Don't even try to pull that. Vets have probably one of the hardest professionals schools to get into because of their limited number across the nation, they learn intense amounts of information, and they are paid ****. The bills? Just as high.
Yeah, I get that; vet's don't get compensated as much. In 2007, the median salary for a DVM was about $75,230, with the 75th and 95th percentile being $98,450 and $134,920, respectively (
1).
If you include residency and potentially fellowship, where physicians are most certainly made to work for peanuts, I still think that physicians have a longer road, but I get your point. Vet's have a similar amount of debt, but get paid less on average.
Of course being a martyr hurts that's why you are labeled a martyr. However, you all try to make it appear as if some try to give their kidneys away when in fact they're taking a prick in the finger. Unncessary, yes, but if it helps multiple others I can see why some give it value.
Well, there was a time where I once thought needless sacrifice was cool and worthy, but now, I don't believe in it is necessary and think it's just a form of self-importance. I rarely think self-flagellation results in long-term benefits. It's optional, at best. We've all had such a long-standing commitment to suffering. Really, we need to get to the root of the issue and address the problem there. Can you imagine that it is possible to be of benefit without hurting ourselves? I can.
If you want to be of benefit, see what is going to be the most transformational. I am not convinced that cutting physician salaries is going to do much to solve our overwhelming healthcare issues. It looks nice and gives the appearance that we are doing something beneficial, but at the end, I think it's just moving deck chairs around on the Titanic. One significant issue is that the fat, middlemen feasting off of physicians and their patients, are driving the industry, making it more expensive and difficult for doctors to do their jobs and for patients to get the care that they need. These middlemen don't care too much about patients, just their bottomline. Another is a question of access to healthcare. People are paying a lot more and getting a lot less, or nothing at all.
If I were to think of something that would help a lot, at least on a community level, I would think about entering primary care and practicing in the worst medically underserved area that I could think of, whether rural or city, and work in a community health center, or other non-profit health group, or if I had the capability, to help open one up. Some of these community clinics, etc., don't pay very much, at least compared to the median, the area may not be the most ideal place to live, and you may not see the kind of cool stuff you would at an advanced hospital elsewhere, but you'll be helping the community and patients, one at a time. I think doing this would be much better than cutting our salaries. Heck, if you want to get more global, how about figuring out a way to get more physicians to go into primary care and help out in medically-underserved areas?
I think it's amusing that you're trying to temper enthusiasm with reality. The reality is there are thousands of people dying every day, thosuands of people being injured every day, and the ones who profess to dedicate their lives and careers to service really care little at the end of the day but getting what's due to them after the hell they're put through. That's the reality. Also, don't assume that the views I'm defending are mine. I look forward to compensation. If you look at all of my posts I never state these views as my own. I am simply defending the legitimacy of others who do tout these views as their own. I respect them for being willing to take the real steps towards helping society that others, sometimes including myself, aren't so ready to take.
Yeah, I really don't care if people want to be idealistic, ethusiastic, or otherwise. That's their prerogative. I'm not going to squash anyone. However, while great things start from ideas, it's the actions that people take that ultimately change things, so you'll forgive me if I don't place a whole lot of weight on idealistic thoughts. Let's see what people actually do. I outlined above what I thought would be a pretty concrete way to benefit patients as a physician at a community level, given our current healthcare environment.
Finally (sorry this post is so long) this view isn't idealism for everyone. That's all I'm trying to say. I've seen my share of people who don't really know what they're talking about but what you need to accept is that there are people in this country who have dealt with **** in their lives and are willing to show some good faith to those people in their position once they've made it. It's amazing to me that I even have to debate this.
I understand that. I just don't see how a pay-cut is going to be transformational toward that end. I'd like to hear more about how you think this would lead to a better healthcare system or fill the great needs we have in healthcare.
. He just quit Microsoft to run the world's largest charity. Why? Who knows for sure, but we can safely assume he does NOT feel that Microsoft is doing enough good that he can rest on his laurels, so he's giving hundreds of millions of dollars of his money and the money of other capitalists away. Other examples of tycoons who felt unfulfilled by merely "lifting many out of poverty" on the rising tide of capitalism and threw (throw) billions at the poor to assuage their guilty hearts and collect massive tax benefits: Getty, Rockefeller, Buffett, and even the very progeny of satan himself, the Waltons
. 
