"Do i give up the flying dream for a good reality?"

It's pretty easy to bash the career in this day and age. The career tends to swing with the economy and age 65 probably isn't helping. If you think you'd have a shot at 100K plus job down the road and you enjoy the flying, then I'd stick with it. If you feel like it will never be worth taking the chance or worth the sacrifice, then it's best to get out.

Congratz on having a solid plan B.

whoa, whoa, whoa, you just told Skyhigh in another thread that leaving Horizon was a big mistake. Now your telling this guy to leave his place, and it wouldn't be a mistake?

Run, don't walk away from the airlines. You say you're not sure you want to give up the 'dream'. What kind of dream includes wal-mart wages, living out of a suitcase and spending half your nights in hotels, never ending instability, having to worry if any slight medical issue will end your career, missing out on half of your kids life, etc etc. This isn't a dream, it's a nightmare. Being a doc, you should know that to even have to question what to do in your situation warrants time in front of a shrink.

Go for it, don't look back. You'll thank yourself!

I guess it all depends on what kind of medicine you're doing......are you a proctologist?

You to good for butts, or somethin'?

That sounds like my time in the military..... AND the airlines.... only I spent a year living in tents...

Sky left because he continually skipped around and was very unhappy. Some people are just not cut out for the lifestyle. It's not all candy and nuts all the time. This fellow enjoys medicine so much he EARNED a medical degree. It sounds as though he will be equally happy at either job. That being the case, take the money. Law of compound interest...the difference in money in the next 10 years compounded at a measly 5% will ensure the flying profession will never make the career money his medical profession makes and that doesn't account for raises in his medical profession. If he is truly unhappy in the med job, then sticking it out in airplanes isn't a bad gig in my opinion, just has the potential to be a lot rougher ride. Some like me say "Ride her til she bucks ya." Been rough, but I ain't hit the dirt yet.

Good luck with your decision buffalo, turning down the freedom that comes with those financial numbers is a tough decision.

You might want to rethink that statement. There have been MANY people with A LOT of money who have felt SO FREE they've KILLED themselves.

To the original poster, I wouldn't be happy if I left flying. Therefore, I would stay.

O.K. But what kind of dream provides endless meetings, e-mails, telephone conferences, being locked in a cubicle, not being able to save a persons life or fix their problem, telling someone they just lost of loved one, missing out on half of your kids life, etc. Just because it isn't flying doesn't mean it's any better. I've run into many people in non aviation careers who are just as busy(if not MORE busy) than I am. I even had one guy tell me he envied me because I got to leave my job behind when I was done flying. He had to work 70 hours a week, and that didn't include the emails he had to sort through when he got home. And doctors don't exactly work rosie hours. It's a good bet they work MORE than pilots.

V-Tail? Isn't that the plane they call "The Doctor Killer"?