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  • Doctors are rich!

  • Become a doctor and you will soon be wealthy, right?

  • I mean toiling through undergrad, medical school, and residency surely means that by

  • the time you're a full fledged attending physician, you will be making bank and surely

  • the hard work will pay off financially.

  • Not so fast.

  • What's going on guys!

  • J from MedSchoolInsiders.com.

  • This video was inspired by a post by Kevin Pezzi, link is in the description below.

  • Becoming a doctor in the United States and most other countries for that matter, may

  • not be as financially lucrative as the general public believes.

  • In this video, we will do a quick demonstration and analysis of finances between physicians

  • and UPS drivers.

  • The results may surprise you.

  • This analysis cannot be perfectly accurate as there are too many variables at play, therefore

  • we use a series of assumptions.

  • There is a link to the analysis spreadsheet in the description below where you can follow

  • along with the calculations that I made.

  • First, let's decide how much money the average doctor makes.

  • A 2017 Medscape physician survey placed the average full-time compensation for primary

  • care physicians at $217,000 per year.

  • Specialists such as cardiologist, dermatologist, radiologists etc made an average of $316,000

  • per year.

  • A UPS Driver, on the other hand, makes much less at only $74,000 per year.

  • While on the surface ,being a physician seems much more financially lucrative, we must remember

  • that physicians, unlike UPS drivers, must undergo 4 years for a bachelor's degree,

  • then 4 years of medical school, and then 3-7 years of residency prior to securing attending

  • physician salaries.

  • In the process, these individuals accumulate debt from college and medical school amassing

  • to an average of $185,000.

  • Compound interest also comes into play.

  • For the sake of simplicity, UPS drivers and doctors each save $5,500 per year and have

  • a return of investment of 7%, which is the historic average of the stock market.

  • Doctors, however, only start investing when they are out of debt, which is 10-12 years

  • later.

  • This analysis does not include yearly expenses or interest on student loans, but rather only

  • income and investments, again for the sake of simplicity.

  • Overtime for UPS drivers is $45/hour.

  • I ran the analysis for a UPS driver working only 40 hours per week, but then also for

  • a UPS driver working the same hours as a doctor, which is 80 hours per week up until they finish

  • residency.

  • After residency, work hours per week drop to 60.

  • So Who Is Better off Financially?

  • Looking at the analysis, we see that a UPS driver working only 40 hours per week is financially

  • ahead of doctors, both primary care and specialists, until the age of 34 – or 16 years after

  • finishing high school.

  • That means throughout your twenties and the first half of your thirties, (which let's

  • face it, that's your prime) you would be better off financially as a UPS driver working only

  • 40 hours per week.

  • If a UPS driver works the same hours as a physician and gets paid overtime, it takes

  • longer for a physician to catch up.

  • Specialists, such as radiologists, anesthesiologists, and other high income specialties average

  • again, $316,000 per year.

  • It still takes them until the age of 41 – that's 23 years after high schoolto catch up

  • with the UPS driver who is working the same hours.

  • As a primary care doctor earning $217,000, it takes even longer.

  • They only catch up to the UPS driver at the age of 53 – 35 years after high schooland

  • only 12 years before retirement.

  • Should I Go Into Medicine for the Money?

  • I'll let you answer that question.

  • I understand this analysis is far from perfect and that's beside the point.

  • The purpose of this analysis was to demonstrate that becoming a physician is not as lucrative

  • as you may initially think from seeing the salaries.

  • There is a massive opportunity cost associated with this career path due to over 10 years

  • of training and student debt.

  • Medicine is not a bad field to go into – I have completed medical school and am now in

  • residency.

  • I have zero regrets about that and I love the field I chose.

  • But if you are on the fence, if you think going into medicine and becoming a doctor

  • will make you rich and allow you to live lavishly, then I hope this analysis has shed some light

  • on the reality of the situation.

  • Don't go into medicine for the money.

  • For those of you who are undecided on a career in medicine, check out my video onIs Med

  • School Right for Me?”

  • I'm curious to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

  • Are you surprised by these figures and the analysis?

  • Are you relieved that you did not go into medicine?

  • Are you having second thoughts?

  • Or are you happy because the money wasn't ever the primary focus?

  • As always, thank you all so much for watching.

  • If you found value in this video then please press the like or subscribe button as those

  • really help us out a great deal.

  • New videos every week and I will see you guys in that next one.

Doctors are rich!

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