Justin Fox said:I suppose people eventually look at the market reality and realize a few things:
- Medical school is brutal. It involves massive amounts of rote memorization; it isn't for everyone, and you have to grind incredibly hard.
- Medicine is an exceptionally long road. Between the schooling and the lengthy residencies or unpaid internships, you're looking at roughly twice the time of a "standard" degree.
- The job market is tough: there are far too many doctors and especially dentists. If you don't have powerful connections, you're likely stuck working in some remote, obscure town—if you can even find a spot.
- Working conditions in healthcare are often subpar: outdated facilities, old equipment, lack of resources, and limited opportunities for continuing education.
- Medical professions are deeply hierarchical. There’s always a director, a chief, or a manager breathing down your neck.
- The market is disorganized, so you can't just assume you'll earn a decent living and eventually open your own practice.
- The best opportunities go to the "nepo babies" with the right connections. Being talented doesn't help much, and even if your patients love you, it rarely moves the needle.
- Many private practitioners are caught in an absurd squeeze between rigid Medicare regulations and demanding patients.
- These professions are extremely restrictive regarding mobility: if you graduate in Country A, you can't just move to Country B. You have to pass language exams and face massive testing fees (like spending years preparing for the USMLE in the US) just to prove you actually know what you're doing.
- The public image of the medical system in America is pretty grim: underfunded, indifferent, corrupt, and plagued by arrogance. That reputation alone scares off potential students.
You put that perfectly.