Med school - anyone interested? Well...

[wow]

Great article. Shows that there are many reasons that people seek degrees. Not everyone is looking for a specific career; often it's for the love of learning. If a person has the resources and passion to pursue an education, there's no reason they shouldn't. I've never seen anyone ask someone who golfs for a hobby what the ROI is on their equipment, classes, and club memberships, or tell them they are stupid for putting energy into something that is challenging and sometimes difficult, and also won't earn them money.

In this case, the student wanted to learn medicine primarily because he was interested in it. Secondarily, the knowledge he gained is something that he can apply to problems that require an understanding of anatomy and medicine, but do not require a license to practice medicine—but that really only seems to be mentioned as a side benefit, not as the reason that he sought the degree. I also love how this has inspired him to looking to developing a scholarship fund for other medical students—he may not going to practice medicine himself, but he would be helping others to do so. Lovely all around.

The problem with this thinking is that there are a very limited number of seats in med school programs in the US. There are not enough openings for everyone who wants to actually be a doctor. Are there overseas schools who will happily accept the money? Sure. Med school isn't the same as getting an MBA for fun. It's rigorous. There's also the argument that someone who actually wants to become a doctor lost their chance because this guy had the cash for a seat even though he will not become a doctor which is unfortunate as the world needs more doctors.

You are welcome to think that way, but it is not an objective truth. He did not pursue a medical degree in the US, and the medical school that admitted him likely knew that he was not going to become a practicing medical doctor, but saw other advantages to admitting him. I don't think it's likely that they rejected someone who might actually become a medical doctor in order to accept him. But if they did, it might have been because they didn't I think those rejected candidates would have been good medical doctors. And they may have felt that his knowledge of chemistry and other sciences would be a boon to other students in his cohort, improving their knowledge and ability to practice medicine upon graduation.

All this is beside the point that there are plenty of people who go to med school who do not go on to practice medicine, in the sense that they are not caring for patients. Going to med school in order to become a research MD is a real thing. Additionally, many people leave medical practice in order to get jobs in the business sector as consultants--I've worked with quite a few of them. It actually sounds like this individual is doing something along that vein.

If you think that everyone with a medical degree should be required to use that degree only to offer direct care for patients, then that is really a whole other discussion. I don't think it's a defensible viewpoint. There is plenty of good that people can do with medical degrees that does not involve patient care, and that only a medical degree will properly qualify them to do.

Honestly, I'm not sure why there is so much hate for getting degrees they don't have a direct relationship to a person's occupation on the "how to get a degree that might not have a direct relationship to your occupation" board.