1 in 4 New Docs Regret Career Path

Physician recruiters Merritt Hawkins this month issued a survey that found that more than 75% of new doctors received at least 50 job offers during their training. Nearly half of those new docs got 100 or more new job offers.

This is not surprising. Even in the worst economic stagnation since the Great Depression, doctors are in high demand for any number of reasons that we're all familiar with.

What is surprising, however, is that more than one-in-four of these young doctors – 28% of about 300 physicians in their final year of training   say that if they had to do it all over again they'd choose another profession.

The new docs identify the usual suspects -- declining reimbursements, rising costs, malpractice concerns, and the changing landscape in the medical profession -- as the source of their dissatisfaction.

The fact that more than one-in-four young doctors regrets his or her career path is not alarming. It's maddening. My ire, however, is directed not at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or at trial lawyers, but at this bunch of soon-to-be-earning-six-figures whiners.

What exactly did you expect? What or who was the source of those expectations you embraced in your impressionable youth when you decided to dedicate your life to healing? What exactly were they telling you in medical school? More importantly, if your dedication to this noble profession is so fleeting that you're ready to quit before you've really even started, why did they admit you to medical school the first place? Isn't there a process to weed out people like you?

Katie Imborek, MD, a family physician who recently completed her residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, is emphatically not one of those young physicians who wishes she'd picked another career. However, she is not unsympathetic to the concerns of her disgruntled colleagues.

Imborek reminded me that the new physicians were surveyed by Merritt Hawkins during their last year of residency – a time of great stress, mental exhaustion, and uncertainty, during which young physicians are hugely in debt, have worked harder than they ever have in their lives, and have yet to see the financial rewards for their hard work.

"Even though it should seem like a tremendous time of optimism because they have a lot of job offers and then salaries will be better, it has still been a difficult journey for them," Imborek says. "They are finishing a time where they had absolutely no control over [their] time for three to seven years. Residency is very hard. They cut the work hours at 80 hours per week. They are working double a full-time job and most residents get paid $50,000. If you would make that an hourly wage it is pretty darn cheap labor where you are told when and where to be and it is a stressful situation for a long time," she says.

Dr. Imborek makes some excellent points, and it was cheering and reassuring to speak with her.

Perhaps these young physicians with second thoughts have been so deep into training that they haven't had the time to understand the reality that this nation has been facing for the last few years. If that is the case, it's time they caught up on current events.

Do you want to talk about changing landscapes, or uncertainty? Talk to the 6 million people who've been out of a job for 27 weeks or longer. You shouldn't have a hard time finding them. Check your local unemployment office, or just walk down to the ED. Losing your job and your home certainly changes the landscape.

Now, let's talk about what young physicians face when they enter practice. For starters, U.S. physicians are the highest-paid class of workers in the nation, if not the world, and they are in very high demand. Merritt Hawkins' annual physician compensation surveys show that, depending upon the specialty and experience, physicians can earn anywhere from $130,000 to $650,000 or more, plus other benefits. 

Yes, most young docs are saddled with huge debts. That is a legitimate complaint. The Association of American Medical Colleges says that the average medical school student graduated with about $160,000 in student loans. However, because the demand for physicians is so great, not only are physicians highly compensated, job offers can include debt forgiveness incentives, most notably through the National Health Service Corp.

Meanwhile, outside of medicine, the average wage for all occupations is $44,410, roughly $16.27 an hour. But hey, wages increased 32 cents an hour from 2009, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics. I'm not sure how much that increase went towards health insurance premium hikes. That, of course, assumes that those workers have health insurance. 

Here are some career alternatives for young docs who want out.

• Convenience store cashier, third shift: Now, I'm a little uncertain what these folks earn, but it has to be close to $10 or $12 an hour, although I'm not sure if they offer any benefits. You get a colorful smock and nametag, all the Slim Jims and Slushies you can stomach, smoking breaks are a few steps away, and you may get the chance to practice emergency medicine when the place gets robbed or a drunk slips on the tiled floor.
• Roof bolter in a coal mine: These are the guys who go into the coal mine before the other miners to make sure the roof is safe. If it's not safe, they drill a bunch of bolts into the rock to secure it. This usually works, except when it doesn't. In which case, tons of rock from the mile of earth above their heads comes tumbling down. They earn $23.97 an hour.
•  If you still want to be in the hospital setting but just not deal with the oppressive rigors of practicing medicine, you're in luck! Janitors can make about $12-$14 an hour, security guards earn about $10 to $12 an hour, and clerical help earns about $14 an hour, all according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Yes, there are a lot of negatives associated with practicing medicine these days. But that holds true for just about every occupation. Times are hard. Everybody is hurting. Relatively speaking, physicians hold a privileged status in this country, which is reflected in their high compensation and the high esteem in which they are held by their communities.

Frankly, it's selfish and unseemly to complain about your career choices in a field that provides six-figure compensation for new hires, while millions of your fellow citizens -- through no fault of their own -- don't have a career.

Thankfully the Merritt Hawkins survey reminds us that 72% of new physicians -- such as Katie Imborek – are satisfied with the choice they made.

"I know that I am supposed to be doing this, which is exactly what I want to do with my life," she says. "I love the relationships I have with my patients and colleagues and I feel so very privileged and humbled by the experiences I get to share with families in times of great need. I do feel like I am lucky that I will be getting to make more money than I ever would have imagined doing a job that I love."