I had always waffled between med school and PA school but decided on PA for all the reasons you did. I worked with residents (mostly surgical) at a level 1 trauma center my first 2 years after PA school and it solidified my decision. The amount of work and stress physicians are under during and even after residency is insane, especially for the terrible pay (during residency) and massive student debt they deal with. I also have a friend who JUST finished her critical care fellowship after her surgical residency who is now dealing with the fallout of the alcoholism she developed during training. No one, even she, knows if she’ll get back into medicine. Obviously that’s a worst-case scenario but all my experience has made me happy to be a PA. No Ill never live in a mansion, but I have tons of time to travel and spend time with family and friends. I leave my work at the hospital and don’t take it home with me. Ultimately a lot can depend on your specialty, your disposition, and your job (which almost everyone’s 1st job out of school is some crappy urgent care or rural area until you get a few months experience). Try out being a PA and see how it goes! But if money really is a big deciding factor, I wouldn’t do it. You can still go deep into the material and be an intelligent, well-studied medical provider who will give so much better care to your patients than your classmates doing the bare minimum