Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Welcome to Temple University School of Medicine. This site has been created as a way to connect all of our matriculating students prior to your arrival on campus August 6th. The moderators will be Maria Demmler, Associate Director for Admissions and Marie Fiero, MS2, Orientation Coordinator. Marie is available if you are coming into town or want to contact her with questions. Her cell phone number is 703-593-5854 and her email is mfiero@temple.edu This site will be active until orientation.
11 comments:
woah, where are they getting their sources from? a year of medical school costs only 30,000 a year? uh, which medical schools are they talking about, and where can i sign? i think they are sorely underestimating the costs of medical school (especially considering high interest loans, and the fact that the loans take forever to pay back, thanks to the years spend in residency working for very low salary)
i don't think it's a good idea to pay doctors based (even partially) on the health of their patients. even though this WOULD act an an incentive for them to provide the best possible care, it may also discourage them from taking on very sick or terminally ill people as new patients.
does that 200,000 salary they report include the cost of malpractice insurance?
In addition to the high cost of medical school, I think having to pay for higher insurance coverage is another reason why specialists/surgeons generally tend to make more. The article does not mention this...
Natalie --
I think that's a good point, although I'd counter that basing salary partly on the effectiveness of the care given to patients (whether they're getting better, not whether they're sick or healthy) could help improve the health of patients while also rewarding doctors for being diligent and always putting the patient first. Obviously terminally ill patients shouldn't be figured into that calculation; I agree with you about that.
And yes, it's true that the article doesn't mention malpractice insurance... but why are we so quick to defend high salaries? High salaries are a draw for smart people, for sure, but they're also a draw for people who aren't (primarily) interested in the health of patients. In my opinion this career should be about passionate advocacy of patients and not about vacation homes and luxury cars. Our student debt is high, but the interest rates are not and residency doesn't last that long. I think we should be well paid, but I also agree with Berenson that it's ridiculous not to consider that MAYBE doctors' salaries could be a little lower in an effort to rein in the cost of healthcare.
Well said :)
Weird... It deleted my previous comment.
andy, i do agree with what you said, but i think the interest rates are pretty freakin high. they are definately a LOT higher than they used to be for doctors, and a lot higher than other "non high risk" loans. and many residencies are 5-6 years long. i think that's pretty long. i'm not saying any of this supports or goes against doctors having large salaries, i'm just saying that after calculating out how much debt i'll be in in 8 years and realizing that i wont be done with residency until i'm 32 (i'm 22 now), i'm thinking residency is pretty damn long and interest rates are ridiculous. but maybe that's just me.
Let's cut the salary of someone getting paid to run with a ball or memorize a script and feed /that/ money into the health care system. I think that until saving lives is more lucrative than being a celebrity, doctors deserve every penny they make.
Agreed.
Hospital group rejects system and cashes in. (A look at where unchecked self-interest can take us.)
"I feel ambivalent about selling my services in a world where some can't buy them. You can feel ambivalent about that, because you should feel ambivalent." -- Dr. Paul Farmer
Post a Comment