Primary Care Physician-Without debt?

[rls303]

Hi everyone,
A wealthy old friend of mine from High School has gotten accepted into Medical School. She has had a very privileged life and was the only child. She went to an expensive undergraduate university all covered by her parents. Her parent's are also going to be financing her medical education and expenses.

She says that even without a debt, she would not consider being a primary care physician as it would not be able to sustain a luxurious living. Is this necessarily true? I mean if you practice in a rural area and work hard, it would be possible to open up an urgent care or after hours clinic and make reasonably well, wouldn't it? There is still earning potential depending on the services you offer (aesthetics, advertising, etc.) and how hard you work...perhaps even rivaling some specialties.

Thanks in advance!

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[VA Hopeful Dr]

Hi everyone,
A wealthy old friend of mine from High School has gotten accepted into Medical School. She has had a very privileged life and was the only child. She went to an expensive undergraduate university all covered by her parents. Her parent's are also going to be financing her medical education and expenses.

She says that even without a debt, she would not consider being a primary care physician as it would not be able to sustain a luxurious living. Is this necessarily true? I mean if you practice in a rural area and work hard, it would be possible to open up an urgent care or after hours clinic and make reasonably well, wouldn't it? There is still earning potential depending on the services you offer (aesthetics, advertising, etc.) and how hard you work...perhaps even rivaling some specialties.

Thanks in advance!

As has been stated numerous times on this board, do what interests you. If you really like pediatrics but instead go into something like ortho just because the pay is better, odds are you won't be happy.

That said, you can do pretty well in primary care if you're business savvy. Heck, the 160k/yr average where I'm from seems like quite a bit of money to me.

 

[JackADeli]

As has been stated numerous times on this board, do what interests you. If you really like pediatrics but instead go into something like ortho just because the pay is better, odds are you won't be happy.

That said, you can do pretty well in primary care if you're business savvy. Heck, the 160k/yr average where I'm from seems like quite a bit of money to me.

I have to agree... it really is what you do with what you earn. I know plenty of folks that had 500+k/yr and are in debt and broke. I also know plenty of savvy folks with incomes under 80k/year that have used their money smart and are "living the dream". Even the ultra-wealthy, aside from the "reality TV Dramas", are quite frugal and use very disciplined financial planning. If you do nothing else with your earnings, only earn 160-250k/yr, you are not going to own a luxury yacht, private jet, etc.... Financial planning is critical at all levels.

No matter what field you choose, it will depend on you. The baseline gross income will depend on how much and how smart you work. An efficient and quality primary care practice will generate more revenue then one that is not. The same for a neurosurgery or ortho practice. Still, thinking you will just receive in income adequate luxury/wealth is naive. I know of few physicians that are earning 800k-1+million/yr like Corp execs & CEOs. The wealthy physicians I know earn a baseline income and also what they invest and do ~outside. Those with 800-1mil baseline clinical incomes work long hours and run quite efficient machine-like practices. The same for everyone else I know besides big wig excecs.

That said, yes there are different specialties with widely different average baseline incomes.

 

[cpants]

Sure primary care physicians won't end up poor and destitute, even with significant debt. That said there is significant economic incentive to choose something more lucrative, regardless of debt. Money motivates. If we want primary care to be more desirable, we need to pay them more or reduce hours/improve lifestyle.

 

[JackADeli]

Sure primary care physicians won't end up poor and destitute, even with significant debt. That said there is significant economic incentive to choose something more lucrative, regardless of debt. Money motivates. If we want primary care to be more desirable, we need to pay them more or reduce hours/improve lifestyle.

There is an entire other set of threads in the family medicine forums addressing the topic of incentivising and or improving recruitment to FM.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=753007

I don't believe this thread is to duplicate that discussion and re-address "how to make FM/Primary Care more attractive".

 

[DrYoda]

Hi everyone,
A wealthy old friend of mine from High School has gotten accepted into Medical School. She has had a very privileged life and was the only child. She went to an expensive undergraduate university all covered by her parents. Her parent's are also going to be financing her medical education and expenses.

She says that even without a debt, she would not consider being a primary care physician as it would not be able to sustain a luxurious living. Is this necessarily true? I mean if you practice in a rural area and work hard, it would be possible to open up an urgent care or after hours clinic and make reasonably well, wouldn't it? There is still earning potential depending on the services you offer (aesthetics, advertising, etc.) and how hard you work...perhaps even rivaling some specialties.

Thanks in advance!

It depends what "luxurious" means. One person's luxury might be a 50k car and a pool, another's could be a lambo and a vacation home in Aspen.

 

[cpants]

There is an entire other set of threads in the family medicine forums addressing the topic of incentivising and or improving recruitment to FM.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=753007

I don't believe this thread is to duplicate that discussion and re-address "how to make FM/Primary Care more attractive".

Whoa there thread police. My reply was on-topic, as the OP is wondering why someone debt-free would not consider primary care. As I said, there is a significant economic incentive, both in time and money not to apply to these fields, regardless of debt load. You are not going to starve as a PCP, but with the exception of a few outliers, you are going to busting your butt for compensation well below what most specialties make.

 

[JackADeli]

...As I said, there is a significant economic incentive, both in time and money not to apply to these fields, regardless of debt load. You are not going to starve as a PCP, but with the exception of a few outliers, you are going to busting your butt for compensation well below what most specialties make.

Yes, income is "less" if straight comparison to other fields and more likely in average ranges of 160-250 which is discussed in link provided. However, I would suggest you are mis-informed as to lifestyle and work hours and suggest you look at numerous threads of FM and primary care. thus, I have provided one link.

 

[unhappytnt]

150K/year without any debt sounds pretty good to me. You obviously won't be able to afford that Ferrari, but hey, the 5-series Beamer looks pretty nice too. (Yes, my concept of luxury only includes cars)

I wish my parents would cover my med school tuition.

 

[avatarftw]

250k/year WITH debt (and the same residency length, work hours, etc) is MUCH better. Crunch the numbers.

150K/year without any debt sounds pretty good to me. You obviously won't be able to afford that Ferrari, but hey, the 5-series Beamer looks pretty nice too. (Yes, my concept of luxury only includes cars)

I wish my parents would cover my med school tuition.

 

[unhappytnt]

250k/year WITH debt (and the same residency length, work hours, etc) is MUCH better. Crunch the numbers.

Well, obviously. But OP is referring to primary care physicians and the average seems to be around 150K. 250K is more of a specialty pay check.

 

[avatarftw]

Really? It depends on a lot of factors, location being a significant one. Several salary surveys that I've seen have primary care being compensated much more, around 190,000. The locums job offers that I've seen are pretty solid...

Well, obviously. But OP is referring to primary care physicians and the average seems to be around 150K. 250K is more of a specialty pay check.

 

[Residual]

I've seen enough variation across different salary surveys (and little enough info on methodology for any of them) that I would take any numbers I got that way with a grain of salt.