What's a typical income for general surgery? Realistic high income?

[Hustler101]

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any valid insight?

 

[ACSurgeon]

any valid insight?

200-500k. Depends on academic vs private; rural vs urban. "Average" is 350k by some surveys. I know a few general surgeons who make over a million a year (allegedly) who work a ton.

 

[Hustler101]

200-500k. Depends on academic vs private; rural vs urban. "Average" is 350k by some surveys. I know a few general surgeons who make over a million a year (allegedly) who work a ton.

Yea I figured, What can you expect to make working 60 hrs a week in community only? Lets say urban in this case.

 

[PL198]

the fact that you're asking this as a pre-med is pretty telling.

just do ortho, it's what 99 % of your peers say they want to do after they look at salary surveys. seriously, 80 + % of my class wanted to do ortho on the first day.

 

[ACSurgeon]

Yea I figured, What can you expect to make working 60 hrs a week in community only? Lets say urban in this case.

One of our chiefs got a job at an "average" size midwestern city, community hospital with academic affiliation (occasionally works with residents) and was given the "average" salary of 350k a year for the first few years. After that, it's revenue based, which as he understands, will be at least (if not more than) 350k.

 

[ACSurgeon]

the fact that you're asking this as a pre-med is pretty telling.

just do ortho, it's what 99 % of your peers say they want to do after they look at salary surveys. seriously, 80 + % of my class wanted to do ortho on the first day.

Whatever helps. Money should never be the main motivator, but it's naive to say it shouldn't matter. When you're in college and you see people getting jobs and planning their life, it helps to know that your additional 7-14 years of training will be financially worth while.

 

[deleted480308]

Whatever helps. Money should never be the main motivator, but it's naive to say it shouldn't matter. When you're in college and you see people getting jobs and planning their life, it helps to know that your additional 7-14 years of training will be financially worth while.

exactly....as long as my loan issuer thinks about my money and the government thinks about my money, you can bet your ass I will think about money

 

[PL198]

exactly....as long as my loan issuer thinks about my money and the government thinks about my money, you can bet your ass I will think about money

so will I, however when the pre-meds say this it's almost always " find the highest salary on the list"

I've never heard a pre-med say they want to be a PCP. EVER

 

[deleted480308]

so will I, however when the pre-meds say this it's almost always " find the highest salary on the list"

I've never heard a pre-med say they want to be a PCP. EVER

I was totally on track to rural family...really excited about it. Then I get to school and we start getting more and more health policy lectures and I see the government handing primary care to the nurses....then I see our own PA students claiming they can do primary care and frankly I'm out. Not going primary care and frankly it's all about money to me. I'm not going through all this hassle and spending all this money to compete with a nurse who knows less than I do on price....not happening

 

[Kahreek]

...

 

[BurghStudent]

There are high paying specialties that don't imply superficiality.

 

[fancymylotus]

One of our chiefs got a job at an "average" size midwestern city, community hospital with academic affiliation (occasionally works with residents) and was given the "average" salary of 350k a year for the first few years. After that, it's revenue based, which as he understands, will be at least (if not more than) 350k.

Wtf, if I killed myself for five years waking up crazy early for the rest of my life I had better be taking home more than a dentists salary.

 

[fancymylotus]

There are high paying specialties that don't imply superficiality.

No there aren't, don't be silly. Anyone who likes money and nice things is automatically superficial.

 

[Shjanzey]

Google is your friend.

 

[Ismet]

Moving to pre-allo

 

[Snoopy2006]

Wtf, if I killed myself for five years waking up crazy early for the rest of my life I had better be taking home more than a dentists salary.

Jeez. Salaried dentists take home $350k?

 

[ConfusedFulbrightScholar]

Whenever I read a thread like this, I wonder why OP isn't on posting on this forum instead: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums

 

[gettheleadout]

Whenever I read a thread like this, I wonder why OP isn't on posting on this forum instead: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums

OP simply asked what the typical income and upper limit for the field are, and you're implying his focus is unhealthily narrowed to money? That seems rather judgmental to me.

 

[Hustler101]

the fact that you're asking this as a pre-med is pretty telling.

just do ortho, it's what 99 % of your peers say they want to do after they look at salary surveys. seriously, 80 + % of my class wanted to do ortho on the first day.

I've been accepted.

Whenever I read a thread like this, I wonder why OP isn't on posting on this forum instead: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums

Because the odds of working on wall street making 300k/yr are slim... even less so without some hardcore extreme sacrifice. And I want to be a doctor who also earns a high income. Two for one deal.

 

[ConfusedFulbrightScholar]

OP simply asked what the typical income and upper limit for the field are, and you're implying his focus is unhealthily narrowed to money? That seems rather judgmental to me.

I meant it as a joke, but really, money should never be a reason to enter healthcare. It's a public service field. You should want to provide that public service.

To OP I ask, would you go into Medicine if it paid 50K a year? Let's say medical school was free, so we can avoid the whole loan repayment argument. Would you do it? If the answer is no, I mean...I don't think a career in medicine could really sustain you. At that point, medicine isn't your passion....but money sure is!

 

[gettheleadout]

I meant it as a joke, but really, money should never be a reason to enter healthcare. It's a public service field. You should want to provide that public service.

To OP I ask, would you go into Medicine if it paid 50K a year? Let's say medical school was free, so we can avoid the whole loan repayment argument. Would you do it? If the answer is no, I mean...I don't think a career in medicine could really sustain you. At that point, medicine isn't your passion....but money sure is!

OP never indicated or implied he/she was using income as a reason to enter medicine. Again, OP only asked about a single field. I believe you're reading too much into this particular thread and generalizing based on concerns you have about premeds in general.

 

[jqueb29]

I meant it as a joke, but really, money should never be a reason to enter healthcare. It's a public service field. You should want to provide that public service.

To OP I ask, would you go into Medicine if it paid 50K a year? Let's say medical school was free, so we can avoid the whole loan repayment argument. Would you do it? If the answer is no, I mean...I don't think a career in medicine could really sustain you. At that point, medicine isn't your passion....but money sure is!

Money is a perfectly valid motivation. I love playing sports and would love to be a professional athlete, but zero people are going to pay me to play sports so I'm not pursuing it.

 

[Surgeon's Cuffs]

I meant it as a joke, but really, money should never be a reason to enter healthcare. It's a public service field. You should want to provide that public service.

To OP I ask, would you go into Medicine if it paid 50K a year? Let's say medical school was free, so we can avoid the whole loan repayment argument. Would you do it? If the answer is no, I mean...I don't think a career in medicine could really sustain you. At that point, medicine isn't your passion....but money sure is!

Ridiculous. If all of a sudden compensation for all the years of medical school was 50k across the board and you could still go into school in something else health related and make more money, such as nursing, I'm sure a large fraction of premeds, including you, would quit. I wouldn't go into 15+ years of school for neurosurgery just to be told I max out at 50k a year. I would feel undervalued. School and career are a value proposition. "You save lives, we pay you for your knowledge." Medicine is not a purely touchy-feely-holier-than-thou profession. I hope we are all adult enough to admit that a stable, intellectually challenging, well paying job (with possibility of high compensation) is part of the package we all want to go with saving lives.

Let's face it, we're human and want the most out of life instinctively. Money doesn't have to be your passion to want to live life to its potential.

 

[FalconSlice]

the fact that you're asking this as a pre-med is pretty telling.

just do ortho, it's what 99 % of your peers say they want to do after they look at salary surveys. seriously, 80 + % of my class wanted to do ortho on the first day.

Interesting, ca. 80% of my class wanted to be neurosurgeons on the first day... oh how Step 1 and the first 3 years bolt reality down.

 

[Hustler101]

I meant it as a joke, but really, money should never be a reason to enter healthcare. It's a public service field. You should want to provide that public service.

To OP I ask, would you go into Medicine if it paid 50K a year? Let's say medical school was free, so we can avoid the whole loan repayment argument. Would you do it? If the answer is no, I mean...I don't think a career in medicine could really sustain you. At that point, medicine isn't your passion....but money sure is!

Medicine would be easier to get into than just about... anything if it paid 50k a year.

Your way of thinking is far too idealistic. The med students I know who truly love medicine say they'd be extremely depressed if they only made 150k (three times the amount you suggested) and they don't even have any major loans to pay back.
Ultimately most wise people pursue something that is the right combination of their interests and income potential. There's nothing wrong with wanting to live a very luxurious lifestyle while also doing medicine. In fact that's a terrific combination.

 

[Narmerguy]

It's normal and human to be motivated by money. What I don't like is the double talk where people want to be treated like noble angels but also get paid like a king. Just be real about what you're in this for, and don't be surprised when people adjust accordingly.

Also, I'd never work any job long term for 50,000 a year.

 

[Surgeon's Cuffs]

It's normal and human to be motivated by money. What I don't like is the double talk where people want to be treated like noble angels but also get paid like a king. Just be real about what you're in this for, and don't be surprised when people adjust accordingly.

Also, I'd never work any job long term for 50,000 a year.

For real. For all the smack talk that SDNers have for i-bankers, at least they admit that they want to be get paid a well for their hard work, even if only a fraction of them get paid so extravagantly.

 

[deleted480308]

I meant it as a joke, but really, money should never be a reason to enter healthcare. It's a public service field. You should want to provide that public service.

To OP I ask, would you go into Medicine if it paid 50K a year? Let's say medical school was free, so we can avoid the whole loan repayment argument. Would you do it? If the answer is no, I mean...I don't think a career in medicine could really sustain you. At that point, medicine isn't your passion....but money sure is!

Medicine is a good idea for making money. It's one of the only, "i get to make $200k for the rest of my life" options out there where pretty much everyone in the field makes that or more.

Anyone smart enough to get into med school can do that math

 

[gettheleadout]

Pretty much every post the OP has ever made on this site is about money, including asking about cosmetics practices and how to open one with the least amount of training.

Asking about money doesn't necessarily imply superficiality. The OP's posts do.

Ah, well, had the user I responded to noted this I would have better understood the tone.

 

[Hustler101]

Pretty much every post the OP has ever made on this site is about money, including asking about cosmetics practices and how to open one with the least amount of training.

Asking about money doesn't necessarily imply superficiality. The OP's posts do.

Nothing wrong with gaining knowledge about such things. Also nothing wrong with making 1 mil a year in medicine (hypothetically), in fact pretty much everyone on here would have admiration for that person.
All I care about is maintaining a good service to patients in the context of work quality.

Medicine is a good idea for making money. It's one of the only, "i get to make $200k for the rest of my life" options out there where pretty much everyone in the field makes that or more.

Anyone smart enough to get into med school can do that math

It's the best field for making money. I actually have a business, have done stocks, own real estate and know people in every field (I'm 23). Hence I laugh when people say "if you just want money, go into business."
Reality of business = work 80-100 hours just to startup , work 60 hours for years to maintain a decent income, keep working 60 hour weeks to make a very low 6 figure salary. This is all assuming that you actually make it which most people don't.