Why do you want to be a physician

I met a girl who finished her MBA and already got a job offer to be a financial analyst, and 2hrs before she boarded the plane to report to her new job, she got accepted to Med School, in those 2 hours, she made a decision to go to med school. Her business school professor questioned her, "why do you want to do so much for so little, why don't you want to do so little for so much?"

I got asked this a lot too. I worked a few years in a hospital (non-clinical) before I came back to do my residency, making enough to make a decent living. I heard so many times from non-physician staff that "physicians have no life", "physicians are walking on the ice" because of all the regulations and scrutiny on the physicians.

But is life just about money? Listen to the following stories, and the amazing people I have worked with after I started my residency.

Dr. NK, a well established fashion-designer and architect, got her PhD in Urban Design from the top university, owns her own fashion store and design homes in Beverly Hills for celebrities, she said she always wanted to be a doctor when she grew up, so she went back to Med School and now she is doing her residency, she gave up her fashion store, now only does design as a hobby. She wants to be a physician to help other people.

Dr. JD, a well established work compensation lawyer, went back to Med School in his 60s after he retired. He also said he always wanted to be doctor as a child, now he can practice in his little hometown to help other people. His kids all grew up and they do not understand why their dad is doing this, but he did it and enjoy it. I hope I will have that kind of energy when I am in my 60s.

There is another doctor from Peru, I forgot his name, let me call him Dr. Peru. He came to US in his 50s, barely speak any English, he relearned everything on his own in English and passed all the boards, and now he is doing his residency. Relearn a language in 50s, is that difficult for you?

I have witnessed there is no less than or even more than 50% of hospitalized patients in the university hospitals have no insurance, sometime we have to hold some patients so they can get treatment because nobody is going to see them if we discharge them home. These are all from the good-hearted physicians.