This medical student needs help and advice...
I am a medical student debating what specialty I want to go in to. What it comes down to is picking a specialty based on enjoyment vs based on practicality.
Specifically, should I be a:
1. Urologist (aka a penis/kidney surgeon) for $700k a year, which is a job I find to be rather boring as well as having a stigma (penises)
or
2. Psychiatrist making $350k a year which is more fun for me (dunno how I will feel in 10 years) but also carries a stigma (crazy people).
or
3. Immunologist making $350k a year which isn't boring nor fun for me, and has a neutral reputation.
(yes, that's how much they make, don't trust those surveys online, this is the legit amount, trust me).
I need your honest opinion guys. I'd ask my med friends but they are all too within the system to give me unbiased advice.
What's the link with...F I N A N C E ? Anyway who cares about stigma in medicine you're curing people, do what you like
im pretty sure 99% of us will tell you to take #1....
with that said, you posted on the wrong site buddy
Money talks, #1
you're a fool if you think you can guarantee yourself a 700k salary as a urologist. there are some that pull that figure, but not because they are urologists, but because they run their own successful practice, are heads of departments, noted researchers, etc.
also, i remember your posts from about a year ago asking if you could get into a good bank or consulting firm outside your med school (Baylor). and now you're back asking what specialty to choose on a finance board. what's wrong with you buddy?
given that you're a rising 4th yr, I really think you need to have serious discussions with the advisers at your school. You seem to have a problem and I'm worried about how you'll fare during the residency process you'll be starting in a few months. I know I sound like a dick, but I think a kick in the pants is what you need.
Co-sign
Second the dick kick
I honestly don't know what this bullshit about prestige is. You're a doctor, and you're a doctor. 99% of the world has the utmost respect for doctors (except for maybe the shills at pharma companies) regardless of what their specialty is. You're helping people with their health issues, be they urological, mental, or disease prevention, and there isn't anyone I know that would disparage you for that. Go with what you actually want to do, because otherwise you'll be pretty miserable.
Your numbers are COMPLETELY wrong! I'm sorry to tell you this but they are, my sister in law is a MD, my brother is an MD, my grandmother, my best friend, etc.
If you don't believe me do the simple math, a psychiatrist bills for $200-$250 an hour (in NYC in UWS after finishing a top school and plenty of experience.)
So say you manage to see 4 patients a day, 4 days a week which is 16 patients which is a LOT for 1 psychiatrist at $250/hr, = 4x250x4x12 = $192,000 if you work 52 weeks a year with no vacation. And that isn't even counting costs of malpractice insurance, renting/owning office space, having a secretary, insurance not fulling paying amount owed, etc. Even if you charge $500 an hour and you became freud, you'll still make less than $300k a year after costs.
Urologists and Immunologists make more than psychiatrists, but still way, way less than the figures you are quoting. For example My friend just finished Fellowship in Mount Sinai(much more prestigious than Baylor) for Cardiology(higher paying than all 3 of the specialties you listed) and is starting at $230k, no idea how you are imaging the numbers you are imagining.
If money is what you are after, why not spine surgery? Spine surgeons, in private practice, can make millions. I am actually considering applying to medical school next year with the intention of being an orthopedic surgeon.
i hate to spoil your dreams buddy, but the specialties you listed dont make that kind of money. being from a family whose mother (pediatrician), father (vascular surgeon), brother (emergency medicine) and sister trying to get into med school too.....i have a good sense of what they earn, and a urologist earning $700k is complete and absolute bullshit. 1st, you will not make that kind of money until you peak in your career. 2nd, urologists near max salary is (according to AMGA) is $413k, psychiatry $214k and immunology at $249k. 3rd, reputation is not influenced by the field you practice dummie. 4th, i will not trust you since you have no credible data to back you up. 5th, you do understand the concept of supply and demand i hope....metropolitan areas are saturated with specialty physicians such as the ones you listed (except psych which is primary care, even that is fine) and those physicians do not nearly have the same earning potential as those practicing in rural communities. chances are you will not practice in a rural community, seeing that most physicians dont and hence the shortage we are experiencing. with an increase in supply of physicians, you will see a drastic decrease in compensation, and with our fucked up healthcare system and decreasing federal reimbursement, i would say those comp figures will decrease by the time you start working. 6th, i hope i never have a physician like you. 7th, your on the wrong forum buddy. stick with studentdoctornetwork.com
#
I really think we should stop bashing on the kid and just encourage him to seek help from the advising people at his medical school. He's a fool, but he just needs some guidance.
We all agree his numbers are bs, so no point in going on and on about that.
instead i think we should convince him to move over to the darkside aka investment banking...where a 700K figure is a lot more reasonable.
Jesus I didn't even read the (stigma Penis'). This guy is a lost cause I dunno how he got through medical school being this stupid, must be a URM.
haha actually, its interesting. as someone who knows a lot about both med and mba admissions (you can guess my background), its ridiculous how much URM status helps in med admissions. you see people with jaw droppingly low stats at places like HMS, columbia, etc. its true in the mba process also, but not nearly to the same degree. unbelievable. - (an interesting aside for those interested).
Thanks to all who gave me their real opinion.
Lol, the people talking crap are missing the point. I specifically said don't worry about the numbers, I just wanted to see what you guys said and how you thought it out. I'm posting on a finance board cuz i wanna see how you guys differ in opinion from my med buddies. And yes, they are varied specialties.
The numbers are indeed right by the way, even if that's not the point. Urologists, among with several other types of specialties, can pull $1 mil, working 80hrs a week of course (average around 500-600k, 700k if you just work a little harder). Psychiatrists can pull 600k busting their ass, or 350k comfortably ($250 an hour, times 8 hours a day, times 45 weeks a year with 20% overhead, which is a generous %). My roommate's dad an A/I (immunologist), pulls $800k. The official #'s online are based on salaries or those working in academia, the ones pulling bank are private. Going private is easy if you have the slightest business sense. We are very hush about our incomes in the med culture unlike the business culture, so consider this a rare glimpse I'm giving you. Once again, my point isn't to convince you guys these numbers are right, I just want your opinion.
And by the way, I'm in med school on scholarship (no I'm not disadvantaged) and I got 99th percentile on the Step 1 board scores, so save your judgment about my qualifications to yourself. And yes, I was thinking about finance a while back, finance vs medicine was something I've wavered between since high school.
You really are a fucking idiot if you think a psychiatrist can have 40 patients on a weekly basis. And going private is not easy in fact if you knew anything about medicine or healthcare you would know that prior to obamacare 66% of physicians worked in private practice, now it is less than 1/3 due to dozens of new laws that make it advantageous for hospitals to buy up private practices, thus resulting in doctors receiving salary which would never be the astronomical numbers you quoted.
You must be polish I cannot wait to sue you for malpractice.
I'm a doc. Duperme is right that those income numbers from MGMA and the like are salaried/academic positions. Private practice often pays the levels he mentions. Duperme - do what you are interested in and the money will come.
why those specialties out of curiosity? They seem pretty scattered across the board
what about dermatology (super easy) or being a surgeon and really raking in the cash?
Derm does pull the cash, but getting into the field requires one to either have connections, be stellar (95th+ percentile is the norm, but many have extensive years of research), or be straight up lucky. Back in the day it wasn't that way, but in the last decade, that's been the case.
I picked these specialties because they highlight best the pros and cons that characterize some of the other ones.
i thought baylor med didnt give scholarships?
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