Doctors Salary

Joined
May 5, 2005
Messages
10,924
Likes
437
Location
Vermont, a Free State
Feedback: 0 / 0 / 0
A mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of a Harley
motorcycle when he spotted a well-known heart surgeon in his shop.

The surgeon was there waiting for the service manager to come take a look at his bike when the mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hey Doc, can I ask you a question?"

The surgeon, a bit surprised, walked over to where the mechanic was working on a motorcycle. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "So Doc, look at this engine. I open its heart, take
valves out, repair any damage, and then put them back in, and when I
finish, it works just like new. So how come I get such a small salary and
you get the really big bucks, when you and I are doing basically the same
work?"

The surgeon paused, smiled, leaned over, and whispered to the mechanic:



"Try doing it with the engine running."
 
Man I had a doctor for a while, became a good buddy too before he moved. But sometimes we would shoot the breeze and after a while I realized that he probably worked , oh, maybe 70-80 hours a week. He also read about 5000 pages of medical journal each month. And then they write thier own stuff fo rthose publications too. And let's face it they aren't flipping flapjacks, they have to keep the mind obn the job. So now, even though I don't know exactly what he made, it wasn't enough!
 
The other thing (besides the working hours) that people should realize, is that there are a relatively small percentage of physicians who make extremely high salaries, but that the person who takes care of you almost certainly isn't one of them. As an example, seventh year residents get roughly $57K where my wife works, about the same as somebody at the same stage of their career would be making teaching history or English at a state university. Even the high pay scales are distorted by the fact that that $500K or whatever a year is before paying over $100 for malpractice insurance, office space, receptionists, equipment, etc, etc, etc.

The other thing to keep in mind, is that even the best of them (actually, particularly the best) will get to agonizie over numerous cases where somebody who trusted them would be alive if they'd done something differently.

Ken
 
Back
Top Bottom