Doctors! How much money do you make?

[Moneyguy1]

Jake: I agree. The emotional toll must be overwhelming. One surgeon I know summed it up by saying that to many it is they do not like to lose. But, in the end, we all have to go.

[Nathans_Dad]

Remind me not to open a practice in Sweden...

[Drdogface]

Markus,
I used to be involved with a Swedish lady from Goteborg....many years ago. Sweden was pretty much a Socialist country then and I guess it still is to some extent. Back then the docs were in the 90% tax bracket so would work for, say, four months and then head to Spain for the rest of the year because it didn't pay them to work. Is it still like that?

The docs I know here are deluged with paper work, govt. regs, PPO/HMO bean counter interference, malpractice premiums and God knows what else. The gross 'pay' is not at all the real story.

I am a Vet and make much less but don't have to worry about all the crap I mentioned above...still get to feel like I make a differnce, though, in the end. The difference in income, to a great extent, is that people pay vet bills out of their own pocket...no insurance companies to speak of.

[fintstone]

Any successful doctor in the US that doesn't make a great deal more than $100K is doing something wrong. Even the military pays doctors better than that...

[trekkor]

So, I guess I make more than some doctors.

I know some contractors that pull down over a $1mil a year.

Most contractors with 5-10 employees take down $250k.


I work alone and don't work full time...By any means.


KT

[widgeon13]

Originally posted by alf
Doctors are like teachers to me, the 2 professions that deserve the utmost respect from society.

I would agree to a point but on the other hand respect has to be earned by a sustained period of demonstrated proficiency. Too many in those professions think they deserve respect right out of the blocks.

Military medics and EMS personnel deserve respect, they earn it every day and the pay sucks.

[84porsche]

Originally posted by Wickd89
How about engineering?! It use to be an honored profession (up there with medicine and the law).... (coming from an electrial engr who should have been a doctor, oh yeah I hate blood)

Luis, the two hardest majors at my school were engineering and accounting, both which I took classes in. I started in engineering and started over with the accounting. However, I don't know if law is as honored as it use to be. The view of lawyers is not that good anymore.

Doctors are absolutely amazing and me and my sister are both alive to good calls from a pediatrician so thanks Livi for your hard work.

[berettafan]

Funny, i stuck with accounting and kinda wished i had explored engineering before making that commitment. We have an architecht in our building and he is FAR more interesting to talk to than any of the CPA's i work with (myself included).

[berettafan]

Widgeon EMT's i know earn more than Livi and work 2 weeks a month at the most.

[Moses]

I do pretty well, I guess. The problem is that if I only worked a 40 hour week I would barely cover my fixed overhead costs and I wouldn't take home much at all. So I work long, long hours.

Sometimes the work is gratifying and sometimes it is awful. I started my morning by calling a patient and dear friend to tell her she has cancer. There are days I wish I had chosen another path.

[Tobra]

Originally posted by GothingNC
I have two cousins who run a Fertility clinic and are doing very, very well and take the entire summer off for R&R.

They just purchased a few beach houses on the north north of eastern Long Island for their parents and siblings with their "spare" cash.

and are being paid cash by well heeled patients desperate for children.

Has a great deal to do with area of country and particular situation. Gross income and net are worlds apart. OB/Gyn is dead in certain areas, as malpractice insurance is too high to afford, and there is a glut of nice gentleman like the esteemed presidential candidate Mr Edwards who are happy to convince "victims" that everything that ever happens is someone's "fault"

In January, one of my managed care contracts changed the reimbursement for an office visit to $20, regardless of level of complexity or time spent. That is allowed, not copay, so the total of the patient and insurance payment is $20, and that is not even an HMO. The vast majority of plans base their reimbursement on what medicare allows for a particular service. Things like this are why your doctor does not seem to take time to talk to you anymore, has to make up loss in per patient $ with volume.

Reimbursements are steadily going down, expenses up. Most doctors that tell you they make say $100K annually, work 60-70 hours a week, does not work out to much hourly, if that is how you look at it. The insurance companies are all trying to cash in now, because when healthcare is nationalized, they will be all done.

BTW, I thought accounting was easy, but boring, so went to medicine rather than business.

[widgeon13]

Originally posted by berettafan
Widgeon EMT's i know earn more than Livi and work 2 weeks a month at the most.

I'm assuming Livi meant $90-$100K per year before tax, I'd be interested in knowing how an EMT-B can do that and only work 2 weeks a month, are we talking 40 hour weeks or 120 hour weeks? Nice job if you can get it. That would have to be one of the cushiest jobs known to man.

[Wickd89]

In my school engineering and biology were the two tough educations. Funny how they pay so differently.
I think an engineer invented the Catscan, MRi machines, etc... I guess those guys are rich... ;-)

[Dottore]

Read this and weep:


Salaries in Investment Banking (with bonus)

Job Level /Bulge Bracket /Prerequisite
(degree/yrs experience)


First Year Analyst / $60K - 110K /Bachelor's
Third Year Analyst /$80K - 200K /Bachelor's
First Year Associate /$125K - 235K /MBA
Third Year Associate /$150 - 450K /MBA
Assistant Vice President/$200K - 600K /2-4 years
Vice President /$250K - 800K /3-6 years
Associate Director /$250K - 1MM /3-8 years
Director / Principal /$300K - 1.2MM /5-10 years
Managing Director / Partner /$400K - 20MM /7-10 years
Department head /$750K - 70MM /10+ years

[speeder]

My sister is a derm pathologist, partner in a busy practice, works 3 days a week w/ no on-call and probably zero malpractice insurance. (She does not see patients, doesn't even have a DEA license to write prescriptions). Her husband is a cardiac surgeon who has cut his workload considerably to have time for kid's little league games, etc...

They do pretty well, but money is not their major driving force since they probably make 5-10 times what they spend every month.

[livi]

Thanks for all your answers and comments. I suppose the picture I have had of the American doctor living in mansions, driving Bentley and playing golf needs to be updated.

I will add that the Swedish health care system changed radically for doctors in the 60´s. Before that they pretty much got payed per patient on top of a monthly salary. Since then the former is gone. My father, also a pediatrician and recently retired, have had a very different living in terms of financial viability.

Well, I am not complaining. I have a good life, lovely children, a house by the beach and a vintage Carrera in my spacious garage - soon to be redecorated into my boyhood dream. Cold beer in the fridge, a comfy bedsitter, Porsche posters on the walls and a lock on the inside of the door.

[berettafan]

Widg i was assuming the $60 number Livi tossed out was gross; bit of a difference there for sure!