i do what i do cause for the most part, it's a lot of fun.

true, staying up taking care of patients without insurance means you are doing charity work. it is a donation without tax benefits.

the more insulting issue is medicare and medical - you bill $100 and they think it's okay to pay you $18 and $12 respectively.

can you imagine getting your plumber's bill for $300 for services, and telling them that you will pay them $75, no further questions please!

 

interventional cardiology here...

jose

 

James, interestingly enough, it was an orthopod that took away L-5 on my life side - plantor flexion, so much for a clutch - and S1-S4. For the doctors, they know what that **** (no pun intended) means. For you who don't, you don't ever want to know.

And I think all doctors are grossly underpaid. The pressure, lawsuits, having to deal with all sorts of freaks, insurance, uncertainty - there isn't enough money to pay me to do that work - in any discipline. You deserve what you get and much more. The surgeon that did this to me is one of my better friends. As the saying goes "**** Happens"

 

I dont think many people become physicians to just make money. We all do reasonably well financially, but the real reward comes from making a difference for the patients through our diagnoses and treatments. As a fifth generation physician, I feel fortunate to be able to do something I really love, and at the same time make a good living. God bless the USA!!!

 

sleep deprivation is responsible for a lot of the "loss of joy, sense of humor, and caring attitude." It is unfortunate but it is a fact of nature. I am not here to apologize for anyone's mistakes or bad personality habits, change services of the doctor if he/she does not make the grade. Ken, I knew about your situation from previous posts. It is very unfortunate. It is an example of what I meant when I said "anyone who is about to 'do' something to the human body better have thought it out well, be very well trained, and with many alternate plans of technique. A mistake of permanent impairment (like your friend made on you) could have cost him his livelihood and his licence and his ability to get malpractice and his ability to ever work in surgery again. That may not matter to you b/c you are in the emotional catbird seat with the ability to cope and forgive and rise above. But I bet he thinks about it every day of his life and will not get over it. Those are pretty high stakes, and pretty high stress levels. The goal is perfection in an imperfect world in less than ideal circumstances in a demanding and thankless population (for the most part) with steadily declining reimbursements with steadily increasing hours and overhead expenses. Physicians for the most part are being told to run like a charity, taxed as a business, and be happy about it while the feds from the cold war have been repositioned to find any irregularities in the broken system of reimbursement. Somewhere in the 60-70's, health care became a right without any responsibility and governed by a system that demands service 24/7/365 under penalty of law without subsequent payment. In this way, neither the gov't nor the patient has any real responsibility.

In stating these facts I must declare that I am not bitter b/c I am young and knew all this ahead of time. I love the work and really would not want to do anything else. The satisfaction of replanting a severed extremity, saving a trauma victim, and helping the elderly walk again by joint replacement is a feeling unlike any other. When you see your doctor or your friend who is a doctor, you can tell who is in it for the right reasons. The problem is that when we are all older, the smarter individuals will no longer have chosen medicine and the reimbursement will reflect the caliber of physician, their attention to detail, and the extra effort to make sure that everything is PERFECT.

 

E.N.T. fellowship trained sinus surgeon on board

Have to agree with all the comments, great job, i wouldnt want to do anything else, but way underpaid.

Here are some staggering facts and things that make me consider going into some other field.


We make about the same money for a tonsillectomy that we did in 1970's.

It would take 1 to 2 medicaid tonsillectomies to pay for an oil change on my TT. This requires a general anesthetic, cutting on somebody, and giving them 90 days of included postoperative care.

If i were to do locums work I would make less than the shop fees for porsche service.

In my field if I bill $1000, i might get paid $200 and then if i do multiple procedures i am paid 50% for the second procedure and 25% for every subsequent procedure after this. I have done sinus surgery and was paid less than $80 total for 2 maxillary(cheek)sinus surgeries.

Can you imagine taking your car in for service and paying 100% for the oil change, but then getting a 50% discount for the plugs, and paying only 25% for tire balancing, and the full detail is free.

Sorry to rant but it feels good! Unfortunately, we as a profession are partly to blame by allowing this to happen. I hope some of the reimbursement issues improve soon.

 

You all have my respect and admiration (can't use that to pay for an oil change, sorry) - hopefully the world will realize the value of your contribution and reward you accordingly

 

TestNDoc,
Exactly what type of TREATMENT do YOU render as a Pathologist? Just Kidding, No flames please

Mike

 

Orthodontist here.............not nearly the insurance woes of the "real" docs.

 

Originally posted by james
And as for the "thinkers" out there who don't get paid for thinking just doing, anyone who has ever "done" anything to the human body better have thought long and hard, studied for many years, and then had plan A,B,C, and D ready to go.
thats a no brainer

Originally posted by james
How long would you "think" about a compartment syndrome in an arm at 03:00 caused by a patient on Plavix who has a bleeding time of > 20 min with a history of CVA from thrombocytosis?
unfotunately, while we love plavix and coumadin I see more than enough surgical emergencies from them.


this is a labor of love. I will say that there's nothing like having a patient thank you for saving their life

 

Radiologist here. Love Radiology, a great field IMO. It certainly has its negatives like many other facets of medicine ie. high liability (better not miss anything on a mammogram), increasing malpractice costs, increasing case load and hours, but I would do it all over again in a heart beat...

 

<--biomedical laboratory owner

Servicing 270 nursing homes, assisted livings, and sub acute care centers across 4 states. We provide service to about 500k people per year.

 

Mik911..LOL My Dx determines the TREATMENT!!

 

critical care/internal medicine

 

I'd argue that many have historically been overpaid.