Disclosure - I'm an actual medical doctor. * I agree with the overall theme of the article. That is, a lot of people go into medicine thinking that they will b

Disclosure - I'm an actual medical doctor. * I agree with the overall theme of the article. That is, a lot of people go into medicine thinking that they will be "rich". And when they come out at the other end of the tunnel, they realize that the promises of job security and a comfortable lifestyle aren't really true. Many of my classmates from medical school went into all of this with the false impression that they will make a lot of money. This misperception is because they see physicians from decades ago do really well, living in nice houses in expensive neighbourhoods, driving nice cars, etc. But unfortunately that is because 20-30 years ago, doctors' salaries were much higher relative to inflation. If a doctor made 200k in the 80's, the purchasing power "back then" was enormous. Not so today. * The article does miss the point, as atourgates mentioned in the comments, that being a doctor is "one of the few careers left where you're pretty much guaranteed to be well-compensated so long as you do well in school." I know a few guys who -- through brute effort -- bills upwards of 500-800k per year. Now this is gross billing, not net take home pay, but that is impressive nonetheless. It is, without a doubt, very hard work. You would have to work pretty much 6 to 7 days a week, and really convince yourself that you like money to make it all worthwhile. * The last thing that the article barely touches upon which is important is how tough the job can be when dealing with (some) patients. Nowadays, the job is 90% customer service, and 10% medicine. Maybe less medicine -- certainly some days feel like that. All this comes with the job's territory, but day-in and day-out of this can cause a lot of psychological stress/burden/fatigue for the physician himself. This kind of job is not for everyone. Quite literally you have patients upset at you because they think the medication you prescribed for them doesn't work, and in the end it turns out they were not adherent on the medication (ie. they didn't use the medication or they didn't use it properly). It always reminds me how close a certain scene from House MD (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMAS2S51bM8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMAS2S51bM8) approximates real life. * Would I want my kids to go into this kind of a job? Only if they realize what it involves. I really do think some of the happiest jobs out there are ones where you get to be creative solving different problems every day. Although I'm happy I'm making an impact on other people's lives, it involves very little creativity. A long time ago a specialist told me that "medicine makes you dumb." Medicine today is algorithmic: if this, then check this, then do that. I don't think there is a simple answer whether medicine is "worth it." It is different for everybody, and it really boils down to what your personality is.