Comments on: Some Reasons Not to become a Doctor:

By: Randy

Randy — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 15:44:35 +0000

“I think its an example of the grass is always greener.”

Nail on the head.

Great blog by the way. Keep up the good work.

Randy

By: Dr. T

Dr. T — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:44:34 +0000

I’ll put together an organized post but the bottom line for a lot of folks is how long is it going to take and what background are you coming from.

The demand for nursing has been and will be so great because it is a 24/7 job that will never be outsourced in our lifetime.

Because there is high demand and the supply is constantly being siphoned off by retirement, maternity leave and advancement(NP’s,CRNA’s, etc.).

That is interesting to hear MBA professionals wanting a change and going back to school, because I hear of lots of physicians wanting to go back to school to get their JD/MBA ect…

I think its an example of the grass is always greener. Lots of folks put in 12 hour days, put in 5 in a row and then have to come in one day that weekend and you are close to 80hrs for the work week.

The stress in life is not job specific(I have to remind myself of this), physicians worry about causing someone undo harm, Wall street professionals have to worry about having someone’s retirement in their hands. Who has more stress?

That is something to talk about at the holiday parties.

By: Randy

Randy — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:23:27 +0000

Dr. T, you recommend your sister to pursue a PA. Can I ask why a PA and not an NP? There appears to be a bit more demand for NPs, and I feel the upward earning potential is higher (in my humble opinion). Perhaps you might post on this topic. I think there is interest. Also, you could probably expand your post to cover CCNP, CRNA, etc. There is a lot of interest in these areas. Case in point, I see middle age, MBA holding working professionals apply for nursing/CRNA programs due to the very high income potential. It’s a bit odd to see a 37 y.o. father of two studying to be a nurse so he can leave his corporate job for the world of nurse anesthesiology. But the times they are a changin’ I guess.

By: Dr. T

Dr. T — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:12:19 +0000

Randy I agree, if you are looking at entering healthcare and don’t want to do the 7-10 years of schooling/training after college I would look at the “Mid-level Providers” who are the NPs PA’s, CRNA’s etc..

The amount of school they have to do is much less, they earn a very good salary and there is going to be a huge demand for them because physicians just cannot do it all alone anymore.

We are learning new things at such a rapid rate, the standards for healthcare have gotten better, and there are more patients to see. These jobs are going to be in great demand to help “extend” the physicians abilities to treat more patients in the setting of a relative shortage of physicians.

I have personally recommended my sister to pursue PA school rather than medical school based on her goals in life.

Early Retirement, I could not agree more with your statements about research, it is a very difficult career path and having done some time in the lab, one I could never do full time.

I never said that physicians were Currently overworked and underpaid, I was just commenting on some possible trends for the future. As with most things it is very difficult to make generalizations about physicians because they are a VERY diverse group and cover all aspects of the business of medicine.

I DO think that most Residents would agree that they were overworked and underpaid relative to their peers worldwide.

I started this blog to in part show that one can indeed sacrifice a decade of their life to their medical education and still achieve financial independence at a respectable age.

hope you enjoy the journey!

By: Early Retirement Extreme

Early Retirement Extreme — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:55:36 +0000

Underpaid and overworked? You should try academic research. A 10 year education followed by wages around $30-45k for several years after which there’s a slight chance (about 1 in 4, working 80hr+ weeks helps a lot here) of becoming an assist. prof. This will pay $55-65k. If you get tenure, maybe $85k. At that point you’ll be 40 years old.

By: Randy

Randy — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:39:27 +0000

Sadly, I believe your post is accurate. I am seeing newly minted 24-25 year old PharmD’s (pharmacists) making $110k right out of school with $10k to $30k signing bonuses. The professional health sciences (pharmacists, physical therapists, etc) are doing well right now. Further, NPs (nurse practitioners) are doing very well. At the university I work a critical care NP can make between $110k and $125k year. The requirements/work experience to be a CCNP are much lower than you’d think (well, the requirements are lower than I thought!).

I see none of these high paying opportunities with recent MD graduates. But I am hopeful . . .