Why Are American Doctors Paid So Damn Much?

[MH1]

37. That's stunningly misguided and simplistic coming from Kevin Drum

He thinks all "doctors" are the same?

Where is his evidence that "the United States pays doctors far more than any other country on the globe"? I don't actually doubt the truth of the statistic - IF you are talking about ALL medical professions. The US has the lion's share of the gilded specialist positions and probably also service most of the world's wealthiest of the 1% for their expensive procedures. The inclusion of those components sharply skews the result.

Meanwhile, I am close to someone who runs a sole practice as a primary care doctor, and it is very tough. He gets paid barely ok after he and his wife navigate the labyrinth of horseshit that is our system for actually paying doctors; but NOT great and oh by the way, is essentially on call almost 24 hours.

And, some primary care doctors ARE quitting, because the pay sucks for the long hours and the stress that you have to accept. If, like my relative, you can't stand the way clinics operate and want to operate a sole practice - or also like him, you want to offer care in an underserved, difficult area - you can just give up on any idea of "wealth" as most of us think of it. Remember this is someone who goes to 8+ years of college and graduates with massive student loan debt.

I think Kevin Drum has his head firmly up his posterior on this one and I am very sorry that he is spreading this manure. Maybe he should have gone to med school and tried it himself, if the pay is so great.