Are new doctors thatttt much better off than pharmacists?

[gaba101]

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Retail pharmacists will make close to what a FP or Ped makes when they come out. A retail pharamacist get paid 55 dollars an hour, which is pretty close to what a FP might get reembursed by medicaid ($30 for half hour visit X 2).

The norm for a starting physcian in the first two years are generally tough. http://www.allied-physicians.com/salary_surveys/physician-salaries.htm
However after that, their paycheck skyrockets. Does that mean we get paid more than some doctors? Yes. . . but then again, we get paid more than residents (who are doctors specializing making 30-60k a year).

There are a lot of factors that you have to look into when talking about pay. Lets compare lawyers for example. When they come out, a lawyer might work 80 hours plus, trying to reach his billable hours . If you were to divide their pay of 160k by the hours (working nights and weekend too), it comes out to 80k. That does not sound so good compared to a pharmacist getting paid 120k for 40 hours.

Most doctors in addition to working 1.5 more hours, also have malpractice insurance. Malpractice insurance can range from tens of thousands to hundred of thousands. In fact, an ob gyn may pay 200k for malpractice insurance, etc.

From the website you listed, notice the trend (in particular, the middle #): FP (w/o OB) $161,000 $135,000 $239,000 i noticed thwat was the only odd ball--i wonder what gives?

 

[mass]

consider our job conditions to theirs though?

 

[meister]

It depends entirely on what you define "better" as. Newly minted PharmDs can start working as retail pharmacists weeks after they graduate and make $54/hour no questions asked. Newly minted MDs have to endure a year of internship at roughly $10/hour for 60-80 hours/week, then most go on to residencies which have somewhat more tolerable conditions but pay similarly. Yeah your PGY8 orthopedic surgeon has a starting salary of $350k/year, but he's starting out generally at the age of 34 whereas a pharmacist usually starts at 26.

I think the other big difference is the wide array of specialties medicine has to offer. Pharmacy isn't quite as broad; you've basically got your two big branches of retail and hospital. Of course there are other things you can do with a PharmD, I'm just generalizing. But there's no doubt an MD is a much more versatile degree. But it takes a long while to make it worth anything, whereas a PharmD has utility the second after you graduate.

 

[confettiflyer]

It depends entirely on what you define "better" as. Newly minted PharmDs can start working as retail pharmacists weeks after they graduate and make $54/hour no questions asked. Newly minted MDs have to endure a year of internship at roughly $10/hour for 60-80 hours/week, then most go on to residencies which have somewhat more tolerable conditions but pay similarly. Yeah your PGY8 orthopedic surgeon has a starting salary of $350k/year, but he's starting out generally at the age of 34 whereas a pharmacist usually starts at 26.

I think the other big difference is the wide array of specialties medicine has to offer. Pharmacy isn't quite as broad; you've basically got your two big branches of retail and hospital. Of course there are other things you can do with a PharmD, I'm just generalizing. But there's no doubt an MD is a much more versatile degree. But it takes a long while to make it worth anything, whereas a PharmD has utility the second after you graduate.

Also recall that the PharmD as the first professional degree only became mandatory in 2000. So while there were PharmD's before then, it was only recently that PharmD's have been graduating en masse. The marketplace hasn't yet adapted to the new degree, even hospitals (at times) don't know what to do.

When the JC implemented MM.4.10 hospitals had to scramble, and there was lots of confusion since PharmD's weren't a part of traditional ED protocol.

But very good points on the starting salaries vs. years out of school issue.

 

[IamMDMBA]

From the website you listed, notice the trend (in particular, the middle #): FP (w/o OB) $161,000 $135,000 $239,000 i noticed thwat was the only odd ball--i wonder what gives?

Majority of recent FP grads opt for employment (easy $160,000 GUARANTEED, more in shortage areas). This was not the case just 7-10 years ago when FP's worked for themselves. Interestingly, with reimbursement drops, newly employed grads can make more than the independent FP. Independent FP's out long enough will hire docs and mid-levels and then can really rake in the bucks, hence the bump up again.

 

[IamMDMBA]

But to answer your question there really isnt alot of difference in the average pay or lifestyle (financially) being a family doctor than being a pharmacist. Family physcians make more gross salary but there debt load and insurance is crazy so the lifestyle in a financial sense may be better for pharmacists on average than family physicians.

Uh, yeah. I guess if you don't consider 2 x the salary a big difference (FP 190,000 vs pharm 100,000)
http://www.cejkasearch.com/compensation/amga_physician_compensation_survey.htm

 

[confettiflyer]

haha...nice s/n, insecure, much?


you couldn't pay me enough to poke around someone's rectum. just not my bag of tea.

 

[IamMDMBA]

haha...nice s/n, insecure, much?


you couldn't pay me enough to poke around someone's rectum. just not my bag of tea.

ok.....you started it. At least I don't use another person's face (and fame) for my avatar. I am who I am, don't have to hide behind someone else's hard work.
And getting yelled at, cursed at, threatened by customers, yelled at by docs, yelled at by insurance companies ain't my bag of tea either (wife quit pharm 5 years ago, probably even worse now). How's the drive-thru treating ya, and just ring up my toilet paper idiot (exact quote from customer to wifey, she quit and never looked back).

 

[LoKoTe]

I deeply respect every profession and I try not to think of a person's intelligence because they chose one career or another. While it is true that there are some unpleasant situations in retail, it is a matter of knowing how to deal with them without those situations getting at you. I have plenty of experience in retail pharmacy and some in hospital, and the few times I've come across such situations I just turn around and keep working on what I was doing. 1st example: I asked a patient: Hello, how may I help you sir? He replied: You can't help me, you're my problem, blah blah blah ... I said simply ok, turned around and went back to what I was doing completely ignoring the guy. 2nd example: Doctor prescribed an antidepressant for a strength that wasn't available and we couldn't make up ( capsules ), I called the office and I'm always very polite and patient over the phone. The doctor picks up the phone and starts yelling that I'm an idiot who doesn't know how to figure out things in life, etc etc. I hung up and explained the patient. Good thing she understood it wasn't my fault and said she was going to take that script back to get it fixed and switch doctors immediately. Again, these are just 2 examples in the extremes I might say, and while I know and understand the patient should be our first priority, I just plain don't help patients or doctors such as the ones in these situations because they were just very rude to me right from the start without even hearing me out or knowing me. I believe what I'm trying to say is that while I deeply enjoy helping patients and sometimes I go way out of my way to help them, when someone's rude to me I just don't help them. And that's what I think some pharmacists should do in some of the situations in retail so that they don't stress themselves and go home happy. 🙂

 

[confettiflyer]

ok.....you started it. At least I don't use another person's face (and fame) for my avatar. I am who I am, don't have to hide behind someone else's hard work.
And getting yelled at, cursed at, threatened by customers, yelled at by docs, yelled at by insurance companies ain't my bag of tea either (wife quit pharm 5 years ago, probably even worse now). How's the drive-thru treating ya, and just ring up my toilet paper idiot (exact quote from customer to wifey, she quit and never looked back).

oh no you dih-int...you made fun of my AVATAR! oh boo hoo, i'm going to curl up into a corner and cry my little eyes out. waaaah!! mr. big bad "md mba phd ms" i bow down to you when choir's angels sing as you walk into a room.

hahahha, yeah you sound like a little bitch with an inferiority complex. i'll bet your face turns red and you get all huffy when someone doesn't address you as "doctor" huh. but reading your post leads me to believe you're really just a no name md that's bored, seeing as you're trying to harass little pharmacy students on the internet

😆 😆 😆
man, in this economy, who needs to pay for entertainment? keep going!