Is Medicine Worth It? The Money Side
Years of training and debt against a later, larger paycheck. Compare a specialty with PA school or the job you’d take instead.
Medicine
Rises by the PGY raise each year
Physician assistant
The job you’d take instead
Cumulative take-home, after tuition debt
Age 22 to 65
| Point | Medicine $13.2M | PA $7.06M | Other job $4.76M |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | $0 | $0 | $58,075 |
| 27 | $115,447 | $323,251 | $371,517 |
| 32 | $919,739 | $792,892 | $727,850 |
| 37 | $1,989,193 | $1,390,889 | $1,133,906 |
| 42 | $3,389,344 | $2,116,567 | $1,597,492 |
| 47 | $5,034,818 | $2,953,164 | $2,126,366 |
| 52 | $6,920,692 | $3,908,143 | $2,730,504 |
| 57 | $9,084,466 | $4,995,532 | $3,423,156 |
| 62 | $11,562,706 | $6,234,432 | $4,223,443 |
| 65 | $13,220,182 | $7,060,382 | $4,757,862 |
By age
| Age | Medicine | PA | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | $536k | $596k | $580k |
| 35 | $1.54M | $1.13M | $965k |
| 45 | $4.35M | $2.61M | $1.91M |
| 65 | $13.2M | $7.06M | $4.76M |
What money can’t tell you
Hours, call, training in your 20s, the chance of not matching, and whether you want the work. Use this to check the math, not to make the choice.
Take-home uses 2026 federal tax and FICA for a single filer in a no-income-tax state, held flat. Tuition is borrowed at 8.07% and repaid over 10 years after training; living costs are left out because every path has them. Money is not invested, so the gaps would grow with investing.