For the first time in my twenty-six years of life I'm getting "benefits." My health insurance will soon be under my own name, and it will not be the standard take-what-you-can-get student insurance. What's even better is that I'll have dental, vision, life, and disability insurance too. (I've actually had most of that already, but it's so much cooler to have it as part of your "salary package.") All of this makes me feel so grown-up.
Some people may not understand my excitement. After all, no one, myself included, actually enjoys paying for insurance, but we all like cashing the rest of that paycheck. It is such a defining part of adult life. A right of passage, so to speak. Most people can remember their first paycheck, and I've been looking forward to this day for a long, long, long time.
After twenty-six years of living I'm finally going to "make a living." I'll be another shovel to get us out of the debt that the backhoe called med school dug us into. My shovel isn't going to be very big for these three years of residency, but it's surely better than nothing.
My stomach churns when I hear people comment negatively on how much doctors make, and it seems like there is more of this talk lately with the health care debate. Sure, there aren't too many doctors making less than six figures out there, but not too many people consider what it has, and will, cost us. Remember, I have gone twenty-six years without having a steady, paying job! That is one-third of my estimated life-time. Doing a little math, if I would have ended after college and earned an average income of $50,000 for the four years I was in med school I would have made $200,000. Instead, I went the opposite way and went into debt nearly $100,000 in just the first three years. During one of our last meetings as a med school class, we were informed that we took out over $15 Million in loans as a class to help pay for our medical education alone. Consider how that will grow with interest! Amazing. Scary. Not only med school, but residency isn't such a big payer either. I calculated that we make approximately $11.50/hr during this period of our careers. Don't get me wrong, I am not looking for pity because we knew what we were getting into... for the most part. However, I do wish people would consider this before some of their comments fly out of their mouths or into their articles. Whew... I'm stepping off my soapbox now. After all, I really just wanted to say that I'm happy to be moving, and growing, up.
My "little" sis is grown up!? Isn't it weird to actually be providing instead of provided? It is a very respectable thing to have. I wish people respected the 7 years of school I went through... lol!
ReplyDeleteRemember, life is a journey. You'll never "be there." If one-third of the journey is over, you've still got two-thirds of it coming! (Don't know if that's good or bad.)
As for the money thing, most people that don't make much have a reason for not making much... They just don't know. Or aren't willing to put forth the effort. You have done both. Kudos.
Now math man here decided to do some math.
The average Teacher:
4 years college >>>> -$40,000
10 years teaching >> $375,000
14 years out of the home: $360,000
15 years: $400,000
The average Doctor:
7 years college >>> -$150,000
3 years residency >>> $70,000
4 years Practice >>> $400,000
14 years out of the home: $320,000
15 years: $420,000
So in simpler terms, a doctor is as "poor" as the rest by any standards till at least 35 years of age. So until February 13, 2019, count them pennies. After that, you can count nickels. :) Love ya sis.
Love it, Phil!! :)
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