Why do doctors make so much $$$?
By fadimichael
@fadimichael (34)
United States
March 5, 2008 5:14pm CST
Did you ever wonder why doctors make so much money? They really don't do much. I mean it's mostly machines, and nurses that do all the work. In other words, nurses and people who invent medical machines should be making more than doctors.
I was in the hospital when my brother's wife delivered a baby couple of weekends ago. I saw the doctor for five minutes only. All he did/said was "how are you doing? I'm doctor X" My brother and I looked into each other and said "Hey I could have done that" sogo figure!
2 responses
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
11 Mar 08
Have you figured the cost of medical school and continuous training?
Malpractice insurance?
Office costs (rent, heat/electric, supplies, salaries for staff (to include the nurses that you say should be making more), medical equipment)
There are probably dozens of other things to take into consideration.
I'm not saying they don't earn a lot, but they also have a lot of expenses that the normal person in a 9-5 job wouldn't have.
@tomhanks (1)
• United States
3 Jan 11
In the group practice, tell me who pays malpractice insurance? who pays for the staff?
ITS US, the poor patients!
You are lying here. Spreading the myths all around.
Physicians (they are not doctors, they are there to REPAIR our bodies. Repair persons are not called doctors. Their talent is only for REPAIRING us and just that) bags on average 150K per year.
Now tell me, how many years do you need to pay off your 100K loan?
Please do not disgrace the intelligence of the public by trying to fool them.
This salary structure should be revised and physician salary should be brought under around 100K. Medical school education and should be reduced to 5 yrs.
@montyy01 (1)
•
23 Jun 12
I am married to a doctorate with a degree in Audiology who happens to work at a state hospital. These degrees like many other fields/specialties are not offered at all schools or even in all states.
Thus, if you follow the degree you desire, it may lead you to an out of state school, hence charged out of state residency costs. The higher you advance in your degrees ... be it in any field, it will cost more; but, more so in medicine and in law.
Most fields of medicine, especially specialty fields require continuing education credits after you take the praxis (not free for either, and CEUs sometimes require air and hotel, etc in order to obtain said hours). As noted by Ldyjarhead above, in a private practice there are lots of overhead expenses as well. Even if you do not have your own practice, you must have malpractice insurance and it is not equal for all fields of medicine. Case and point, one of the highest insurances paid by doctors are those who are OB/GYN's.
Tomhanks, you would be surprised just how many "skilled laborers" (licensed)and unlicensed laborers (who want to charge the same as the so called "skilled" but have not earned their license/s) on Craiglist will ultimately charge more than most doctors for their services broken down on an hourly rate issue; and often have a mere high school degree or GED at best. (And they are not saddled with school loans that are the equivalent to a mortgage before taking on a first mortgage for their first actual home).
@Ashbull (1)
• United States
17 Dec 08
I sincerely hope this question was posed more as a joke or as a flippant comment. As a second year medical student I can tell you doctors do A LOT. Granted, some have much better interpesonal skills than others but I can guarantee that the 5 minutes the doctor spent talking to you was not the only amount of time he dedicated to your sister-in-law's delivery. There would have been pouring over lab values, monitoring the baby's well being, etc. Not to mention he likely had a plethora of other patients requiring just as much attention as your family member.
When all things are taken into consideration doctors make good money but not great money. If attending a private medical school for 4 years the avg. student will shell out in excess of 200,000$ - much of that in the form of loans. On top of that, medical malpractice insurance is absolutely outrageous due to health insurance and pharmaceutical companies running healthcare instead of doctors. On top of that, patients seemingly want to sue doctors for every misstep.
Also, the reasons nurses don't get paid as much is simple: they're not the doctor. ANY mistake that is made, whether it be by the nurse or the guy scrubbing the floor in the patient's room, is attributed to the doctor of the patient - bottom line.
I implore to think about these things next time you are in the hospital and are thinking that doctors "really don't do much."
