<p>Most CEO's have bonuses and stock options out the a**. They take home rediculous salaries as the above person posted, the guy frrom yahoo took 230 mil. No doctor practicing medicine will EVER make that kind of money. Unless they are a CEO.
FYI the lowest "paid" CEO the CEO of amazon he "makes" 88 grand a year. His stock options are worth $1.8 BILLION.</p>
<p>I see everyone talking about ceos and stuff, but go out in the real world and try becoming a CEO, there is no set path, its just taking risks, and chances with your life,.
whereas becoming a doctor is more structured, u take the premed courses, i know its not easy but at least u know what ur fighting for.
then u go to med school and then get into the field.</p>
<p>And then 10-15 years from now you get into the field. At that point there might be a healthcare system where doctors have structured salaries and docs will only make 100 grand or so, pocket change at that time. No one knows what kinds of money doctors will make in the future, but this much is sure they WILL be middle class, and will have enough to live in comfort take occasional vacations and have a family. Not the flashy life many doctors today can live with 5 cars, 3 or 4 houses, constant vacations etc. Times will change, and docs will make less.
On the other hand business people will always make a buch and even if you aren't a CEO it is quite easy to become an executive and make large amounts of money.</p>
<p>I'm just curious bigndude but why do you want to be a doctor? You always seem so down and are always pointing out the negative realities. I understand that these realities need to be pointed out but there are also plenty of good things that come out of being a doctor, and I think people understand that if they want to get rich, being a doctor is not the right path.I think most people aspire to become doctors because they simply want to be in that field and want to help others and impact others lives, and if they are out for the money they will realize that it is not right for them.</p>
<p>I'm a realist and I realize how it is/ will be in medicine. Anyone who has grown up around doctors who openly talk about the truth of the career will tell you these things. Most doctors will tell you not to be one. Don't believe me go ask a truthful doctor who isn't trying to sugarcoat everything. </p>
<p>As far as saying the bad on this site, I do it because people paint themselves a little fairytale career on this website. They think in their heads all of them will get into medical school, the will all practice medicine abroad in poor countries/villages, they feel they will live as some people like to put it "well." Its simply not that nice. Thats why after the first year of residency doctors satisfaction plumets, because they painted themselves the wrong picture of the field. I also say these things because on this site there are way too many people who let mommy and daddy run their lives. I also see this at school. Their moms and dads want them to be doctors and have forever and these kids are too naive to make up their own mind about what to do. Every week these people come on this site and ask the same question without first looking for the answer themselves. Thats a clear sign that they've spent their whole lives spoonfed info from parents and teachers. These people need to realize they are in control and have to decide for themselves if its what they want to do and they should not have a storybook picture of the profession. </p>
<p>See you may think people will naturally realize the field is not for them but it doesn't happen. I've seen people who want to be doctors who know nothing of how hard it is to get in, the residency, the low pay the hours, etc. They think ooo doctor, ok 4 years lots of money i'm in. But is not like that, they need their eyes opened to this. </p>
<p>And as far as why I want to be a doctor I have many many reasons, but mostly its my love of medicine itself, and the process of being the healer and being able to make people live more comfortably. Notice I didn't say curing people because thats not what most doctors do either. For me the career has a sparkle that no other career I've looked at does, and indescribeable feeling just like love.</p>
<p>Personally, I like bigndude's posts. They give clear, honest insight and avoid the traps that many flashy advertisements employ. Medicine is not easy and half the time not fun. Thats just the way it is.</p>
<p>Off topic, but isnt the same thing happening with engineers also, my cousin graduated with a computer enineering degree, and he was jobless for a year. Can some one tell me if their job slump is over yet. </p>
<p>Ok back on topic, doctors rarely suffered a slump, so now i guess it time, an they will have to ride it out. but I dont think its worth destroying ones dreams.</p>
<p>Slump? Would anyone really say that medicine is suffering a slump?</p>
<p>Loganr, if somones opinions destroy somones dream to become a doctor, those people weren't going to be doctors in the first place. Opinions may also destroy dreams about medicine itself, but those discoveries would come with time anyways, better to start young.</p>
<p>The business arguement is not about CEO's...it's about things like investment banking and those sorts of careers with much higher "potential" income right off the bat that lay in business.</p>
<p>Yeah, most people with a business degree will only end up with about $60k a year, and they'll start at 37k. But they're making that money RIGHT NOW while I'm taking out another 38k in LOANS. Students going to private medical schools are taking out even more than that. And when I'm done, I'll be spending between 3 - 7 years working 80 hours a week, for what other people my age are typically making (45k)...while I'm paying off those loans and they are only working 40 hours a week.</p>
<p>Simply put, business puts you ahead in the race, and while doctors eventually make a fair amount more in the end, we're far behind at the start. People who aren't in medicine for the long haul 10+ years out of residency will see that medicine isn't for them if all they are looking at is salary.</p>
<p>Bigndude, I think you are a little pessimistic at times. The threat of managed care and HMO's everywhere has been around for almost 2 decades now, and the general feeling from most doctors I've talked to is that the real threat has come and gone. Backlash to a micromanaged approach prevented the spread in the early 90's much more than anticipated, and while they still exist, the overall effect on most doctors has been noticeable but not necessarily hugely significant. </p>
<p>The issue is a complex one, and the combined political lobby associated with health care is huge. Changes are unlikely to come down the tubes very fast b/c of the politics that must be overcome. There's no doubt that somethings need to be addressed, but it's going to take a real crisis to get any swift action.</p>
<p>You do make good points about malpractice and such, and the debt (oh my the debt). But you need only look at the recent AMA action to stop the Medicare price freeze back at the beginning of the year to realize that doctors are going to be kicking and screaming if they don't get paid.</p>
<p>I do think though that you are right that if people don't want to be a doctor b/c the finances are as peachy as they imagined, then they weren't going to be MD's in the first place.</p>
<p>"You do make good points about malpractice and such, and the debt (oh my the debt). But you need only look at the recent AMA action to stop the Medicare price freeze back at the beginning of the year to realize that doctors are going to be kicking and screaming if they don't get paid"</p>
<p>can u explain that, ..</p>
<p>The AMA put together a very large campaign to it's members to call/write/email house members and senators over the proposed freezing of Medicare prices. There were some startling statistics from AMA surveys about doctors dropping medicare patients and/or refusing new patients on medicare. It leads to a lot of access of care issues and stuff, and is a great example that doctors do care about the finances and aren't just going to passively allow reductions in their wages if they can help it.</p>
<p>You have to figure, if salaries for doctors fall too much, less and less people will go into medicine. It will become too much of an investment of time and money and too little of a return. Then what will the world do? I don't think doctors' wages are going to drop as dramatically as some people here like to argue.</p>
<p>If you look at physician compensation on a world scale (not US scale), physicians in the US are highly compensated. Why are there competent physicians in other countries working for such low wages? I agree, part of it is that the US educational system is expensive and difficult. However, money is not everything to most physicians. </p>
<p>What will the practice of medicine be like 10 years from now? It is hard to say, but it is likely that it will be even more regulated and fees will be lower. The cost of medical care in the US is too high to make US companies competitive on a global scale.</p>
<p>The AMA is trying to avert a cut, not a freeze in rates. A 4.4% cut was recently reversed, resulting in a net near freeze. (A freeze is considered a victory in this context.) Recall also that Medicare rates pay substantially less than private insurance, sometimes even less than the cost of the encounter.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If Congress fails to act before they adjourn in October, Medicare will cut physician payments by about 5 percent on Jan. 1, 2007, with cuts totaling as much as 37 percent through 2015. And while physician payments plummet, practice costs during the same period are expected to increase 22 percent. These cuts make no sense as millions of Baby Boomers begin to retire.</p>
<p>Congress recently passed legislation reversing the physician payment cut of 4.4 percent that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2006, and setting the Medicare conversion factor at its 2005 level. Although payment rates for some localities and services are higher or lower than in 2005 due to geographic adjustments and other payment policies outlined in the 2006 Medicare physician payment schedule final rule, the legislation reversed the across-the-board cut due to the fatally flawed payment update formula.</p>
<p>The 2006 Medicare Trustees report forecasts a cut of about 5 percent in 2007 and cumulative cuts of more than a third by 2015. Clearly, the Medicare physician payment update system needs to be reformed. If it is not, Medicare payment rates in 2007 will have fallen 20 percent below increases in physicians costs since 2001.</p>
<p>Physician payment updates are driven by a flawed formula called the Sustainable Growth Rate, or SGR. Instead of the SGR, payment updates should be based on annual increases in practice costs, as recommended by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.</p>
<p>Other Medicare providers are not subject to the SGR. In fact, hospital payments are slated to continue to rise by more than 3 percent a year under current law and payments to Medicare Advantage plans are estimated to increase by 7.1 percent in 2007.</p>
<p>Results of a recent American Medical Association Member Connect Survey (2006 AMA Medicare Physician Payment Survey [PDF, 164KB]) indicate that Medicare payment cuts to physicians will hurt access to care for America's seniors. The results show that 45 percent of physicians will either stop accepting or decrease the number of new Medicare patients they accept if Medicare payments are cut in 2007.
[/quote]
<a href="http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/6583.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/6583.html</a></p>
<p>"Results of a recent American Medical Association Member Connect Survey (2006 AMA Medicare Physician Payment Survey [PDF, 164KB]) indicate that Medicare payment cuts to physicians will hurt access to care for America's seniors. The results show that 45 percent of physicians will either stop accepting or decrease the number of new Medicare patients they accept if Medicare payments are cut in 2007."</p>
<p>That's exactly what will happen. Medicare can't just keep cutting its payments to physicians or it will become useless. If no physicians are accepting Medicare, then it won't matter how much they cut payments. Eventually, the amount of payment has to equal out with physicians costs (or at least come closer to them).</p>
<p>I know alot of physician are not in it just for the money, but their not in it to lose money either.</p>
<p>OK so this is the essential question:</p>
<p>What is the highest-paying career in medicine that does not have high chances of facing malpractice suits?</p>
<p>dermatology</p>
<p>Don't worry coddoc, you won't get into medical school.</p>