Are physicians paid too much? The answer to this question is more
complicated than a simple yes or no. Physicians in the United States
make almost twice as much on average as their peers in other
countries (Rosalsky, 2019). A study of physician salaries conducted in
2011 showed an average annual salary of $300,000 (Rosalsky, 2019).
A more recent global physician salary survey conducted in 2018
showed generalists earning approximately $219,000 in the U.S. and
$134,000 outside of the U.S.; specialists earned approximately
$316,000 in the U.S. and $183,000 outside the U.S. (Pope, 2020). On
the surface, someone may be tempted to look at these figures as
proof that U.S. physicians are overpaid. However, my belief is that
the answer lies deeper beneath the surface.
We can identify many reasons why physician salaries are higher in
the U.S. First, the overall wage rates in the U.S. compared to other
countries are higher, especially among the highly educated fields of
medicine and law (Pope, 2020). A second reason for higher physician
salaries in the U.S. is compensatory with higher expenses for medical
school education. Europeans can achieve a greater amount of their
medical education in extended undergraduate programs, whereas in
the U.S. students must first complete an undergraduate program,
then four years of medical school, and then a residency of 3-7 years
(Pope, 2020). The median debt for medical school graduates is now
near $200,000 (Pope, 2020). Third, the funding of residency
programs in the U.S. have been capped by Medicare, and thousands
of students are rejected from residencies every year (Rosalsky,
2019). As a result, the demand for and short supply of physicians
who have completed their residency has driven up their salary
demands (Rosalsky, 2019). Studies have projected that an increase in
the number of residency programs would produce enough physicians
to save almost $100 billion annually for the U.S. health care system
(Rosalsky, 2019). Fourth, the lack of residency programs in rural
areas has pulled most physician training to large city medical centers,
where the cost of living is higher and training costs are higher; this
warrants higher salaries (Pope, 2020).
Therefore, one could argue that the higher salaries of physicians in
the U.S. are warranted due to higher costs for education, higher
wage rates, and barriers to residency (Pope, 2020). On a personal
note, I believe that physicians deserve high salaries, especially when
athletes and actors make millions of dollars a year. Is entertainment
saving lives and improving the health of our communities? My
answer to that would be a resounding no. I believe that we must
maintain the incentives for medical professionals to alleviate
potential future shortages and help encourage students to pursue
jobs in the medical field.
Pope, C. (2020). One Reason Why Doctors are Paid So Much: North
American Education. Retrieved March 7, 2022
from https://economics21.org/one-reason-why-doctors-paid-so-
much-education
Rosalsky, G. (2019). Are Doctors Overpaid? Retrieved March 7, 2022
from https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/03/12/70250040
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