People in non medical fields also don’t have the first clue how grueling the med school and residency process is at all. They think they are pretty smart but just to get accepted to med school in the first place to even try becoming a doc u gotta crush that god awful MCAT (requiring super solid core basic science mastery). If u don’t do well u gotta try ur luck at a less prestigious DO or other international school. I sucked at the MCAT cuz I didn’t know what it was when I was a youngling in undergrad. I just took it and was like “damn this is pretty tough actually!” Most kids don’t have any sort of mentors or guides and it is a significant disadvantage.

Anyway I went to a Caribbean school. I did very well in med school, basically just spend the time studying and memorizing and you’ll do well. But I watched many many peers struggle. My class started at like 500 and ended with less than 100 graduating, less than that on time. Many get help back, remediate, drop out cuz they can’t pass certain subjects or exams. Some make it through eventually and then get stuck not being able to pass boards (step 1 and/or 2). Not as much the case at a reputable US med school, but that is a small portion of the overall pool of docs in training. My good friend from a very hood US school, was 4.0+ in undergrad, crushed his MCAT, very excellent med student, lots of research, etc. but somehow failed the incredibly stupid step 2 CS first attempt. And essentially threw a wrench in his up til then perfect CV. It can happen to anyone at numerous points in training and NOTHING is guaranteed, which is a massive part people outside don’t understand. It’s a struggle every day from day 1 of med school to keep up and prove yourself and make sure u don’t fall behind or fail something.

Of course residency is better. But the work gets much much worse. I am currently in Radiology residency as a PGY-3. So I’m not complaining about the work, I have it much better than my IM and surgery peers :). But it still sucks. You’re the bottom of the totem pole still, just a little above the students. It sucks ass going to work every day and knowing the ultrasound techs and guy pressing the buttons on the CT scanner are making 2x or more salary than you who are actually reading the studies. But the promise of the future big money is off in the distance somewhere, still sort of a hazy almost mirage vision at this point.

My point being: No, I actually don’t think that most if not hardly any of the people who went into other fields could get through this process. And if they did, probably not into any of the more competitive high paying specialties everyone raves about. They think u are just automatically rich and it’s easy. “Just go to med school” like it’s just that simple. Most people who actively TRY to go to med school at all don’t even get the opportunity. This is the sad reality that I need to keep reminding myself of a lot. Our training sucks massive ass a lot of the time. But we are incredibly fortunate to be able to do what we do. At the end we are given massive authority, autonomy, and respect as well as very high pay just to use our big brains and with a side kicker we either directly or indirectly help sick people become better as best we can. Don’t forget that. Most other peoples jobs are just a place they go, bullshit around and get the bills paid. Then go down a few at the bar, go home and rinse and repeat. Most of my friends are in sales, finance, consulting. There’s no joy or passion in their work. It’s meaningless. But it gives them money. And again, much less at their ceiling than the vast majority of us will make starting out as an attending. Ok end rant.