WebMD Community Talk Show

Not to put down Radiologists, but looking at time spent with a patient and thinking of my own experiences, I feel like our pediatrician and my baby-delivering, on-call ob/gyn definitely are getting hosed.

I think for the most part whether a doc is earning what he or she deserves kind of depends on how good they are at what they do.

Docs that have great rapport with their patients and show they TRULY care are top of my list.

When I was pregnant with my first daughter, I interviewed pediatricians in my area and choose a guy that I really liked. He was young and had young kids himself. Great personality. But, I knew I had made the right choice when he came to visit me the day after my daughter was born to check her out and talk to me about what to expect with her.

My husband's uncle had brought me a pair of slippers shaped like cows when he came to visit. They were parked under the edge of my hospital bed. When Dr. A came in to see me, he spied those cow slippers, took off his loafers, put the cows on and did the rest of his rounds in my slippers.

He came back about an hour later to drop them back off and pick up his shoes. I got the biggest kick out of it!

He also never rushed our visits with the kids, spending as much time as possible and not only talking to ME but to the kids as well. Priceless.

I wish everyone could have such a caring pediatrician.

Butterfly

I really cant answer this fairly since my wife is a pediatrician. With phone calls at night and having to go to the hospital on a moments notice Yes thyearn their money especially with going to med-school and residency.

I see all kind of references to Doctors, and Insurance executives salaries. But the salaries pale to what professional athletes make and I hate to hijack a thread but we could pay the athletes a heck of a lot less and funnel money to our health care crisis. But that appears to be a decision our society is unwilling or unable to address. Seems that we would rather beat up and gang up on health care professionals and worship our professional athletes. It is what it is.

no if it werent for ins i would nt go to the doc

I really don't think it's appropriate to discuss people's salaries like this. If we want to talk about compensation, perhaps we should all disclose what we do for a living and how much we get paid. Then we would allow our information to be open for comments as well. That might allow for a more even playing field.

You are so right, Fenton!

I was watching the NFL draft with my hubby last night, and he turned to me and said, "You know, if these kids would immediately invest a quarter of their enormous starting salaries they could get injured within the first few years of their career, never have to work again and still live better than the rest of us."

And, let's not forget the money that is poured into college athletic programs, football in particular. Our local university pays NO property taxes, so our gas tax here and homeowners' property taxes are insane. The university is getting ready to cut staff, hack off a degree program that is one of the most lucrative for graduates, and is raising per-credit-hour tuition costs exponentially. Fewer and fewer kids can even afford to attend this STATE institution unless they are either rich kids are scholarship students. BUT, literally billions of dollars are rained down on the football team and no one blinks an eye. Something is dreadfully wrong.

Butterfly

silly...

Doctors can only be "worth" as much as the patients that see them. How do you "cure" someone who whacks back a dozen sodas, lattes and energy drinks a day, then, tells their doctor, straight-faced, "Well...I have to get things done, don't I?"

cura te ipsum ("physician, heal thyself")



Geeze, lets talk more about spreadsheets...

My doctor deserves every penny of it and much more besides. He works his butt off. From 8 am to 10 am he does his rounds (for people who can't leave home - very useful when you have two sick babies ...). Then consults until noon, in theory. In reality, he is often still there at 1pm. If there are emergencies, he will go and see them (at home) from 1.30 pm to 2 pm. Then he consults until 7 pm. He does this Mon-Fri and Saturday morning too. His manner is cheerful, comfortable and he is very informative. I consider him almost as a friend.

13 years ago, he had a partner and they shared the consultations and rounds. When she retired he found himself on his own and hasn't been able to find a replacement for her. We're 20 miles from the nearest city, in a rural area, and young doctors don't fancy that. They're rather work 9-5 ... sigh. My doc has a tough time even finding a replacement so he can go on vacation. Last year, he managed to find a locum for 3 weeks. The locum called him back after ONE week because he couldn't take it and walked out...

So, yes, my doc probably makes a lot of money but what is the point in that if he never gets a chance to SPEND the darn stuff? If I had a magic wand, I'd give him 4 decent vacations per year with no worries about finding a locum until he felt rested and restored enough. He needs TIME not money and he deserves it.

Social worker. 12.51/hr after 3 years of service.hazard pay would be nice as I'm regularly physically assaulted by 6 yr olds with severe emotional disorders. I have to pay 25$ for copay just for them to weigh me. I have gastroparesis and they like to "keep track of my weight". It is stabilized now except for water weight adding a lb or two or lack there of. If I lose 2 lbs they deny me the meds I need for my sleep condition (narcolepsy).these meds,as doc admitted, aren't causing me to lose weight. Whoops, he also admitted that his nurse doesn't like me but I still have to be nice to her. I have insurance but still owe thousands$ to pay for their tests to figure out why I lost 40 l bs in 3 months.after a year of their futile testing and interrogation about anorexia/drug use, I finally offered them a suggestion: refer me to a specialist! This specialized diagnosed me in one week,cost half as much, and following up 5 months later... He not only asked about my daughter but remembered her name! ...the good,the bad, and the ugly!