so-had-time-to-save” suggested above, or “came-from-money” either. During my D’s college years, we lived on one third of H’s moderate salary, paid D’s tuition with one third, and put away one third for S’s upcoming college years.</p>
<p>A comment about dual physician couples. Back in my day (MD '79) there were twice as many women in my year than the one just ahead- 20 instead of ten, still less than 20%. Now with classes around 50% women it is a lot easier for men to meet women to marry in their class, hence the expected changes. However, today’s women seem to marry men with less education than they have than was happening in my day so there may not be many more physician couples.</p>
<p>I have heard about the white coat ceremonies- I don’t remember one in my day. You already made it into medical school, why make a big deal. Perhaps they are trying to have the students feel there is more than the book work. My experience was that only nursing students had any respect for junior medical students in the hospitals- everyone else was more knowledgeable and competent and had to put up with our mistakes.</p>
<p>A two physician couple I know had a son go straight to the military- no college. Discussed this with the father- both of us Vietnam era college students more likely to protest than volunteer. Had a medical school classmate eventually drop out of the field to become a western farmer. </p>
<p>I think part of the question also involves the mystique surrounding physicians. The perceived dedication et al. Medicine has always had those out to become rich (although there are many easier ways to do it). The whole practice of medicine has evolved since my day. Being employees, restricted training hours. Protocols.</p>
<p>Another issue. The best high school to pay for. In WI it was obviously the public schools- better academics in even blue collar cities. It seems to me many other areas don’t spend as much on public education- too many with money opt to spend on private schools instead of demanding good public education. Likewise with college- no reason to spend more on private schools when public flagship U has a better reputation than private U’s in the area (and most kids do want to be relatively close to home).</p>
<p>Physicians come in many flavors. Some are very image conscience, others equally good at work, are not. Some are big on prestige- others not. Some have a lot of money, others do not. Some care about academics, others let the local schools do everything. Some are still climbing the ladder- therefore they want their kids to get what they couldn’t. Others are from areas influenced by the NE culture of private HS and colleges.</p>
<p>“My experience was that only nursing students had any respect for junior medical students in the hospitals- …”</p>
<p>When I met my husband in the peds ER I was one or two years out of medical school. One of the nurses there told me “don’t go out with HIM! He’s a JUNIOR!”.</p>
<p>I’m not sure I get this, Shrinkrap: “Some care about academics, others let the local schools do everything.”</p>
<p>We care very much about academics, but we sent our kids to the local (low-ranked) school system because we care about a lot of things, and going to school with your neighbors was one of them. Most education for kids happens outside of school anyway. And they did just fine in college admission (if that’s any particular measure.)</p>
<p>Sure. There are absolutely pockets, especially with the affluent private and public schools, where it’s indistinguishable from what you’ll find on the East Coast in terms of pressure to get into top schools. No argument there.</p>
<p>Lots of MDs in our neighborhood. So far, only a few of these students have gone on to med school, which kind of worries me. </p>
<p>Univ of MI, Univ of MI med school
Northwestern, Univ of Toledo med school
Univ of Toledo, Univ of Toledo med school
Ohio State, Univ of Toledo med school
Med school in Pakistan right out of high school, but back in the US within a year</p>
<p>(4) Univ of Toledo
(10) Miami of OH
(8) Ohio State
Univ of Cincinatti
Kent State
(2) Univ of KY
Michigan State
UCSD
Indiana Univ
Capital Univ.
Case Western
Dayton
Denison
Notre Dame
Dartmouth
Elon
(2) George Washington
(2) Heidelberg
(2) Univ of Miami
Syracuse
Vanderbilt
UNC
UVA
Yale</p>
<p>Frugaldoctor, I agree here in the Midwest the best students from physician’s families often attend the state flagship honor’s college at considerable savings (and in many cases free with support for summer internships included). </p>
<p>East cost “elite” universities are just not on the radar the same way they were when I lived in Boston 10 years ago. </p>
<p>And the leading feeder schools to our Midwest medical schools - U Mich, U Berkeley and Ohio State.</p>
<p>Here’s a gem though - Wash U St. Louis. Very impressive, and my partner who sent kid 1 to Flagship (on presidential scholarship, turned down Ivy), kid 2 to U Mich, sent kid 3 to WUSTL, and is very happy with the result. First 2 are in med school, third likely.</p>