Medicine or Business?! HELP!!

Hey i really need some advice. I really love business and aspire to one day become an investment bankeror something along those lines. However at the end of the day I want to make money, medicine is safe and pretty much guarantees a decent income and no i wouldnt just be going into it for the money! My question is how hard is it to make a doctors salary in business if i were to lets say graduate from an ivy league university. Is business really as scary and risky as people make it out to be? any input would be greatly appreiciated!

 
Best Response

No, business is not much riskier than medicine. In fact, it could be considered less, as you are going to have far less debt coming out of a BA.

If you want a doctor's salary and incredible job security, Big 4 will do it. Starts around 65k in audit, within 4 years you will be a manager clearing 100k, and you will be partner after another several years, clearing 200k+. These numbers are all old (and for audit; advisory is higher), so you definitely reach MD salaries a similar time after graduation. But you won't have debt, the threat of healthcare reform, nor the stress of billing insurance co's.

Speaking of insurance, that is another great area. Underwriters have good compensation, similar to the above. Investment management will get you higher than the above if you stick with it, and the work is interesting. If you are mathematically talented, look into becoming an actuary. Really, it is a fantastic job. Salaries are probably higher than a MD, the hours are great, and the benefits are stellar.

Any sort of back office/compliance job in a bank will also get you MD level compensation. But it is kind of mind numbing, and you are still vulnerable to bank wide cuts.

Finally, Funds of Funds and CorpStrat will actually exceed the majority of physician's comp. However, they are a little more competitive to get into, and often need IB and consulting experience, respectively.

Don't think MDs actually make that much. The opportunity cost of those lost working years and debt is incredible.

Look at this (admittedly outdated) chart: http://www.er-doctor.com/doctor_income.html And it will only get worse with Obamacare.

I would honestly recommend dentistry. Less insurance headache, you can open up independent practices, etc. Petroleum engineering is also fantastic. I am not sure what you need to work with NatGas, but that is poised for growth.

I don't get how you want to be an "investment banker or something along those lines" yet still consider "business" as a whole "scary and risky". Medicine is only safe because your skill set is guaranteed to be in demand. But, from a financial perspective, medicine is a very bad choice relative to the alternatives you would have at an ivy.

 

Doctor's have decent income, but only after residency. That's at least 7 years of no pay or very low pay (4 years of medical school, minimum 3 years of residency). Make sure you factor that into the average income.

 

I think medicine is not as bad as people make it to be on this forum. 1. Contrary to what most people say, the SGR cuts (which is supposed to reduce doctor's income by 30 percent over 10 years) will not happen. It's been delayed numerous amount of times over the past two years. If it does end up happening, most Physicians will switch to a concierge model. 2. After your first year of residency (or when you pass Step 3), you receive your medical license. You can use your medical license to work overtime (also called "moonlightning"/Locum Tenes"). A lot of residents are paid 100 dollars an hour if they do end up moonlighting. I've heard of doctors making an extra 4k a month by doing so (4 shifts of 10 hours); but it really depends on what specialty you end up doing. If you're doing a surgical residency, you won't have time to moonlight. If you end up doing something like psychiatry, dermatology, internal medicine, you'll probably have more time to moonlight. 3. If you're in high school, consider doing a bs/md program at a target or semi target school (Brown and Northwestern have bs/md programs). You could always major in Econ while completing the pre med requites. You'll still have a guarantee into med school if you can't get an Ibanking job. 4. Go to a state school. Unlike business, it doesn't matter where you go to med school as long as its an American MD school. Many students from state schools end up matching into high paying specialties like derm or plastic surgery if they have high step one scores (board exam). State schools are very cheap, the ones in my state are only 22k per year in tuition. 5. Here's the catch: it all depends on what specialty you match into. You can have a great work/life balance in specialties like Pain Medicine, Derm, radiation oncology while still making a shit load of money. Check out some of the salaries: http://www.scribd.com/doc/60145213/2010-MGMA-Physician-Compensation-Sur…

Hope this helps.

 

No one should choose to become a doctor for the $$. The money is not nearly enough to justify the long years in school living off of loans and the insane amount of studying every night. Plus with centralized healthcare sweeping the industry doctors' salaries will be falling. You become a doctor because you interested in helping people, interested in the human body, and if you want look back on your life and realize you made a difference.

If you're going into medicine for the money then you're representing the corruption that's going on in the medical industry right now. MD's milking clueless customers with unnecessary treatments and medications causing more harm than help. (but really no different from ibankers though lol).

I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
 

plenty of docs go in it for the money. they tend to be less happy with their lives and constitute a disproportionate percentage of the high rate of doctor suicides.

just got off the phone with a pain doc complaining about how little he is getting paid and how bad he is getting reamed on hours and work/life balance. HMS alum, btw.

 

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