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MDs- Are they really benefiting in today's society?

singhstyle

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Any comments are welcome to answer this question. I just would rather hear hospital staff and the good ole' MDs respond to this thread. Thanks. Is the current economic crisis affecting them at all, or is it bringing in more money for them? The biggest question of all: Is it really all its fed up to be?
 

DNW

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Recession or not, you still need to go to the doctor when you need to go to the doctor.

With a whole generation retiring, MDs will be doing okay.
 

nate10184

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I'm no doctor but I've heard some of the recent big money areas like plastic surgery are hurting which is no surprise. On the whole though I'm sure they're doing fine.
 

pinchi22

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Being a MD isn´t what it used to be. My father, who is an anesthesiologist, has effectively been laid off for the past 6 months. He works primarily on plastic surgery cases.

I know a nurse-practicioner whose income is half what it used to be because insurance companies and medicare/medicaid refuse to pay most of the time.
 

TylerDurden

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It's hurting, mostly because of lawsuits, expensive malpractice insurance, money hogging insurance companies that want to pay nothing and keep all the money.

If I were (and im thinking about it) to become an MD, my reason for become one would be because I wanted to help out people, not because of the money. Sure is allot of money for Med School, as well as all those years of Chemistry and Biology in undergrad.

Strangely, nursing and other hospital positions keep getting pay cuts, even though inflation and cost of living keeps going up. Working conditions keep getting worse as well.

Dunno, you gotta ask is it worth it? There are easier ways of helping people, but you sure can do quite a bit as an MD.
 

Aperipan

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I think you must be stupid these days to think that you'll get rich with a career in medicine. The path is simply too long and too difficult. This is why I will go into law; lots of fertile land left to be grazed. I also find that with medicine, you have to live an honest life whether you like it or not. With law, there are more leeways. Besides, if you're Jewish it's almost a stigma to tell your buddies' parents you want to be a doc.
 

tiecollector

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Originally Posted by TylerDurden
It's hurting, mostly because of lawsuits, expensive malpractice insurance, money hogging insurance companies that want to pay nothing and keep all the money.
You left out illegal aliens. You won't get rich being a physician, but you'll be better off than most in the years to come. Sick Care will always be needed no matter what. I think in the end most people will think it is too difficult for the reward. Only those that see it as more than just a job will continue (aka not many). As a result we'll get more docs from far off places and the quality will continue to decrease. I originally was going to be an MD and I'm glad I didn't.
 

Aperipan

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Originally Posted by tiecollector
You left out illegal aliens. You won't get rich being a physician, but you'll be better off than most in the years to come. Sick Care will always be needed no matter what. I think in the end most people will think it is too difficult for the reward. Only those that see it as more than just a job will continue (aka not many). As a result we'll get more docs from far off places and the quality will continue to decrease. I originally was going to be an MD and I'm glad I didn't.
It's the same on the provider end as well. Most RNs are now Phillipino imports and the GPs are mostly FMGs these days. This is probably why most medical schools are pushing for their students to enter the specialized areas where the FMGs can't compete based on certification of post graduate training.
 

globetrotter

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I think that there will be a dramatic shift in what doctors earn in the next generation in the US - doctors have earned huge amounts up until now, compared to other parts of the world, and they will be the next to be affected by globalization
 

Piobaire

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Originally Posted by DarkNWorn
Recession or not, you still need to go to the doctor when you need to go to the doctor.

With a whole generation retiring, MDs will be doing okay.


That is a common fallacy. The RAND group has done extensive research to demonstrate the demand line for health care is not a vertical line, as so many people always took as self evident. This has been seen over the last year, with patient days being down substantially, in hospitals across the country. Yes, certain things need immediate attention. But millions of things don't. Btw, co-pays are a common mechanism to manipulate the demand line off the vertical.

I think med school will almost certainly ensure you lead a very affluent life. It's not what it once was, in terms of social standing and respect, as well as earning power relative to the general population, but it still sure beats a McJob.
 

MJC8719x

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Originally Posted by globetrotter
I think that there will be a dramatic shift in what doctors earn in the next generation in the US - doctors have earned huge amounts up until now, compared to other parts of the world, and they will be the next to be affected by globalization

Part of this is because the US does not have Universal Health Care. If that changes, MDs salaries are going to go down. Also, consider that in many other countries, medical school is less expensive. If med school was made more affordable and students weren't graduating 200K in debt than in reductions in salary wouldn't be as bad.

My Dad is an MD and while his hospital is doing ok there have been discussions about pay cuts for and perhaps layoffs for doctors - an indication of how bad it is as usually hospitals cut support/non-patient based positions.
 

Piobaire

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Originally Posted by MJC8719x
Part of this is because the US does not have Universal Health Care. If that changes, MDs salaries are going to go down.

There is absolutely no logical necessity in what you have said.
 

MJC8719x

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Originally Posted by Piobaire
There is absolutely no logical necessity in what you have said.

I think there are much better ways to reduce health care costs if we were going to go to a universal system.

However, if you look at most systems around the world, doctors salaries are lower in the universal system. Although the UK is an exception as General Practioners there often make 80,000-120,000 pounds a year. I don't know about specialists there though.

I also think it would be much easier for the government (politically) to cut health care costs by targeting physicians salaries than to try and reform insurance companies etc. Plus all the populist outrage against those who earn high paying salaries these days makes those with high paying salaries an easy target.

I plan on applying to medical school this summer and have always taken the approach that a career in medicine is not gong to make be incredibly wealthy but that I would always have a job that would allow me to support my family and live quite comfortably.
 

TylerDurden

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You could become a physicians assistant, they still make $60-90K, but have less responsibility. But again if your going into the medical field to make money, you wont be satisfied, you need to be going into it because you want to help people. Salaries are all ready being reduced as we speak, and the cost of schooling is going up 10% each year.

If you want to make lots of money, and not care about a soul, maybe becoming a lawyer is for you.
 

needler

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Salaries don't really have much room to go down except for highly paid subspecialists (cardiologists, orthopedic surgeons). The average GP makes like 140. There are physician assistants that make >100 and nurses that almost that working overtime. At Kaiser, an senior emergency medicine physician assistant already makes a lot more than a family practice physician. Furthermore, physician salaries make up less than 20% of healthcare spending so it's like getting blood from a rock.

What will happen is that the government will keep salaries constant and allow inflation and increasing practice costs to erode purchasing power. French surgeons were making a lot of money 20 years ago. Then they went 20 years without an increase in pay from the government and suddenly they made like as much as government employees (who were getting CoL pay raises). Sucks, but still better than law - they're getting fired in droves (the ones who were smart enough to get into a top school and not do document review for 50k a year).
 

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