<p>The non-financial rewards of the practice of medicine vary greatly.</p>
<p>On the plus side, I frequently receive baked goods and notes from grateful patients after surgery. On one occasion, a "cash pay" patient promised to bring me home-made beef jerky after a procedure; Unfortunately, he brought it to the ER where the staff bolted it down without telling me. (I learned this when I saw him in the ER for a repeat procedure months later.)</p>
<p>On the minus side, I have been spat upon by patients, been berated for OR delays due to emergency cases, been yelled at by surgeons for canceling cases for patient safety concerns, and missed many of my kid's soccer games and school functions.</p>
<p>The issues all of you are describing...would be non-factors for me. So I guess I'm cut out to be a surgeon in the 21st century. HMS here I come!</p>
<p>
[quote]
the whole article is written about the $$$$$, so there is nothing to counter.. the pay has been decreasing for years, it's a fact
don't consider going into medicine if money is the driving force behind your decision
[/quote]
</p>
<p>But ROADS doctors wouldn't get affected much, would they, because they still and probably will always make loads of money?</p>
<p>No. ROAD docs make lots of money because that's how Medicare payments are currently structured. In fact, anesthesia just a few years ago was projected to have a massive surplus of doctors and students were discouraged from entering the field. Similarly, just ten years ago, cardiothoracic surgeons used to be "kings of the hospital," as my father says, and their salaries have dropped precipitously thanks to evolving technology. (His estimate is about 90%, but this seems pessimistic even to me.) Radiology is in danger of outsourcing, for example. Perhaps some new technology will come along that reduces the need for plastic surgery and dermatology, or perhaps Medicare will want to only pay for optometry for routine eye care.</p>
<p>Medicine changes fast, and when the whole profession is vulnerable, so is each specialty.</p>
<p>ROADs docs are affected. Each depends on third party reimbursement and so find incomes eroded by Medicare cuts, which drag down private reimbursement.</p>
<p>With the advent of digital film radiologists face competition from distant sites including India. Anesthesiologists face competition from nurse anesthetists who provide cheaper, quasi-equivalent services.</p>
<p>Not really. If you look at all the changes that have continued to sweep medicine over the last 20 years, or for that matter, even 10 or fewer years, it is no surprise that many of these predictions are being made (and will probably materialize in the near future).</p>
<p>Most people I've talked to currently in the field (docs, PAs, nurses) and most books I've read that touched on the topics are basically saying the same things that people on this site are saying. Since I'm only a premed, I trust what these people say. Piccolo, your notion that things are "exaggerated doomsday predictions" is a bit funny considering you're not even premed yet!</p>
<p>He/she/it is saying I'm "not even a premed" as if it's possible to officially declare such a thing.</p>
<p>Anyway, my main reason for going into medicine isn't money, respect, humanitarianism, or "passion." Because such is the case, people try their hardest to paint a bleak picture for me yet ultimately fail.</p>
<p>I'm not a premed yet either,but i am bored so i browse this forum.</p>
<p>Don't some doctors do only house calls? It seems like a pretty easy way to avoid insurance companies, but still make a good salary with less stress.</p>
<p>Since I can't explain it well I'll give an example</p>
<p>Patient x pays $2000 a year for her doctor. This involve quarterly check up plus unlimited emergency calls. The doctor gives the patient his cell phone for an emergency and his email for a quick question. The visits are much longer than a usual doctor visit and the doctor will discuss nutrition plans each time she has a quarterly check up. The doctor does not have an office, but does house calls but sees his patients at their house or his. I think some of them also do webcams if the patient has a question about something too.</p>
<p>Why would a patient pay $2000 a year just for 4 checkups and unlimited emergency visits (which are "free" even if you don't have health insurance)?</p>
<p>"And AFAIK this is the most pessimistic medicine message board I've ever been on."</p>
<p>Maybe one year back, I would have agreed with you...but now, I'm convinced that the regulars on this forum are more honest than anybody who tells you medicine is easy, fun, and/or lucrative. The occupation involves high stress (ironically, more dangerous to one's heart health than bad diets/high blood pressure) and is not emotionally rewarding for the most part (70% of doctors are depressed). Even if physician salaries were still exorbitant, would it be worth leading such an abysmal lifestyle to obtain it?</p>
<p>This is actually dramatically increasing in ... uh, prevalence. Enough that it's a major topic of discussion at basically every health economics discussion.</p>