<p>where exactly is the big money in medicine? how do some doctors make the millions? any thoughts or insights?</p>
<p>The lottery.</p>
<p>thanks for the profound insight, steeler.</p>
<p>Medical</a> Dispatch: Piecework: The New Yorker</p>
<p>the surgeon on page 3 of the gawande article seems to have figured it out.</p>
<p>"There are easier ways to make money than going into medicine"</p>
<p>-My Uncle (a physician in Georgia)</p>
<p>fine, but doctors still make a lot of it. how?</p>
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fine, but doctors still make a lot of it. how?
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Compared to most other jobs and professions? Perhaps.</p>
<p>Relative to how much schooling and work they do? Not a lot.</p>
<p>If you're looking to be filthy rich, medicine is the wrong place to look. Obviously, some doctors are; you'll find outliers in most fields. The article by Gawande (which I recognize as an excerpt from one of his books... don't remember which one) clearly explains how the mentioned doctor makes so much: he requires payment in cash, no insurance. He treats only those who can afford to pay. I'm definitely not going to delve into the moral and ethical aspect of this (it's not my place to say "it's right" or "it's wrong" with the limited knowledge and experience I have), but if every doctor (or most doctors) did this, it would leave all but society's upper echelon with limited access to healthcare, or at least to certain treatments/procedures.</p>
<p>The schooling process required to practice medicine in this country to an effect guarantees (though that is too strong of wording) a certain salary. There are very few starving doctors or those who can't pay the electric bill. Being a doctor is fairly synonymous with a comfortable lifestyle but for most it is by no means lavish. There are also very few who are unable to use their medical degree to actually practice medicine. But with this security and minimum lifestyle almost a certainty, there is little chance of becoming filthy rich, and really making obscene amounts of money. </p>
<p>If you wish to make a lot of money, you need to go into fields like Investment banking or business, or even certain types of law. The flipside though is that there are a lot of failures in these fields for each of the successful big money guys. There are a lot of individuals with JD's who don't use the degree to be lawyers. You can be an I-banker with a lot less schooling than a doctor.</p>
<p>For example, coming out of medical school, all first year residents nationwide earn about $44,000-46,000 a year. Raises vary some from program to program, but most third year residents end up between 50-52k per year. Considering you're working close to 80 hours a week depending on the specialty, that's not a whole lot. Throw in being in debt anywhere from 150k to 250k and that's really not a lot of money. </p>
<p>CareerJournal</a> | Banking -- Salary Data and Hiring Trends
that article has some eye-opening stats on the types of salaries that can be earned in i-banking...</p>
<p>Sure, doctors make good money. They also have tons of training, big debt, and put up with a lot of crap. Also, they don't "make the millions". </p>
<p>But to answer your question, how do some doctors make a lot of money? You could always be Dr. Oz and go on Oprah. You could separate some siamese twins and sell the stories to the news. You could cure cancer. You could be a plastic surgeon. You could be one of the TOP neurosurgeons, or the TOP whatever.</p>
<p>Good luck with that.</p>
<p>fine, there might be easier ways to make money without the schooling and debt, but that's not saying much. it takes a certain type of person to become an i-banker (read: ivy league grad) otherwise the avg. business major doesn't make that much. the average doctor still, however, makes six figures--in most cases more than enough to live well. and it seems as if you can "high roll" as a doctor--do what the surgeon in gawande's article did...insurance + no cash = no treatment. you don't have to be the TOP doctor to earn the seven figures.</p>
<p>besides, aren't doctors undercompensated for their work? in most instances, though not all, medicine is a business, right?</p>
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it takes a certain type of person to become an i-banker (read: ivy league grad)
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</p>
<p>... then I guess all the people at my university who went into i-banking were just lying to me about their jobs (read: I went to NYU, which is not an Ivy League school).</p>
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otherwise the avg. business major doesn't make that much.
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</p>
<p>Where's the proof? I have no idea how much business majors end up making.</p>
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you don't have to be the TOP doctor to earn the seven figures
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</p>
<p>Actually, you probably do. Careers</a> in Medicine Specialty Pages lists quite a few of the major specialties and their average salaries. Of the specialties listed, the ones who make the most are the thoracic surgeons, who barely break $500k. That's nowhere near seven figures. A thoracic surgeon who makes double what his "average" peers do better darn well be near or at the top of his field.</p>
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<p>you know what i mean...ivy league is synonymous with top ranking, and by saying ivy league i meant top ranking schools with strong econ/business programs--mit, chicago, nyu, etc. are included. unfortunately, it takes a lot of work for an unknown school grad. to break into wall street.</p>
<p>CollegeJournal</a> | MBA
mba salaries</p>
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you don't have to be the TOP doctor to earn the seven figures.
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Seven figures? Yes you do. The Gawande article specifically points this out.</p>
<p>And SC is right about thoracic surgeons, but this is economically considered a dying specialty, so that one's about to get taken off the books.</p>
<hr>
<p>If you want BIG money, medicine, law, and engineering are out. What you need is entrepreneurship. And that doesn't have any qualifications at all. (Or athletic talent.)</p>
<p>by all means, you need to be a top doctor to make seven figures. You don't have to be a top doctor to make, say, 150-200K.</p>
<p>Re: "top doctors" and income</p>
<p>Many docs will tell you that the people who make the most money are not necessarily the best physicians. They may be the highest compensated in their specialty, but they get there in large part by doing lots of procedures, including many on patients who would be better off treated less aggressively.</p>
<p>Thoracic surgery is changing, but not necessarily going away. Many open surgical procedures are being replaced by percutaneous approaches. As long as the surgeons adapt and learn to do the new procedures they will remain in demand. </p>
<p>Medicine is not a good bet as a route to wealth. Engineering can be, for a very small group of people, if it leads to a high position in management at a technical firm. Similarly, some lawyers make millions of dollars per year. A few plaintiffs attorneys do this pursuing class action cases. But for the most part any kind of piece work job, which certainly includes medicine and most law, is limited by the per-unit price for the work, and the number of hours you can put in.</p>
<p>Also consider expensive malpractice insurance!</p>