So, let’s talk about whether or not becoming a physician is still worth it in the year 2023 onwards…
If you’d be told that you’d have to spend around $218,000 and about 10-11 years to become a physician—not to mention the immense amount of stress, burnout, and lack of autonomy you’d go through once you get in the field, would you be willing to take the leap to sign up for that job?
In a previous episode, we discussed how 1 in 4 US medical students consider quitting before they even become physicians. This is in relation to becoming extremely overwhelmed by concerns, such as but not limited to mental health and finances, so bad that most don’t plan to treat patients anymore.
Having said that, it begs the natural question: in the year 2023, going into 2024, is being a physician still even worth it?
Join me in a two-part series as I give answers on both sides: yes, I still think being a physician is worth it; but also no, I don’t think it’s worth doing in the year 2023 and beyond.
Why you need to check out this episode:
- Discover the reasons why a lot of people say “I do not want to be a doctor” and/or “Being a physician is not for me”;
- Find out what kind of life and work people aspiring to become physicians are signing up for; and
- Understand why, for those reasons, being a physician is not worth it in the year 2023 onwards
“Not having the autonomy to their own time and giving it to a system that does not love them back is a recipe to have people saying, ‘I don’t want to become a physician next year…in five years…in ten years.” – Dr. Berry Pierre
Topics Covered:
00:00 – On today’s episode: Quick recap of a previous video and how that kickstarted the core of today’s episode
Mentioned episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUu3LHcH4dc
Mentioned article: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4283643-1-in-4-us-medical-students-consider-quitting-most-dont-plan-to-treat-patients-report/
01:44 – Reason #1: The cost of going to medical school nowadays is pricey, thus creating a financial burden
03:16 – Reason #2: The lengthy training before one can even become a physician (A timeline breakdown of an aspirant’s journey)
04:40 – Reason #3: Not having the autonomy to their own time and giving it to a system that does not love them back
06:42 – Reason #4: The amount of paperwork and administrative tasks that have gotten in between them and the patient
08:17 – Reason #5: The liability in malpractice can be disheartening, especially when one’s being sued for doing what they’ve been trained to do
Mentioned episode/s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feiOcUahj_Q; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkaoPywIfmw
10:28 – Reason #6: Physicians have less autonomy, and that erodes the confidence both of those wanting to get into and in the field already
12:38 – Reason #7: The rapid ascend of medical technology along with the lack of interconnectivity
15:26 – Reason #8: The money (how physicians get paid) in relation to satisfaction
17:49 – Reason #9: Stress and burnout as one of the biggest reasons why people say no to becoming a physician
20:06 – Reason #10: The perception of trust people have for the profession
21:54 – Outro: Quick recap of today’s episode, and what to expect in this series’ second part
Notable Quotes:
“It (the cost of going to medical school) is the reason why we have less and less people who want to obtain the right to call themselves a physician and more and more reasons why pre-med students are not choosing this profession to be the one that they ride off until the sunset with.” – Dr. Berry Pierre
“The lengthy time of training has really caused a lot of people to say, ‘You know what? I do not want to be a doctor.” – Dr. Berry Pierre
“Technology is good; I’m not ever going to say technology is 100% bad. But technology is a big reason why physicians are staying away from the field of medicine and why pre-meds and students are saying, ‘That is not for me’.” – Dr. Berry Pierre
“Every time you take less and less, guess who makes more? The insurance companies.” – Dr. Berry Pierre
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