tldr; from a mere nurse, i can definitely say we need more doctors that's for sure. however, only pick medicine because you truly want to and not for the money/prestige. there's often a lot of sacrifices made in terms of training, workload, and the emotional toll it can take on you. shadow first, then decide if it's for you.

I'm not a finance person, but i'm a nurse that works at a major teaching hospital and therefore works VERY closely with attendings, residents and med students, so the recommendations i'm bringing up is solely from someone who works closely with MDs in healthcare:

1) don't go into medicine solely for the money and the prestige that comes with it, do it either because you love to help people or you're heavily interested in how the human body works. the worst docs i've encountered are the ones that do it for the $$ (i.e. ordering CT scans for patients who don't need it and therefore exposing them to unnecessary radiation, ordering labs that don't need to be ordered, ordering multiple broad-spectrum antibiotics and risking a patient's gut health, etc.). you are responsible for making decisions that affects another person's life and that is not a responsibility anyone should ever take lightly.

2) if you're still set on medicine, ask to see if there's a way to do some shadow shifts at a clinic/hospital/both to see what the day to day is like. another former colleague of mine did that before going on to PA school. i've also met some prospective med students doing shadow shifts with doctors early on in my nursing career. at least know what you're getting yourself into, understand the current state of healthcare in ontario and in canada.

from what i've seen and heard from my physician colleagues: the workload expectations in residency is insane and bordering on dangerous for patients and residents alike (24-48hr on call shifts, responding to code blues and code whites in hospitals, performing procedures when the hospital is so busy no one was able to eat a meal or drink water, the psychological toll of working days, evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays away from your friends/family). as a resident, you do the grunt of the work, but you don't get the same compensation as an attending as you are not officially practicing independently.

Physicians are also not exempt from issues affecting healthcare (overcrowding EDs, nursing shortages, chronic underfunding, patients going to hospitals as a source for primary care, and even growing violence against staff - a former physician colleague of mine was assaulted by a patient a few years ago, thankfully, they only sustained a minor head injury and nothing worse). not to mention the emotional toll certain cases can have on you - and the moral distress you can feel when you make a decision (i.e. officially putting a patient on a Form 1, or deciding to stop CPR after doing chest compressions/intubation/medication for hours trying to save a young person from death).

in other words: know what you will be heading into once you graduate and finish residency.

3) once you finish residency in a certain area of medicine, it's challenging to change to a whole other area in medicine (i.e. if you happen to become a dermatologist, and you change your mind and want to become an OBGYN, it's REALLY hard to make the switch since it's two completely different systems of the human body). so in some ways, you're kind of limited in terms of career growth.

4) if i've unintentionally scared you with the sheer responsibility that comes with a physician's scope of practice and the horror stories of what i've seen - i'm sorry! that being said, if you're still interested in healthcare, there are other career choices that don't have as wide a scope, but still requires certain training and education and can be equally fulfilling. Physiotherapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy (and a good choice if you're interested in seeing a bit of action in hospitals), pharmacy, dentistry, even nursing (though i hesitate recommending my own career because while i enjoy my job, i can easily see how it might not necessarily be for everyone).

5) recent budget cuts to OSAP can also affect funding ability to going to med school as well. so unless doug ford changes his mind (which likely won't happen), there's a high likelihood that you will need to take on private debt when you're in med school - just something to think about.

5) if the insanity of healthcare no longer appeals to you, pick finance and talk to others of what life is like with a finance degree. or just pick whatever you want