Hard decisions ahead

It surprises me the stereotypes people make about doctors. The most common assumption is that we make lots of money, play golf, and have time for fancy cars/houses/vacations/etc.

This is simply not true. Sure, eventually most of us will make a lot of money but you have to factor in the cost. As I am struggling to figure out what to do after medical school (aka which specialty to pick), I’ve done a lot of research on the topic. The best is from shortwhitecoat.com where it clearly shows:

1.  We DO make a lot of money: http://shortwhitecoats.com/2012/the-ultimate-guide-to-physician-salaries

2.  However, money doesn’t buy happiness: http://shortwhitecoats.com/2012/physician-satisfaction-by-specialty

3. And you work really hard in most specialties: http://shortwhitecoats.com/2013/which-residents-work-the-hardest

I am young right now and capable of working hard but is it so wrong that I really don’t want to do this for the rest of my life? In my previous post, I wrote about the commitment it takes to move up in the research world but it takes just as long to move up in the medical world: medical school takes 4 years, residency is 2-8 years, fellowships are an additional 1-4 years so that’s a lot of school just to be a “young” attending physician. Now imagine wanting to start a family in the midst of that!

What makes it worse is that there is limited job options for certain fields. For instance, radiology is getting more outsourced each year (hence the decline in people entering the field), pathology demands you to do a fellowship (because it is hard to get a job otherwise), and for specialties like ophthalmology and dermatology, you almost have to start in the suburbs or a rural area since all the urban jobs are filled.

For me, this is daunting. I really want to enjoy my career and wake up wanting to go to work but I also want to be home for dinner most of the time. I want to be an active participant in my kids’ lives and to have time for other hobbies. And I think I am willing to sacrifice quite a bit of money for all of this. The problem is finding/getting into something like derm or optho….