Does anyone else tend to think of big 4 as the professional school version of Accounting?

Sometimes when I think about the long hours, or try to explain to someone why Big 4 audit is mostly a "get in, get out" type of job, I try to compare it to professional schooling, like med or law school.

Most of us either did no post graduate school at all, or just a gimmick one year master's for the 150 hrs, so that combined with 2-5 years at a Big 4 is sort of like going to professional school. Yes you probably work a little bit more, but professional school is a huge time commitment as well. And while a fresh med or law school grad may make some more money starting out (for law this will depend heavily on the rank of the school, as the market is awful for lawyers right now), the difference is, instead of collecting a mortgage-sized debt the last 2-5 years, you've been padding your bank account, and that compounding interest thing is no joke.

Just like a professional school, you put in your hours and are now ready to move on to a better gig for more money, less hours, and hopefully more interesting.