Why do so many people want to be doctors, am I missing something?
I can't speak for anyone else but myself
For me, being a doctor has been a passion since I was little, and that sort of grew from when I saw my family doctor as 5 y.o. child
He recently moved away, very far which meant I'll never see him again. I'm really sad thinking about it.
I've always wanted to help other people, to care for other people. And I'm sorry but you don't seem to understand that being a doctor is about everyone else. In residency + internship you put everyone else in front of you (or so I hope). The hours you work (zombie hours etc.) etc., mean that family becomes secondary for that period of time. It's quite a constricting pathway. Think of the people that become specialist surgeons and that work the most obscure hours because their supply is so limited. Those are the people that keep society functioning, and I think it is damn fair they get paid their 6 or 7 digits. They deserve it. Anyway, just as an aside, I'm considering doing research after my med degree. Maybe do both simultaneously as I actually really do want to help others at large.
For some people, probably? It is quite a decent pay, my doctor charges medicare $60/visit (excluding GST). But money should never be a motive for medicine.
My parents have enough to get by, and whatever career path you choose you'd probably have enough to get by, so for me, it's not about the money. But I've heard many arguments that doctor's deserve every cent they earn after residency/internship because you really don't get paid much for those (or well that's what I've heard).
Not for the first few years, I guarantee you that. Residency, internship, registrar is quite hellish, and people call some of the hours, zombie hours. Even after if you stop at GP and decide to practice like that for the rest of your life, you're going to meet people that are quite annoying, those that demand medication after a quick google search and they think they are better than you despite the 6 or 7 years of uni you've done.
It's a career path you really should consider if you want to do.
I know many people that just don't do medicine because first uni degrees are 6 or 7 years, then you have your internship + registrar on top of that. That's many many years... Consider it carefully.