[...]
They can be fine, though. Imagine you have 700k debt. Imagine you bring in $400k/year. As a mustachian, you could still retire well in 5-10 years. The problem these doctors have is a spending problem, not a debt problem.
Of course, as a mustachian, you wouldn't have had 700k debt to begin with. I'm sure a LARGE chunk of that is attributable to inflated living expenses, not merely tuition or basic living expenses.
Oh I don't doubt they'll be fine.
According to a quick search (leading to AAMC website),
- The median amount of debt for the class of 2014: $180,000*
The median 4-year cost of attendance for the class of 2015: $226,447* (public school) and $298,538* (private school)
The 2013 median starting salary for Internal Medicine (first year post residency): $180,000**
Add some undergrad loans to the private school cost of attendance, and you can get $350k/person easily. (I believe average undergrad debt is around $20-25k right now, but a future doctor probably went to a 4-year school, so might be more like $50-100k.)
But none of this means it's a bad idea to become a doctor; we need doctors! And I for one am glad that people who don't have $350k in family money go into that career field as well, in spite of the challenges! What I think really sucks is the people who get through 2 years of med school, realize they hate it, and yet feel they have to stick it out in the profession for years anyway because how else are they going to pay their loans off?