Doctors do not make too much. 

I recently finished a little essay which, amidst some very negative views on doctors in general, presented a bit about doctor compensation that seemed to indicate that the medical field is a overpaid and whining. Doctors should be well compensated. 11 or more years and the awesome responsibility accompanying life and death decisions demand it.

Who wants to be treated by a cut-rate doctor?  I’ll take a discount on my car, clothes and food, but do I really want the burger-flipping version of a physician deciding between opening my chest and giving me body altering drugs?  If the money isn’t there, individuals qualified to be doctors may turn to something a little easier to make their living. It’s a fact of life. If you want the best and brightest, you have to PAY for the best and brightest. 

Healthcare costs are exorbitant, no argument here. It is one of the single most important and difficult issues facing us today. Don’t blame it on doctor salaries. Blame Medicare/Medicaid. Blame the drug companies and our governments inability and disinterest in controlling cost. Blame our litigious society and lawyers who get gobs of money chasing ambulances. Blame it, if you want, on overcharging to make up for losses treating the un and under-insured. We need to find solutions to these problems, not laugh when a physician complains of being underpaid.  It is true that the average doctor makes far more than the average American.  They should.

Do you really feel comfortable with discount brain surgery? 

I didn’t think so.