I think your essay raises a lot of points about life until 40 but doesn't talk about what comes afterwards.
You don't point out one reason some people choose nursing/PA school. They get to move between fields somewhat easily. I think that belies the difference between these professions and physicians; the doctors become specialized in their areas while the mid level providers carry out their plans.
For people who have been in the hospital, the best argument to being a doctor over PA/nurse/etc is that, at age 60, you could be teaching, seeing patients, doing research, building biomedical devices, conducting community outreach, and doing what you were trained to do. Notably, for doctors, that doesn't include dealing with bodily fluids, angry family members, an arrogant boss 30 years younger, etc.
Like in every profession, doctors need to work to get paid. But, if you want to be in charge of your own work day when you're at the middle to end of your career, be a doctor.
You don't point out one reason some people choose nursing/PA school. They get to move between fields somewhat easily. I think that belies the difference between these professions and physicians; the doctors become specialized in their areas while the mid level providers carry out their plans.
For people who have been in the hospital, the best argument to being a doctor over PA/nurse/etc is that, at age 60, you could be teaching, seeing patients, doing research, building biomedical devices, conducting community outreach, and doing what you were trained to do. Notably, for doctors, that doesn't include dealing with bodily fluids, angry family members, an arrogant boss 30 years younger, etc.
Like in every profession, doctors need to work to get paid. But, if you want to be in charge of your own work day when you're at the middle to end of your career, be a doctor.