<p>Whenever my D is in doubt - I remind her that first, she loves everything about medicine and second (most important to me) - job security. I had 9 jobs and would not wish it to my worst enemy to go thru this. If not MD, anything related to medicine. Be prepared to deal with huge job insecurities outside of Medical field. Of course, successful cardiologist did not think that far. It is extremely depressing to be let go knowing that it will take many months before you find another place. Physicians will never understand that, they have no experience with job insecurity.</p>
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If this is true, then we need to start some sort of mass rebellion and/or civil war for optimal zombie movie conditions.</p>
<p>“Whenever my D is in doubt - I remind her that first, she loves everything about medicine and second (most important to me) - job security.”</p>
<p>Interesting. I’ve done the opposite. I’ve tried my hardest to convince her that she shouldn’t go to med school. Unfortunately, I haven’t succeeded.</p>
<p>I still think mine needs to be an academic but she’s committed to medicine and thinks she can combine the two.</p>
<p>DocT,
Do you believe that job security is lower in Medical field? I have not personally met the MD who has been laid off once, not mentionning 8 times, but I might be wrong, although I know great number of docs and other professionals in Medical field.</p>
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<p>It’s a different kind of job security. It’s one of the few professions where you don’t set your own prices for the services that you offer, but you take what other people will pay. Certainly it’s not the ticket to riches that it used to be.</p>
<p>I am sorry, my questions was related to ability to hold a job in professional field, not the payment level. In my field, we call probability of having a job “job security”, we call pay that one recives “compensation level”. I just realized that other professional fields might have different terminology. In my personal situation, I had lost my job 8 times (either was laid off or have to leave on my own, since the job soon would not be there anymore). I do not wish it to anybody, but most to my D. I keep telling her that all the time.</p>
<p>I’ve only been laid off once. The issues I see are the enormous debt that will be incurred, the lower payback, healthcare reform and lifestyle issues. I don’t consider it a particularly viable career in the future.</p>
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<p>What do you see as more viable in the future?</p>
<p>DocT,
How about if there is no debt? So, in order of priority:
- Do what one likes. I had to switch in my 30s to a different carrier, because I hated my first one.<br>
- Job Security. Meanning having a job. Loosing one job is OK, loosing 9 jobs is not OK.
- Place of employment. Having been at 9 places, I can tell that nice company and nice manager makes huge difference.
- proximity to home
- level of compensation. Actually thingking about it, there are could be other priorities that I have overlooked that would be more important than income. I assume that MD’s will never have minimum wage level, but would be compensated at the level comparable with other professions.</p>
<p>I heard advices from MD: do not go to Medicine. But as I mentioned before, they have not been on another side, they did not have to look for a job for many months in 8 times. It is very depressing. I do not see that job security (not compensation) in Medicine is low. Am I wrong? We are not planning to take loans, of course plan might change, not everything depends on us.</p>
<p>Well, we already know that many careers have higher net lifetime incomes than physicians.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062830522-post108.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062830522-post108.html</a>. Almost all of these professions also have fewer hours, making the per-hour tradeoff even worse.</p>
<p>Because medicine is currently subject to very strict price control from the government and that control is likely to (1) increase and (2) be under tighter budgetary constraints, I think the list above is likely to grow.</p>
<p>On the other hand, there is a great deal about medicine that makes it a very special career. These are getting bogged down in business elements at the moment. A (hypothesized) total government takeover would certainly reduce financial compensation, but might make those things a lot better (simplifies insurance) or a lot worse (imposes gov’t paperwork).</p>
<p>BDM,
Again, you addressed "compensation level’. My primary concern is “job security” - meanning “having professional job”, place to work as a professional. Compensation level is very secondary if not even below secondary. I am IT professional who have many friends in engineering field and who knows many MDs also. While first 2 groups are always concerned with job security, (literally, when 2 people meet, the first question goes: “How is job?”, people who are in medical field afford themselves talking about compensation, they do not have any feeling about what others dealing with. Am I incorrect?</p>
<p>I’ll phrase my question differently. What specific career choice is more “viable” than being a physician, such that one would choose it over being a physician based on that “viability”? </p>
<p>A lifetime doing what you want to do with stable employment at an income level virtually guaranteed to still be above the national median for grad/professional school graduates really doesn’t sound that bad to me. </p>
<p>Law? Yeah, right. For a chosen few. Law is changing fast. Tort “reform” kills both plaintiff’s lawyers and insurance defense lawyers driving all of them to change professions or practice areas. Law schools are still churning out competitors at an alarming rate. Corporate finance? I think my newsboy was doing that 3 years ago. Academia? How competitive is that? What are there, 12 new jobs a year? Tenure is a dinosaur and the meteor is coming… </p>
<p>Pretty much leaves government service of some kind as far as I can tell. How is that preferable in any way as to the “viability” of the career?</p>
<p>" A lifetime doing what you want to do with stable employment at an income level virtually guaranteed to still be above the national median for grad/professional school graduates really doesn’t sound that bad to me."</p>
<p>I don’t think it is necessarily a good idea to postulate what someone is going to like to do for a lifetime when you’re in your twenties. As with any career, most people don’t realize the negatives of a career especially from a lifetime standpoint when they’re that age. I know a very well known physician (probably someone who people on CC have heard of) who has been very financially successful who is miserable on the job and has been pretty much retired since 55.</p>
<p>And I don’t think it’s necessarily a good idea to dissuade someone in their twenties about a career based on perceived “viability” without giving them concrete options with greater viability. Go figure. ;)</p>
<p>And BTW,
Isn’t that what all grad/pro school applicants do? Gosh. I sure hope so. Why else would they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and many years to gain that degree? Or do you think they go in thinking “Hey, I might not like this …but what the heck?” If I had an inkling that any applicant I knew had that mind-set I’d certainly share your concern.</p>
<p>I completely agree that to be miserable for most part of your day is dreadful. I have been doing it for 11 years and then I realized that one lives only once. I love what I do now and it makes huge difference, money is secondary. </p>
<p>Well, in personal case of my D, law carrier is out of questions. Would not come close, never considered. Any history/economy, business type of class is huge ordeal, no interest whatsoever in any political discussions, or for that matter any discussions outside of scientific discoveries in Bio science field. No interest in any technical field either. I strongly believe that one needs to hold an interest of certain degree to at least consider a fileld. It is not possible to be successfully engaged in activity for most part of one’s day without having at least a little desire to perform this activity. Well, from interest point, I do not know where D would fit outside of Medical field. She absolutely loves Bio, Psych. classes, absorbs this material like a sponge and can talk about it forever (if only we could understand any of it). She loves working/helping others and posses great ability to connect which she discovered during Crisis Center hot line volunteering and her Supplemental Instructor’s session. For that she would not consider Research Lab, nor Pharmacy, she wants to work with people. We have discussed IT and engineering, but I knew that she is not a type which she confirmed. So, where straight “A” student like this who wishes great job security but not so much concerned with level of compensation and who most likely will not have a debt after Graduate school, would be applying his/her talents?</p>
<p>I mean, stability is what you make of it. Physicians are “stable” because there is very little variation in income or status. Once you’re a doctor, you’re very similar to most of the other doctors in your field. Other professions move around either because their companies are closing (avoidable – sign up at a big company) or because they’re looking for some kind of advancement, which is also avoidable if you are content with where you are.</p>
<p>Physicians are usually stable because they don’t have any other options and the one they have is okay. Other careers could be stable, too, if you were willing to forego your better options.</p>
<p>Are there any specifics as to what is more viable profession? I’m not setting a trap. I just want to know what’s out there that is more viable. Seems that once the posit was questioned nobody has named (yet) a better (as in more “viable”) choice.</p>
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bdm, what careers would have the equivalent stability?</p>
<p>I mean , it’s mildly interesting that the profession is not what it once was, but what are some possible better (more viable) options? Bueller? Bueller?</p>