Physicians are amongst the highest paid professionals in the world for a
couple of reasons. First, their skillset is not easily acquired and not everyone
can handle this profession. Second, the risk involved with their profession is
incredibly high as they hold peoples’ lives in their hands. Delving deeper
into these reasons involves further research. In order to acquire their unique
skill set, physicians have to undergo undergraduate school, graduate school,
and residency. Medical school alone can cost a total of anywhere from
$157,080 to $254,768 depending on if they go to public or private school
(College Ave Student Loans, 2022). On top of the enormous amount of debt
many people go into to obtain these degrees, the effort and dedication that is
required to do well and graduate is a category only a small percentage of the
population fits into. In order to pay off their debt and be rewarded for all of
their efforts, physicians should be paid high salaries.
Additionally, the high paycheck is a major draw for many people wanting to
become physicians. With the shortage in healthcare workers, including
physicians, there needs to be an incentive for people to become physicians.
A high paycheck is a great incentive for many people. Lowering this
paycheck could risk enlarging the gap in how many physicians the country
currently has versus how many it needs. In fact, one of the reasons the U.S.
has a shortage of primary care physicians is because going into a specialty is
more lucrative. This has resulted in the U.S. having only 0.3 physicians per
1,000 people whereas Canada has 1.2 physicians per 1,000 people (Levine,
2018). While ethically, the ideal situation would be for physicians to help
anyone in need, realistically, they need to pay back their student loans and
be kept happy due to the demand for physicians in the U.S.
References
College Ave Student Loans. (2022). How Much Does Medical School Cost?
Average Medical Degree Tuition & Costs. Retrieved from
https://www.collegeavestudentloans.com/blog/how-much-does-medical-
school-cost-average-medical-degree-tuition-costs/
Levine, H. (2018). Will You See an Actual Doctor the Next Time You Go to
the Doctor? Retrieved from https://www.consumerreports.org/doctors/will-
you-see-an-actual-doctor-when-you-go-to-the-doctor/
