Did you always know that you wanted to be a doctor?
I didn’t either.
In fact, even in college, I was weighing my options between going into engineering, business,
and medicine.
In this video, we'll go over each and how you can best decide which career path is right
for you.
What's going on guys, Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com
Before we dive in, there are two caveats we
must go over, first, my personal story as to how I decided to become a doctor is much
more personal than what I am explaining in this video.
Personal factors, such as being diagnosed with a chronic illness at the beginning of
college, influenced my decision.
I go over the full story on my vlog channel, link in the description below.
There are several videos on the vlog channel that go more into my personal experiences
with career options, health issues, and my philosophy on optimizing one’s life.
For an even deeper and more intimate view of what this looks like, visit me on Instagram.
At number two, I am inherently biased as I went to medical school and earned my MD.
That being said, I do love engineering and business as well and have dabbled with both,
as you’ll see.
I will also do my best to be as objective as possible and portray the pros and cons
of each, and help guide you in making your decision.
For those of you with a engineering or business backgrounds, I tremendously value your input
as you have a different perspective than me.
Let me know what you agree or disagree with down in the comments.
Without further ado, let’s get to it.
First, let's talk about becoming a doctor.
I like many others consider medicine to be a highly noble profession.
You deeply connect with patients, they trust you in their most vulnerable states, and you
can leave a deeper personal impact and change their lives in a way that is difficult to
match in any other profession.
One of the most common reasons people want to go into medicine and become a doctor is
the fulfillment from helping others.
That sounds great, but remember that you can help others in a multitude of professions.
In many healthcare settings, nurses actually have more frequent and extended patient contact
than doctors.
Policemen help enforce the law and protect those in need.
Firefighters and EMTs help people in the most dire of emergencies.
Engineers and businessmen and women help people as well through their work.
Helping others is not unique to being a doctor.
That being said, the desire to help others is not a bad reason to pursue medicine.
Helping others is fundamental in finding one’s life purpose and fulfillment.
However, it isn’t unique to being a doctor.
What is unique is the intellectual challenge and interpersonal connection that comes with
being a doctor.
I like to joke that all doctors are nerds because it is tremendously difficult to be
successful in medical school and beyond without having an innate desire to learn, grow, and
challenge yourself.
Medicine is a profession where being a lifelong learner is essential.
You are going to be required to take boards every 10 years, and to provide the best care
to your patients, you need to keep up to date with research.
At Med School Insiders, we go over a wide array of study strategies to make you a more
effective lifelong learner, and that includes learning to enjoy the process of learning.
There are several other reasons individuals pursue medicine, but these are less frequently
spoken about, but at Med School Insiders, we keep it real.
First the salary.
You should never go into medicine because of the money, but to deny the job security
and high earning potential as a factor would be dishonest.
Compared to engineers or businessmen and women, doctors on average earn more, emphasis placed,
on average.
Based on the specialty, doctors can expect to earn between $200,000 to $600,000 per year.
There are, of course, outliers to this range on both ends of the spectrum.
The reason you shouldn’t pursue medicine for the money is because of opportunity cost
and the rigorous work that is required by the profession.
By the time you’re actually making the big bucks in your 30s, you’ve sunk hundreds
of thousands of dollars into your medical education, and while others have been making
a salary and saving for the past 7 to 12 years, you’re been in training and are now you're
finally starting but from a negative net worth.
You’ll be working longer hours too, as the average attending physician works 60 hours
per week in the US.
In residency, expect that to be closer to 70 or 80 hours per week, plus studying at
home.
And remember the average medical student graduates with close to $200,000 in debt.
The image of becoming a doctor and being rich is mostly antiquated.
With decreasing compensation and increasing student loans, don’t expect a lavish lifestyle.
Most doctors are very risk-averse.
The profession of medicine, after all, is extremely secure.
AI is coming, but it’s going to be replacing several other careers before surgeons get
replaced, and people will always need healthcare.
There’s always a demand.
Assess your own risk tolerance and determine what you’re comfortable with.
But at the same time, don’t let fear of risk pigeon hole your potential future.
Usually, when there is more risk, there is the potential for more reward.
Take business for example, businessmen and women have a much higher earning potential
than physicians and much more potential to change the world, but it’s not guaranteed.
In fact, most businessmen and women, on average, make less than doctors.
Stated another way, if you become a doctor, you’ll probably make more money however,
you could potentially make more money in business.
Now, certain cultures place heavy emphasis on the status and desirability of being a
doctor.
While this is a nice perk of being a physician, I am doubtful that it contributes to long
term satisfaction.
Sure, it’s nice to be respected for the hard work, dedication, and long hours, but
if this is your reason for going into medicine, it's not gonna sustain you.
Intrinsic satisfaction and fulfillment from the work is much more important.
Next, let’s talk about engineering as a profession.
Similar to medicine, engineering allows you to specialize based on your area of interest.
In medicine, you can go with plastic surgery, pathology, radiology, internal medicine, psych,
et cetera and find the best specialty for your personality and preferred lifestyle.
In engineering, you can also choose from a variety of specializations, such as civil
engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical, and much more.
Similar to medicine, engineering also provides a high level of job security and a relatively
high salary.
While many physicians earn in the low to mid six-figure range, many engineers are in the
high five to low six-figure range.
Engineers, on average, make less than doctors, but they also aren’t required to go through
four years of medical school and three to eight years of residency and they graduate
with significantly less debt.
I was personally very interested in computer science because the way of thinking is so
unique and logical.
I loved programming in high school and it came easily to me.
The problem solving of computer science and programming is very stimulating and fun in
my opinion.
I was also a huge fan of math in high school and in college and I thoroughly enjoyed physics,
calculus, and mechanical engineering electives.
But one thing that pushed me away from engineering was imagining what I would be doing day in
and day out.
I like interacting with people, and I felt that the interpersonal stimulation of being
a doctor and meeting patients every day would be more in line with my ideal future than
what the job of an engineer would traditionally entail.
It was difficult to see myself working at a desk nine to five.
And not all engineers necessarily do, but doctors usually have more interpersonal stimulation
than engineers do.
Lastly, let's talk about business.
This is a difficult career to cover in such a short video, as business is the most flexible
and diverse of these three career paths.
While the job security, clout, and average earning potential is not as optimal compared
to medicine, business has several distinct and significant advantages over the other
two options.
First, business provides tremendous flexibility in every aspect of your career.
You don’t have to go to graduate school, and you don’t have to work for someone else,
you don’t have to follow the traditional rules.
Second, while the average earning potential is lower, businessmen and women have the potential
to make significantly more than doctors or engineers.
Lastly, and most importantly, business provides the most direct path to change the world.
Allow me to explain.
Since college, my interests have changed and developed.
I grew obsessed with biomedical innovation, or the invention of technologies to improve
patient care.
I found myself at the intersection of medicine, business, and engineering.
I even founded a biomedical incubator at UC San Diego called Blue LINC to pursue this
interest.
In the incubator, we combine teams of medical students, engineering graduate students, and
business MBA students and mentor them to create healthcare startups.
It’s tremendously exciting because there’s a potential to affect thousands or even millions
of patients by improving healthcare technologies.
With my MD I have the clinical expertise.
However, had I majored in engineering in college, I would have been better prepared to work
on designing and developing these healthcare technologies.
If I had business training, that would help me take my ideas to market.
Each discipline, medicine, business, and engineering is necessary to create a lasting impact through
biomedical innovation.
And I love this idea of leaving a mark on the world, having a significant impact, and
it’s much easier to do through business.
Don’t get me wrong, doctors and engineers have very important and significant roles
in society.
But doctors, they usually create deep connections and help one patient at a time.
Engineers create the infrastructure from which all of society operates.
These are both extremely important professions that deserve respect.
However, for a technology to impact and truly change the world, it needs to be sustainable
from a business perspective.
You could create a new treatment for diabetes that improves patient outcomes.
However, if it’s cost-prohibitive, or is challenging from a patient compliance perspective,
or is ultimately not sustainable as a business, it’s unlikely to make a significant impact.
Elon Musk is revolutionizing space travel and challenging our dependence on fossil fuels
for personal transport through business.
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs revolutionized and created the possibility of personal computing
through business.
Sheryl Sandberg has used her influence at Facebook to push for women’s health and
immigration reform.
Each of their impacts has been facilitated through business.
Medicine, engineering, and business are each fantastic careers to pursue.
And remember, you don’t have to limit yourself to just one or stick to a prescribed path.
Don’t be afraid to break the mold and take the path less traveled.
Through Blue LINC and Med School Insiders, I’ve been combining my interest of medicine
and business.
What about you?
Are you going all-in on medicine?
Considering a career in business or engineering?
I’d love to hear your future plans down in the comments below.
Remember to check out the vlog channel and Instagram for more exclusive content that
you won't see anywhere else.
Thank you all so much for watching.
If you like the video, make sure you press that like button, hit subscribe if you have
not already and I will see you guys in that next one.