Reply to are physicians really altruistic?

Forum Index » Jobs and Careers

Reply to "are physicians really altruistic?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Wow, it makes me sad to see how much disinformation people believe.
I am a surgeon, and I feel like the fact that my job allows me to help people and be "altruistic" is the only thing that keeps me going.
I get paid well, but about 1/5 of what my lawyer spouse makes. Most doctors I know do reasonably well, but gone are the times when doctors made a fortune. Of course, there are still a few - private practice orthopedists, concierge docs, etc that do super well, but they are the not the norm.
If you work in a hospital setting, you get paid a salary and there might be some sort of incentive system for how many cases you do. I have no idea what insurance my patients have, and I try to stay out of that mess as much as possible.
For 20 years, I have taken call for 7-10 days a month. Many of those years, I had to sleep in the hospital (trauma call). I definitely work on weekends and holidays - all the time. I deal with people's emergencies constantly. My hospital administration is extremely unsupportive, and constantly putting more and more pressure on all doctors. And my job is full of pressure anyway - despite what many have wrote here, I really care an enormous amount about how my patients do and the care they receive, and doing life/death surgeries is not easy.
I don't complain, and I don't look for appreciation or thanks. I know a lot of other people working get paid much less and have to work holidays, etc. However, I also think reading the opposite is completely unfair. Some surgeons suck - their egos are unacceptable. But there are many surgeons and physicians who cling to the idea that what they are doing is meaningful and altruistic because that is the only thing they have left, and what they can take the most pride in.  [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics