Is a Degree in Medicine Even Worth It Anymore?

So many people these days are not even trying to pursue Medicine because they feel like it it not worth it. When asked what is the reason they feel this way, most college students say the following are some of the many reasons:

• Too much time required to complete schooling: four years of medical school and then however many years of Residency
• Too many years before they make “good” money since during Residency you do not make a lot of money
• Work-life balance is very skewed with more emphasis on work than your life outside of work
• Do not end up making enough money to overcome the student loans from undergrad, medical school or other postgraduate degrees

These are all valid concerns and I honestly feel they are concerns that I also have sometimes thought about during a rough day or before I going to medical school. Here is the thing though, yes Medicine is difficult and requires a lot from you. (I joke around with my parents and tell them how I have wasted my youth on Medicine.) But something to think about is that many people, actually a majority of people, work really hard (40+ hours during the week) in order to get by on significantly less money than Physicians do. I grew up with hard working parents and both my parents instilled the importance of hard work in my siblings and I. So for me, hard work is not what worried me about Medicine since I know that I could be doing a wide variety of other things and yet still work just as hard. Nothing matters at the end of the day if you can go to work and not feel like you are working.2 It will not matter that you are on an overnight shift making close to minimum wage as a Resident because you will be doing something that you love.

Do Medicine because it is what you want with your life and you will find ways to make your life the way that you want it to be. People tend to believe that Physicians have poor work-life balance but this is not true at all because there are so many different specialties that you can chose from that will allow you the flexibility that you hoped for in your future life. I also have never heard of a Physician who did not live comfortably because of student loans and debt. I think if you are smart about it and do not spend you first 100 paychecks on shopping, a brand new car, or whatever else and pay your student loans when you should, you should be able to live comfortably. Let yourself pursue Medicine if it is worth it to you.

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