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I said over $400K is too much because it's attracted a disportionate number of doctors to surgery, and because primary care makes so much less. It's the discrepancy that is such a problem. As for actual numbers, believe it or not, when my wife was looking for a family practice job, she was offered $85,000 in Seattle. Did I mention it was in Seattle? And that was with call, so one had to live close by. The numbers don't add up. I wonder if they ever filled that job; maybe by someone poor at math.
Here in Madison, pediatricians start at about $97,000, last I heard (3 yrs ago). Family practice will pay anything from about $105K to $175K, occasionally higher if the doctor does a large amount of obstetrics (and never goes on vacation - ha).
The other thing you said about catching up is spot on - there is an economic value to starting earlier in the work force. If you're buying your first house at 35, delaying your retirement savings (I started at age 38), you'll never "catch up." I remember another resident telling me, during our second year, that he had bought $5K of mutual funds. I wondered where he got the money and had to admit to myself that I hadn't begun to think about retirement savings, and I didn't have anything to put away, anyway. Both my wife and I were residents at the same time, and between housing, having to get a second car to support our schedule, and full-time child care, I still had to borrow money from my folks. Now, at age 47, I am starting to not worry about money. I have never bought a new car, but fortunately, Saabs keep on going!!!
More stories - a neighbor who is an ENT surgeon moved from a large east coast city, where he had to live close by the hospital because of being on call. The cost of housing was so high that, with his income, he could not put away adequate money for retirement. So they moved. Here in Madison, after our recent housing bubble, housing prices went up so much in town that the same is true of a primary care physician who is the sole wage earner. I know such a family, and even though the physician is in her 40's, her family has helped them out with renovations to their old house.
I tell students who are interested in going into primary care to count the cost. The first 10 - 15 years in practice are financially difficult, or perhaps impossible (most primary care physicians I talk with say that solo practice is not an option, even though they don't like the HMO they work for). You need another source of family income to survive. Only go into medicine if you absolutely love it, because there will come a time when you question your decision. If you want money, go into law or business, or get drafted by the NBA.
posted by 75.100.9...
, Wed, 3 Dec 2008 23:11:12, Fri, 5 Dec 2008 08:27:55, Thu, 4 Dec 2008 10:54:46, Thu, 4 Dec 2008 13:21:03, Fri, 5 Dec 2008 08:15:54, Thu, 4 Dec 2008 13:20:52, Thu, 4 Dec 2008 13:21:37
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