Well Dave, at least you're not just walking around with a hat that says "hire me" on it, so you're well ahead of many out there.

 

I have a question - if you are a UK citizen, why dont you go back to the UK, get your free tuition and serve in the NHS? You could even take your car there with you-

 

Look -- this is all way off topic .. so with regard to the Porsche .. I don't think it matters if you kept it or sold it . You said you liike to drive it , let valets drive it, and even let friends drive it . Maybe you ought to keep it and drive it.

 

Beating a dead horse and other cliches.



I think perhaps the part of the OP that I find fault with is the idea that you “don't actually *need* the money from the Porsche” but later state you would “bank the money and put it towards the GT3 fund a few years down the line.” How much money are we talking about here? Say the two year depreciation on the 06 is $10k… that’s not going to get you very far towards the purchase of a $120k car. You also seem to have a rather laissez faire attitude towards getting yourself in massive debt, while at the same time being concerned about the minor depreciation of your car.


As to your masterplan for life… it sounds cliché, but do what makes you happy. I choose crap pay in exchange for a fun job. That’s why my current Porsche is 44 years old and it’s taken so long to finally save the money for a ‘newish’ one. But more importantly keep in mind **** happens… I mean when a man and a woman fall in love and get married and she forgets her pill and there’s this ****tail party…

edit - and since when is c-o-c-k-t-a-i-l a bad word?

 

Dave -

Even though I don't understand .. I do think you are a nice person .
I don't know what med school you have chosen but i do know several in the field in my region. I don't know any of them through Porsche . I'm sure there are many doctors at the dealership when i go with my car but that's not how i met these. I met them from swimming . A lot of physicians are health concious .

The younger ones are in med school. The older ones are seasoned and don't really have interest in Porsches.
The ones in med school can not afford a Porsche .They are women and younger than you . I do notice a difference when they speak of medicine. To them medicine is everything they ever wanted and material things are at best -- a possible prize someday .

If you make it to South Florida I'd be glad to ask them to answer what they can .
I'd be glad to go with you and see the Med School .

I do wish you well .

 

I did see this post before it was amended and yes I'm aware that this is one of the fields that's due some serious attention but I can honestly tell you that I *really* want to be a doctor, I guess I realized earlier than most that money isn't the only thing that makes me happy. I have a wife and a son, a lovely house with all the things I could ask for and a beautiful collection of cars and while I'd love to continue the car spree, if it doesn't happen for a few years then so be it, it's worth it for my own ambition

As for moving back, I'll take the hint, you want me gone eh? In all seriousness, I moved to the US to be with my wife, why would I move back to the UK after spending all the money to move here in the first place? I agree the training is tempting and I would have daily use of a GT3RS back there (hmm... why am I still here?) but I love Florida and I'm not going anywhere if I can help it.

I think either I haven't made something clear or something's been lost. If I'm going to medical school then I wont be working. I do consult for a few firms but that's it, so what I have in the bank is what I have to see me through these next few years. It may seem like I'm brushing off the student debt lightly but consider that I may not get the residency locally that I want and if that's the case I have to relocate myself while me wife still works here, therefore I would rather hold my own money in the bank to allow for that. If it turns out I have enough money to pay off the loan by the time I graduate then I obviously will, it's not like I incur any interest until I graduate anyway

With that in mind, $10k might seem insignificant to you but my actual point of the post was to a) reaffirm what I thought about the depreciation on the 911 which is where I was hoping Yrallis would step in and b) whether or not my idea of trading the 911 for an M3 would be a mistake. Through some of the advice on here I think I've reached the decision that I would rather not combine my two cars into one car (M3) and then suffer depreciation on that too, instead I think it makes more sense to sell the Porsche in a couple of years and put the money away into the new car fund for when I'm feeling more settled.

Believe me, I didn't take anything you said any other way, I love a good discussion or debate and I can understand that my circumstances seem unusual to some people but isn't that what makes things interesting?

I'll be attending USF medical school in Tampa and I'm always open to any and all advice from people in the know. With all your reservations about changing career in this thread, you must see just how much this means to me and how dedicated I must be to give up what I already have to pursue this, believe me, it wasn't an easy decision and the thought that I may have to sell the 911 kills me inside but I know that it's a case of preparing for an even better one later on

I'm under no illusions that this is an easy choice or an easy path but I've never been one to admit defeat or ever quit, this is something I need for me and if I make a bit of money out of it too then fantastic. If not, I get to die knowing I made a lot of people's lives better and paying my own debt to society.

I greatly appreciate your offer as well; thank you for that

 

You honestly think a career in law is more lucrative than medicine? Lawyers in my town get paid on par with public school teachers and I have several unemployed patients who recently completed law school. Can't say the same for any physicians I know who recently graduated residency (I'm a clinical professor of Medicine BTW).

My private practice has continued to grow since I started a few years back, despite the economic downtown, and despite the fact that a significant portion of my practice is cosmetic surgery. You know what? Everybody gets older, eveyrbody gets sick, and people will always need and seek intelligent, compassionate, competent physicians.

Regarding my speciality in particular, the skin is the largest organ and skin cancer is the most common cancer in the US. Good for business as they say.

Quoted for truth. Dave, seriously don't listen to the haters. The complaining physicians are bitter men who have lost the love and passion for practicing and caring for patients. You will hopefully be as fortunate as myself to find a rewarding and challenging specialty. I look forward to going to work everyday, love taking care of my 15000+ patients, and found a profession I actually miss when I'm on vacation. It may not be the 9 hour days and tedious paperwork that are endearing as much as it is building long term relationships, getting to know one's patients on a personal level, and feeling appreciated that one is doing something worthwhile and for the betterment of others. Whether this be injecting Botox before a patient's 30th year college reunion or curing melanoma is beside the point.

We face serious issues like diminishing Medicare reimbursement, increasing malpractice, dissatisfied patients, unforeseen postoperative complications but at the end of the day I can't think of any other job I'd rather be doing.

 

Dude, Honestly what are you smoking -- humbolt county? No one is hating - it's like, called reality -

and this thread is pointless.

Keep the damn Porsche dude, whatever, it sound like it is the least of your worries.

And Surfah, I will write to CMS and tell em Dermatologists are overpaid anyway, just like the OPs chosen overpaid specialty of Radiology - a true "passionate" physician would drop his silly specialty and start seeing primary care patients - talk about rapport to build - Jeesh

 

Surfah
The changes in medicine are in their infancy phase compared to when Dave graduates and they have still rocked the career sentiment. Not only is the business end of the medical field influenced by the the legal components but so is the legislation. I have no interest in debating what I view is a weak argument ( and off topic) with you because my post wasn't even directed at you .

You are also the second person on this thread to use the word "haters" . In my opinion the ad hominem only serves as a deflection to draw attention away from the topic.

Besides --I have already realized that Dave has made up his mind and even offered to introduce him to people at his level as well as the seasoned guys like yourself ..as he lives in the same state.

You did sound intrigued by him starting this at 27 . Most here found it odd that he is starting out with a Porsche and a home before entering school or even brought up selling the car .

I am not sure if you even answed the Porsche question ..
Maybe we'd agree on that .

 

+1 Dunk . Rep points .

 

Reality for you but most of my colleagues around here are happy being physicians, my internist father included. You should be encouraging promising young minds to pursue medicine rather than dissuading them. Perhaps you need to smoke a joint although I doubt it would do much for your bitter, jaded attitude.

And don't pass judgement on my specialty or Dave's. Perhaps you weren't at the top of your class to pursue a competitive specialty in the first place? Who are you to dictate what a passionate physician should pursue as a field? "Dermatology and radiology" are silly fields my ***. There's a valid reasons they are 2 of the most competitive residencies in the US. I'll add avoiding being a washed up bitter primary care physician to that list.

 

See post #19. Who gives a rat's *** if he has a Porsche and home before starting medical school? Some of the top students in my graduating class started med school in their late 20s. What he did with his time and money before starting med school is irrelevant to anybody but Dave and I doubt will have much pertinence to his future career as a physician as long as he isn't swimming up to his neck in debt.

 

I've responded to your posts in this thread thoughtfully,nicely and with care but I'm going to be blunt here since it appears you've ignored all of my replies thus far.

You come across (even to someone outside of the field) as incredibly bitter and jaded. Whether this may be down to the length of time it took you to reach your goal or the path that you took (thank you for serving), you have your reasons. However, do you not think it somewhat childish to "write to the CMS" to complain about an overpaid specialty? Don't you think the issue is that your chosen specialty is *UNDERPAID*? I've always had the opinion, long before I chose this path that you can't put a price on what doctors do. Why did you go down the medical path to begin with? There must have been some passion for and presumably it must still exist?

Every specialty has its own challenges and IMO the issue is that there is an under appreciation for some of the most important doctors, those in primary care. Now I can't change the world but I do wish that some of these things would be adjusted, else we're going to end up with no primary care physicians left due to med students being scared to specialize that way in order to pay off their debts.

And just to set the record straight, radiology is one of the fields I am considering but I've felt a very strong pull recently to trauma surgery and that's something I will be investigating heavily before I choose my residency.

Surfah is correct in saying that currently there's quite a large percentage of med school students in their late 20's or even 30's now. Sometimes we require a little time to "grow up" and I can be very sure that my life experiences thus far will go a long way in to making myself a better doctor. There comes a time where we all rely on medical care, I for one hope to god that the people that take care of me and my family share the same passion and enthusiasm that Surfah and several others do on this forum, the world needs people like that to keep the profession honorable.

Yrallis I am very aware of the red tape and legal shadows behind the medical industry. Just because it's there however, doesn't mean I have to be a part of it. As I said before, the suing culture in the US makes me sick to the stomach, I despise the people that abuse it and look for a quick buck off someone's back. That said, I know that there are times where the case is legitimate but you and I are both very much aware that there is an awful lot of fraud that goes on there....

 

In case you haven't noticed this is a Porsche forum and part of his original post referenced wanting to buy a Gt3 as a future goal . Many (including myself) did address selling the Porsche as well as some of the changes he would face in the short term .

I guess we gave a "rat's ***".
.. but not a lab rat in need of cosmetic surgery.

 

Dave -
The legal field governs medicine. Who do you think runs the show ? The doctors ?

Don't you think those hospitals operate on profit earnings ? and insurance companies? Or if doctor A disagrees with doctor B and they are part of the same medical group .....or even in the same state that they are faced with an alignment issue ? And you think hospital administrations have the warm fuzzies when faced with attorney documents?

Where do you think malpractice comes from ? Do you think it's just a bunch of lazy people in the culture who want money ? And if so .. don't you think that EVERY diagnosis you make is fair game ?

Who do you think establishes the legislation ? The doctors?
Or the politicians (many of whom are attorneys) and their attorneys?

Look -- you have a long time to learn .

I already know you made up your mind and don't get me wrong .. medicine is still very needed and you'll have many years to start from square one into the field .

Just don't look at only one side .
There are many sides to every field .