<p>Given the recent development and passage of an clearly unfavorable bill, do you guys still want to become doctors?</p>
<p>Physicians will definitely have more strife with Medicare as it will try to squeeze payments. More regulation translates into more paperwork and administration, carrying huge oppertunity costs. ABC news say that paperwork costs $31 billion, or around $60k a year per doctor in oppertunity cost (someone else will do it.... but only if they get paid nicely).</p>
<p>I guess what im asking is, will this affect your career choice in anyway? Specialty choice? I'd suspect Obama's war on specialists will not end for quite a white.</p>
<p>How would this affect your specialty choice? Obviously, drastic cuts in various specialties will redistribute the choices our medical students make.</p>
<p>For some strange reason all you think about is money, and honestly if money is your primary concern why would u choose medicine?</p>
<p>I believe i can say that most of those who want to become doctors do it more out of passion to help people get better, healthier, and happier. I do not think we should concerned about money at all, i mean yes you need it to pay the bills and etc, but in all honesty you will earn enough to do so.</p>
<p>Please, dont become a doctor if you are doing for the money.</p>
<p>OH and i would not choose my specialty by the amount of $$ i would get paid…
/sigh im so tired of reading these kind of posts alrdy…</p>
<p>the bill hit some snags, that will cause a revote, because the Republicans found some violations to the bill. It won’t affect the major bill by that much, but it does include some minor amendments.</p>
<p>The invisible hand is no push over; People direct their efforts to where it yields a satisfactory return.</p>
<p>Other options are significantly harder for me to go into:
Investment banking- no connections
law- i suck at rhetoric</p>
<p>On the other hand, i am a monster at science. Of all the science related careers, medicine pays the highest. Medicine is more or less meritocratic (unlike investment banking- no connection, no interview). Thus it is in my best interest to MAXIMIZE my earnings in medicine. Also, i have family members who are in the medical field who are motivated by money, as shown by one of their boutique medical practice.</p>
<p>Face it, if im trying to bank over $10 million in this life time, medicine is the way to go (250k a year * 35 years + investments which on average grow 9% a year). If i can put up with the BS i am dealing with now, im certain i will bear through Premed, med school, residency, and fellowship.</p>
<p>@leon. </p>
<p>People obviously choose specialties by pay. Can you explain why it is the hardest to get a residency in Plastics? Can you explain why people who become doctors to “help” people seem more interested in performing a boob job or face lift than diagnosing a disease or perform procedures? Where is this “passion to help people”? It seems like the smartest medical students have more passion for perfectly shaped breasts or unwrinkled faces than saving peoples lives.
Face it, our brightest medical students are those vying for a Plastics residency (look at the USMLE scores). Those who are less smart comfort themselves by saying they are in medicine to “help” people.</p>
<p>i’m with jason. moolah = biggest reason to go into medicine. sure, you need to care to a certain extent and it’s not like i’d throw my patients out a window just cause all i want is to collect my money, but there is 0 reason to say that money doesn’t matter. if you say that, then you should be set on doing doctors without boarders for the rest of your life. your salary shouldnt matter.</p>
<p>i’ll be the first to admit that money is what i’m after. i’m smart, i know enough people in medicine and dentistry to give me a boost in both experience and admissions, and no one besides other, bitter pre-meds/dents is going to give me a hard time for wanting to roll in the big bucks. get over yourselves.</p>
<p>Jeebus. Altruism is certainly not the only reason to be a doc but… Goodness sakes, a desire to help others needs to be in there somewhere. As for the “everone’s in it for the money” argument, I would have to say that’s not always the case. Most professionals feel a calling, and it ain’t always money on the line.</p>
<p>All im going to say is i feel sad for you, and i hope you remember that it will be people’s life on your hands. Life is priceless, and you putting a price on it by going into this just for the money.</p>
<p>Im not about to argue about this, to each their own. </p>
<p>And i would choose my specialty for what im most passionate about, or by what i think i would be most helpful with. There is no doubt people do it for the money, but i bet you the “best” doctors in my opinion would not.</p>
<p>Hope everything goes good for you.</p>
<p>Oh and @ironically
I never said money did not matter, i said we should not be concerned about it. Like i said money its needed to pay the bills and be economically stable with your family, but you should not choose medicine just because of the money, it is just the wrong reason to go into it.</p>
<p>^^ can we agree at least that connections/ networking are HUGE parts of landing a career in business? The unconnected are at a disadvantage, the extent of which is debatable.</p>
<p>@Leon:
This raises another point.
And who are you to tell people that they shouldn’t go into medicine for money? Study after study shows that net productivity goes up when people are allowed to follow their own interests (even when they are wildly absurd). </p>
<p>In addition, what if people want more than being able to pay the bills. For 13-15 years of intense training, what if doctors want a Mercedez? A mansion? A helicopter?</p>
<p>Why should we settle for mediocrity when we can have luxury? Rationally, why would people choose a Buick (primary care) over a Ferrari (cosmetics surgery)? Unfortunately, some people choose the Buick because they are under this damaging belief of “helping others as a doctor” at the expense of their own standard of living.</p>
<p>If it were up to me, all the NP would fill the primary care roles while all our MD’s would head straight right on into Dermatology, Plastics, Boutiques, and outpatient imaging centers (they make a KILLING).</p>
<p>In business generally, sure. This is particularly true in venture capital, real estate, and (slightly less) leveraged buyouts. And of course, connections matter in investment banking, too. But in all of those fields (and somewhat more so in IB), strong qualifications will also serve to open the door. That’s especially true at the top ends of the businesses. The kind of venture capital that helped groups like Amgen is more (relatively speaking) meritocratic than the kind of venture capital that helped fund your neighbor’s car dealership.</p>
<p>I completely agree with Curm on this one. Altruism can’t be the only reason to go into medicine, but it has to be one of the major motivating factors (along with money,prestige,etc). If health care reform were to cut salaries, dramatically (20-30%), then altruism would be the only major reason to becoming a Doc. The opportunity costs of going into medicine are simply too high if altruism is THE ONLY factor.</p>
<p>For example, the 2010 Medicare schedule calls for a 4 year 16% cut for Oncology reimbursements. That does not account for inflation, neither medical nor fiscal.</p>
<p>Assuming medical inflation and economical inflation are 4% combined a year, we will see a 28% cut in Real Oncologist salaries. I bet they arent gonna be happy…</p>
<p>money is not an issue i wouldnt be anymore happier if i made 300k vs. 200k or 100k.</p>
<p>since i was 12 years old ive wanted to be an opthalmologist and nothing has changed yet. </p>
<p>btw if anyone cares i want to be an optho because i feel that out of all the disabilities a person could have blindness is the worst to have. and i wanna help people see again or improve their vision through any means possible.</p>
<p>As a practicing Otolaryngologist with fellowship training in Facial Plastics, I will tell you money is important. However, the great thing about medicine is you have the opportunity to impact people in a positive manner, earn a wonderful living, become a leader in your community while looking forward to going to work each and every day. I cannot fathom why everyone would not want to practice medicine if given the opportunity.</p>
<p>But, if your primary goal is to become rich you are going into the wrong field. If you spend the time and effort required to become a competent/excellent physician/surgeon on becoming a leader in the field of business and possess the qualities found in such a physician, you will assuredly make more money in business. Most physicians classified as “rich” have actually become so through investments and a good business sense. </p>
<p>Cosmetic surgery is an exception in many instances. However, will you be happy dealing with these types of patients on a daily basis? They tend to be demanding, vain and self-centered. The procedures become routine and monotonous. The main sense of satisfaction is monetary and it sucks all the fun out of operating. Due to these reasons, I tend to limit my cosmetic practice to ~20% of my patient population although I could limit my practice to cosmetic surgery alone. I do not desire to sound condescending, but as you grow older and become more mature, money (to a point) will become less important. At least I hope it does so you can lead a satisfying and fulfilling life. Sorry to pontificate but I felt the views of a practicing physician may provide perspective. By the way, I still hope my son continues to pursue a career in medicine. It truly is an awesome career.</p>
<p>My D spent a great deal of time in a plastic surgeon’s office and her impressions were similar. She dearly loved the restorative procedures and genuinely despised the cosmetic procedures. In her opinion the patients would rarely be satisfied with their appearance after the procedure even when the very skilled and erudite doc had fully explained prior to the surgery the folly of un-realistic expectations. Not every 50 year old can look like <insert magazine-cover-beautiful=“” actress=“” here=“”>.</insert></p>