$150,000 seems to be the magic number. I know there are some lucky souls who can attend a state school and have lower tuition but it seems that most of us will be paying about $25,000 a year, for four years, just for tuition. Like I said, I'm not worried about being rich, just about whether I will be able to pay off my loans. If I graduate on schelule I will be in my mid 40's so obviously I have a lot less working time than some of you and I accept that. What I find interesting is that there is very little discussion or information about this topic. Its almost a taboo subject. The fact is that most Do's go into primary care practice, the lowest paid specialties in the profession. Depending on where you look up the figures, average GP's make between $90-120,000 a year, a figure that is decreasing. There are lots of anecdotes out there about ie never having seen a starving doctor, or if you are going into medicine to get rich then you are in the wrong business etc... However, there seems to be very little hard factual information about real living standard expectations. For most people the amount of debt we will incurr will be equal to a house mortgage, only at a higher percentage rate.
Another part of the equation how will you make your money. Currently eveyone complains about the speed that doctors move patients through their office, often only spending a few minutes with each one. I of course vow to be different and plan to charge an hourly or half hourly rate. There is a Do close by who does this. However, he charges $220 an hour and doesn't deal with insurance. Most people can't afford this kind of money and right there my ideals get slaughtered. However, even working on the $220 hr premise, the max he can work is probably 30 hrs a week ie with scheduling etc.. Supposing he is a workaholic and only takes two weeks of total in the year. This gives him a Gross revenue of $330,000 a year. Now he has to pay for his staff, $80,000(main person $40,000, two part timers @ $20,000), his office space which is at a premium here in San Francisco, $48,000 ($4,000 mth), supplies, utilities $20,000 etc...
What does this leave him as take home pay? About $180,000. Of course these figures a very much guess work but that's all I can do. Anyway, $180,000 is a hell of a lot of money but remember, he charges $220 an hour. If he only charges half that $110 an hour he only makes $165,000 GROSS, yet he still has the same administrative needs etc..
Are you are really aware of the business side of what you are getting in to? And if not why not? Let me state again, I am not entering this profession to make lots of money. I would just like to be able to repay my financial obligations and have a reasonable standard of living. My major concern is the lack of information available about the real world situation facing new members of this profession. Comments please.