MPower996

I agree with everyone who has posted saying that money shouldn't be your drive to become a physician. If your looking to be a millionaire medicine isn't for you, but thats not to say you wont be living comfortably. Just check out some of these salary surveys....

http://www.allied-physicians.com/sal...n-salaries.htm

http://www.physicianssearch.com/physician/salary2.html

drdeb8

Great post rds 248!

What an eloquent way to describe our (physician's) journey!! I too began med school in 1978, and feel a little like a bait-and-switch has occurred in my career path; incidentally, my best friend has now lost two positions due to down-sizing and elimination of primary care clinics by big medical centers, so even job security isn't quite what we expected. I too have been surprised to find myself a small-business owner and have to pay my MBA office manager quite well to do that which I find completely uninteresting. (Like everything related to business.)
I also really like the intellectual side of our job, the fact that we need to look things up and solve diagnostic puzzles. I don't dread going to work and still learn new things every day, and I help lots of people with my knowledge. But my accountant keeps telling me to raise my fees, and I keep explaining that it wouldn't matter what I charge, I will get paid what the insurers deign to dole out to me. He doesn't think that is a way to run a business, and I agree.

By the way, do you send Katie Couric a ham at Christmas? Because she seems to have made colonoscopy a common and routine procedure! Maybe she will need a hysterectomy one day.......

V1zdr1x

What do you people mean by "living comfortably"? You guys have used this term so much that you have beaten it the **** out of it and the blood is all over you and the organs are flying across the room (bit too graphic?). Comfortably is a relative term and to some people (at least me) I don't know what you guys are referring to. Does comfortably mean that I can live in a 4 bedroom house or 1 bedroom apartment? Does it mean that I can eat out almost everyday and watch a movie or a play at least once a week or that I'll have to rely on ramen noodles and watch movies for $.99 from video center?

But yeah, I'm planning to become something in the medical field (haven't really decided what yet) but I would like to know that I will be able to live a pretty "humble" life. In my case I plan to live in a 2 bedroom apartment with (maybe) a wife but no kids. Will the pay cover for rent, insurance, bills, ect. while I'll still be able to buy some of the necessities such as food, clothing ect. while still have enough money left for enjoyment such as an ipod, a movie at a theater at least once a week, a hi-def tv, ect.

This is what comfortable means to me and if I can obtain this then I know I've picked the right career for me because I can help people while not worrying about other life necessities.

crothkopf

I graduated with a BA in 96 and had a 3.0 average. Since then I have been working my way up the ladder in Information Services and am earning about 80K a year. I should finish my MBA in just over 1 more year. In addition I have a family (spouse and 2 children). My current GPA for my masters is a 3.8 and I have a very strong desire to become a Family Practice Physician but do now want my family to suffer for wanting to help take care of other people. I have read many posts and want feedback from those that mantained a job and went to Medical School (is there anyone?) I work for a medical system and interact with Physician on almost a daily basis. I had a long conversation the other day with a Physician that I respect and she both encouraged and discouraged my entering the profession due to the state of my career. I wondered if there were any other suggestions or feedback?

Thanks,
C

aehmo

"What do you people mean by "living comfortably"?"

"Comfortable life" mean sthat you won't have to butt heads at work with a-holes day in and day out. Take engineering for example, where they have to deal with marketing, sales, business folks that run all over them in meetings and make them wish they never entered engineering....that's not a comfortable life. Having 5 meetings a day is not a comfortable life...being told to "step up", "think bigger", "network more" by your boss is not a comforatble life....Doctors live a COMFORTABLE life!!! ....do you get it now? People tend to talk in riddles...I like to spell it out.

audiophile

OK, if you call being woken up in the middle of the night, getting called out of family functions, taking responsibilty for someones life or death, constantly being under the threat of being sued if things don't go perfectly, working 80+ hours/week, having insurance company MBAs who earn more than you deciding your income and second guessing your decisions, seeing more & more patients each year for less income comfortable, then I guess you're right!!!!

impactangel

I would agree with the "comfortable" statement. Comfortable as in you will have a job and you'll never go hungry.

If you're looking for multi-millionaire status, you might want to look elsewhere.

A couple more benefits of medicine: more job stability than in the business world, less of a glass ceiling than the business world (it still exists but if you were to have your own private practice, you can circumvent that), and I would like to think, more job satisfaction than most jobs out there!

aehmo

"if you call being woken up in the middle of the night, getting called out of family functions,"

Which doctors get called in the middle of the night?...the on-call ones, who're getting paid big bucks to be on-call at home watching TV(half-time pay is big-bucks if you odn't get a call), and if you ARE called, you get an additional full-time pay for a minumum number of hours!

Getting pulled out of familiy functions when you're on-call is to be expected...maybe you shouldn't plan a wedding when you're on-call.

"MBAs who earn more than you deciding your income and second guessing your decisions,"

That's a true negative, unlike the first statement...the fact that MBAs have a say in your medical decision can be frustrating, but that only happens in a corporate environment (i.e. big hospital)...smaller clinics and such don't have such problems, and if you have your own practice, there's none of that.

"seing more & more patients each year for less income comfortable"
yes, but how far will the salaries drop? Doctors have had stable incomes for the last two decades....as long as the AMA cartel controls the supply of doctors, you'll always make more money than the joe-blow engineer who's competing with indian and chinese labor markets.

Doogie311

u guys r missing 1 big important factor.

Doctors will always have a job, a career in business, however, is not always guarenteed. You may be making a hell of alot of money now, have a great job, but as weve seen with Enron and MCI, who knows what tomorrow holds. Business is cut throat and uncertain. You can be dropped whenever they feel like cuttings costs, and your 6 figure pay check goes bye bye.

However, with doctors, you have a skill that no one can take from you. You will always be able to get a paycheck, and will never be out of the job.

audiophile

Not true. The MBAs who are running the insurance companies determine reimbursement levels (almost all doctors performing non elective procedures depend on insurance reimbursement) and insurance procedure denials are legendary.

Do "Joe-Blow" engineers do an additional 7-10 years of school & residency beyond undergrad?

Doogie311

look bottom line, this thread is about the wrong topic. $ Should never be why u go into medicine. You cant be thinking about ur paycheck when sum1s life is in your hands.

But for those who only see $$ signs, if you are a good doctor, you'll make $, if you work hard as a doctor youll make $. If you are just with sum doc in a box practice and you have no real specialty, then yea you are gonna be hurting and insurance is gonna kick ur ass.

But same goes for any1 with an MBA, just because you have an MBA doesnt mean you are gonna make big bucks, its about what you do with ur MD/MBA that counts.

impactangel

So to recap

Business = unstable/ potential for great wealth

Medicine = fairly stable/ potential for comfortable living/ and most importantly, if you aren't in it to help others, you'll never make it through the grueling training (4 years college, 4 years med school, 4 years residency)

a desire for money can only carry you so far along that path

And let's be honest, money will do you no good when you're up in the middle of the night during residency. It's a nice secondary reason to be in medicine but it won't do as a primary!

Doogie311

u can have potential for great wealth as a doctor, my cousins is a vasc. surgeon at mt sinai in NY, the hospital picks up his insurance and he brings up a 500,000 each year for 5 years

impactangel

Okay...that's true...there's always the potential to strike it rich no matter what field you're in

I'd say most doctors shouldn't expect to pull that kind of salary in though

Doogie311

and most MBAs shouldnt either.