Phenomenal job security- many high paying professions have high job volatility. One day you’re employed and then the next…. After about 8 years as a big law associate, you either make partner or are booted with far less lucrative exit options to pursue (guess which basket most will fall in). Look at the tech market right now.
Pay- 300k, an individual income that puts you at the 1% for any age under 40, is very doable regardless of specialty (barring peds and working in academia maybe). And that pay actually tends to have a higher absolute value in lower cost of living areas… the opposite trend is seen in other high earning professions. Mid six figures in suburban Nebraska will travel way farther than the same salary in the bay/Manhattan. Especially when it comes to housing, food, and entertainment. Expenditures that take up tremendous chunks of a typical monthly budget
Alturism- medicine is not only a job where you get to actively help others for a living, but you get the privilege of doing so when they’re at their most vulnerable. That in conjunction with all of the avenues for pursuits of “bigger than yourself change”makes it appealing for those looking to make a difference.
Autonomy- you don’t navigate the same corporate politics that many other white collar professions are beholden to to anywhere near the same degree. You’re often times the head honcho of a care team. Yes, answering to admin and being mindful of all of the legal and bureaucratic red tape is a pain, but you report to less in comparison to other lucrative fields that award academic conscientiousness in a similar manner
prestige- there’s still a fair bit of social clout to be had when it comes to being a physician, especially amongst laymen. Tell the average dude or dudette you’re working at an IB and images of handling John Smith’s cash at a commercial bank, accompanied with a smile, pops into their heads. Medicine, in contrast, is generally associated with high pay, exclusivity, and nobility in the vast majority of circles. Plenty are vein enough to put a high premium on this quality, and it’s hard to fully blame them considering how social humans are.
Entrepreneurship- although the expansion of corporate medicine is dwindling this perk by the year, a tried and true path to hanging up your shingle still exists for many specialties. relative to other white collar professions, you have way more accessibility to being your own boss.
Intellectual interest- many find the medical sciences fascinating. They have an insatiable lust to learn all they can about that field, and by extension, their future craft. There’s only one way to satiate that hunger and master the art of being a clinician, and that’s med school + residency.
For those reasons and more, the juice is worth the squeeze for many
