Become a Doctor...You can live anywhere you want and always have a well paying job..In many specialties, you can easily earn $300,000 per year..Even as a regular Hospitalist you can earn $200,000 per year...If you end up in top paying specialties- cardiology, radiology, oncology, orthopedics, ophthalmology-retina,etc..you will earn well above $500,000 per year...In flying you will not see $200,000 until you are mid career with a legacy airline..That could be in your late 40s assuming you get hired in early thirties..In medicine you will start earning those numbers as soon as you complete your residency/ fellowship which will put you in your early thirties...If you want to waste your life away then by all means become a pilot..Flying is a long bumpy road to get on with a Major Airline..

A lot of people on this board think all doctor's make a lot money just like a lot of non-pilots think all pilots make a lot of money.

Being a doctor is a long and hard road too.

If all you are thinking of is the *possible** pay off at the end of the road - you run just as much risk of being disappointed at the end of that road as you are if you chose to become a pilot (aiming for the major airline job).

As in medicine - there are NUMEROUS other avenues to make a living in aviation; you just have to open up to the different possibilities.

Or become an Anesthesiologist, about half the school of a Doc and making good money (north of $150k) in less than 3 yrs.
I fell over when a friend of mine started dating an anesthesiologist and told me what she made.

My 33-year old niece is making $200K+ as a lawyer, but that's far from guaranteed, same for pilots and doctors. Docs and Lawyers rarely get furloughed and have to start again at base wages. Docs are in very high demand and always will be.

GF

Anesthesiologists ARE Medical Doctors with MD Degrees..They earn an average of $350,000 per year..Its a 4 year residency after medical school...

No kidding!! I sat back recently and considered what has happened in the airline industry over the last 26 years. It has really been nothing but turmoil over and over again.

People who seem to believe that this all suddenly changed are either overly optimistic, or just kidding themselves.

There have never been more than a few years of good news followed by several years of bad news.

One very important question missing from here: "Do I like dealing with other people's bodily fluids?"

That aught to make the decision easier....

Agreed. Turbine? The only air-cooled engine I own is attached to a pressure cleaner.

Do you mean anesthetist? They are usually experienced nurses with around 27 months of school beyond a BSN. But yeah, the pay is good and the working conditions are awesome.

Maybe that's what he meant..A nurse anesthetist or CRNA..They do earn good money $150,000-$200,000 per year..Requires a BSN, 2 years working experience in ICU, CCU followed by a Masters degree in Nurse Anesthesia..Then you become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist...They only work 35 hours a week as well so 3-4 work days a week..