Pediatricians salaries

[Anonymous]

how accurate is this info? I am a physician assistant and make 98K

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is true-if Hillary or Obama gets their hands on the healthcare system we will see more and more people who would/should have been a doctor go into another field. The reasons are self evident-someone who is a doctor is obviously smart..very smart and they could do about anything. Why should they go into a field where they study for sometimes over ten years to have the government decide what they should be making in their business practice and each office is it's own small business. I want my doctors making lots of money-they deserve it!!

By that way of thinking then I want my dc's teacher's to make lots and lots of money. The teacher is with dc way more than the doctor. And except for emergencies most visits to the doc are pretty run of the mill.

When your child is diagnosed with a serious illness, good luck with that teacher.

[Anonymous]

So sad, no good answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:how accurate is this info? I am a physician assistant and make 98K

I am a pediatrician and I make 126K. I oversee a PA who makes about 100K. After college, I trained for 7 years vs. my PA's 2 years - my loans are of course higher and I had 5 fewer years of working at full salary.

I do believe the pay structure is unfair, but I (sort of) understood this when I chose my specialty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how accurate is this info? I am a physician assistant and make 98K

I am a pediatrician and I make 126K. I oversee a PA who makes about 100K. After college, I trained for 7 years vs. my PA's 2 years - my loans are of course higher and I had 5 fewer years of working at full salary.

I do believe the pay structure is unfair, but I (sort of) understood this when I chose my specialty.

That is crazy! Do family physicians also make low salaries? Also, this area is so expensive I am suprised that the salary isn't more, a friend who is a secretary makes $68K. Are you a new doc? How long have you been in practice?

[Anonymous]

why was this post resurrected after 2 years?

[Anonymous]

it is an absolute joke to know what pediatricians make compared to some of the slimy, unethical, incompetent lawyers make in this area. I live right next to one who is always walking around talking about how he works 80+ hours per week yet I see him leave for work every day around 9 and arrive home between 7 and 8. sorry to be so tangential. Flame away!

[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.

What amazingly poor thinking.

PEDIATRICIANS ARE THE PEOPLE WHO CARE FOR OUR CHILDREN'S' HEALTH.

It is completely irrelevant that "tons of people ... make a lot less." I don't give a flip what "tons of people" make in jobs that have nothing to do with pediatrics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am laughing about the comment that doctors are on par with teachers and firefighters. Come on get serious. A teacher while a fine profession does not take 10 plus years of training just to get in the door..... Firefighter are also an honerable profession but ....Oh yes..the liability--biggest problem in healthcare right now is the liability that doctors have and all the frivilous lawsuits that they have to deal with. If congress got one thing right they would put a cap on liability rewards. Doctors are again, for the most part, small business owners and have a right to develop their own business plans. I absolutely can understand why more and more are moving to taking direct payment--less hassle and more profit. Good for them.

Wow. Agreed on the "teachers and firefighters are not doctors" part, and on the direct payment part. But you're completely wrong on the "frivolous lawsuits" part. Lawsuits have been proven to account for about 2% of healthcare costs. The rest is overblown political speechifying against an unpopular group ("trial lawyers") to inflame the mindless masses. Clearly you've educated yourself on many points, so do your own research and don't fall for the "frivolous lawsuit" falsities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how accurate is this info? I am a physician assistant and make 98K

I am a pediatrician and I make 126K. I oversee a PA who makes about 100K. After college, I trained for 7 years vs. my PA's 2 years - my loans are of course higher and I had 5 fewer years of working at full salary.

I do believe the pay structure is unfair, but I (sort of) understood this when I chose my specialty.

That is crazy! Do family physicians also make low salaries? Also, this area is so expensive I am suprised that the salary isn't more, a friend who is a secretary makes $68K. Are you a new doc? How long have you been in practice?

Another pediatrician here and I'm making 125K and it's been seven years since residency. No, I didn't choose pediatrics to make money. I do what I do because I love it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is true-if Hillary or Obama gets their hands on the healthcare system we will see more and more people who would/should have been a doctor go into another field. The reasons are self evident-someone who is a doctor is obviously smart..very smart and they could do about anything. Why should they go into a field where they study for sometimes over ten years to have the government decide what they should be making in their business practice and each office is it's own small business. I want my doctors making lots of money-they deserve it!!

By that way of thinking then I want my dc's teacher's to make lots and lots of money. The teacher is with dc way more than the doctor. And except for emergencies most visits to the doc are pretty run of the mill.

When your child is diagnosed with a serious illness, good luck with that teacher.

My guess is that it's usually not the pediatrician that diagnosis the serious illness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is true-if Hillary or Obama gets their hands on the healthcare system we will see more and more people who would/should have been a doctor go into another field. The reasons are self evident-someone who is a doctor is obviously smart..very smart and they could do about anything. Why should they go into a field where they study for sometimes over ten years to have the government decide what they should be making in their business practice and each office is it's own small business. I want my doctors making lots of money-they deserve it!!

By that way of thinking then I want my dc's teacher's to make lots and lots of money. The teacher is with dc way more than the doctor. And except for emergencies most visits to the doc are pretty run of the mill.

When your child is diagnosed with a serious illness, good luck with that teacher.

My guess is that it's usually not the pediatrician that diagnosis the serious illness.

When DD had a mystery illness and the specialist didnt find anything, it was our pediatrician who insisted on running additional tests and following up to make sure we figured out what was wrong. Our pediatrician was also the one to contact the specialists and guide the course of action. The ped is and should be your child's primary doctor - even if they are seeing a specialist.

[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.

On how many hours per week? Please quantify to clarify.

Probably an even 40, or less, just like the first poster does for "honest work," except that, oh, he gets overtime when he works more than that. Working doctors' hours would doubtless kill him. Heck, even calculating the hourly pay of a doctor for the hours they work would probably make his head explode.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I would be willing to pay more, but I also think insurance needs to be fixed. B/c while I can pay more, there are many many people in our country who cannot. Think about the sacrifices doctors make- they have an extra 4 years of medical school beyond college, an additional poorly paying residency requirement and who knows what else, some will be richly rewarded, and some won't.

I am 30, have only a bachelor degree and make 130k with bonus, and have been working for 7 additional years beyond my doctor friends, saving for retirement the whole way. I'm not trying to downgrade my job- I work VERY hard, but I think my pediatrician and psychiatrist friends should get paid more- they have sacrificed more and have more education. I don't know the answer on where it comes from, but the math for me just doesn't work.

But if the measuring stick is education, then many people are underpaid by your definition - my professor DH has many, many years of higher education, and makes a lot less than $150K.

Salaries do not correlate with hard work, either - my cleaning lady works a lot harder than I do, but earns a fraction of what I do. So using the term "deserve" in this thread doesn't work, IMO.

Your cleaning lady's job can be done by just about anyone (except my husband), so she can be replaced.
The professor's work has to be "valued". If it can be done by anyone else, or society places a low value on it, he will not be paid. So, the anthrpology profs will probably make less than the engineering, IT, or finance profs..
It is easy for someone to clean their own homes, but to take out your own appendix can be tricky (it can be done though). So, if your 9 year old has appendicitis, you can either take care of it yourself, or PAY someone to do so.
It is not education, but value we place on skills. We value life, so medical professionals get paid more.

Also, we should take a close look at productivity. I see many a professor having some looooong lunches. Doctors are always on the run seeing tons of patients.

How about my son's fourth-grade teacher? Do we value that work? 'Cos from where I sit, it sure doesn't look like it.

Your comment about productivity is just idiotic and I won't dignify it with a response.

Good lord, I'm not the poster you were responding to, but you're an idiot. You "won't dignify it with a response" because you obviously don't have one. Yes, teachers are underpaid. YOUR POINT?! We pay doctors more because their skills are rarer.

[Anonymous]

"Our legal system (and lawyers) is a HUGE reason why our doctors are doing so poorly. The Malpractice insurance they have to carry is ridiculous. There are several areas where there are no more OB/GYNs and women have to commute hours to see one because of this."

Check the stats. Insurance companies are taking the money. It's not going to stereotypical "greedy trial lawyers" or to doctors. It's going to insurance companies.