cardiologist ???

Absolutely. After five years of medical school and likely a decade as a 'doctor in training' serving out bonded slavery to the NHS in terms of rotating a new hospital every year, reapplying for the next stage of training every 2-3 years (possibly in a different part of the country), being forced to pay for through the nose for examinations and courses that are mandatory to progress, paying for my own license to practise etc etc etc, I expect to be very well remunerated.

hehe yea srry about that
oh okay the pay is really low though

If you want to earn lots and lots of money, then Medicine is not the career for you.

Absolutely. After five years of medical school and likely a decade as a 'doctor in training' serving out bonded slavery to the NHS in terms of rotating a new hospital every year, reapplying for the next stage of training every 2-3 years (possibly in a different part of the country), being forced to pay for through the nose for examinations and courses that are mandatory to progress, paying for my own license to practise etc etc etc, I expect to be very well remunerated.

Absolutely. After five years of medical school and likely a decade as a 'doctor in training' serving out bonded slavery to the NHS in terms of rotating a new hospital every year, reapplying for the next stage of training every 2-3 years (possibly in a different part of the country), being forced to pay for through the nose for examinations and courses that are mandatory to progress, paying for my own license to practise etc etc etc, I expect to be very well remunerated.

You sound a bit frusterated with your decision on studying medicine. Are you just trying to get across that you have to sacrifice a lot as a doctor, or are you genuinely regretting going into medicine?

I know this wasn't directed at me but I'm another medic in my last year of med school. I wouldn't call it frustration, I'd call it realism. The following "hurdles" (if you want to call them that) in terms of finance for prospective/current doctors are as follows:

1) Medical school. You'll be there for an absolute minimum of 4 years, most commonly between 5-7. Given that the average degree takes 3 years, there's already the problem of higher tuition fees. Then of course you've got to have many books (I'd argue more so than most other subjects given the width of knowledge required), equipment (another £50 for a stethoscope and other random things) and living expenses for being a long-term student.

2) Admin fees. Even before you qualify, you've got to pay medicolegal fees, register with the General Medical Council, and pay fees for post-graduate exams (ranging between £300-£800+ per exam!).

3) Transport fees. Unlike in most careers, in which you relocate to a particular job as your base and work there, medicine can involve you changing your base hospital as often as 6 months (or 4 months in extreme cases). In some parts of the country, this can take you up to 200 miles away from your previous place of employment (e.g. in the North West you could be relocated from Manchester to Barrow-in-Furness at short notice) and thus travel can become extortionate! (Or, of course, you relocate, thus accruing fees for accommodation)

There are many others too...however don't get me wrong, medicine is a relatively lucrative career. As people have said though, don't go into it for the money. Yes you'll earn a decent salary, but until you're a consultant you'll have very little time to actually enjoy it. And depending on what you specialise in, even some consultants are too busy to enjoy a rich lifestyle!

(On that note, might I recommend dermatology for the OP? No on-calls, private work a-plenty... )

Very true. Better look at business or engineering or even politics. Much better in terms of return on investment.

After spending 15 years training, it's not an issue that doctors expect to be paid well. We put quite a bit of our own money and time into the training so it certainly makes sense to pay us well, however as super said, money shouldn't be the primary goal and if it is, medicine is the wrong career.

You sound a bit frusterated with your decision on studying medicine. Are you just trying to get across that you have to sacrifice a lot as a doctor, or are you genuinely regretting going into medicine?

I wouldn't say I was frustrated with medicine, in fact I enjoy medicine a great deal. What I don't enjoy is the way doctors are treated in this country (stuff like losing free house staff accommodation that was equal to a 30% pay cut: unions strike here over 0.5%) , the work atmosphere, the training system, the lack of respect etc etc.

I wouldn't say I was frustrated with medicine, in fact I enjoy medicine a great deal. What I don't enjoy is the way doctors are treated in this country (stuff like losing free house staff accommodation that was equal to a 30% pay cut: unions strike here over 0.5%) , the work atmosphere, the training system, the lack of respect etc etc.

It's not that I don't care about patients i really do it is that I wanted to graduate having a career that at least pays my bills and taxes