NPR Cardiologist story

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docscience

AZCOM (Junior Member)
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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124705233

I thought this report was well done. Any thoughts?

$400K justified in that it takes cardiologists until ~32/33 years of age before they start earning?
They are on call all the time? Work hard?

Do you think the same could be said for primary care physicians? The acuity of care may not exist, but does that justify drastically lower pay?

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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124705233

I thought this report was well done. Any thoughts?

$400K justified in that it takes cardiologists until ~32/33 years of age before they start earning?
They are on call all the time? Work hard?

Do you think the same could be said for primary care physicians? The acuity of care may not exist, but does that justify drastically lower pay?

This is the problem with medicine today with respect to economics...it's just deflating when you work so hard and then your pay is just cut so drastically. No specialty is immune to this..it seems that whenever some specialty has something good going (e.g. Mohs surgery for Derm, cataract for Ophtho, etc.) the reimbursements for it just get cut like crazy and then you either get deflated or work even harder to make up the difference. It's a constant cat and mouse game.
I do agree that we need more primary care docs, but I mean come on, specialists like Cardiology and others sacifice years for further training. A higher pay check is part of the deal for further years in specialized training. It's no secret that family practice, peds, etc. only require 3 years of training. A lower pay check should be part of that deal.
 
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Reimbursement is incredibly complex and varies on specialty, location of practice, academics vs. private, etc. Believe it or not, some of it even comes down to how hard you work. For example, some Primary care MD's work incessantly and pull down 400K+
 
Lori Heim - primary care physician in the interview - has no idea what she is talking about. Yes, Cardiologists can make a practice work by making as little as a PCP, but if this is the case, who in the world would want to go through 3-4 more years of training? We're all interested in certain specialties and would make sacrifices to practice in that field but why should one be punished for it? This is ridiculous. I would like to hear from PCPs if their training ever got lengthened to 7 years with no corresponding increase in pay. My guess is that many a pitch-forks would be raised.
 
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124705233

I thought this report was well done. Any thoughts?

$400K justified in that it takes cardiologists until ~32/33 years of age before they start earning?
They are on call all the time? Work hard?

Do you think the same could be said for primary care physicians? The acuity of care may not exist, but does that justify drastically lower pay?

The idea that cardiologists deserve that much becaue they don't earn until their mid 30s is just stupid and speaks to the greed of many cardiologists. Last I checked, the training for endocrinologists and ID doctors is similar in length and they don't make as much. It all comes down to procedures and the stupid reimbursement rules which make it more profitable to order more tests on your patients. I rounded in private practice hospital during my CV fellowship - yep, money was definitely driving part of the care. Unnecessary caths, echoes, stresses...all done in the name of patient care. Yeah, right...ha ha ha ha
 

Nice article.

I love it when these older docs wax nostalgic about being on call all the time and having these great relationship with patients. Uh, yeah, what about your relationship with your wife and kids? Back then, the wife stayed at home and took care of the kids and it was understood that the MD paid the bills.

No more. It's a better time now.
 
Nice article.

I love it when these older docs wax nostalgic about being on call all the time and having these great relationship with patients. Uh, yeah, what about your relationship with your wife and kids? Back then, the wife stayed at home and took care of the kids and it was understood that the MD paid the bills.

No more. It's a better time now.

I disagree. I think things were better in the good old days.
 
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