what physicians earn (by specialty)

[Ryo-Ohki]

For someone interested in those topics, you obviously haven't read or written that word a lot.

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[Rendar5]

Originally posted by Tim Haas
I realize that $ is definitely a main concern here, but does anyone actually want to give back and just pursue their dream to make a difference? I mean, I come from a poor background with only 2 people i think, getting associate degrees in my family(my mom and uncle, who both dropped out of high school-trend in my family). Anyways, am I like the only person who wants to give back to science and the system for AIDS research, Arthritus(my gma has level 3 , starts w/ an R) etc.?

MAybe it's just me, but I can see why everyone I tell I want to be a physician, looks at me and tells me I don't fit the characteristics of what doctors tend to be like...people say arrogant and such a lot...

I don't know. Anyone else....

I just want to pursue my dream to pursue my dream. If I wanted to make a difference, I'd stick to research. Eh, $'s just $. I'm happy with a little or a lot.

 

[Gleevec]

There are lots of ways to give back though

Teaching, working in a shelter, taking mission trips to 3rd world countries, working in an underserved area, being a research faculty and so on...

Of course, when I see the number of derm and rads matches at Harvard and JHU I start to wonder, but I do think that most people consider service a major factor in becoming a doctor, with money being a consideration, but not the principal one.

I guess I have to believe in that though, otherwise I would have no respect for myself or the profession I hope to enter. But I really do think that most doctors are very service oriented, while a minority are in it purely for the money and dont care about the patients. Unfortunately, the public rarely reads about the normal, kind doctors, they only see the rare weirdos with their front page stories in the newspaper.

 

[fiatlux]

Originally posted by Gleevec
the public rarely reads about the normal, kind doctors, they only see the rare weirdos with their front page stories in the newspaper.

so true, but i guess stories about weirdos is more journalistically (is that even a word) savvy than a story about a good doc in the neighborhood

the weirdos story catches your attention on a shock value level, gets you to buy the paper and so the story makes the paper more money -- and the whole damn cycle just repeats

 

[jlee9531]

Originally posted by Tim Haas
its truly sad..heh

i come from a very poor background....and i feel fortunate to be in this position today.

i will defintely give back to the community.

 

[Raptor]

the money doesn't matter that much to me but its contributing back to my community that matters a lot to me.

 

[Spacekat]

Ok, guys, we got it. You're not in it for the money. Understood.

Now could we please go back to talking about the money? Aren't there other threads for discussing how much we care about service and healing and giving back to our communities? (me too!)

 

[supersunny]

Originally posted by tautomer
This is true. I know of one who sits on the board, of all things, a Pizza Hut franchise corporation, and you don't even want to know what they make "on the side" doing that.

how about opening a med school on top of the pizza hut.

 

[DrWuStar]

here is a more extensive salary survey:

http://umed.med.utah.edu/residency/Specialties.html

the salaries listed are after expenses (malpractice, cost of running the practice) but pre-taxes.

it is true that both your salary and malpractice premiums will depend on your location. doctors in big cities tend to get a raw deal.

Originally posted by No Egrets
when you say you'll spend 3 years paying off loans, do you mean post-residency? do people usually start paying off loans in residency (when you're making around 35-45k), or wait until they're making the big bucks? i guess if your loans are interest-bearing then you'd want to start paying them off ASAP, but it seems like it would be hard on a resident's salary.

you can defer student loan payments for "economic hardship" if your monthly loan payment exceeds a certain percentage of your income, which is true for most residents.

Originally posted by twinklz
I'm somewhat confused by this whole money issue. I'm currently living well (not wonderfully) off of 19k for the year. Have an apartment, support my pets, have hi speed internet, could afford to pay for my small number of med school applications, bought decent xmas presents for friends and family...all in all I'm satisfied for being fresh out of college.

So if residents earn 40-50k a year...thats twice what I make! Doesn't that mean I can put half of that into paying back my debt, if I live at my current standard?!

sadly, no. when you make $40K, you only take hom about $28K after taxes. so although you will make more than you do now at $19K, you will not double your money. plus, $120K in loans means you will have a monthly payment of >$1,000. i think it owuld be tough to live off the money left over, although depending on where you live, it might be possible.

 

[cbc]

Podiatry earns as much as general practitioner? How come my mother never told me about this lucrative profession? I wouldnt have had to study as hard in undergrad.

 

[cbc]

you can contribute to your community by being a janitor.

Originally posted by Raptor
the money doesn't matter that much to me but its contributing back to my community that matters a lot to me.

 

[No Egrets]

Originally posted by Raptor
the money doesn't matter that much to me but its contributing back to my community that matters a lot to me.

I would not be going into medicine if the monetary rewards were not as high as they are. There are other ways to give back to society, many of which pay as much or more than doctorin'. Does that mean I'm not a good candidate for med school? I don't think it does, I think it just means I'm a realist. I'm not busting my butt in undergrad and putting myself through four years of med school + 5 years of residency/fellowship to live the rest of my life from paycheck to paycheck!

If I didn't think I would make at least ~150k eventually after getting an MD, I would sign up for the next administration of the LSAT. I know of lawyers who do lots of good and make nearly 1mil a year.

 

[Jet915]

I was looking over the salaries from the Utah School of Medicine site and saw that Family Practice is more competitive than Radiology? Is that just in Utah cause that doesn't sound correct.........

Jetson

 

[UCLAMAN]

Originally posted by Amxcvbcv
I What do you do with that kind of money? I currently can't fathom making that much.

Roll around in a Maserati. Buy the best ice hockey equipment. Improve upon my air jordan collection. Buy several plasma screens. Build a big house.

 

[aphistis]

Originally posted by DrWuStar
$120K in loans means you will have a monthly payment of >$1,000. i think it owuld be tough to live off the money left over, although depending on where you live, it might be possible.

It <em>might</em> be <em>possible</em>?

$120,000 less 35% (arbitrarily) for taxes leaves $78,000. Less another $22,500 ($1500/month) in loan payments, you're <em>still</em> left with in excess of $50,000; which, incidentally, is more than the average American family earns in <em>gross</em> income.

I can't decide whether the people here who make claims like "you might be able to scrape by on $120,000 a year" simply have no idea what they're talking about, or if they come from upbringings that really leave them believing that. I wonder which would be worse.

 

[aphistis]

Originally posted by cbc
Podiatry earns as much as general practitioner? How come my mother never told me about this lucrative profession? I wouldnt have had to study as hard in undergrad.

Podiatry isn't the only one. Starting the last several years, general dentists outearn family practitioners, IMs, peds, and psychs (on average). Most of our specialists' salaries are pretty competitive with med specialties as well.

 

[Tezzie]

I think people are forgetting the fact that an internist with a specialty can make more than 200k a year (just like others said) ... BUT .... you will be sacrificing quality of care to your patients. Sadly a lot of physicians are doing that today. If providing excellent care to someone allows you to see only 4 people per hour and the physician sees 7 then the quality drops.

Also consider the fact that more and more insurances are cutting down. A physician that i know, recently told me that Blue Cross/ Blue Shield is going to cut their pay by 20% (if i remember correctly) (and 1/4 of his practice is BlueCross patients).

I want to get into a specialty that i will love the most. I also want to give the BEST care possible. I won't settle for anything else. So money for me at this point is really a factor that i don't take into account.

 

[DrWuStar]

Originally posted by aphistis
It <em>might</em> be <em>possible</em>?

$120,000 less 35% (arbitrarily) for taxes leaves $78,000. Less another $22,500 ($1500/month) in loan payments, you're <em>still</em> left with in excess of $50,000; which, incidentally, is more than the average American family earns in <em>gross</em> income.

I can't decide whether the people here who make claims like "you might be able to scrape by on $120,000 a year" simply have no idea what they're talking about, or if they come from upbringings that really leave them believing that. I wonder which would be worse.

read more carefully buddy - $120K in debt, not $120K in income. my post was a response to someone's questions about making loan payments on a resident's salary. you are correct that $120K is good money. $40K on the other hand does not go very far if you are trying to pay $1,000+ in loan payments every month.

 

[femdoc]

I asked a friend in their third residency year about this, and they told me they got their loans deferred until after residency. It's good to have options, no?

 

[exmike]

Originally posted by aphistis
Podiatry isn't the only one. Starting the last several years, general dentists outearn family practitioners, IMs, peds, and psychs (on average). Most of our specialists' salaries are pretty competitive with med specialties as well.

Just wait until managed care swallows up dentistry too..

 

[docmemi]

how long is a surgery residency, specially cardiac and neuro? EM and Ob/Gyn are 3 years, correct?
how many hours do each of those three kinds of docs work per week (post residency i mean)? from what i know EM docs only have to work 3 times a week, is that true?
what are the avg incomes for those three kinds of docs?

thanks.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by Raptor
the money doesn't matter that much to me but its contributing back to my community that matters a lot to me.

I agree with Raptor on this point. I've been saying the following a lot and will say it again:

Do what you love and the money is icing on the cake; do what you hate and the money becomes a shackle that binds you to the very thing you despise.

 

[TexPre-Med]

I would not pay much attention to this Utah Page someone posted. The information is at least 7 years old. Much has happened since then.

 

[melmc]

Salaries aside...
how many docs are really working 8-5 jobs?
Most of the primary physicians in my area say they work 80-100 hrs a week (includes time on call) and I'm sure they don't make much more than 120k.

 

[Amy B]

I can't figure that Utah page out. It has family practice residency hours working as much as surgery residents.

80 hours?? Are family practice residents really working that many hours?

 

[MeganRose]

Originally posted by Rendar5
250K + interest? Med school costs doesn't average 60K just yet.

Anyway, I'll live off of 40-50K a year and spend 3 years paying off the loans.

Thats a really smart plan. I say that $120k is decent. If you live smart you can have all of what you need and most of what you want. People have become millionaires on far less.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by melmc
Salaries aside...
how many docs are really working 8-5 jobs?
Most of the primary physicians in my area say they work 80-100 hrs a week (includes time on call) and I'm sure they don't make much more than 120k.

There was a job survey a few years back and most primary care physicians work an average of 50 hours after residency. Although primary care docs are on call, you can count the hours that they don't come in. Sure, they may be tied to a cell phone and pager, but they're not actually 'working' unless they get called in. My friend is a primary care doc and it's a rare instance for her to be called in. If there is a serious emergency, then they get transferred to a major teaching hospital or trauma center anyhow, which doesn't really require the expertise of the primary care doc.