Medicine worth it? (1 Viewer)

[Aizzaku-desu]

I was wondering if anyone doing med/almost finished their degree/in an internship could help me out here.

I have a love for science and people and am looking to enrol in medicine (2017), but the thing is the fees toll up to 400k+, I'm worried that If I pursue my dream of becoming a doctor I will fall into heavy student and personal debts that would take me a while to pay, I'm not saying that Im looking to make a huge amount of money in my first years but I don't exactly want to just be making bare minimum around the time I've hit 30 years old, I would be lying to you If I said making a good amount of money was a reason I want to become a doctor but its not exactly the entire reason, the personal satisfaction of helping another person and having the privilege of attaining "Doctor" beside my name would be rewarding for me. I've heard the money does slowly get better and can you can earn a lot becoming a doctor but Is being in debt worth? I'm also interested in working in rural parts of Australia.




Year enrolling for med: 2017
Age at the time of enrolment: 18
Fields considering: General Practitioner, Radiologist, Physician

 

[Squar3root]

nah go into engineering

 

[Rhinoz8142]

^ what he said !

 

[Havox]

Ignoring the non-responses...

I was wondering if anyone doing med/almost finished their degree/in an internship could help me out here.

Did my first day as an intern today.

I have a love for science and people and am looking to enrol in medicine (2017),

That's a good start, medicine is probably one of the most applicational fields of biology.

but the thing is the fees toll up to 400k+, I'm worried that If I pursue my dream of becoming a doctor I will fall into heavy student and personal debts that would take me a while to pay,

That sounds really high, where are you planning to study? As a Commonwealth Supported student in a valid institution, it shouldn't cost quite that much.

I'm not saying that Im looking to make a huge amount of money in my first years but I don't exactly want to just be making bare minimum around the time I've hit 30 years old, I would be lying to you If I said making a good amount of money was a reason I want to become a doctor but its not exactly the entire reason

Even as an intern your salary should comfortably match if not exceed the national average and yours will only increase yearly.

, the personal satisfaction of helping another person and having the privilege of attaining "Doctor" beside my name would be rewarding for me.

The title isn't that great...I'd still rather people use my first name.

I've heard the money does slowly get better and can you can earn a lot becoming a doctor but Is being in debt worth? I'm also interested in working in rural parts of Australia.

Is it worth it to you?

 

[Amundies]

You can attain the "Doctor" next to your name by doing a PhD, don't have to do med for that Liking science and people doesn't necessarily mean that the only possible career is becoming a doctor, engineers and scientists also deal with science and people. 400k+ seems like a number that I would see from someone doing a Med degree in America, not here. Even under the Liberal government's changes to deregulation of fees you shouldn't incur a debt that high. Can you tell us how you got that number? Also working in rural parts of Australia does lead to a higher salary compared to doctors who work in the city so even if you do get a high debt (which I doubt you'll get), you'll be very able to pay it off with ease.

 

[BlugyBlug]

From what I gather, it's not the fees and debt that make it hard to decide whether medicine is "worth it", but rather the time sunk into the profession and training. Time > Money.

 

[Havox]

You can attain the "Doctor" next to your name by doing a PhD, don't have to do med for that

Strictly speaking "Dr" isn't a protected title in Australia, medical practitioner is so really, anyone call themselves Dr.

 

[Squar3root]

Strictly speaking "Dr" isn't a protected title in Australia, medical practitioner is so really, anyone call themselves Dr.

I am going to do this

call me Dr Square from now on pls

 

[Amundies]

Strictly speaking "Dr" isn't a protected title in Australia, medical practitioner is so really, anyone call themselves Dr.

TIL

I am going to do this

call me Dr Square from now on pls

Get your PhD first, and THEN we'll starting calling you Dr Square. Ok Square?

 

[Aizzaku-desu]

I'm planning on studying at UNSW alternatively UWS, whichever I get accepted in to, to complete the whole 6 years of undergrad it costs 455k Im not sure If its cheaper at UWS, reference: http://indicativefees.unsw.edu.au/

 

[iStudent]

I'm planning on studying at UNSW alternatively UWS, whichever I get accepted in to, to complete the whole 6 years of undergrad it costs 455k Im not sure If its cheaper at UWS, reference: http://indicativefees.unsw.edu.au/

Holy. But then a lot of it is paid by the government. The rest as HECS debt.

 

[Amundies]

Keep in mind that's for international students. If you're a domestic student, it should only cost around 10k per year.

 

[BlugyBlug]

I'm planning on studying at UNSW alternatively UWS, whichever I get accepted in to, to complete the whole 6 years of undergrad it costs 455k Im not sure If its cheaper at UWS, reference: http://indicativefees.unsw.edu.au/

Lol yeah those are the fees paid if you're an international student.
If you're an aussie citizen, you'll be paying closer to 25% of the value listed there. Last year I paid around $8.5k for a whole year, whereas that website shows $37k.

Here's a more representative list of fees that you as a domestic student will be paying.
https://student.unsw.edu.au/fees-student-contribution-rates
"1 EFTSL" = 1 normal year of full time study = 48 units of credit (uoc)
So for medicine the whole degree will cost you around $60-70k total for 6 years. Pretty damn good compared to the US.

 

[Medman]

I believe he is talking about fee deregulation. That being said I doubt med will be that high even if fees are deregulated. To be honest no one can really predict what will happen in the future. You may want to consider it again once fees are actually deregulated.

As for whether it is worth it. You will definitely be able to pay back the loan amount as most doctors will be earning 100k+ after their first-second years of working. Do realise you make a lot because you are working a lot more. I don't really consider the per hour rate to be that high.

It's individual preference at the end of the day. Do remember you will be working in a pretty good cultural environment but the system itself is old and crap. If you're into progress, future thinking you may not like the systems set up and you will find it frustrating why people tend to be so backwards in their thinking and activities.

As a job it's inflexible as hell, highly stressful as little mistakes may result in poorer outcomes for patients or death, you do not have set hours because you never know when a patient will crash or when you get a call to see an extra patient (also don't expect to be paid for staying behind), constant study required in addition to other commitments to put yourself head of everyone else. Think long and hard about this.

Side note Chiropractors can be called doctors. So can optometrists and anyone with a PHD.

 

[xenophanes]

so if im doing science med at usyd (7 years), how much will that come to under new government policy?

 

[Medman]

so if im doing science med at usyd (7 years), how much will that come to under new government policy?

No idea. Wait and see what happens.

 

[Schmeag]

The debt is not so much of an issue. Provided that you take out one of the low interest government loans, the burden of debt should be manageable once you start working. It does put the pressure on you to not repeat years, however (yes, it happens). I know much is said about a decline in job security in the medical field, but it is still much better than most other professions. Financially, you should be relatively stable.

As others have pointed out, other fields can become doctors. PhD is the original field (?). If money and helping people (a broad phrase) is what matters to you, dentistry is probably also good.

Mainly, continuous thrift and hard-work are what you need to achieve a decent quality of life. You should be prepared to be flexible about your career choice in specialisation