I am thinking about pursuing medicine as a career. However, it is not something that I am entirely sure of because of the changing healthcare landscape.
Suppose I enter medical school at age 26. Four years later I have my MD. Five or six years later I will be done with a surgery residency and two years after that with my fellowship. I will 37-38 years of age with kids, a wife, and most likely a home. My kids will be around 9-11 years of age. In addition, I will be near $250K in debt from medical school because of interest accumulated throughout my residency and fellowship. This is of course not including retirement, car, house, investment, and kids’ college savings.
My friends tell me not to think about it, but if I don’t, I can end up in a position that I don’t want to be in. Even if I pay off my debt at age 50, I still have all those other things to address. And even if I do, when will I enjoy my money? What is perhaps most important though, is the time component. I am essentially giving up my entire life to a profession that will not allow me to transfer laterally to other professions if I choose to. I can be pursuing my other interests in the time that I would be becoming a surgeon such as business or engineering.
Lastly, I grew up in poverty and have no financial assets. It will take me years to accumulate wealth. And once I do (at around age 60), that wealth will be passed down to my children.
Did I miss something? What are your thoughts?
While rereading and editing your email, I realized you did miss something. Whats missing is enthusiasm for becoming a doctor. You listed several reasons not to go to med school, but nothing about why you want to do it. If you don’t truly love the idea, you will be very unhappy.
I think you need to reassess your future.
For those who want more information, I have written a couple of posts about questions related to this one [links here and here.] The comments on the more recent post are worth reading..
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