Why do people want to do medicine so badly? (srs)

[Tomw2]

the difficulty of getting to a high salary with degrees such as Commerce - it's not easy!

To a limited extent I agree. I think the pop-factoid of "its so much easier to make the same money in heaps of other professions/fields" is often a bit of an oversimplification. It is often underestimated how 'easy' it is to get a high salary with commerce qualifications.

Doing a commere degree is likely to lead to more money and power... i think it's a very minor factor for those pursuing medicine as many other careers will lead to more money

The proportion of med grads that will ultimately reach 6-figure incomes vs those who aspire to the same remuneration in say commerce is revealing in this regard. Medicine also enjoys very high status in the wider community.

That said, that only tells part of the story. I think it is fair to say medicine is unusually taxing on a persons life in the PGY1-3 and reg years. This is changing in some settings, but overall it holds true. There are few professions where so much has to be juggled at once in such a high-stakes context. There is a high degree of sacrifice involved in most early medical careers.

For example it is universally unpleasant working as a registrar in a public hospital, trying to log necessary experience, complying with College requirements, satisfying the hospital's needs, studying for speciality exams with a high failure rate in your very limited spare time, working unhealthy hours, maintaining patient safety and care, maintaining good networks and references essential for advanced trainee roles, all while negotiating a health bureaucracy that is more interested in KPIs/budgets/appearances than high quality health care and doctor's well-being.