Dear Money

Dear Money,

You’re an uncomfortable topic in medicine. One people dance around, soften, or pretend doesn’t matter. But you do matter — not as the goal, but as the context.

When I think about becoming a physician-scientist, I don’t imagine wealth as excess or status. I think about sustainability. Freedom. The ability to choose meaningful work without being trapped by financial pressure. I think about how long the road is — medical school, a PhD, residency, fellowship — and how unrealistic it is to pretend that money doesn’t shape the choices we’re allowed to make along the way.

The truth is, MD/PhD training is expensive in time, energy, and opportunity cost. Even when tuition is covered, life still happens. Families need support. Emergencies happen. Burnout is real. And I’ve learned that ignoring money doesn’t make you noble — it makes you vulnerable.

What I care about is alignment.

I want a career where I can do impactful research, care for patients, teach, and still live a life that allows rest, generosity, and stability. I don’t want to chase prestige for its own sake, but I also don’t believe self-sacrifice should be limitless or unexamined. Financial security creates space — to ask better research questions, to advocate for patients, to say no when something compromises your values.

Money, in this sense, becomes a tool. Not the mission.

I think often about how physician-scientists can build careers that are both meaningful and sustainable — whether through academic medicine, translational research, industry collaboration, policy work, or entrepreneurship rooted in science. There are ways to honor patients and research while also being compensated fairly for the years of training and expertise required. Wanting that balance doesn’t make the work less pure; it makes it possible long-term.

I also think about responsibility. Being financially literate means I can support my family, invest in future research, donate to causes that matter, and mentor without resentment. It means not passing stress downstream to patients, trainees, or loved ones. It means showing up whole.

I’m not entering medicine to be rich.
I’m entering it to be effective.

And effectiveness — in research, in care, in leadership — requires stability.

So yes, I think about money. Carefully. Thoughtfully. Without apology.

Best,

Edidiong C