Is medical school worth the debt in the long run ?

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My Dentist, whom I went to public school with and was a close friend for a while then (until we went to different High Schools) had TWO custom million dollar plus homes, side by side, and built simultaneously after demolition of the existing homes on the two lots.

They put both up for sale and let the buyer choose which one to own, and moved into the other one.
 
My sister is a DO but practices internal medicine as a hospitalist. She is in a fairly prosperous but semi-rural area, but the hospital has a well-known university in the same town. I think she makes about $230-$250k , and after 20 years I do not think she has paid off her student loans because they were at a cheap interest rate.
 
There is NO money in medicine but a lot of it in performing procedures.
Hence you have ENTs, Dentists pushing unnecessary procedures.
Billing fraud is quite rampant, look at eye clinics with buncha medicare patients.
I love docs, I works in a hospital, the health system feeds my fam but I have no respect for common criminals who defraud tax payers or patients.

College education has become somewhat similar to a louis vuitton purse, one wants it cuz it is expensive and display to others, after one has one...

Astro hit the nail, college can be done without going into debt, most parents are like my ex, they are unwilling to face reality that only skill the jr has is binge texting 5k to 7k texts a month.
I went to a state college, I worked nearly fulltime while carrying a 20 hr load and graduated with a near perfect GPA. I was the top of my HS class, I had the scores to go to any top college but I did not want to go into debt or burden my parents more.

I am happy for my children to go state colleges if ONLY they want to and want to use their degrees.
 
If the answer to this question is on a personal level and involves a myriad of options within it, I wouldn't expect a definitive answer on an oil interest board or elsewhere.

I have a friend who's a neurosurgeon and one who's a GP...my take is that the "worth it" component might be as wrapped up in your outlook as the monetary rewards associated with them. The GP spent a few years being the only doctor in an underserved area out of choice for less money...he's not exactly a do-gooder but if you ask him, he'll say that was the most rewarding thing he's done in his career. Today, he's closer to thinking he's a scrip writing clown contributing to the healthcare spendocracy and the institutional fraud that goes along with it.

The neurosurgeon was/is much more focused almost by necessity, makes more money, and lives a much less "examined life" in terms of just doing his researching, planning, and executing difficult surgeries. I don't want to say his job is rote but it's definitely less "humanistic" than my GP friends. It sounds obvious, but you might have to adequately know what you're getting into and a path independent of what you'll make minus malpractice insurance, etc.. A great neurosurgeon operated on my then 26 year old brother in the early 80s. This gentleman was known for going into a room and crying after many of his operations because the human element took a heavy toll on him. I don't know, I probably think of that idea first before I think about making 500K/yr or having 400K in debt as some kind of one-dimensional calculus about it being worth it or not.

It's probably analogous to asking why did you get your degree in "THAT" and thinking the only right answer is going to school to make the most money in the most lucrative segments of whatever industry. That will work for some and not others.
 
stockrex,

Unfortunately some doctors use their license to print money. Lots of fraud in healthcare and only a small percentage of crooks get caught.
 
This is a complicated arena. The trend has been for doctors to join in large practices that are attached to hospitals. The days of a private one doctor practice are pretty much over.

Certain specialties are known as money makers. Orthopedics is a good example. As someone mentioned, the number of procedures or surgeries you do adds to the income. Plastic surgery is another good example.

There are high risk specialties like neurosurgery for example that garner higher income but what has not been touched on here is the cost of malpractice insurance. A neurosurgeon pays a very high premium for malpractice insurance. Some specialties have been impacted by this high cost. Obstetrics for example.

The annual income will depend on the time put in. Long hours and little time at home will make you wealthy but at a cost. Examples are heart surgeons who perform several operations a day.

In the end, someone should be a doctor because they want to do good, not for the money.
 
Originally Posted by Mr Nice
... I was wondering if medical school without any scholarships be worth it will all the crazy debt they will have upon graduation ? ...


It's at the top end of professional licenses, so it is hard to imagine it not being "worth it'.

Whether it is a good choice or not depends on the individual, and what they want to do with their license.
 
My wife is a PA. She works for a Doctors/PA group. They provide the malpractice insurance for her.

She has her Masters. Her parents paid her first 4 years. The rest was up to her. I dont recall that exact amount but it was under $100K for 1.5 years when she graduated. She graduated in fall 2005. Her first job was $75k. Her tax statement from 2018 is $225k.

Again no malpractice insurance bills. Her pay increases ever year. IDK when it will top out, I hope never....lol.

Not bad for someone under 40 yrs old. I have no idea what her first 4 years cost. But she went to a NY state school those 4 years. The masters was at a private school.
 
Of course it's worth it. I've never seen a doctor complain about MedMal insurance or student loans.

What they complain about is electronic health records system or the overwork. Overwork is usually to make more money so it's self inflicted.
 
Originally Posted by Vern_in_IL
If I was going into med school, I would like some CERTAINTY as the future of the healthcare industry! The failure of Obamacare, socialist, and free market, unless you getting paid by the u.s. Government, not sure if there is going to be a "free market" in the future.

Doctors are always one of the highest paid in any society.
 
If they really want to be a doctor, then I would say "go for it". Honestly, I would only recommend medicine(M.D. or D.O.) to someone who feels a calling to do it or a real interest/desire. To become a practicing physician, you are looking at 4 years undergrad, 4 years med school(with the possible resulting huge debt) and then 4 to 7 years of postgraduate training at mediocre pay and relatively long hours of work, obviously with some variation by specialty chosen. You will begin earning "doctor money" in your early 30's. Physician income, as stated in previous posts, is highly dependent on specialty and type of practice, with a several fold variation. Some specialties, especially in a well-run private practice, can make seven figures while others $200 to 300k/yr.
Medicine, like any field , has its "issues" that we as physicians like to complain about, and despite a higher than average "burnout" and suicide rate, I would say most docs would not go back and choose another track.
 
An anesthesiologist can make upwards of 400-500 thousand dollars a year. I heard this a few years ago, and Google seems to confirm it. I would imagine their malpractice insurance would be through the roof.
 
Originally Posted by Alfred_B
Doctors are always one of the highest paid in any society.


Which is why their jobs are just begging to be automated away. We're already at the point where a trip to the doctor is usually solely to get them to sign the prescription for the drugs Google has already told us we need; all that tax money the government pays the doctor to sign the prescription could be eliminated and replaced with an app.

And that's before you consider that medicine is being revolutionized by our ever-improving understanding of the human body. It's about to become an engineering discipline based around DNA and custom cures, not prodding and poking.

So, yeah, you may be right that medical staff will be among the highest paid in twenty years. But they're unlikely to be the people who are training to be doctors today.
 
Originally Posted by emg
Originally Posted by Alfred_B
Doctors are always one of the highest paid in any society.


Which is why their jobs are just begging to be automated away. We're already at the point where a trip to the doctor is usually solely to get them to sign the prescription for the drugs Google has already told us we need; all that tax money the government pays the doctor to sign the prescription could be eliminated and replaced with an app.

And that's before you consider that medicine is being revolutionized by our ever-improving understanding of the human body. It's about to become an engineering discipline based around DNA and custom cures, not prodding and poking.

So, yeah, you may be right that medical staff will be among the highest paid in twenty years. But they're unlikely to be the people who are training to be doctors today.


Which is going to bankrupt our society. They are already doing it for some lung cancer patients. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...eted-genetic-mutation-not-cancer-n940656
 
Originally Posted by gman2304
An anesthesiologist can make upwards of 400-500 thousand dollars a year. I heard this a few years ago, and Google seems to confirm it. I would imagine their malpractice insurance would be through the roof.

http://truecostofhealthcare.org/malpractice/

People always over-estimate the cost of a doctors insurance.....
 
I'd rather see people go heavily into debt to become doctors than for them to pursue pointless degrees like "medical historian" or "diversity studies".
 
Originally Posted by Reddy45
I'd rather see people go heavily into debt to become doctors than for them to pursue pointless degrees like "medical historian" or "diversity studies".



But that's just it. Doctors are the most likely to default on a student loan. More likely than those diversity studies kids
mad.gif


However, medical schools like to enroll humanities/liberal arts majors.
 
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
Originally Posted by Reddy45
I'd rather see people go heavily into debt to become doctors than for them to pursue pointless degrees like "medical historian" or "diversity studies".



But that's just it. Doctors are the most likely to default on a student loan. More likely than those diversity studies kids
mad.gif


However, medical schools like to enroll humanities/liberal arts majors.


Got a source for that claim?

Because it's the science majors that are getting accepted.

Medical Schools, the good ones, admit fewer than 5% of applicants.

It's not easy to "enroll". It's even harder to finish. If they're taking liberal arts majors, then those kids have taken all the requisite classes in organic chemistry, physics, and biology, and done research, volunteered at hospitals, and everything else to be competitive.

I don't know what point you're trying to make...but your claim is just plain wrong.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Astro14
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
Originally Posted by Reddy45
I'd rather see people go heavily into debt to become doctors than for them to pursue pointless degrees like "medical historian" or "diversity studies".



But that's just it. Doctors are the most likely to default on a student loan. More likely than those diversity studies kids
mad.gif


However, medical schools like to enroll humanities/liberal arts majors.


Got a source for that claim?

Because it's the science majors that are getting accepted.

Medical Schools, the good ones, admit fewer than 5% of applicants.

It's not easy to "enroll". It's even harder to finish. If they're taking liberal arts majors, then those kids have taken all the requisite classes in organic chemistry, physics, and biology, and done research, volunteered at hospitals, and everything else to be competitive.

I don't know what point you're trying to make...but your claim is just plain wrong.


Yes, I know all that. I know that half of all applicants that apply to med school get rejected by every school they apply to, and the average med student has to apply 3 times before getting in anywhere (three application cycles). I meant that the medical schools do prefer liberal arts majors that have taken the prerequisite courses and everything else to be competitive.

I meant to say that everything else being equal, they absolutely would take the liberal arts major over the biology major. Yes, they like liberal arts majors that take the science classes needed for medical school. The idea is that the liberal arts major may be more well-rounded.

These two links give some insight
 
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