[dean01234]

(Original post by t0ffee)
Medicine wise - if you screw up someone will die - but if you screw up as a banker then you get a slightly smaller bonus.

Or send the global economy into melt down...

[SilverArch]

(Original post by enxr)
Examples of higher paying but certainly not less draining jobs include:

Oligarch
Monarchy

All this time I've been trying to find the perfect 'job' which involves getting lots of money, and the answer was right there in front of me. Way easier than becoming a doctor! Now I just need to get me an estate in a remote Russian town complete with a bribed police force, a ruthless gang of drugs traffickers and a weapons arsenal. Or alternately, where's Prince Harry right now, and what's his number, anyone?

[enxr]

In all seriousness, though, such jobs do exist and they are not so hard to find. Everyone quotes corporate lawyers and investment bankers. Yes, they earn great money (if they're good) but there's no doubt in my mind that they work at least as hard as most doctors do.

If I were to stay in my current profession rather than aim for a new medical career, £500k pa before finder's fees and bonuses by the age of 40 is not unrealistic. The job's not too hard, really. But, I'm not as motivated by money as I once assumed. Who'da thunk it. Everyone to their own--and, for most here, it's doing something that matters and easing suffering that counts.

[digitalis]

(Original post by use r name)
Doctors (mainly junior but includes consultants from time to time) work overtime and don't get paid for this which is why other jobs which pay well and which take into account numbers of hours worked can be more appealing for those who think 'I want to be a doctor because I want to be rich'.

I think most professionals (doctors, lawyers, bankers, architects, engineers) etc work a lot of unpaid overtime.

[Renal]

(Original post by dean01234)
Or send the global economy into melt down...

I thought that was more of a team effort?

[Renal]

(Original post by enxr)
but there's no doubt in my mind that they work at least as hard as most doctors do.

I wouldn't even know how to start comparing. The challenges of medicine are different to pretty much every other job I can think of, how would you go about comparing the intellectual demands of an ITU registrar versus a back office banker versus a surgical house officer versus a trainee architect? If someone can work that out we can then go on to compare 'stress' levels, hours spent away from work thinking about work, physical exertion, number of pashtu phrases used in the average day or some other marker of 'hardness'.

[Rancorous]

Not sure becoming a doctor is about the money. Surely you do it because you're interested in medicine and have various reasons for actually wanting to become a doctor.

The money is good.

Jobs which pay more? It's very dependent on the individual. And also when you take into account income tax, employees always have a hard time above 40k because it's progressive, i.e. 100k is closer to 60k after tax. I think a poster called toffee also made the point well that how much money you have depends on how you spend it. Taking high salaried jobs can involve higher fixed costs like rent, mortgage and all the rest of it.

Here are some high paying jobs - i.e. over 100k:

corporate lawyer
banker
marketing executive
IT director
self-employed - own their business - anything from a bar to a marketing company
management consultancy
headhunting
property development
successful tv producer

All of these positions have a 101 caveats to them, and a high salary is by no means guaranteed. Hours, achievement and luck all come into it.

On the whole, I think the money in medicine is pretty generous.

[Zedd]

As a soon-to-be graduate contemplating between 4-6 years of further study to become a doctor (and then a career full of professional exams) I don't really see the money as a great motivation for me wanting to be a doctor.