Making a Living as a Clinician

Abstract

One of the weaknesses of contemporary medical education is that we seem to lead medical students to believe that they won’t actually need to make a living as doctors. We teach them the basic sciences, share our clinical knowledge and skills, and even help them ponder medicine’s ethical dilemmas. But we somehow fail to tell students how to earn the money needed to eliminate their education debts, how to pay on a mortgage and feed their families, and how to manage the funds they haven’t spent by the end of the month. Instead we present medical students with diplomas asserting their proficiency to practice medicine and surgery, and cast them adrift like ships without rudders, left at the mercy of bankers, investment advisors, third-party payers, office equipment salespersons and, of course, the well-meaning but typically ill-informed family member with investment advice.