I'm interested in getting involved in the non-invasive procedures and feel there is great potential to make money while watching patients leave with smiles on their face. Is 4 years of med school + 1 year internship worth going through to enter this field? Thanks!

Hate to break the bad news but most states now require that you complete a residency and not just do an internship. So, what you should have said is it worth for 4 years of medical school and a minimum 3yrs of residency.

The next thing I am going to tell you is if you are going to go through that to "make money" don't. There are better and easier ways to "make money".

If you are looking for "easy money", don't go into medicine, whether it's cosmetic or otherwise.
Only do it if you actually enjoy it!

I would enjoy this business... so is the debt and hard work involved with med
school worth it if I enjoy this? granted you can make more in other fields but
its not as easy as you may think... a lot of it is hot or miss and knowing the
right people and right place right time unlike this field. By the way , I'm not looking for "easy money" because nobody ever said 5+ years of medical training is "easy"

If your goal in medicine is money, I can predict 3 things that will happen to you. First, you will never be satisfied with the money you make because there is only "so much money" you can make in medicine really. Secondly, you will feel frustrated with patients because everyone complains to you. You will be an impatient physician as you really care about is the money and not the person. Thirdly, you will make a lot of wrong judgements and decisions if money is the basis of doing anything.

Lost

"granted you can make more in other fields but its not as easy as you may think... a lot of it is hot or miss and knowing the right people and right place right time unlike this field"

Hmm... A cosmetic practice can be similar to many other businesses like setting up at the right time and place. Knowing the "right" people in the community can help get you started and then it is your job to build a loyal following by being honest and good at what you do.
Patients can tell when you really love what you do and are not just in it for a paycheck. By no means is this an easy way to make money, med school aside!! The overhead is huge and the patients can be very demanding. I don't make much more than I did in general practice, BUT I work less, have my own office, and LOVE going to work everyday (well I don't work everyday!). I actually had somebody ask me why I wasted my medical school education! HA!
So, I guess my point is that if you really want to work with people and help them feel better and more beautiful then it is totally worth it!
Good Luck

Wow,
It almost amazes me that anyone still thinks doctors make alot of money. Here is a list of almost sure things that will make more money.
Get a business degree and go to work for an investment firm
Work for a drug comany
Become a hospital administrator
Sell insurance
Become an engineer for an oil company
Work for an oil company
Become a banker.
These are the jobs held by my nearest neighbors who are all home in bed when I go to the ER at 2 in the morning. So get real. We are doctors because there is something wrong with us and we like it. We got into this laser stuff because we have a sickness that makes us want to learn even more. We get excited about new stuff, we are techno geeks. I bet 90% of us have a plasma or large DLP screen HDTV and can't wait until the HD DVD'S get cheaper so we can see how it will improve the picture quality:)

First GET INTO A US MED SCHOOL ..... then well talk.

...and don't forget about those pesky pre-requisite college courses (like organic chemistry!) prior to application. So that adds another 1-2 years to the 4 years of med school and additional residency time (5-7 years for plastic surgery!!).

PS: Canadian med schools are also excellent considerations - speaking as a biased Canuck - many (Toronto, McGill, Queen's, McMaster, Dalhousie, UBC, U of Alberta, etc.) are very comparable to the top tier of US schools.

you forgot to tell this guy it takes about 4 years to make money at a med spa

Do you really need to go to medical school to run a medspa. How come most of this aesthetic centers are managed by non-medical person, and then the procedures are performed by technicians (such as laser hair removal clinic)

dwtp,

You stated that "most" of the aesthetic centers are managed by non-medical personnel. In larger cities you may see more of that than in the midwest. I also think the trend is going away from that. If you look at what has happened to the franchises that are run by non-medical personnel are going under. The majority of larger chain medspas have filed for bankruptcy and with the economy the way that it is more will follow suit.

I think what is going to happen is that the physician run/owned facilities will survive. People are not just looking for a bargain anymore they now have started to understand that those types of facilities do not give the results that they can get from a physicians office. I also think we will see the physicians that do it part time go under.

My recommendation for anyone being treated is to find a clinic where the physician is on site full time

Lost:

Here's the skinny on the medspa industry: Go to college, get married, have a family, but don't even think about opening a med-spa.
Here's my experience for what itsworth....
4 years ago in the boom times, I bought a med spa franchise from a slick talking insurance salesman. I invested pretty close to $250,000 of my own money and signed my life away on $750,000 worth of equipment. 4 years later I filed bankrupt and reorganized the financing. I am still in business. But, because the overhead is so high, even with 0 debt, I need to work 40 hours per week just to cover the expenses. There is very little profit left at the end of the month. My take home pay? $12/hour. So if you want to spend 15 years in school and $100,000 in student loans to make $12/hour...then have at it.

Not to be overly harsh, but the fact that you are asking the question shows you have not done your homework adequately and probably will not succeed either in medical school or as a medspa owner. You don't have to be a physician to own a medspa. There are many medspas that are franchises and with the right funding and marketing could be successful if the area is underserved or if the medspa brings a new service to the area where it is located. Do some research. Physicians who own medspas are typically still practicing some type of traditional medicine because it is difficult to have a medspa become profitable in the short term. Medspa franchises will sometimes hire a medical director as will weightloss clinics but it's not the medical director who gets most of the profits, its the owner of the franchise.

You also do realize that this is the part of the site for PHYSICIANS to communicate with other PHYSICIANS. Please abide by the rules and post your question in a more appropriate area.