Short Version: Once established, a physician in Canada can expect to make a solid six figure income, with significant variation based on specialty, location, and practice type. However, it takes quite a bit of time and debt to become established. As such, delays in financing typical life goals are common. Money management skills are necessary to financial security, particularly when considering retirement, as physicians face different financial considerations than most individuals. Physicians often find themselves in trouble when they fail to control their spending habits and adequately save for the future. The high income in medicine is often a result of long hours worked, not just high hourly wage. Lastly, any career path should be considered with alternatives in mind, as students may have other, equally lucrative options.
Long Version: A desire for money is often thought of as an unsatisfactory reason to get into medicine, but money matters and income is an important consideration when planning a career. In Canada, physicians' income is high relative to most other countries, with the notable exception of our neighbours in the United States. There is significant variation in incomes for physicians. Specialty is the greatest factor, with lower-earning specialties like Psychiatry, Family Medicine, and Pediatrics earning closer to $200,000 on average, while high-earning specialties like Radiology or many surgical specialties earning in the range of $400,000 or higher. These figures are after accounting for overhead, but before taxes. Within each specialty there is a range of incomes as well depending on location, type of practice, and commonly performed services. It is not uncommon for practitioners to earn more - sometimes significantly more - than the averages quoted above.
Put simply, physicians have very good incomes, reliably putting them in or near the top 1% of earners in Canada. This high floor on earnings does come with a relative ceiling on income, however. Whereas similarly high-earning professions like law or business see elite performers earn several times what the average person in their field makes, physicians do not see that degree of stratification. The public healthcare system rewards quantity and with limited numbers of hours in the day, there's only so much physicians can do to see more patients and thereby increase their income. As a result, it is quite rare for a physician, even one in a high-earning specialty, to net over $1 million per year. Physicians are high earners, but students should not be expecting obscene levels of wealth.
Timing is also important when it comes to income and overall wealth generation, as the financial benefits of being a physician are not realized until after completing a long period of training, typically while accruing a fair amount of debt. A 40 year old physician tends to have more financial freedom than their peers in other careers. A 30 year old physician usually doesn't. This can complicate the achievement of non-career life goals that tend to occur in a person's late 20's or early 30's, such as buying a house, getting married, or having children, all of which carry a significant expense. All of these milestones are achievable as a medical trainee or recent graduate, but compromises are typically necessary. Some events will be delayed. Others will be lessened in scope - a smaller house, or a more modest wedding ceremony. Still more may be achieved only through added debt. Early career aspirations may need to take a back seat to income-generation. Over their career, physicians earn plenty of money to justify the initial time and debt invested, but the payoff is later in life, not earlier.
Once established, physicians' finances get easier in theory, but in practice, many continue to struggle. Physicians are notoriously poor money-managers and it can get them into serious financial difficulty. A mid-career physician has an enviable income, but can often set themselves up to have equally high expenses. After years of hard work and sacrifice, many physicians fall into the trap of spending too much and saving too little. This is particularly important as the vast majority of doctors do not have an employer-provided pension, meaning significant personal savings are required for a comfortable retirement. Jobs in medicine do not tend to have benefits either, residency being the notable exception, so physicians must also manage that expense out of their income. Failure to properly prioritize expenses through careful budgeting can leave physicians with significant money-related stress, despite having ample resources.
It should be kept in mind that the high earnings in medicine tend to come with long hours. Overall income can seem a lot less impressive when put in terms of an equivalent hourly wage, particularly once taking account all the unpaid aspects to a career in medicine. I hope to expand on this more in future posts.
Ultimately, when considering a career from a monetary perspective, a comparison must be made to alternative pathways, which can vary wildly person-to-person. If a student leaves undergrad with strong career prospects outside of medicine, they'll likely get far less of an overall gain from going to medical school than someone graduating their undergrad with zero immediate job prospects. In rare cases, going into medicine can be a financial negative. All students considering medicine should be actively developing alternatives to becoming a physician and should make the decision whether or not to enter medical school in light of those alternatives. Medical students tend to be intelligent, hard-working, communicative individuals who could be successful in a number of careers aside from medicine - it shouldn't be assumed that becoming a physician is the optimal choice from a monetary point of view, though it is often the lowest-risk pathway to ensure a six-figure income.
To sum up, there are some strong financial incentives to consider medicine. A physician can expect to be well-off to outright wealthy, but there are some caveats and physicians do need to budget their expenses to maintain financial security. Proper planning, with realistic expectations, is critical.
Timing is also important when it comes to income and overall wealth generation, as the financial benefits of being a physician are not realized until after completing a long period of training, typically while accruing a fair amount of debt. A 40 year old physician tends to have more financial freedom than their peers in other careers. A 30 year old physician usually doesn't. This can complicate the achievement of non-career life goals that tend to occur in a person's late 20's or early 30's, such as buying a house, getting married, or having children, all of which carry a significant expense. All of these milestones are achievable as a medical trainee or recent graduate, but compromises are typically necessary. Some events will be delayed. Others will be lessened in scope - a smaller house, or a more modest wedding ceremony. Still more may be achieved only through added debt. Early career aspirations may need to take a back seat to income-generation. Over their career, physicians earn plenty of money to justify the initial time and debt invested, but the payoff is later in life, not earlier.
Once established, physicians' finances get easier in theory, but in practice, many continue to struggle. Physicians are notoriously poor money-managers and it can get them into serious financial difficulty. A mid-career physician has an enviable income, but can often set themselves up to have equally high expenses. After years of hard work and sacrifice, many physicians fall into the trap of spending too much and saving too little. This is particularly important as the vast majority of doctors do not have an employer-provided pension, meaning significant personal savings are required for a comfortable retirement. Jobs in medicine do not tend to have benefits either, residency being the notable exception, so physicians must also manage that expense out of their income. Failure to properly prioritize expenses through careful budgeting can leave physicians with significant money-related stress, despite having ample resources.
It should be kept in mind that the high earnings in medicine tend to come with long hours. Overall income can seem a lot less impressive when put in terms of an equivalent hourly wage, particularly once taking account all the unpaid aspects to a career in medicine. I hope to expand on this more in future posts.
Ultimately, when considering a career from a monetary perspective, a comparison must be made to alternative pathways, which can vary wildly person-to-person. If a student leaves undergrad with strong career prospects outside of medicine, they'll likely get far less of an overall gain from going to medical school than someone graduating their undergrad with zero immediate job prospects. In rare cases, going into medicine can be a financial negative. All students considering medicine should be actively developing alternatives to becoming a physician and should make the decision whether or not to enter medical school in light of those alternatives. Medical students tend to be intelligent, hard-working, communicative individuals who could be successful in a number of careers aside from medicine - it shouldn't be assumed that becoming a physician is the optimal choice from a monetary point of view, though it is often the lowest-risk pathway to ensure a six-figure income.
To sum up, there are some strong financial incentives to consider medicine. A physician can expect to be well-off to outright wealthy, but there are some caveats and physicians do need to budget their expenses to maintain financial security. Proper planning, with realistic expectations, is critical.
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