Will salary determine what you specialize in?

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Jeffy

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Money isn't everything, but damn, I think it sure helps. How much is salary going to be a determining factor in what you decide to specialize in? I recently looked at a site that listed average salaries for pretty much every specialty and was alarmed at what I found. Some of these docs make a killing, even by a doc's standards ( <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> Cardiovascular surgeons <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> )! Up to this point, EM is still my first choice regardless, but I'm affraid the mighty green may eventually lure me away to one of the surgical specialties. Has money affected your choice? Think it will?

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Here's one of those sites by the way:

<a href="http://www.cejka.com/content.asp?intPageID=264&intBrowserRes=1024" target="_blank">Salaries</a>
 
of course not!!! how can you even ask such a thing <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" />

the whole purpose of going into medicine is to help pple...hear them nag everyday, be in school for half of ur life, the other half u will probalby not live because u are either

1) divorcing ur wife, or contemplating in divorcing her, because 70% of physicians do
2) commit suicide, or contemplate in commiting suicide, because 80% of physicians do

or better yet, pay back the interest in ur loans for the rest of ur life...

quagmire I am so disappointed in u....how can u even think of money? :rolleyes:

(ps some sarcasm was intended) :wink: :p
 
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Salary is not a factor in my selecting a specialty at all. I think the even lowest-paying specialty will still provide me with enough financial security.
 
Ofcourse the salary will affect what I choose to specialize in. It won't be the overriding factor but it will certainly play a role.

'Cause you know what comes with money right? Giggity-Giggity-Giggity Alright !!!

Now go write UPN and save the best show in the world ("Family Guy")!!
 
Salary probably won't be a huge factor for me. Ideally, I'm going to end up practicing in family medicine or some other primary care area. Even if I do specialize, I want to work in an underserved, rural area where my patients won't have the money to pay. But that's just my $.02.
 
Personally, no. The difference between, say, $150K and $200K is nothing, IMO.

But I'm sure A LOT of med students do choose specialties based on a lot more than what they want to do. I have a very hard time believing that a lot of people want to go into dermatology because the skin is such a fascinating organ.
 
I was gunning to be the altruistic doctor before, but after getting my financial aid package, and being ripped off by dentists for my shattered premolar (over 8K in the last month), I don't know anymore.
 
An IM doc I was doing an internship with during my undergrad brought this subject up (directly after she wrote out a check for 37K for her daughter currently attending med school at PIT.) She said that she was paying for her daughters education simply because she didn't want her to feel the pressures of extreme debt that often leads med students to higher paying specialties.

I've always wondered if more people would go into the lower paying fields of med if their debt was forgiven. It's pretty sad that money has a way of ruining everything beautiful.
 
Here's another site that lists salaries:
<a href="http://www.physicianssearch.com/physician/salary2.html" target="_blank">Physicain Salaries</a>
 
Money isn't my primary concern, but if I find that I like 2 specialties roughly equally, one of which pays significantly more than the other, I'd most likley go towards the $$. I'm much more concerned with being content in my specialty since I'll spend decades working in it.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by WaitingImpatiently:
•Personally, no. The difference between, say, $150K and $200K is nothing•••••Surely you jest, my friend. I'm not a math major, but anyone can see that the difference is, (hold on for a sec while I grab the calculator.......) $50,000!!! It's not a one time thang either. 50k X 30 years = $1,500,000 million. As for the whole derm thing, it's not just about the money. I'd argue that it's moreso about the quality of life. You have more free time than you know what to do with! More time to have a life outside of medicine, which is actually important to a lot of people.
 
I think this is an interesting article about what some doctors are doing to make more money...I'd be interested to hear some feedback about this.

<a href="http://www.newyorkmetro.com/bestdoctors/articles/02/cosmeticsurgery/chasingbeauty4.htm" target="_blank">http://www.newyorkmetro.com/bestdoctors/articles/02/cosmeticsurgery/chasingbeauty4.htm</a>
 
My view on this is that you will live comfortably with any specialty. Like Papi said, quality of life is a very important factor, and I would choose that over an extra high salary. Then again, I want derm and the best of both worlds. :oops: :D
 
I tend to agree that most fields will allow you to live a comfortable existence. However, it is true that if you take out $250,000 in loans to attend a private med school that you have to think twice about entering academic internal medicine which would only pay about $100,000 a year in a major city (like Boston). I don't need a lavish lifestyle, but I do need to be able to make loan payments and pay my bills. To that end, I will use salary as a small factor in my decision. I want to have a life outside of medicine and research even if that means earning a bit less.
 
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