[Eton TV] Do you dream of becoming a ‘doctor’ in order to make money?

Do you dream of becoming a ‘doctor’ in order to make money?

There’s a topic I think many of you may be curious about,

and perhaps one that may be a little uncomfortable as well,

but I’d like to talk about it.

It is: “Has the golden age of plastic surgery and dermatology come to an end?”

The profession of doctor

was popular as a job that guaranteed

“stable, high income.”

In particular, departments like dermatology, ophthalmology, and plastic surgery.

Even when I was applying for residency,

if you wanted dermatology, you had to be top of the class,

and plastic surgery had a competition rate of 3 to 1.

Ophthalmology goes without saying.

In the past, so-called “minor surgery” fields

that had short operation times and almost no emergencies

were very popular.

And because there were many non-covered treatments,

they were less subject to state control

and, depending on a doctor’s skill,

there was also the advantage of being able to increase income.

But by around 2010, when I was finishing residency,

the atmosphere had already changed.

The younger generation thought even minor surgery was hard,

and began placing more importance on “work-life balance,”

like being able to leave right after work in the evening.

So the popularity of departments like rehabilitation medicine and radiology

rose even higher.

The number of test-takers is dropping sharply now.

In 10 years, it will fall to the 200,000 range.

If the number of young people seeking plastic surgery after the college entrance exam decreases,

the market will naturally have no choice but to shrink.

The problem of population decline

also affects the medical market in this way.

But these days, with the K-beauty boom,

many foreign patients are coming in,

and that is exactly where doctors like us benefit.

As K-beauty, K-pop, and K-culture

have gained popularity around the world,

more foreigners who are interested in Korean culture have emerged.

Watching celebrities in dramas or music videos,

they think, “How can they be that beautiful?”

then become interested in Korea’s beauty industry

and come here in person.

This phenomenon has actually been going on for more than 10 years.

I once operated on a patient from Bulgaria

back in 2014.

The number of board-certified plastic surgeons is fixed,

but there are an enormous number of people entering the aesthetic market

with a medical license.

In my view, the proportion of board-certified plastic surgeons

working in the aesthetic market

is probably less than 10%. Maybe not even 5%?

So competition itself is extremely tough.

If there isn’t an area where you clearly have a competitive advantage, it’s hard.

In my case,

I focus on high-difficulty revision surgeries,

but if you are doing similar types of surgeries,

you ultimately have to compete on price.

When I obtained my board certification in plastic surgery,

a double-eyelid surgery cost 1 million won.

But even now, there are many places that still say it costs 1 million won.

Some even say that through discount competition,

double-eyelid surgery can be done for 300,000 won.

Twenty or thirty years have passed, but the price is the same,

or even lower. It’s not easy.

Because of this situation, I hear that the number of applicants to university hospitals

is also decreasing.

Rather than suffering after entering a university hospital,

more people are approaching it with the mindset of securing their own weapon

and becoming rich.

To share my thoughts,

modern society can be seen as a “society where professions are collapsing.”

Information has become widespread,

and even if you ask an AI like GPT,

the world is becoming one where everyone knows everything, right?

Of course, that doesn’t mean experts are unnecessary,

but the value of a license is no longer absolute as it once was.

In this flood of information,

the value of professional occupations is also changing.

There was a time when I often wondered,

“Am I a boss or a doctor?”

From the perspective of running a hospital,

if you think of it as a business, you have to cut costs,

but as a doctor,

I really dislike saving on things that come into contact with a patient’s body.

In the end, it comes down to what is important to me,

and I have lived as a doctor for more than 20 years,

so I can’t give up that identity.

I think that the moment you try to make a lot of money,

there are many factors that can make you unhappy.

Of course, you shouldn’t take money lightly,

but if making money is the most important thing,

there are many good jobs other than being a doctor.

When choosing the profession of doctor,

I want to say once again that you should think first about its essential value

and your own happiness rather than money.