3 ms·

Many, many people are still rushing to enter med schools, despite numerous comments like yours and essays like mine: https://jakeseliger.com/2012/10/20/why-you-

Many, many people are still rushing to enter med schools, despite numerous comments like yours and essays like mine: https://jakeseliger.com/2012/10/20/why-you-should-become-a-nurse-or-physicians-assistant-instead-of-a-doctor-the-underrated-perils-of-medical-school/ https://jakeseliger.com/2012/10/20/why-you-should-become-a-n...

no_wizard 4y ago
It still pays well, and the system is setup to be very generous to physicians. Student loan forgiveness is available to physicians[0] and its not super hard to meet at least one of the qualifications, as physician demand has been intense for decades, so the debt load can be decreased significantly (and often outright forgiven after a set number of years) by just working the job. The pay is also still super good. Even a primary care physician will most likely make 200K or more. Specialty physicians typically make even more than that, I've seen quoted anywhere between 300-700K, sometimes more. And don't discount prestige. While jury is out if lawyers still garner prestige with the average person, being a board certified medical doctor certainly does, and I don't think this privilege in society should be discounted (and arguably, might even be deserved at times). This inevitably will drive at least some of it. While physician assistants, nurse practitioners and other forms of care are eating at the very low end of a physicians duty, we're a long, long way from anything really upending them. Taken all together, I'm not surprised. Though residency is grueling and the work is hard, it does seem to pay off in the long run, unlike alot of other things in society. That said, nurses and PA's are also in super high demand, and I've seen some nursing salaries even edge out doctors in some cases when they do travel stuff, and of course you aren't married to your student debt the same way (all that fancy forgiveness is tied to actually being a doctor, after all) so if you get stressed, hate it, or otherwise give up the ghost on that career, its easier to move on EDIT: I'm not saying these are good reasons, per se, but they certainly are, from all available evidence, reasons people become an M.D. [0]: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/student-loans/medical-school-loan-forgiveness-programs https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/student-loans/medic...

no_wizard 4y ago

It still pays well, and the system is setup to be very generous to physicians. Student loan forgiveness is available to physicians[0] and its not super hard to meet at least one of the qualifications, as physician demand has been intense for decades, so the debt load can be decreased significantly (and often outright forgiven after a set number of years) by just working the job. The pay is also still super good. Even a primary care physician will most likely make 200K or more. Specialty physicians typically make even more than that, I've seen quoted anywhere between 300-700K, sometimes more. And don't discount prestige. While jury is out if lawyers still garner prestige with the average person, being a board certified medical doctor certainly does, and I don't think this privilege in society should be discounted (and arguably, might even be deserved at times). This inevitably will drive at least some of it. While physician assistants, nurse practitioners and other forms of care are eating at the very low end of a physicians duty, we're a long, long way from anything really upending them. Taken all together, I'm not surprised. Though residency is grueling and the work is hard, it does seem to pay off in the long run, unlike alot of other things in society. That said, nurses and PA's are also in super high demand, and I've seen some nursing salaries even edge out doctors in some cases when they do travel stuff, and of course you aren't married to your student debt the same way (all that fancy forgiveness is tied to actually being a doctor, after all) so if you get stressed, hate it, or otherwise give up the ghost on that career, its easier to move on EDIT: I'm not saying these are good reasons, per se, but they certainly are, from all available evidence, reasons people become an M.D. [0]: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/student-loans/medical-school-loan-forgiveness-programs https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/student-loans/medic...