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  • The decision to pursue medicine is not one to be taken lightly. It's a long, arduous

  • path, not only with tremendous financial cost, but also sacrifices to work-life balance,

  • opportunity cost, and countless other compromises. Do you ever wonder if maybe the field of medicine

  • is overhyped? Let's set the record straight.

  • Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.

  • We all have biases, and I like to think I do a good job of being aware and mindful of

  • my own. As a physician myself who was specializing in reconstructive plastic surgery, who then

  • changed gears and now builds medical technology and medical education companies, I obviously

  • have biases. So I'll start with this to quell some of those concerns: yes, becoming

  • a doctor is, in fact, overhyped, and I believe that a large number of people pursue medicine

  • for the wrong reasons. But I also think that becoming a doctor can be a tremendously rewarding

  • and gratifying experience.

  • If you've ever asked someone what they think of becoming a physician, chances are they

  • had a highly polarized response. On one hand, if you asked your parents, for example, they

  • may have gushed about how it's the most important thing for you to do to be successful

  • and be deemed worthy in their eyes. But if you asked a physician in the middle of his

  • or her residency, they likely told you to run as far away as possible.

  • Then you have the armchair experts who aren't even close to having any expertise. These

  • are self-proclaimed career experts, bloggers, or YouTube gurus who never went to medical

  • school, know nothing about what it's like to be a doctor, but somehow feel qualified

  • to tell you about the true, secret, unfiltered and uncut reality of medicine. They're incentivized

  • to be polarizing to garner more clicks, but as I like to say, the truth to most things

  • is somewhere in the middle. The only reason you should listen to these people is to learn

  • what snake-oil salesmen look like and how to avoid falling for their tricks.

  • I'd argue that becoming a physician is overhyped for the simple reason that the expectations

  • and popular stereotypes of doctors aren't all that accurate. The sexy allure of calling

  • yourself a doctor often leads to a large number of students entering the field for the wrong

  • reasons.

  • Will you earn status and respect for all the hard work you put in to become a physician?

  • Absolutely. While PA's, nurses, and other healthcare professionals all work hard, none

  • of these paths come close to the rigor of doing 4 years of medical school plus 3-7 years

  • of residency. You've definitely deserved the status and respect that comes with being

  • a physician. If you're a nurse, physician assistant, or other healthcare worker, I'm

  • not downplaying the hard work you have put in, or the value you provide to the healthcare

  • team, which is tremendous. I am, however, pointing to the fact that becoming a physician

  • is a far more rigorous training process. That's why physicians have the greatest responsibility

  • and provide oversight in the healthcare team.

  • But don't expect the status and respect to actually mean much. In your day to day

  • life, it won't contribute to any meaningful difference in your happiness. Sure, you'll

  • have some patients express extreme gratitude, but don't be surprised when you come across

  • entitled or even disrespectful patients. Being a physician doesn't make you immune to being

  • treated poorly by patients, hospital administrators, and sometimes even your senior colleagues.

  • Plus, the popular narrative in the media is that physicians are greedy and make too much

  • money and that we're to blame for the ballooning costs of healthcare. Spoiler alert: physician

  • salaries are not the reason for the exorbitant costs of healthcare, but rather rapidly growing

  • administrative costs, pharmaceutical and equipment costs, and the mess that is health insurance.

  • When it comes to the salary physicians pull in, let's be realit's one of few

  • the professions that can safely guarantee a mid six figure income. Can you make more

  • as a CEO or startup founder? Of course, but the chances of you actually becoming CEO of

  • a megacorp or a successful startup founder are infinitely smaller. As a physician, if

  • you work hard and follow the path laid ahead of you, you'll be making $200,000 to $800,000

  • per year on average, depending on your specialty. Primary care will be closer to $200k, and

  • surgical subspecialties like neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, and plastic surgery will

  • be on the higher end.

  • But this doesn't come without significant cost, notably opportunity cost. While most

  • of your college friends will graduate and start working with a meaningful salary, you'll

  • be doing 4 years of medical school and taking out loans. That means while their net worth

  • increases, yours decreases. Then you'll do 3-7 years of residency where you'll only

  • be making around $55,000 per year. The average medical school graduate has $190,000 in student

  • loans. So while you make a much larger salary by the time you're in your 30's, you'll

  • be starting off far behind your peers who have been working and saving for the last

  • 10 years.

  • As I've outlined in a previous analysis, it won't be until your 40's that you catch

  • up to your engineering colleagues. There's good and bad to the situation. The good news

  • is that in your late 30's and onward, you'll be very comfortable financially. The bad news

  • is that your 20's and early 30's you'll feel quite strapped for cash. Can you say

  • delayed gratification”?

  • Be mindful that sensationalists have tried to argue that the salaries are far worse than

  • the averages suggest because of malpractice insurance. Understand that the majority of

  • physicians, who work for larger practices, groups, and medical centers, have malpractice

  • insurance already included. It's the private practice physicians who would pay for their

  • own malpractice out of pocket, but they also generally pull in much higher average incomes

  • than their salaried colleagues.

  • When it comes to career satisfaction, the

  • data doesn't lieif you want to be selfish and maximize your own happiness, you should

  • help others. The issue I've noticed is that too many premeds point to their desire in

  • helping others as a primary driver in drawing them to the field of medicine. They usually

  • also add that they like math and science, particularly biology.

  • That's fine, but understand if you enjoy science and want to help people, you could

  • also pursue just about any other career in healthcare, like nurse practitioner, nurse,

  • physician assistant, CRNA, respiratory therapist, and several others. Those paths come with

  • far less debt, far less responsibility and stress, and far less time in school or in

  • training.

  • Why Being a Doctor is Awesome But that obviously doesn't paint the whole

  • picture. If being a NP, PA, or CRNA was better than being a physician, there would be a mass

  • exodus of students from premed to other healthcare tracks. It's not that being a doctor is

  • better than being a midlevel providerit's just different and what is best for you will

  • be highly dependent on your own individual personality, desires, and priorities.

  • If you're highly curious, intellectual,

  • and love problem solving and critical thinking, being a doctor will satisfy that need and

  • then some. Innovating in the operating room as a surgeon, working up an obscure and challenging

  • medical case, or even conducting research to further improve medical care are uniquely

  • rewarding aspects of being a physician.

  • This does come with added responsibility, however, as you'll be the one whose butt

  • is on the line if something in the workup or treatment goes wrong. For most of us, that's

  • not a big issue, and it's a small price to pay for the added reward and fulfillment

  • you experience when things go well. When you take ownership of treating a patient and are

  • the one actually calling the shots, you're putting in a larger investment. The downside

  • is that when things go south, and sometimes they do in medicine as we cannot cure everything,

  • the lows can be more challenging too.

  • As a midlevel, like a PA, you'll be able to switch specialties, but you're essentially

  • forever working at the level of a resident. If you're ok with that, more power to you.

  • I would personally rather stick to one specialty and go deep, rather than be only surface level

  • on multiple different specialties. As a PA in the operating room, that means you're

  • only ever primary assist, helping retract or suture at the end of the case, but never

  • doing the actual surgery. If you're in the clinic or in a hospital setting, you'll

  • always be working under a physician and needing approval on your work. This is highly dependent

  • on one's personality, and those who appreciate the fulfillment of being a physician are generally

  • not the types who would enjoy the restrictions on practicing as a midlevel.

  • I've said it before and I'll say it again. Don't go into medicine for the money. At

  • the same time, the high earning potential, while it shouldn't be a primary driver,

  • is certainly a strong perk working in its favor. The 2010 study by Kahneman and Deaton

  • is often misquoted as definitive proof that any income beyond $75,000 doesn't improve

  • your level of happiness. If only that were true.

  • I made a video exploring the scientific literature about wealth and happiness. In short, yes,

  • higher incomes, and more specifically multi-million dollar net worths are associated with statistically

  • significant improvements in lifetime happiness and satisfaction, particularly when they are

  • earned rather than inherited or acquired through windfall.

  • Beyond practicing clinical medicine as a physician, there are countless other opportunities for

  • MD's and DO's. These days, there are ever increasing numbers of doctors with side hustles.

  • Just because I quit plastic surgery residency to focus on my multiple businesses doesn't

  • mean you have to. It just depends on your specialty and what your outside interests

  • are.

  • For example, if you choose a specialty with more predictable hours or a better work-life

  • balance, it's not only possible but actually quite common to have other professional pursuits.

  • That's why you see so many emergency medicine physicians and anesthesiologists with blogs,

  • real estate businesses, or other income generating hobbies in addition to their clinical practice.

  • You can also get involved in basic or clinical scientific research, hospital administration,

  • public health, public policy, consulting, and much more.

  • Being a doctor is overrated because of the public perception inaccuracies of what it

  • means to be a physiciannot because it isn't an awesome profession.

  • That being said, there are some substantial downsides to wary of. Namely, the rigor of

  • premed, medical school, and residency is unlike anything else. And second, the financial costs

  • are substantial to say the least.

  • The good news is that you can cap the downside and maximize the upside. Who says you can't

  • have your cake and eat it too? Premed, medical school, and residency become far easier and

  • more approachable when you learn to study effectively, efficiently, and master time

  • management. It's not just about studying hard, but studying smart. You don't have

  • to be burned out and miserable. By implementing the study strategies that I provide here on

  • YouTube and on our blog, you can learn how to become far more effective as a student,

  • meaning less time studying, better grades, and more free time to hang out with friends

  • and lead a balanced life.

  • The financial concerns are not unfounded either. I paid for my own college and my own medical

  • school, but the good news is that I was able to take minimal loans because I became a stellar

  • student. I wasn't born the smartest, or the most gifted, or from a privileged background.

  • But I intentionally honed my strategies, studied the system, and ruthlessly experimented, implemented,

  • and optimized my own systems to get a 99.9th percentile MCAT score, near perfect GPA, and

  • multiple publications. By the time I applied to medical school, top programs were fighting

  • over me, and I was able to earn a merit-based scholarship covering my full tuition and most

  • of my living expenses to my #1 choice. Who says you can't learn to do the same?

  • If you want to learn how to be a top student to cap the downside and maximize the upside,

  • we have a team of over 100 top physicians at Med School Insiders who are on standby,

  • ready to help you achieve your dreams. Our customers love us, and it's no surprise

  • whywe deliver results. Visit us on MedSchoolInsiders.com to learn why we're the fastest growing company

  • in the space with industry leading satisfaction ratings.

  • What do you thinkis being a doctor overhyped? I'd love to hear your take in the comments

  • down below. Thank you all so much for watching. Much love to you all, and I will see you guys

  • in that next one.

The decision to pursue medicine is not one to be taken lightly. It's a long, arduous

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