Counterpoint: Money

Here is a counterpoint to the last post. Money is a valid concern for medical students. We come out of medical school with a numbing amount of debt, yet the average intern salary is maybe $40,000. People can be in residency and fellowship for up to a decade. It happens at a time in life when we're trying to buy a car, raise a family, purchase a home. When you look at the nitty gritty finances for a newly minted medical doctor, things do not look nice and peachy. I've had many professors tell us that though it's ugly, lifestyle and compensation matter.

Even looking past the practical stuff, some people have the attitude that they deserve to be paid well. After all, doctors do amazing things. We replace heart valves, we insert tubes down your throat to breathe for you, we reattach severed body parts (I'm not sure how I got those examples, but note how they're all procedural). What we do saves lives. We train for decades to become proficient in it. We provide a service and we should let market forces dictate how much we get paid. Indeed, there are doctors turning towards "luxury boutique" medicine. For an annual retainer fee, these doctors guarantee same-day appointments, no waits, longer and more personalized care. Those doctors have fewer patient loads and much higher salaries. Someone's willing to pay an arm and a leg (or rather, they're willing to pay to keep that arm or leg), why not let them?