[cjc1083]

I'd say given the salary data, the fact that medicine is a stable and growing field, and the amount of high level training required , these numbers are not really crazy or out of line.

http://www.profilesdatabase.com/resources/2011-2012-physicia...

After six years of practicing, even a non specialized doctor will be at 200K with the lowest starting salaries around 140K. That is a fantastic amount of money when you consider that it is the lower end of the pay scale for doctors and that it will be a completely secure position in which you can work until death or retirement.

250K is a small price to entry into 8Million+ lifetime earnings.

Being highly successful in most fields is equated with 150K and beyond salary point, which comes with increased competition and no job security as you move up the ladder...I don't see this as being a bad deal at all, even for those totally self/debt funding.

[nilkn]

Indeed, the salaries in medicine can be so absurdly high that $250k of debt is truly not as much as it sounds.

If a dermatologist starts at $234k, then you could easily pay back $100k/year and still have a very comfortable chunk of change left over. And that's ignoring salary increases. In a few years, you'll be debt free making $350k. And you could see numbers of that magnitude even in cheaper rural areas where you'll live like a king.

And I completely agree with you on job security as well. Once you start practicing, you're pretty much made for life.