[et2o]

Comments like this are incredibly uninformed and in my experience not really true. If you can get into medical school, you could do another job that is a lot less of a slog and make more money. There are slides going around somewhere where if you account for hours worked, doctors make about the same as UPS drives on average.

[thanksgiving]

There's a saying that we can't block the sun with the palm of our hands. What gp says is definitely a fact. A lot of people just want a decent life for themselves. I would like to deny this because I know when I throw a brick in the mud, it can come back to my shirt as well. However, we shouldn't run away from the truth because it is unpleasant. A lot of people go to school to become doctors, lawyers, (and lately software programming) because they think this is a good way to make a good salary. If it is not about absolute value of salary, it is about opportunity cost. "What would I do if I don't go to medical school?" Military recruiters know that there is something similar going on in potential enlistees as well.

Lets not pretend that it is not going on. Lets face the facts. Many people (if not most) are not motivated primarily by their need to make the world a better place for everyone else. We are too primitive for that. I'd argue we aren't even programmed for that yet. In a world where people think it is acceptable for people to starve if they can't or won't work, it is too much to think that our doctors, lawyers, and corporate executives are a different breed or species.

Sorry I have tremendous respect for our doctors as I have for our soldiers but that doesn't mean everyone who goes in to medical school or military training went in with perfectly altruistic purposes.

[fjjrxcbdhx]

The reality about breakeven with loans doesn't change their expectation of money and social status. Also the current generation of doctors received their education when costs were much lower and becoming doctor had better financial incentives.