What jobs make more than doctors?

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A six figure salary is hard to impossible for like 80 percent of Americans...

50% of Americans also have an IQ of <=100.

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50% of Americans also have an IQ of <=100.

Exactly, me being one of those 50% :p

For the average person, finding a decent job out of hs, 2 year degree or a 4 year degree would be great success. Anything above and beyond that is a small minority of the American population. Which makes sense. After all, you don't need to make six figures to have a house, a car, and to send your kids to school for 12 years(which is usually free unless you're one of those people who likes catholic school).
 
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Exactly, me being one of those 50% :p

For the average person, finding a decent job out of hs, 2 year degree or a 4 year degree would be great success. Anything above and beyond that is a small minority of the American population. Which makes sense.

This ^

Out of all my hs friends, two (out of roughly , say, 10 close friends) succeeded in getting a "good" job after hs and college. One in accounting with a bachelors ($40k per year) and one in computers with a 2 yr degree ($38k).. both consider themselves lucky and also making pretty good money from their perspective.

The others are employed at low level jobs.

For most americans, a $40k/year job is a pipe dream. Most people I know consider themselves lucky if they can get $30k after some slogging. Top 5% is anything over 90ish.. for individual wage earners. Retail tops out around $12/hour, most blue collar jobs in the mid $20s if youre good and lucky.

Yes there are the labor specialists, welders, demolition, mining, sure they may make $70k per year for a while but there is a finite physical timer on those jobs and then you retire or die from disability.

Making > 100k , ok its not what it was like in the 90s, but it is still very rich in most americans eyes.

Obviously most of you have a slightly different perspective if youve been raised in a family with money.
 
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Making > 100k , ok its not what it was like in the 90s, but it is still very rich in most americans eyes.

Obviously most of you have a slightly different perspective if youve been raised in a family with money.

That is so true and very sad. 20$ may not buy as much as it did a decade ago, but for many families, it still feels like its "worth" a lot. This has to do with inflation and how most salaries have stagnated and not kept up with inflation.

And truthfully, I think its ok if people go into medicine for the money, but have at least some interest in it. If the person enjoys learning about medicine even if he'd prefer to do something else, I don't think that person should be told "Hey, you shouldn't be a physician!". I heard this ad nauseum from my fellow premeds as a way to dissuade people from applying to medical school to eliminate the competition.
 
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That is so true and very sad. 20$ may not buy as much as it did a decade ago, but for many families, it still feels like its "worth" a lot. This has to do with inflation and how most salaries have stagnated and not kept up with inflation.

And truthfully, I think its ok if people go into medicine for the money, but have at least some interest in it. If the person enjoys learning about medicine even if he'd prefer to do something else, I don't think that person should be told "Hey, you shouldn't be a physician!". I heard this ad nauseum from my fellow premeds as a way to dissuade people from applying to medical school to eliminate the competition.

Yeah. Coming from an econ background, I encourage people to follow incentives.. being a physician for the money is normal .. everyone in the labor force should be working to get as much money as they can.

Where I get opinionated is when people feel that they *have* to be a physician for the money.. and when they absolutely know that say, 80k , 100k, 150k "isnt enough" ... well newsflash.. to the average person , 30-40k is "enough" .

I love money just as much as the next materialistic person ... but I chose not to pursue medicine because I enjoy pharmacy more and 130k is "way more than enough" for me. I recently accepted a job with a 40k paycut in order to work in-house for a management company... you can bet your ass I will be missing that money.. but what I get is more than enough for me and my family.

Long story short: yes by all means, medicine is where the money is at .. but that doesnt mean a specific salary for specific amount of work is "worth it" .. I see far too many people thinking they MUST make 200+k to be happy. The newsflash is: medicine may not make them happy and at the end, the money is not more likely to make them happy (statistically) than if they had made , say, 90k .. which is on the cusp of top 5%.
 
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Back to OP's question, it is very difficult to make more than a doctor with a stable salary job. Senior engineers make about $130k at most unless working for a petroleum company. The career path to becoming a doctor is among the most competitive and stressful in America, but it's also very lucrative with little risk - well, perhaps there's the risk of repeating MD and residency applications. Of course, it's different if you come from a rich family that makes money off investments.
 
Back to OP's question, it is very difficult to make more than a doctor with a stable salary job. Senior engineers make about $130k at most unless working for a petroleum company. The career path to becoming a doctor is among the most competitive and stressful in America, but it's also very lucrative with little risk - well, perhaps there's the risk of repeating MD and residency applications. Of course, it's different if you come from a rich family that makes money off investments.

Some engineers make more than that. Starting salary for EE, CE, phds is near 100k for new grads. Which you might say is a comparable pathway to med school. Even beginning academic salaries for engineers are up around 80+ ..
Cant really compare BS in anything to medicine. Its comparator fields are basically only professional degrees and PhDs.... a good number of lawyers, dentists, pharmacists, researchers, financial analysts, and professional consultants make more than avg md... but of course since the barriers to entry are lower, a much lower % of those workers hit that level.
 
What irritates me te most about these types of threads is that people focus to much on asking 'how much $$$ can I make' and never really asking questions like 'what can I provide that is worth 80k, 150k, 250k+...', 'what skills and work ethic do I have', and 'why am I supposed to be the one to provide this service'.
 
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Some engineers make more than that. Starting salary for EE, CE, phds is near 100k for new grads. Which you might say is a comparable pathway to med school. Even beginning academic salaries for engineers are up around 80+ ..
Cant really compare BS in anything to medicine. Its comparator fields are basically only professional degrees and PhDs.... a good number of lawyers, dentists, pharmacists, researchers, financial analysts, and professional consultants make more than avg md... but of course since the barriers to entry are lower, a much lower % of those workers hit that level.

Ph.D.s don't make an enormous amount of money (with some exceptions). There are several teaching at universities making less than $80k a year, and it is only after several years that the break the $100k barrier (if ever). This is especially true in the life sciences, where there appears to be an overabundance of Ph.D.s. There are exceptions of course, but we are talking about the "average" applicant.
 
Answer: very few, and they're much harder to get.
 
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Ph.D.s don't make an enormous amount of money (with some exceptions). There are several teaching at universities making less than $80k a year, and it is only after several years that the break the $100k barrier (if ever). This is especially true in the life sciences, where there appears to be an overabundance of Ph.D.s. There are exceptions of course, but we are talking about the "average" applicant.

The exceptions being pretty much all of engineering, physics, math, econ and business. .. granted.. not easy. But even assistant profs in a lot of those fields make 80k .. not to mention industry. 100k salary is basically entry level.
 
There's really not many job titles that pay as much as doctors that I can think of. Plenty of Stock traders make $200-$500K/year in their 20's as employees but these guys get replaced all the time. Top tier programmers clear 6 figures easily but you're stuck in front of a computer all day. Petroleum engineers probably do pretty darn well. Large data analysis is pretty cool I think. Google is tracking you like crazy on the internet and people that can most optimally help them turn all that raw data into cash do quite well. Tenured Medical School PhD professors are all making 6 figures.

I think you really make money with business. You'll make more owning a practice and employing 4 doctors than almost any practicing physician. Buying commercial real estate and leasing to doctors and never seeing patients would work too. MD/DO is good for a reliable upper middle class income that involves generally working until a normal retirement age in my opinion.
 
I have the best idea yet.

Be a doctor. Your salary will be higher than the vast majority of other professions. Then INVEST like others do in the business world. Open a business, invest in stocks, etc. Then you get the best of both worlds and you win. That's what I will be doing.

I heard about this nephrologist in CA who owns 7 dialysis clinics. He is making millions.
Now imagine being a Dentist and actually having the energy and time for investing thanks to the mere 30-35 hr weeks, oh and the money they bring in $$$. My Dentist income will just fund my investments, and that's how I'll be wealthy!
Of course I have to get into dental school first.
 
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Now imagine being a Dentist and actually having the energy and time for investing thanks to the mere 30-35 hr weeks, oh and the money they bring in $$$. My Dentist income will just fund my investments, and that's how I'll be wealthy!
Of course I have to get into dental school first.
And I will ride rainbows on unicorns once I am doctor.
 
The top 1% of any profession will make bank. The OP's question should be rephrased as -- in what fields does the AVERAGE Joe-Schmoe earn more than the AVERAGE physician.
 
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That thread is probably #2 on my list of "most depressing threads on SDN" right behind the "If you could do it over, would you?" thread.

It's a very interesting snapshot of a physician's psychology after crossing the "finish" line. I wonder how many of the disillusioned were once on pre-allo saying things along the lines of: "My family made 20k a year growing up, I can handle the debt, I don't mind living below my means."

I wonder if physicians would be singing the same tune in some European countries where medical education is free but physicians make, at most, middle-class incomes and not top 15-1% incomes like in the US. Could we study physician satisfaction across nations and see what happens?
 
What irritates me te most about these types of threads is that people focus to much on asking 'how much $$$ can I make' and never really asking questions like 'what can I provide that is worth 80k, 150k, 250k+...', 'what skills and work ethic do I have', and 'why am I supposed to be the one to provide this service'.

Thank you! I'm tired of hearing "OMG the CEO gets paid more in the time she goes to the bathroom than a worker gets paid all day!" The part that the people who say these kinds of things are missing is that the CEO produces that much more value than the average worker. You don't "get paid." You supply a product or service. Mopping floors just doesn't produce $120k/year. It's necessary, but its value is simply less than negotiating large business deals, brain surgery, inventing, etc.
 
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"Adding value" is such an abstract concept.
 
"Adding value" is such an abstract concept.

In capitalist terms, no, it's actually quite precise. Something that adds value "creates" wealth in terms of capital.

Mostly, yes it is. By other metrics of value, teachers add the most value; by others, doctors do.

This is why we had the whole Utilitarianism vs Communism vs Capitalism debate in the 18th through 20th centuries. Guess who won?

To be fair, Utilitarianism never got a say. But let's face it, that system is bull**** anyway.
 
In capitalist terms, no, it's actually quite precise. Something that adds value "creates" wealth in terms of capital.

Mostly, yes it is. By other metrics of value, teachers add the most value; by others, doctors do.

This is why we had the whole Utilitarianism vs Communism vs Capitalism debate in the 18th through 20th centuries. Guess who won?

To be fair, Utilitarianism never got a say. But let's face it, that system is bullcrap anyway.
I don't want to derail here but let's just say GDP has been widely criticized and is no longer seen as an absolute metric of value even in a society as capitalistic as ours.
 
What irritates me te most about these types of threads is that people focus to much on asking 'how much $$$ can I make' and never really asking questions like 'what can I provide that is worth 80k, 150k, 250k+...', 'what skills and work ethic do I have', and 'why am I supposed to be the one to provide this service'.
What does a doctor provide that is worth that much money?
Why is someone supposed to provide that service?
What skills and what sort of work ethic is needed?
 
I don't want to derail here but let's just say GDP has been widely criticized and is no longer seen as an absolute metric of value even in a society as capitalistic as ours.

GDP has almost nothing to do with value.

You can build a tank and sell it to the government who then drives it into the ocean and technically you've boosted GDP.

That said, it can be used as a general trend measurement.
 
GDP has almost nothing to do with value.

You can build a tank and sell it to the government who then drives it into the ocean and technically you've boosted GDP.

That said, it can be used as a general trend measurement.
This kind of was my point. It's easy to pick out the "value" and link it to wages when it comes to jobs like welding, carpentry, dentistry, etc. Upper management jobs can easily not add any value at all and still be very lucrative (as long as there are intelligent analysts and advisors to keep the company afloat). Same can be said about other careers (especially in finance). Half of mutual fund managers underperforms relative to the market. Lastly, some companies produce have such an enormous environmental cost of production that all the "value" they add is completely consumed by the externality costs.
 
Repeating what others have said--business.

In business--the sky is the limit. If you are in the right market--then my God you can do so much. Sometimes I wonder why I am even doing all of this instead of working/taking over the family businesses.
 
Not too many jobs make more than physicians. I see it thrown around so much on these forums that engineers make a lot of money right out of school and can keep moving up but it's a gross simplification to say that. The most successful engineer friend of mine makes about 55k and lives in a trailer in the desert on an oilfield. He absolutely hates his job and is simply putting time in to fill that "2 years experience preferred" for other jobs. He also works 60-70hrs/week as that's what expected to be seen as hard working. My other engineering friends make closer to 40k in jobs that they have no real room to advance in but the job market is crap so they're happy to have something. They also work more than 40hrs/week. As far as senior engineers that I know, one makes about 100k and the other closer to 150. They both work about 50hr/week and have put in 20yrs to get where they are now. Obviously I'm ignoring things like EE or software eng and these salaries represent the middle of the country but what I'm trying to get at is that engineers work lots of hours too and they don't magically make a lot of money.

I come from the PhD world and I can tell you that is also not a lucrative career. PhD's take around 6 years and most students now are taking postdocs that also take some years. This entire time they get paid about 20k a year and you work as much as you have to. For some this might be 30hrs a week but for most the obligation of publishing pushes most students to work long hours. If I finished my physics PhD my salary starting out would of only been 50k and it would have taken 6yrs or so. The tenured chair of the physics department at my school was only making 80k and it took decades to get that job. New PhDs are having a really hard time finding jobs at all and if they do they then live under the pressure of constantly producing research. Engineering business PhDs are making more but again 6+yrs for their degree and maxing out around 100k is great but it doesn't come close to medicine.

The truth is that physicians make great money. The physicians I know all lived like residents for 2yrs or so after getting the first attending jobs and either paid off or made a major dent in their debt. My view is I'll never know what it was like to live through the era where salaries skyrocketed and there was less red tape so what does it matter. Medicine has changed but I'll enter the new system and I won't have anything to compare it to but that's fine for me.
 
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Of course the average business salary is lower. But, please don't go into medicine just because the average salary is the highest. This is very misleading.

Who do you think is smarter/tried harder in their life? Average 50 ranking MBA grad or an average med student who went to 50 ranked med school?

If you have a brain smart enough to get into top 20 med school, I believe you can get into top 5 MBA. If you can get into top 5 MBA, I believe you can easily outperform many of the physicians salary wise.
 
If you are really good at what you do, you can make money in anything.
My Uncle is a college professor (well to be fair, he's a dean) and makes $215 which is more than a lot of primary care physicians earn.

The top earning chefs make millions.
Athletes can make millions.
Actors can make millions.

But really, why would you put yourself through so much debt and so many years of school if you don't care about the work you do?
 
Of course the average business salary is lower. But, please don't go into medicine just because the average salary is the highest. This is very misleading.

Who do you think is smarter/tried harder in their life? Average 50 ranking MBA grad or an average med student who went to 50 ranked med school?

If you have a brain smart enough to get into top 20 med school, I believe you can get into top 5 MBA. If you can get into top 5 MBA, I believe you can easily outperform many of the physicians salary wise.

Honestly this is the least true thing I've seen in a while. Most students I know at my school would have been pretty terrible in business, it requires a different skillset and honestly relies a lot more on luck and connections than medicine. Most people who graduate from a top 5 MBA will still make less in their lifetime than a physician. Further, the ones that make more tend to work a lot harder than most physicians, at least for a period. It's unwise to comment on a field without any personal experience in it. Just because you can get a good GPA and score well on the MCAT tells you very little about business aptitude.
 
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Anything really, if you are really good at it.
I can assure you I know of a few Auto Mechanics that would make more than a doctor. But rest assured that they work for companies like Bently and Bugatti.
If you are good at what you do, the money will come.
And if all you care about is money then there are far more easier ways of doing that then going to med school.
Best answer on this thread
 
You could have your own reality show on E! or Bravo and then take on business offers from there.
Worked fine for Bethenny and Kim K
 
Honestly this is the least true thing I've seen in a while. Most students I know at my school would have been pretty terrible in business, it requires a different skillset and honestly relies a lot more on luck and connections than medicine. Most people who graduate from a top 5 MBA will still make less in their lifetime than a physician. Further, the ones that make more tend to work a lot harder than most physicians, at least for a period. It's unwise to comment on a field without any personal experience in it. Just because you can get a good GPA and score well on the MCAT tells you very little about business aptitude.

Haha, so true.
 
My butler I will call you Alfred but on a serious note there are many jobs. CEO's, some lawyers, some nurses etc.
 
My butler I will call you Alfred but on a serious note there are many jobs. CEO's, some lawyers, some nurses etc.

Dude come on. What % of people gunning for CEO make it there? How many companies are large enough to be making it rain? What % of lawyers and nurses make 200k+? Your examples don't work when they are exceptions rather than the rule. Docs on average make 200k ish (depending on specialty), which is more than most other jobs can boast.
 
Dude come on. What % of people gunning for CEO make it there? How many companies are large enough to be making it rain? What % of lawyers and nurses make 200k+? Your examples don't work when they are exceptions rather than the rule. Docs on average make 200k ish (depending on specialty), which is more than most other jobs can boast.

When I say CEO I mean MILLIONS not thousands. There are plenty of lower level execs making 200k+, government contractors, Engineers, Real Estate, etc.
 
When I say CEO I mean MILLIONS not thousands. There are plenty of lower level execs making 200k+, government contractors, Engineers, Real Estate, etc.
You compare the top jobs in fields vs avg doctors and that is not an accurate comparison. Docs who are CEOs of companies (or head of depts or what have you) make even more than your lower execs, engineers, real estate. In fact, I could say neurosurgeons make way more than any of those jobs if we are to pretend neurosurgery isn't a bottleneck just like your argument seens to ignore CEOs and most high level positions are bottlenecks. You can't pick and choose what to compare
 
You compare the top jobs in fields vs avg doctors and that is not an accurate comparison. Docs who are CEOs of companies (or head of depts or what have you) make even more than your lower execs, engineers, real estate. In fact, I could say neurosurgeons make way more than any of those jobs if we are to pretend neurosurgery isn't a bottleneck just like your argument seens to ignore CEOs and most high level positions are bottlenecks. You can't pick and choose what to compare

If we're talking about Wealth then doctors don't make as much as you think. They have more debt than assets when they begin their jobs. Almost all of their 20's are spent in medical school and Residency. While a young engineer can make 90k as soon as he graduates with very minimal to no debt. Once he/she gets in their 30's if they worked hard they would have been promoted by now and have hell of a lot of experience. You get my point.
 
Chemical Engineers - My starting salary was six figures working 8 days a month (given they were 24 hours shifts but allowed to sleep). My boss's salary was close to 500k O_O maybe he was pulling my leg as he told me he wanted to train me for his position 10 years down the line.

I suppose I am a masochist. I just keep demoting my salary. I quit that to teach at a public school (was bored on an oil rig) for about 40k, then went to study for MCAT by being a tutor with no guaranteed salary, now I am going to put myself through Med School and make 0$ while going into debt :D so fun!!!
 
If we're talking about Wealth then doctors don't make as much as you think. They have more debt than assets when they begin their jobs. Almost all of their 20's are spent in medical school and Residency. While a young engineer can make 90k as soon as he graduates with very minimal to no debt. Once he/she gets in their 30's if they worked hard they would have been promoted by now and have hell of a lot of experience. You get my point.

Edit: Sorry, no point in arguing
 
I am very aware of how much docs make (taking into account higher taxes, interest rates of loans, up to 300k+ of loans, etc).
1- You're making money in residency, a fact most people choose to ignore
2- Even with all the loans, taxes, etc, docs are making at least 100k of actual income straight out of residency
3- 90k right after graduation for engineers isn't average (unless again, you choose to ignore all engineering fields and pick CS or EE only at super prestigious firms)

You're right that docs don't make a much in real life as most would expect, but your facts are skewed somewhat

Are you sure?

GP/hospitalist Average salary = 200k
Tax Bracket for 2014 = 33% (now making 134k)
Mal Practice = 13k (now taking home 121k)
Work time = 55 hr/week (12 hour shifts, 240 days avg) so if I renorm this to 40hr/week (88k per year, the extra 15 hours/week is basically a second job)
Loans = let's say you are still on IBR and assume 15% of salary which costs 30k/year (take home 58k)

so.... while you are paying loans, tax, mal practice, overworking, you are REALLY taking home 58k... :/ that's half of my original salary working 8 days/month.

I would never go into medicine for the money - ever.
 
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Are you sure?

GP/hospitalist Average salary = 200k
Tax Bracket for 2014 = 33% (now making 134k)
Mal Practice = 13k (now taking home 121k)
Work time = 55 hr/week (12 hour shifts, 240 days avg) so if I renorm this to 40hr/week (88k per year, the extra 15 hours/week is basically a second job)
Loans = let's say you are still on IBR and assume 15% of salary which costs 30k/year (take home 58k)

so.... while you are paying loans, tax, mal practice, overworking, you are REALLY taking home 58k... :/ that's half of my original salary working 8 days/month.

I would never go into medicine for the money - ever.

No one works 40 hr a week dude - that's a moot point. You could say "if I worked 100 hrs as a janitor I could make 60k" but that's a pointless fact because it doesn't happen. So yes, sticking with avg hrs for docs taking into account all those things you're looking at 100k ish. Your job, while it used to pay great, is most likely not representative of the normal engineering hours/pay.

To add: your job was high end in terms of engineering jobs, while GP is low end doc. If you wanted to compare equivalent levels you'd be looking at the more competitive specialties, therefore 200k is way too low
 
even without rescaling to 40 hr/week - that's still ONLY 88k (not breaking 100k)

I'm a tutor and I would make more per year IF I had 40hr/week... I would literally make 102k/year (or 143k/year at 55 hr/week). I'm sure many 40 hr/week employee can pick up 15 hours around the place and make more than 88k.
 
even without rescaling to 40 hr/week - that's still ONLY 88k (not breaking 100k)

I'm a tutor and I would make more per year IF I had 40hr/week... I would literally make 102k/year (or 143k/year at 55 hr/week). I'm sure many 40 hr/week employee can pick up 15 hours around the place and make more than 88k.

121k-30k (according to your numbers) is 91k. That's the avg for an engineer mid career.


Source: http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#17-0000

Anyway, I'm done arguing.
 
said I was a tutor. No longer a Chem E. I charge 50$/hr.
 
Are you sure?

GP/hospitalist Average salary = 200k
Tax Bracket for 2014 = 33% (now making 134k)
Mal Practice = 13k (now taking home 121k)
Work time = 55 hr/week (12 hour shifts, 240 days avg) so if I renorm this to 40hr/week (88k per year, the extra 15 hours/week is basically a second job)
Loans = let's say you are still on IBR and assume 15% of salary which costs 30k/year (take home 58k)

so.... while you are paying loans, tax, mal practice, overworking, you are REALLY taking home 58k... :/ that's half of my original salary working 8 days/month.

I would never go into medicine for the money - ever.
You didn't pay taxes at your previous job?
 
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even without rescaling to 40 hr/week - that's still ONLY 88k (not breaking 100k)

I'm a tutor and I would make more per year IF I had 40hr/week... I would literally make 102k/year (or 143k/year at 55 hr/week). I'm sure many 40 hr/week employee can pick up 15 hours around the place and make more than 88k.
From a purely financial standpoint, doctors are among the highest paid, although they are not the absolute highest paid. But you also get so much respect from the general public as a doctor that engineers and other professionals would not get. The world will keep spinning if there were no engineers, lawyers, politicians, etc. The world will stop if there were no doctors left. Doctors allow everything else to happen.
 
From a purely financial standpoint, doctors are among the highest paid, although they are not the absolute highest paid. But you also get so much respect from the general public as a doctor that engineers and other professionals would not get. The world will keep spinning if there were no engineers, lawyers, politicians, etc. The world will stop if there were no doctors left. Doctors allow everything else to happen.

What did I just read... please go.
 
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