jewishfeminist02 who said “In the long term, lawyers have a better financial outlook than doctors. 8 years of education (and therefore loans) versus 3 years makes a big dent in a doctor’s salary.”
1. Virtually all MDs become doctors, whereas only some JDs become lawyers. Most doctors serve a fairly well paid apprenticeship (“residency”) with horrific hours, even if they are required to get sleep in states (and then only due to lawyers suing for malpractice). Most JDs entering the practice of law have to scramble for a job, and only a handful get well paid “associate” positions.
2. Virtually all doctors are employed as doctors, even if they were at the bottom of the class in a not famous medical school. Many JDs have trouble finding a job that requires a law degree, and the bottom of the class from a good law school, and anyone from other than the dozen or so elite law schools, will often find himself as entering a “solo practice” whether they like it or not.
3. There are inexpensive law schools, and they tend to be easy to get into (and there is the option of “reading law” in many states). The inexpensive medical schools are very hard to get into. It is sometimes possible to get a free medical degree by agreeing to work for certain employers (not just the military) after graduation.
4. If someone wants to be a lawyer, or a doctor, they should try. If they enter a profession they dislike since they think it is a meal ticket, they will probably fail miserably, and still owe on the student loans.