Starting salaries for DO-OBGYN specialties

[Poet]

Hi everyone!

First of all, most of you already know Ive been accepted to NYCOM (I think I talked about it like 100 times on different posts haha) and after reading that thread "medicine" under "everyone" Im starting to get REALLY nervous about the work load there!!

Anyway, I hope to eventually obtain a residency in OBGYN (if I make it through NYCOM that is, which after last night seems like it may be challenging to say the least!) and I was wondering if anyone has any idea about the starting salaries for DO-OBGYN specialties. Ive read some sources but they provide information for MD's only and the average seemed to be around 204,000/yr. Is this comparable to a DO salary as well?

I appreciate any input or even a lead to a web page where I can look this information up.

Thanks again and I just want to reiterate the point that this is a great board for information!!

poet

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[karma]

Hello Poet, I read one of your older responses. I was impressed with what you had to say about practicing medicine being a "privilege".

What do you think about medicine and the overall picture of things?

Thanks...
karma

 

[karma]

Hi everyone,

I'm applying to osteopathic schools right now and i'm always interested to hear why people chose this branch of medicine. I would love to hear your insight, or something about the experiences which led you to where you are now, studying osteopathic medicine (or preparing to).

Thanks so much....
karma

 

[Poet]

Hi There,

Thanks for responding to my post

You asked what I thought about medicine today and basically, after working in the medical field, I think it is becoming more altruistic than before. Im seeing more and more people choose to become "educated" patients rather than passive ones and Im seeing more and more physicians get into the field because they truly want to serve humanity.

The money is still there, don't let people fool you or lie to you. I'm yet to meet a physician that is homeless, on welfare, in dire straits or looking for employment. HOwever, Im also seeing a lot of physicians leave their practice because they can't stand how controlled they are by HMO's and people without medical degrees. These doctors usually have other qualifying skills in business or computers and choose to be more successful with this alternate route. This I don't foresee as a problem for myself since I don't come from the old school of doctors who are used to being worshiped and making money hand over fist. I would be more than satisified with a healthy compensation of 6 g's which is NOT what the old timers want.. they miss the 7 and 8 figure incomes. They miss not being questioned by ANYONE except attorneys and they can't stand the fact that nurses, patients, and all other health care workers have the ability to learn up on any medical disease, medication, or treatment to the extent that they have learned it. Years ago, that simply was not possible.. but today it is.

In general, I think things are going to change dramatically within the next 10 years. I see physicians coming together as a whole, working to demolish the dominance of HMO's which are at present killing people. No one and I mean NO ONE with an MBA can diagnose and determine what tests need to be performed on a critically ill patient.. but they are doing it. Just as the time came when patients got sick and tired of being in the dark about their diseases, and fed up with the poor treatment they were getting by arrogant doctors, so is the time coming when they will get sick of being diagnosed and mistreated because of the business people diagnosing them.

Medicine is an ever expanding and continually changing field that will not stay the same for any amount of time with the advancements of science today.

For me, I have accepted that with complete and focused dedication, I have the potential to become an excellent physician with a healthy compensation... but my foremost interest is in serving humanity and doing what I feel I was called to do.

Everyone will have their own reasons and interests that brought them to their decisions to pursue a career in medicine. For me, its something I've always known and honestly can't remember a time when I didn't want to become a physician.

 

[karma]

thanks Poet,

You have very good intentions. Very well put. I appreciate your input.

I haven't always known i'v wanted to be a doctor. i've discovered over the years what is important to me and what i think is important in life. medicine, to me, has come into the picture by way of providing myself with many different experiences, in different settings, with different age groups of people, trying to understand people. this has led to introspection and how i came to the conclusion that i think i could someday be a good physician. my background is in nutrition and exercise, so this is where my deep appreciation for the preventative side of the osteopathic philosophy comes in....

thanks again for your input!
Karma

 

[Future DOc]

Hello everyone!!!

To Poet, CONGRATS & WELCOME TO MEDICINE!!! The salary you had wrote sounds about right for DOs as well. I have to triple check because they posted in our bulletin at school the earnings for today's DOs in all specialties. They are about equal to an MD-it just all depends on where you practice/work.

To karma, Good luck to you and I hope you do join the family of physicians & future physicians. To answer your question, I chose the DO route because it was the best fit for me. I got accepted to both programs (MD & DO), but I fell in love w/ the DO program more. I love osteopathy because I want to be able to give my future pts ALL the possible modalities of treatments possible. Now, I am not saying that all MDs do is prescribe medications because a lot of DOs do that as well. Its just nice to have a little extra ammunition in the battle against illness.

I am second year now and some of the OMM stuffs that we are being taught are really cool and some are not-thats just my two cents. It all depends on you IF you want to use OMM or not.

Take care y'all!!!

Rob
WesternU/COMP Class of 2002

 

[spinnr]

Poet,
In reading your posts, you sound like you are off to the right start in why you want to be a doctor. I switched physicians in the past year -- to DOs -- and am so glad I did so. They are all very caring docs and definitely exemplify the DO philosophy. (Don't get me wrong, there are great MDs out there as well.)
Good luck at NYCOM...

 

[ProfessorX]

Poet,

There are some truth to the general declining salaries of physicians. AMA news recently featured an article on the concerns of physicians in regard to the salary surveys and how they are being conducted. I quote one part of it "...they are taking the equivalent of quarterback's salaries of some physicians and extrapolating it to what everyone else is making is the field..." The article is mainly about AMA doctors pointing out how the figures reported by surveyers do not reflect the true scope of current medical professionals, and they petition that awareness should be raised to correct these errors. Also, remember those figures you are quoting somewhere are most likely GROSS salaries (before overhead) from private practices of doctors with many years of experience and/or long established practices. Current medical reimbursements are different today because of managed care in the picture. Even with today's expensive health care costs ,businesses and hospitals are still finding that it is not enough to cover the general day to day running costs. The result is an alarming trend of hospitals facing financial losses and bankruptcies. Health care is very expensive today. A typical 11 days stay in the hospital will cost you $33,000!! And believe me, this is barely enough to break even. Hospital mergers, new management takeovers, and health maintainance organizations are helping to cut the costs down, but the whole situation is still very shaky. One way they are also doing it is through jacking up insurance premiums. Insurance premiums for beneficiaries today are the highest ever (avg $145/month for single). Employers of small businesses today are fearing the bankruptcy of their businesses because they have to provide these expensive health insurance for their employees and are starting to make the employees pay the portion of it themselves. To make the matter worse, with years of complaining from doctors about how poor reimbursement from Medicare is making doctor go out of business, physicians are getting together to sue to government. Most student doctors are becoming more and more aware of the current crisis as they progress through their education and toward their training years. Any average medical students at a public and state school are in a way better off because they have a much smaller debt than students at private schools. Medical school and pre-health professional advisors around the country are being told to inform prospective medical students to look into applying and choosing their state schools to avoid debt complications later on. The future in medicine will bring some more drastic changes to fix the already out of control costs of health care in this country.




[This message has been edited by ProfessorX (edited 01-08-2000).]

 

[Poet]

Hi everyone, and thanks again for all of your replies

ProfessorX, I didn't mean to sound as though the salary I quoted was net. This was a gross salary which did NOT include overhead costs by any means. But as I said, Im yet to work with, meet or know of any physician who is not doing pretty well for her/him self. I did however agree with your post when I stated that the older physician's are used to making A LOT more money than they are now...so yes, there is a decline in salaries most definitely!

The DO I shadowed that got me very interested in osteopathic medicine (he was the medical director of the facility I was a subacute nurse at) ran into difficulties because he treated an enormous amount of people free of charge, however, he was careful to explain to me how he went about recovering from this and let me know how handsome his salary currently is.

I am very aware of the nasty overhead that exists, which is why so many peole go into group practices. For instance, malpractice today costs my cousin..an oral surgeon 100,000 a YEAR, he was sued by someone who said they had permanent numbness after surgery and couldn't eat "steak" anymore but after his PI's followed her, she lost the case because it was fraudulent. These however are the situations that drive the malpractice price upward. (As a nurse I pay 30 bucks a year for one million in coverage woooo hoooo that will CERTAINLY CHANGE!)
None-the-less, my cousin still makes an incredible salary (~300,000/yr) but as you stated in your post, he is VERY ESTABLISHED AND WELL KNOWN IN THIS AREA.

I can't say Im completely aware of what my costs will be, I am confident however that I will be able to pay my bills and live a decent life as I do now

(like I said in my previous post, 6 figures would suit me fine, that way I could pay my malpractice, student loans, and overhead, and hopefully have enough left over to start a free clinic in the Northend--doesn't my idealism just make you cringe!! haha)

I don't think anyone is going to get extraordinarily rich just because they become a physician, but I also don't think its something that CANNOT be accomplished because one is a physician. This is where I have the problem with what people say about "don't go into medicine if you want to make money" Some docs will make a lot, and others will not, just like any other profession, and I've encountered BOTH.

As for the HMO and insurance situation, I believe it will change, and I believe it will change soon. I was recently speaking with an internist where I work and he was tellng me about the high risk patients his HMO affiliation kept taking on and how they (the HMO) ended up going bankrupt from the losses that ensued. These HMO companies as of now are really nailing it to the doctors and patients, but when that occurs, there HAS to be the straw that breaks the camels back.. and we are definitely near the breaking point.

Speaking with other physicians, they too have told me about union type groups that many are actively trying to establish in order to "take back the practice of medicine." I believe they will succeed and I can only hope to be a part of it.

I don't have all the answers and Im wary of those that say they do. (YOU DIDN'T, IM NOT SAYING YOU SAID THAT!!) In just the past 8 years I've seen medicine change so drastically that I can barely remember what it was like when I first became a nurse. I hope things continue to change... and hopefully get better.

Good luck to everyone, and hopefully we can all work toward change in the future

Sincerely,
poet


[This message has been edited by Poet (edited 01-08-2000).]

 

[Doctor TRuth]

Future Doc,
I was reading your following post.
From what I understand, MD and DO salaries should be the same, is this not true according to the post at your school?

Originally posted by Future DOc:
Hello everyone!!!

To Poet, CONGRATS & WELCOME TO MEDICINE!!! The salary you had wrote sounds about right for DOs as well. I have to triple check because they posted in our bulletin at school the earnings for today's DOs in all specialties. They are about equal to an MD-it just all depends on where you practice/work.

To karma, Good luck to you and I hope you do join the family of physicians & future physicians. To answer your question, I chose the DO route because it was the best fit for me. I got accepted to both programs (MD & DO), but I fell in love w/ the DO program more. I love osteopathy because I want to be able to give my future pts ALL the possible modalities of treatments possible. Now, I am not saying that all MDs do is prescribe medications because a lot of DOs do that as well. Its just nice to have a little extra ammunition in the battle against illness.

I am second year now and some of the OMM stuffs that we are being taught are really cool and some are not-thats just my two cents. It all depends on you IF you want to use OMM or not.

Take care y'all!!!

Rob
WesternU/COMP Class of 2002

 

[Duo Degree]

Poet-

i wanted to address your comment about people with MBAs diagnosing patients. It shouldn't surprise you that these "people" are generally people with a nursing background. In addition, the medical directors of these managed care companies are physicians. Although an HMO or any form of managed care may sometimes have unfair reasons for denying payment of care (a subtlety that should not to be confused with denial of treatment), those companies generally have good, competent clinical background.

After having said this, everyone should know that the pressure of providing care has shifted a little bit to the HMOs. In a very recent case, a medical director in TX is being sued for a denial that resulted in an unfavorable outcome. IF that is what doctors are cheering for, it may be a little pre-mature because transferring liability to the HMO may lead to higher premiums.

Speaking of suits, OB/GYN opportunities for DOs seems comparable to any MDs. From my understanding, if you are female(DO or MD), you can fill up a practice fairly quickly as compared to a male OB/Gyn. sorry guys! Anyone ever think about perinatology? I have had the opportunity to talk and spend some time with a perinatologist who graduated from my med school. Her group practice includes 5 other MDs and seem to enjoy much success since their specialty is relatively rare.