According to the US Census Bureau the average annual wage in
2019 in the US was $51,916.27, The average primary care physician
salary as of February 2022 was $177,665 more than three times the
average American. Physicians are amongst the highest paid
professionals in the world and although their motto is to first do no
harm and the code of ethics states to help others I believe it is
reasonable that they command large paychecks. The factors in my
reasoning include the time it takes to become a physician, the stress
and cost of the schooling required and the responsibility they have
over other human lives.
The schooling to become a physician includes four years of
undergraduate school, four years of medical school and three to
seven years in residency programs depending on the specialty. The
average cost of tuition at a four-year school is $115,100 and
$218,792 for medical school per Education Data Initiative. In a study
done on medical students in Florida it was determined that 11.2%
described their current stress as ‘severe and debilitating while 68.6%
described their current stress as ‘significant but manageable’.
Personally, I am in my sixth year of school and have experienced the
stress, financial and mental along with the time consumption
schooling takes, I honestly would not voluntarily elect to continue for
another four or more years and can sympathize with that aspect.
Physicians can at times be what separates a patient from life or
death. There have been a few times where I have been on the phone
with a patient and they tell me how the provider I work for saved
their life and how much they appreciate him and what an impact his
treatment has made on their lives. I feel that is an admirable and a
very serious aspect to a physician’s career that not many careers can
relate too. If human life is so valuable it makes sense that those who
save lives receive a suitable compensation.
Hanson, M. (2021, October 11). Average cost of medical school [2022]:
Yearly + total costs. Education Data Initiative. Retrieved from
https://educationdata.org/average-cost-of-medical-school
Hill, M. R., Goicochea, S., & Merlo, L. J. (2018, December). In their
own words: Stressors facing medical students in the Millennial
Generation. Medical education online. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6179084/#:~:text=
Medical%20student%20respondents%20described
%20their,'none'%20(0.3%25).
Kopestinsky, A. (2022, March 6). What is the average American income
in 2021? PolicyAdvice. Retrieved March 202AD, from
https://policyadvice.net/insurance/insights/average-american-
income/#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20average%20American
%20Wage%3F,median%20annual%20wage%20was
%20%2434%2C248.45.
Primary care physician salary. Salary.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.salary.com/research/salary/recruiting/primary-care-
physician-salary
