What job do you think is the best?

[Joseph]

If you could do it all over what would you do?

Or what would you advise the youth to do?

WCI wrote a post a little while ago if we would let our kids be doctors.

My wife says "No way" which always makes me laugh.

 

[NaOH]

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[RadDoc]

I would do radiology again in a heart beat. I still think medicine is still one of the best ways to guarantee a high income especially if you pick a specialty.

[ExpensiveMD]

I can't think of a higher paying more secure profession.

 

While I won't push my kids towards medicine I'll support them 100% if they go that route.

 

[toothcarpenter]

Orthodontist - triple the salary or more of a dentist for your entire career with 2-3 yrs more training.  Assistants do most of the hands on work.  I make more than many physicians and lower stress and noone dying on me.  It's all elective cosmetics.  The negative is it's highly competitive.

They are graduating more orthodontists now - so it can be challenging if you want to live in a big city or on the coasts, but if you are geographically flexible, it can be very lucrative.

[Joseph]

toothcarpenter wrote:

Orthodontist – triple the salary or more of a dentist for your entire career with 2-3 yrs more training.

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Just talking to my little son about this as we left the dentist's office today. He was excited.

[The White Coat Investor]

I think the combination of a profession and an entrepreneurial interest is an incredible combination I would be very pleased to recommend to my kids. Lawyer + real estate investor. Doctor + blogger. Accountant + author. APRN + business owner. etc.

 

If it turns out you're a lousy entrepreneur, you have a profession to fall back on. If you get burnt out, you've got another outlet. Lots of extra tax deductions, passive income, and business sense. What's not to like?

[wideopenspaces]

When I was in residency, I would have said that it's not worth it. And even now, I can't imagine going through residency again. It's the worst! But I have a job I LOVE and it's on my own terms. As a mother, it was important for me to pick a career with flexibility so that I could have as much time with my kids as possible, and still support myself. Medicine fits that bill very nicely, and I would recommend it to anyone that was a hard worker and so inclined.

[Jim]

While I do enjoy what I do, the older I get, the less I enjoy doing it at 3:00am or on weekends.  If I could work in a surgi-center, no call, no nights or weekends, I might be a bit happier.

I would probably discourage my kids from going into medicine, though.  There are easier ways to make a living without all the malignant stress.

Jim

[FirstFruits]

Urology - while the anatomy is not glamorous, it's a great paying field with elective (mostly) and fun surgical cases.  Plus who doesn't like robots?

[Matt]

I'm Peds Oncology.  Couldn't imaging doing anything else every day for the rest of my life.  Not paid real well for it, at least compared to others on this board, but I'm not complaining.

[BCBiker]

Plug for pathology. I cannot imagine doing anything else for the reasons below:

1. Satisfies intellectual curiosity

2. Call is insignificant and extremely rare 3am/weekend hospital presence

3. Can pay as good or better than many surgical subspecialties and much better on a per hour basis

4. Rare patient interactions so you appreciate them when they occur

5. Residency is amazingly manageable

6. There are so many opportunities for tech innovation in clinical and molecular path that you can scratch an entrepreneurial itch if inclined

[nyu04]

toothcarpenter wrote:

Orthodontist – triple the salary or more of a dentist for your entire career with 2-3 yrs more training.  Assistants do most of the hands on work.  I make more than many physicians and lower stress and noone dying on me.  It’s all elective cosmetics.  The negative is it’s highly competitive.

They are graduating more orthodontists now – so it can be challenging if you want to live in a big city or on the coasts, but if you are geographically flexible, it can be very lucrative.

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I agree - this is generally the norm but it all depends on how you play your cards.  Some orthodontists I know are struggling and some general dentists (my classmates) are making the same or more than us (with mega practices that hire specialists).  In my opinion, our field is getting much more competitive because 1. old guys are not retiring 2. a lot more of us graduating (esp from programs that churn out 15-20+ per year).  I enjoy what I do - just not the staff management part.

 

[asmallchild]

I'll plug a vote for dermatology

 

Getting into a residency program isn't the easiest thing and there are days where I cringe at the 60+ pts on my schedule but there's flexibility within the field

 

You can stack full of patients for better pay or there are plenty of part time opportunities too

 

Lifestyle is obviously pretty decent too compared to most other fields in medicine

[mkintx]

NaOH wrote:

I’d do it all again.

 

I just wouldn’t wait until 30 to do it.

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^^^^Truth.  Having the loans and delayed earning on a later time scale is tough.

BCBiker wrote:

Plug for pathology. I cannot imagine doing anything else for the reasons below:

1. Satisfies intellectual curiosity

2. Call is insignificant and extremely rare 3am/weekend hospital presence

3. Can pay as good or better than many surgical subspecialties and much better on a per hour basis

4. Rare patient interactions so you appreciate them when they occur

5. Residency is amazingly manageable

6. There are so many opportunities for tech innovation in clinical and molecular path that you can scratch an entrepreneurial itch if inclined

Click to expand...

Another plug for pathology, but my residency was far from manageable.  It got cited so many times for work hours violations that now it's cake walk, though.