Is this a joke, but do ophthalmologists only make 200K or are people full of it

[hawaiigirl2006]

I am shocked to read one thread that says attending ophthalmologists only make 200K per year. Is that for real. I thought eye balls made major $$$$$.
In that thread they also said medicare cuts would decrease salaries even more. Is someone just pulling my chain or is this for real.

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[DOCTORSAIB]

Money is important, don't get me wrong. But what's this fixation with whether ophthalmologists make 200K or not? The answer is 'it depends.' A big factor is location. Besides, there are tons of other ways to make money when you're a physician. Do some research, talk to others, and most importantly, make contacts with people outside of medicine. "Think outside the box."

 

[jimanderson]

I know money isn't everything. But people do have bills to pay and 200K is not always a lot of money. With college costs and housing costs going up. 200K is just not what it used to be. People still need to be able to make a living

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

I know money isn't everything. But people do have bills to pay and 200K is not always a lot of money. With college costs and housing costs going up. 200K is just not what it used to be. People still need to be able to make a living

You're right, people do have bills to pay. I'm a walking example. Undergrad, grad school x 2, and now med school.

200K is alot of money, if you use and invest it wisely.

 

[VicKai]

I don't understand why there is even a thread complaining about this. Everyone knows that doctors aren't making as much as they did 10 years ago. And money shouldn't be why we are doing this (at least that's what you said in your interviews, I hope). It shouldn't be the reason to do anything!

$200,000 (or whatever you end up making) is a decent living. I don't think it should make or break your decisions. All of us have debt, even the family practioners who may be making half as much...

btw hawaiigirl, weren't you asking for PGY-2 spots awhile ago? And this is your second thread about ophthalmologists' salaries. Are you serious about ophthalmology, or more interested in the pay-out you think you'll get?

 

[Frumps]

I don't understand why there is even a thread complaining about this. Everyone knows that doctors aren't making as much as they did 10 years ago. And money shouldn't be why we are doing this (at least that's what you said in your interviews, I hope). It shouldn't be the reason to do anything!

$200,000 (or whatever you end up making) is a decent living. I don't think it should make or break your decisions. All of us have debt, even the family practioners who may be making half as much...

btw hawaiigirl, weren't you asking for PGY-2 spots awhile ago? And this is your second thread about ophthalmologists' salaries. Are you serious about ophthalmology, or more interested in the pay-out you think you'll get?

Nice thread VicKai, I totally agree....good luck w/ the interviews

 

[Mirror Form]

I don't understand why there is even a thread complaining about this. Everyone knows that doctors aren't making as much as they did 10 years ago. And money shouldn't be why we are doing this (at least that's what you said in your interviews, I hope). It shouldn't be the reason to do anything!

$200,000 (or whatever you end up making) is a decent living. I don't think it should make or break your decisions. All of us have debt, even the family practioners who may be making half as much...

btw hawaiigirl, weren't you asking for PGY-2 spots awhile ago? And this is your second thread about ophthalmologists' salaries. Are you serious about ophthalmology, or more interested in the pay-out you think you'll get?

Although most people are tactful enough to pretend they don't care about their specialty's average income, 90% of people (if not more) do consider income when selecting a field. So there's no need for a first year of med school holier then thou lecture. Although her question would clearly be annoying to anybody going into ophtho that isn't considering income, it's still a valid question. The fact is that currently new ophthalmologists aren't making as much as people think. That won't stop me from going into a field, but it's certainly a consideration to be taken into account.

 

[VicKai]

...there's no need for a first year of med school holier then thou lecture. Although her question would clearly be annoying to anybody going into ophtho that isn't considering income, it's still a valid question. The fact is that currently new ophthalmologists aren't making as much as people think. That won't stop me from going into the field, but it's certainly a consideration to be taken into account.

I am in fact a fourth year going into ophtho (hopefully ), which is why this whole thread irks me. I don't appreciate assumptions about the field, which this epitomizes. I apologize for any offense, and yes it is a valid question (refer to a previous thread ), but I think this current, repetitive thread "Is this a joke... are people full of it"/"I thought eyeballs made major $$$$$" is very unnecessary and quite telling of the poster.

Again, I apologize, and good luck to everyone interviewing soon!

 

[Andrew_Doan]

If you want to make lots of money... then go into business. Let's say you design a software package that every physician needed. There's 1 million physicians in the US. Give the software away and charge a subscription of $100/year. With ten percent (100,000) using this software, that's $10,000,000/year in revenue. $10 million a year trumps all physicians' salaries I've seen. Also, $10 million is PASSIVE income. The software engineer can go on vacation for a month and still make this while handling customer service inquiries on his/her Blackberry sitting on the beach. If you don't know how to program, then find someone who does or someone who has a team to program. OR hire a programmer to crank out the code. Overseas programmers are cheap. This is a better investment than trying to do 40 cataracts per week.

If you want to make lots of money in medicine, then be an entrepreneur. If you want to make a comfortable living and do a service for patients, then stick with private practice. If you want to make more than 90% of the people in the US and train future physicians, then go into academic medicine. People will be unhappy when they force greed with money and the practice of medicine. This is why you see pissed off physicians at age 50, even though they are making $500K/year.

Here's some advice: if you love what you do, then you'll never work another day of your life and the money is icing on the cake. If you hate your job, then it will be the shackle that binds you to the very thing you despise.

BTW, $200K-$250K/year is about average. Eye surgeons can even start in the low $100s in major cities. My "day job" as a Navy Ophthalmologist pays only $105K/year.

 

[sjkpark]

Here's some advice: if you love what you do, then you'll never work another day of your life and the money is icing on the cake. If you hate your job, then it will be the shackle that binds you to the very thing you despise.

For goodness sake, does Dr. Doan have to say this every week? If you are interested in eye diseases, do ophtho. If not, do something else.

 

[PDT4CNV]

I am in fact a fourth year going into ophtho (hopefully ), which is why this whole thread irks me. I don't appreciate assumptions about the field, which this epitomizes. I apologize for any offense, and yes it is a valid question (refer to a previous thread ), but I think this current, repetitive thread "Is this a joke... are people full of it"/"I thought eyeballs made major $$$$$" is very unnecessary and quite telling of the poster.

Again, I apologize, and good luck to everyone interviewing soon!

This article has been posted before, but it is interesting.
http://www.ophmanagement.com/article.aspx?article=&loc=archive\2003\december\1203024.htm

Think about all of the equipment you need just to set up a practice. Ophthalmology equipment is not cheap.

Expenses
Office space rent (electricity, water, sewage, heating/cooling)
Computer system
Filing System
Front desk clerk
Technicians X 2
Lanes (exam chair, stool, projector, screen&mirrors, phoroptor, slit lamp, tonometer, direct ophthalmoscope, muscle light, retinoscope, indirect ophthalmoscope, free lens set) X2 or 3
Hertel exophthalmometer
Autorefractor
Tonopen
Lensometer
Lenses
Procedure room (chair, light, stool, instruments, autoclave)
Paccymeter (standard of care now a days)
OCT (getting to be standard of care)
StereoFundus Camera
Automated Field Machine (std of care)
YAG laser
Drops
A-scan
+/- B-scan ultrasound
+/- Argon Laser
+/- FA camera

How many hundreds of thousands of dollars does that add up too. I'm scared to think about it. If you want to set up a practice, you will not be making 200K, you will be poor for a while.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

This article has been posted before, but it is interesting.
http://www.ophmanagement.com/article.aspx?article=&loc=archive\2003\december\1203024.htm

Think about all of the equipment you need just to set up a practice. Ophthalmology equipment is not cheap.

Expenses
Office space rent (electricity, water, sewage, heating/cooling)
Computer system
Filing System
Front desk clerk
Technicians X 2
Lanes (exam chair, stool, projector, screen&mirrors, phoroptor, slit lamp, tonometer, direct ophthalmoscope, muscle light, retinoscope, indirect ophthalmoscope, free lens set) X2 or 3
Hertel exophthalmometer
Autorefractor
Tonopen
Lensometer
Lenses
Procedure room (chair, light, stool, instruments, autoclave)
Paccymeter (standard of care now a days)
OCT (getting to be standard of care)
StereoFundus Camera
Automated Field Machine (std of care)
YAG laser
Drops
A-scan
+/- B-scan ultrasound
+/- Argon Laser
+/- FA camera

How many hundreds of thousands of dollars does that add up too. I'm scared to think about it. If you want to set up a practice, you will not be making 200K, you will be poor for a while.

Don't be scared. Take a risk and ask for the loan. It will take about $500K to start your practice. You'll be much better than paying the ridiculous overhead that senior doctors want younger docs to pay. Some even demand 70% overhead! That means if you work your tail off to bill $1 million, then you take home less than $350K. Now, if you're good with your finances and learn from "The Millionaire Next Door", then you'll take that $1 million you collected and turn it into more than $500K/year income.

My current mentor is a business genious who helped others start their own ophthalmology practices. He advises the following. Pick up the yellow pages and call ophthalmology practices in the towns/cities you want to start a practice. Ask for an appointment. If the office books your appointment within two weeks, then cross out the town. If the office books your appointment for greater than 4-6 weeks later, then check out the town and build a practice right next door or close by.

Within a few months, you'll be so busy that you'll want to go into ocular pathology like me.