Pediatricians salaries

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all the posters complaining about doctors' pay, are you willing to pay more either directly to the doctor's office or through higher insurance premiums? If not, where do you propose the additional money comes from?

No, I would not be willing to pay more, and honestly, I think that $150K is a decent salary. There are tons of people who are making a lot less.

Quite selfish of you. You must not realize the debt your DR has from school loans just to take care of you.
I have a HSA account so that the DR is paid more by me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reason Docs salaries look so high is that the weekly hours are not factored in. 200 k at 80 hrs per week is less than 100 k on 40 hrs if you factor in the premium hours as op did.
I worked for an insurance company in claims, and at times (sadly) we laughed at the small checks we would send the docs.

That is so sad and so true. When I see those checks post in our account I tell my husband that I wish he wouldn't take those cases and just come home. We have had dinner as a family once in the past school year. So selfish of me, I know....you don't have to get on me for that. But when I see $50 for a after midnight ER call, well would you want your spouse doing it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all the posters complaining about doctors' pay, are you willing to pay more either directly to the doctor's office or through higher insurance premiums? If not, where do you propose the additional money comes from?

No, I would not be willing to pay more, and honestly, I think that $150K is a decent salary. There are tons of people who are making a lot less.

Quite selfish of you. You must not realize the debt your DR has from school loans just to take care of you.
I have a HSA account so that the DR is paid more by me.

Oh please. I don't think for a moment that my doctors took out school loans just to "take care of people" out of the goodness of their hearts.

I fully support and very much respect doctors and their years of education but I think this is going a little too far. I would agree if you wrote "doctors who work in free clinics" or something like that - but not your average doctor. If you want to go and save the world, you can build houses for Habitat for Humanity or give away food for Share our Strength or go and work for Greenpeace with no advanced degrees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all the posters complaining about doctors' pay, are you willing to pay more either directly to the doctor's office or through higher insurance premiums? If not, where do you propose the additional money comes from?

No, I would not be willing to pay more, and honestly, I think that $150K is a decent salary. There are tons of people who are making a lot less.

Quite selfish of you. You must not realize the debt your DR has from school loans just to take care of you.
I have a HSA account so that the DR is paid more by me.

Oh please. I don't think for a moment that my doctors took out school loans just to "take care of people" out of the goodness of their hearts.

I fully support and very much respect doctors and their years of education but I think this is going a little too far. I would agree if you wrote "doctors who work in free clinics" or something like that - but not your average doctor. If you want to go and save the world, you can build houses for Habitat for Humanity or give away food for Share our Strength or go and work for Greenpeace with no advanced degrees.

And grrrr. the only people who have goodness in their hearts wear cloth shoes and knit caps and sell their 1.5 mil homes and give the cash to charity and live off the grid in sod houses and only ride bicycles and spit contemptuously on SUVs and tell other people what they should be doing to be more righteous and writhe on their straw-filled flour sacks at night, desperate for a sense of humor or the comfort of a hard cot for a 2 hour night of "sleep" in the on call room. Now that's altruism.

[Anonymous]

Asking to get paid is not unreasonable, and doctors are not asking for anything unreasonable. $200 for a physical is a bargain when you consider what you are getting.
Doctors don't have to be anymore altruistic than undertakers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all the posters complaining about doctors' pay, are you willing to pay more either directly to the doctor's office or through higher insurance premiums? If not, where do you propose the additional money comes from?

No, I would not be willing to pay more, and honestly, I think that $150K is a decent salary. There are tons of people who are making a lot less.

Quite selfish of you. You must not realize the debt your DR has from school loans just to take care of you.
I have a HSA account so that the DR is paid more by me.

Oh please. I don't think for a moment that my doctors took out school loans just to "take care of people" out of the goodness of their hearts.

I fully support and very much respect doctors and their years of education but I think this is going a little too far. I would agree if you wrote "doctors who work in free clinics" or something like that - but not your average doctor. If you want to go and save the world, you can build houses for Habitat for Humanity or give away food for Share our Strength or go and work for Greenpeace with no advanced degrees.

It's taking care of ungrateful people like you that drives many doctors out of practice. Don't think doctors like all their patients.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Asking to get paid is not unreasonable, and doctors are not asking for anything unreasonable. $200 for a physical is a bargain when you consider what you are getting.
Doctors don't have to be anymore altruistic than undertakers.

PP is being sarcastic and pretty funny, too--the implication is that how absurd are you to think that the only way to show altruism as a DR would be to give away practically all your worldly possessions and sleep on a straw mat while ministering your services in a free clinic somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all the posters complaining about doctors' pay, are you willing to pay more either directly to the doctor's office or through higher insurance premiums? If not, where do you propose the additional money comes from?

No, I would not be willing to pay more, and honestly, I think that $150K is a decent salary. There are tons of people who are making a lot less.

Quite selfish of you. You must not realize the debt your DR has from school loans just to take care of you.
I have a HSA account so that the DR is paid more by me.

Lets me see if I get this straight. I am selfish because I do not want to pay more for health insurance or doctor's bills, but the doctor is question is not selfish for wanting to make more money? Just how much more do you think I should be willing to pay and how much are you willing to pay? BTW, thanks for assuming that I can even afford to pay more.

Most of the people who are being squeezed by the healthcare system are those who make a lot less than doctors. To suggest that they be squeezed for more money so that doctors can afford to have a certain standard of living.

[Anonymous]

[continuing last post]

To suggest that they be squeezed for more money so that doctors can afford to have a certain standard of living is a bit silly and unfair. Also, it is not lost on me that some of the poster on this thread have significant other and relatives in the medical profession. I am so sorry that the "cash cow" career that you thought you had has not worked out that way. I will say it again - most of the people in this country do not make anywhere close to $150K a year.

[Anonymous]

I don't think people go into medicine for big bucks but it is not always about wanting to help the world either. Some people have better science, and biology skills and are simply interested in medicine no different than why others choose politics or journalism. These people wouldn't necessarily make the best corporate lawyers or CEOs anyway.

One financial plus for medicine is that you are probably employable in many different places at somewhat comparable levels. There is some salary drop but it is not as dramatic compared to the cost of living drop. In most other professions you need to be in a major metro market for job opportunities or the big bucks. Cost of living is high in these places. If you are struggling with money moving to a lower cost area may be a better option until you drill down the loans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all the posters complaining about doctors' pay, are you willing to pay more either directly to the doctor's office or through higher insurance premiums? If not, where do you propose the additional money comes from?

No, I would not be willing to pay more, and honestly, I think that $150K is a decent salary. There are tons of people who are making a lot less.

Quite selfish of you. You must not realize the debt your DR has from school loans just to take care of you.
I have a HSA account so that the DR is paid more by me.

Lets me see if I get this straight. I am selfish because I do not want to pay more for health insurance or doctor's bills, but the doctor is question is not selfish for wanting to make more money? Just how much more do you think I should be willing to pay and how much are you willing to pay? BTW, thanks for assuming that I can even afford to pay more.

Most of the people who are being squeezed by the healthcare system are those who make a lot less than doctors. To suggest that they be squeezed for more money so that doctors can afford to have a certain standard of living.

So stop paying the Health Insurance companies, you idiot, pay the doctors, get a Health Savings Account. But OH, perhaps you are not paying for insurance, perhaps your company pay, thus you are looking for "free" healthcare.

[Anonymous]

Let's not forget, the Dr has to pay for all the expenses of having his/her own business. All the staff and everything, plus, his/her family's health insurance. Plus, Malpractice (VERY expensive). Plus school loans. Plus a mortgage.....etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all the posters complaining about doctors' pay, are you willing to pay more either directly to the doctor's office or through higher insurance premiums? If not, where do you propose the additional money comes from?

No, I would not be willing to pay more, and honestly, I think that $150K is a decent salary. There are tons of people who are making a lot less.

Quite selfish of you. You must not realize the debt your DR has from school loans just to take care of you.
I have a HSA account so that the DR is paid more by me.

Lets me see if I get this straight. I am selfish because I do not want to pay more for health insurance or doctor's bills, but the doctor is question is not selfish for wanting to make more money? Just how much more do you think I should be willing to pay and how much are you willing to pay? BTW, thanks for assuming that I can even afford to pay more.

Most of the people who are being squeezed by the healthcare system are those who make a lot less than doctors. To suggest that they be squeezed for more money so that doctors can afford to have a certain standard of living.

So stop paying the Health Insurance companies, you idiot, pay the doctors, get a Health Savings Account. But OH, perhaps you are not paying for insurance, perhaps your company pay, thus you are looking for "free" healthcare.

OH, so the best way that you can find to respond to my argument is to attack me personally. For the record, my health insurance premiums (just for me) is over $140 per month. My child is on my husband's plan, but it is so crappy (yes it is cheap) that we choose to go out of network pay out of pocket, and yes I have a FSA to help re-coup some of the cost. Next time please try making an argument with your head.

Not everyone can afford a FSA and even if you have one it cannot possibly cover all your medical costs if you get really sick and need to be hospitalized.

This is my last post on the matter.

[Anonymous]

I have been practicing as a pediatrician for 15 years. During the past 15 years, I

have always been an employee. I have been underpaid and exploited. I have been subjected to discrimination, not only

because of my gender, but because I am single too. Six months ago I had to quit my job ( you do not want to

know why ). My ex employer still owes me money. I got paid in addition to my underpaid salary, approximately

$7000.00!!! last year from my hospital services after been on call EVERY OTHER WEEK !!! In the past 15 years, I have

collected $100.00 from all the self pay patients I examined and treated in the hospital. The parents of this patient decided to

pay me this amount after taking care of their baby for a week.


I find very interesting that is is O.K. to buy everything else but when it comes to pay the doctor, most people hate paying

for it. It is sad that the perception of a doctor is the one who "drives a nice car and makes a lot of money". Because of some

unscrupulous and greedy doctors, "we all pay for it". It is O.K. for all businesses and professions to make the most money

they can, but when it comes to how much doctors get paid, some people have a problem with it. What make us different from

other professions is that, with the help of other health care professionals, we can save lives. We save more lives, than the

ones who dies from medical errors. But it does not matter what you do right, what counts is what goes wrong...


I do not have any desire to go to the hospital anymore. It cost more to pay the malpractice insurance than what you collect

for your services in the hospital. Making rounds takes time. Sometimes you have to wait for the mom

of the baby because she is smoking outside....The nurse call you at 2:00 A.M. because the mother of the patient does not want

Tylenol, she wants Motrin.. The nurse keeps calling you to ask when are you going to make rounds ( I had to go to three

hospitals sometimes ) because if I do not go soon, the parent is leaving AMA.

After you take care of the patients in the hospital with no insurance, they forget about

you. They even write the wrong address and phone number, so you can not find them.

Some parents call at midnight because the child has pinworms or headlice. Some parents request and demand an antibiotic

over the phone because the child has "the same thing as the last time". I remember one mom telling me, "If you do not give

it, I am changing doctors". Go ahead....Some lawyers charge for phone calls. But it is O.K. for them to do it. We have to

deal with non compliant patients and with patients who lie to us.

The health care system is corrupt at all levels: patients, doctors and insurances. Patients who pretend been sick to collect

disability; people who lie when they apply to get medicaid; doctors (for example) ,radiologists who recommend ordering a

more expensive study ( because of liability or greed) when in reality, it is not necessary. Insurances denying referrals,

medications and studies to patients. Patients going to the emergency room for a common cold, thrush, diaper rash etc.

and others because of their drug addiction. Sometimes instead of going to the office during the day, patients show up in the

emergency room at night, and you get a call after midnight, for something that I could have taken care of during the day.

One time a parent called 911 because the child had pinworms. I pay a lot of taxes for all this stupidity!!!

I was looking in the internet information about changing careers. I found this site where you get charge $8,000

dollars!!! and they will help you to figure it out. What a great business!!! One is by Psychologists and the

other one by doctors who quit medicine and now they do that for a living. How smart they are!!!


Cognitive medicine is not recognized. That is why less people want to practice primary care medicine like

Internal Medicine, Family practice and Pediatrics. The radiologists do not practice clinical medicine or treat

patients and get paid better than others specialties.

I was unemployed for three months. I do not want to work for nobody else, neither I am going to start my own.

I do not want to spend energy dealing with denials, etc., etc., etc. Currently, I work part time without any contract

( I do not belong to nobody anymore, less risk of been cheated) until I say good bye...

Since I am worthless for the insurances and hospitals , I am quitting because I consider myself priceless. I am honest,

caring , responsible and competent, but the system does not deserve me.

If you though I had it made...I really HAD IT!!


The other night I had a nightmare. I dreamed that all doctors got sick at the same time for three days....you do not know

what you have until you loose it.

If somebody is interested in helping me to change my career, let me know. I wish Oprah will pay for me career change

make over, because I can not afford to pay $8000.00 .....

[Anonymous]

I read an interesting article that compared salaries of US doctors with those of French doctors. I wish that they would compare salaries of French lawyers with US lawyers. As a matter of fact, compare all professionals, and lets just convert all salaries to those of the French. Heck, the fact is that US doctors are the best trained professionals in this country, we should realize that their fees are a bargain when you consider the expertise involved.