Are physicians overpaid?

[Anonymous]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathryndill/2014/07/25/the-best-paying-jobs-for-doctors/

New data on physician salary from Forbes.

[Anonymous]

OP, your thread title doesn't match that Forbes article. What are you trying to do, bash doctors or discuss salaries?

[Anonymous]

OP, are you the same person who thinks lawyers have more prestige than doctors?

[Anonymous]

There is an extremely wide variation in salaries for physicians and related activities, just like in any other profession. I do believe the highest salaries are ridiculous - for anesthesiologists and cosmetic surgery, it can reach more than half a million. Pediatricians, on the other hand, earn on average 150K.

So generalizations like yours merely serve to stir the pot, as you intended.

[Anonymous]

Not if they take insurance which many doctors are no longer doing.

[Anonymous]

The monetary investment required to become a doctor leads doctors to choose higher paying specialties. Gotta pay off those student loans.

[Anonymous]

Can't blame docs for not taking insurance..it doesn't pay them enough. My dad is a retired ortho surgeon. We saw the best days of reaping the monetary rewards back in the 70's and 80's. In the 90's, things changed, mostly due to the insane costs of liability insurance for practicing. And later, the decreasing amount of money that insurance pays for expensive procedures.

Insurance companies have failed...obamacare has made it worse. Doctors will never see the money they should be making.

[Anonymous]

Plumbers are for sure.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, every time I go to the pediatrician's office, I wonder how they make any money. I get these little bills for $8.95 or $6.53 and it doesn't seem like insurance is paying that much more. Yet he has a fair amount of people working in the office and I assume that he is paying them a decent salary. Same goes for the dermatologist, ENT, etc. I also have a relative who is a neonatologist who says his income has been drastically decreased over the past 5 years or so. So I don't understand how they are so overpaid...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
There is an extremely wide variation in salaries for physicians and related activities, just like in any other profession. I do believe the highest salaries are ridiculous - for anesthesiologists and cosmetic surgery, it can reach more than half a million. Pediatricians, on the other hand, earn on average 150K.

So generalizations like yours merely serve to stir the pot, as you intended.

Average $150k for pediatricians? Not around here for any pediatrician who takes insurance. I've been in practice for 10 years and I'm only at $125 and I work my tail off (nights, weekends). My friends in government jobs make a lot more and are always shocked when they learn my salary.

[Anonymous]

I don't think physicians are overpaid, i think there is an issue in the bimodal distribution between certain specialties and family practice.

The differential isn't so large in germany, switzerland, canada, etc.

Anesthesiolgy and Rads won't forever be high paying though - automation is ripe to cut into their billings in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think physicians are overpaid, i think there is an issue in the bimodal distribution between certain specialties and family practice.

The differential isn't so large in germany, switzerland, canada, etc.

Anesthesiolgy and Rads won't forever be high paying though - automation is ripe to cut into their billings in the future.

I think you're correct about this, but I don't think it's a good thing. Computers cannot read a scan as well as an experienced radiologist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think physicians are overpaid, i think there is an issue in the bimodal distribution between certain specialties and family practice.

The differential isn't so large in germany, switzerland, canada, etc.

Anesthesiolgy and Rads won't forever be high paying though - automation is ripe to cut into their billings in the future.

I think you're correct about this, but I don't think it's a good thing. Computers cannot read a scan as well as an experienced radiologist.

not at this very minute but the gap is being closed fast everyday. watson/pattern recognition is right in the wheelhouse of ai/automation.

Same with what J&J is doing with sedasys and anesthesiologists.

Pharmacy is going to get destroyed by automation as well.

It won't be a complete automation of the field - what it'll be is the best of the best will get paid quite a bit (i.e. 1 doctor or 2 doctors overseeing 10-20 machines) vs. having 5-6 md's on staff.

One thing health care however has done better than ANY profession is taking care of their own so phsycians will be protected by market distruption better than other professions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
There is an extremely wide variation in salaries for physicians and related activities, just like in any other profession. I do believe the highest salaries are ridiculous - for anesthesiologists and cosmetic surgery, it can reach more than half a million. Pediatricians, on the other hand, earn on average 150K.

So generalizations like yours merely serve to stir the pot, as you intended.

Average $150k for pediatricians? Not around here for any pediatrician who takes insurance. I've been in practice for 10 years and I'm only at $125 and I work my tail off (nights, weekends). My friends in government jobs make a lot more and are always shocked when they learn my salary.

fam practice also is facing pressure from acute pharmacy clinics - a la cvs minute clinic/walgreens - and these pharma clnics are adding capability as time goes on.

Fam practice loses billings/easy revenue to these clinics for 'easy' work like yearly check up/health screening/etc.

[VArealtor]

Coming from a family of physicians I can tell you that the answer is absolutely not.

Even looking at the list you posed the salaries are not lucrative when you factor in eductional expenses, residencies, liability insurance, hours worked, and the extreme skill required to perform many of the medical specialties.