Everybody’s In It For The Money
Have you ever heard “I’m not in medicine for the money?”
When people say they aren’t in it for the money, what they are really saying is “I’m too proud to admit I’m in it for the money.” Seriously guys, not many people are going to put in the financial and time investment required to become a physician without adequate compensation. The ass-backwards medical training process has brainwashed people into thinking that it’s not OK to desire financial reward for rendering services to people who largely don’t care that much about their health to begin with.
So I’m calling all of the posers out. They don’t love sick people enough, they don’t enjoy doing that 135th appendectomy, they don’t love the long hours and nights on call without sleep. Those old ladies with dizziness at 3 am are enough to make them want to puke. Their work gets long, boring and monotonous after a few years no matter what specialty they’re in.
I challenge you all to submit an anonymous poll to your medical school class and here is the question:
If physician reimbursement were capped at $35,000 per year with no other changes, would you continue to practice medicine?
Everybody’s in it for the money.
I’m a pathology resident and I’ll soon start dermatopathology fellowship. What drives me is (in no particular order:
1. Tremendous sense of accomplishment, which some equivocate with prestige. For me it’s like the feeling that you get after you climb a big mountain. ‘Why did you climb that mountain?’. ‘Because it’s there’.
2. Money.
3. I like what dermatopathologists do.
4. Decent hours, none to minimal call, fair degree of autonomy (alas, it’s not as good as it once was).
I think my motivations are pretty typical for average medical student. However, IMO folks in my specialty have higher overall job and life satisfaction than folks in clinical specialties.