sometimes its all about the money

[alaskanpenguin]

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ok- im a paramedic, and one of my friends who is a plastic surgeon got into a debate. He said that it would be very unlikely for a plastic surgeon to make over 300,00 a year, but i say that if someone went into the specialty just for the money, had a little bit of experience, and set up a private practice in LA, they could easily take in over 1 million a year. We both have 20 dollars on the line here, so can some of you help us out?

 

[maxheadroom]

You lose. While there are big-name cosmetic guys in NYC, LA, and Miami who make well over $1 million per year, that's a tough market to crack. There aren't many people who can charge $25K for a nose or a facelift. People who are doing the Dr. 90210 thing also blow a TON of money on overhead -- having a super-cush office with lots of staff eats up your surgeon's fee faster than you could believe.

 

[alaskanpenguin]

so how much would a typical surgeon who goes out for the money make?

 

[deleted144060]

so how much would a typical surgeon who goes out for the money make?

There are websites (you can do the Google) that provide salary ranges for various specialties in various geographic locations.

There was a time when I looked for jobs in general surgery and was quite impressed with the salary offers in some places. These were generally places that weren't on the top of most peoples list of best places to live. You can find out about these jobs on websites like practicelink.com, medhunters.com, and locumtenens.com. The issue with general surgery is that you may start higher than a plastic surgeon, but your financial upward mobility is limited. Plastic surgeons, by statistics anyway, tend to do better as their practice expands because of the increase in cosmetic trade.

You should keep in mind that even with high paid plastic surgeons, most still work long hours. I spent time in NYC scrubbing cases with easily recognizable "name" surgeons who still operated into the evening, spent time keeping their practice organized, taking patient calls. etc. If you think plastic or general surgery for that matter is like winning the lottery, you would be mistaken.

--Moravian

 

[GSresident]

alaskanpenguin -

There are 2 guys here in Louisville, KY (2/35) who both claim to be in the 2 million range. Having scrubbed with both of them and seen their volume I almost believe it. Droliver I am sure knows these 2 people as well. That being said you can look up the salaries of state employees online and figure out what an academic plastic surgeon makes in the same town with 30 years of experience. It ain't pretty, in fact the number is so low that you wouldn't believe it.

Someone who has a more balanced practice with a mix of reconstructive and cosmetic cases would very easily generate 300K. Of course I am talking about established practices. A lot of new grads from plastics go out and are disgruntled at first, thinking they are going to pull down 7-800K right away. It takes 5-10 years to build a busy cosmetic practice, but you'll make OK money and be comfortable during those years.