The doctors I know are not enjoying it as a career path. It's crushing - tons of debt for medical school (like >$100k), two week stints working nights in the ER or other major hospital, little choice over your true career path due to matchmaking, etc. I'd only go into medicine if it's your passion, because it has so many downsides that it may crush you otherwise.
Maybe I'm missing something but it seems like medicine close to ideal once you're in your late 30s and have paid off med school debt. You've got insane job security (due to the extremely high barriers to entry), high pay, location independence (in the sense that you can find employment in whichever city you'd like to move to without taking a significant pay cut), and you don't need to worry about ageism unless you're in surgery. I'd also think there's probably less pressure to stay up to date with new developments or risk irrelevance than there is in tech.
Honestly, seems pretty ideal. Anything I'm missing, other than the debt? And that might not be that much of an issue for someone transitioning from having spent some time in tech, as they'd probably have built up enough savings to not have to incur significant med school debt?
Just had a convo last week w/ 70+yo ER doc on this very topic. Outside of a private practice, the beauracracy is stifling(perhaps in private, too, IDK). Your actions are dictated by a/the committee. Your hands are tied if the insurance provider does not cover certain procedures or patient is un/under-insured. You will be held accountable if someone elses' dictate proves erroneous or damaging. Your earnings will erode with each new policy adjusment and never-ending growth of regulatory costs and re-ed requirements. You will be over-worked as budget cuts pile more load onto your already burdened workload. And the cherry on top, the mountains of paperwork you can complete on your off-time b/c you never have time to do it when on duty. Also, read "The House of God" for some of the other down-sides.
I've long thought I should have gone into medicine instead of tech. But not necessarily as a doctor, but rather some other medical technician position.
The pay wouldn't be that high, but that's OK: the job security in tech is the pits, and the high-paying jobs in tech are located in extremely high-cost-of-living locales like Silicon Valley. Making $60-70k as a medical tech in a low cost-of-living city would easily make up for that. And I wouldn't have to worry about unpaid overtime either, unlike tech.
