Is making over $300K crucial?

Currently, I owe $143K in loans and I'm only a 3rd-year medical student. By the time I graduate, I'll owe roughly $200K. I'm getting old too, single, with aging parents and a disabled twin sister. I'll be making about $48K before taxes per year as a resident, minimum of 4 years. That means, I'll be in my 30's before I become a certified physician making the minimum six-figure starting physician pay.

At 37 years old, I'll be still in $200K in debt (because at 5% interest, $10K in interest per year--I'll be barely making enough to pay off the interest during residency years), no house, no money for my family and parents.

Adjusting for inflation, if I earn a starting salary of $300K, after 30% taxes, I'll have approx. $210K/year.
At 37 years old, my expenses include:
a modest $600K home, $60K for food (family of 4)+utilities+recreation+property tax+health insurance for my parents+a nanny (2K), medical school loans $200K = $800K + variable $60K/year. Assuming 5% interest, $1,800,000 in ten years, it would take approximately 9-10 years to be debt free.

I'll be 47 and my parents would be in their late 70's (76, 77). I would only have $600K of home for asset. No money in the bank and no money in my retirement fund.

If I make $250K, after 30% tax, that would be approx. $175K/year, it would take me an extra year 11-12 to be debt free. If I make $180K as an internist, $126K/year after taxes, it would take me 15-16 years to payoff the debt. I'll be 52 and my parents would be in their early 80's. NOT GOOD!!! NO INTERNAL MEDICINE FOR ME--besides I hate writing the H&P's and progress notes.

If I want to invest in a second home/ rental for retirement, worth $1million, it would take me another ten years, I'll be 57 years old if I continue making $300K/year vs. 64 years old if I make $180K/year.

So in the end, any medical specialties is okay as long as the starting gross earning is at least $250K. Main reason is: I would like to be debt-free so I could slow down and spend more time with my aging parents and volunteer my time for the good cause. If I'm in debt, I can't help others until I help myself.

This is all approximation. I have to work for at least 30 years before getting a good living.

Expenses. Why!!!! It really takes away the purists in all of us (the medical students). We're trapped in this mountain of debt. We still put patients first, but in our minds, we have to make ends meet so we can feed our family. We need to consider pay in our equation of choosing a medical specialty. So sad. No wonder we're depressed, stressed out, and our profession has one of the highest suicide rate.