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 can honnestly say that I am not in it for the money. I would happily practice medicine on $35 000, if medschool was debt-free. I grew up poor, I don’t really give a shit about possessions and I just want to do something rewarding. If I just cared about money, why would I spend all of this time so that I can finish residency at 32 with $200 000 of debt…no thanks. I hope that nobody is in it just for the money, because if you don’t care about people, you’ll make a shitty physician and you’ll hate your life. There are lots of jobs out there that pay a lot better, have better working hours, and require a lot less education…
PS. I am a surgical resident, not a pre-med.
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.
This is so stupid. There are plenty of people who become doctors because they love it. Maybe not in the US but go to cuba. My parents made 10 dollars a month barely enough to pay for anything but the bare minimum and were doctors. Such good ones that both my parents passed the medial tests in the us on their first try. My father now went to canada because being a doctor in the us is too money oriented. Some people actually love to be doctors rather than make money. Waiters make the most money in cuba if they really wanted to make cash that’s what they would have studied. Much easier and faster too. IDIOT. Just because there are greedy people and crooks out there doesn’t mean that there aren’t selfless people. Not everyones goal in life is to live a luxurious life there are non shallow, non materialistic people in the world believe it or not. You obviously aren’t one of those people and if you like money thats fine to each their own but stop trying to make yourself feel better by saying everyone else is like you because they aren’t.