The question on whether doctors get paid too much, I wanted to
research a little on the reasoning behind their high salaries.
According to Slate (2009), American doctors are amongst they
highest paid doctors, making 4x more than French and British
doctors. One of the reasons for this is because American doctors
have to pay for the hefty education, where's French and British get
their medical education for free right after High School. The other
reason is that American does not have a single payer system. In
France and Britain, healthcare is ruled by the government, meaning
they have universal healthcare for all. With this into place, the
government is able to bargain down the prices of treatments. This is
also the main reason why many specialist doctors do not support
universal care here in the States. (Beam, 2009)
I than researched a little on why doctors should be paid high salaries,
and this is what I found:
1. The job of a physician is valuable, as they increase quality to life
and improve lives of others.
2. Physicians lost many valuable years of their lives for their
education. Missed friendships, weddings, funerals, vacations,
and much more during their prime time years.
3. Being a doctor is a difficult job. Long stressful hours, lots of
responsibility on keeping people alive and well, and much more
4. They have constant liability
5. Long and costly training and education.
(White Coat Investor, 2012)
So my personal opinion is that maybe some doctors are paid too
much, but the reasoning is beyond them. The reasoning is the high
cost of med school, followed by the high cost of medical technology,
the high cost of overheard, the high cost of medicine in general. I
think that this will only get worse. It is like a domino effect.
I do believe that the doctors code of ethics is to help others, but this
happens only when others are able to pay for that help, unless
otherwise, we are in a rural community where people cannot afford
to pay the doctor such a high salary. In my opinion, these are the true
doctors that are following their dream to really help others, rather
than making some high salary.
If the US decides to pass some kind of Universal healthcare, I am sure
many doctors will end up with a pay cut. Treatments may not cost as
much, and doctors many not get paid as well, however, the quality
may decrease. Top notch technology may not be used and afforded,
and overhead may also decrease.
Beam, Christopher (September 10, 2009). Slate. :Do American
Doctors Get Paid Too Much?" Retrieved from
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2009/09/do-american-doctors-
get-paid-too-much.html
White Coat Investor. (May 25, 2012). "5 Reasons Why Doctors Should
Be Highly Paid." Retrieved from
https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/5-reasons-why-doctors-should-
be-highly-paid/
