A family friend of ours is a plastic surgeon. He told me I should definitely think twice about being a doctor. He has never had a lawsuit, and his insurance is $135,000 dollars! He said most of that is just a bunch of bull**** fees. Those bills do not even include overhead. When is this crap going to end with medical malpractice insurance? There will be no doctors left! He says he knows a lot of people who have quit already.

I really hope there is a solution to this problem. Doctors who have studied hard for years to treat people end up being forced to leave the profession. Terrible!!!!

this is very sad...my heart also goes out to all the OB docs....
but, there are a lot of positions for doctors that have malpractice insurance included in the benefits and although i dont know, i would guess that plastic surg has higher insurance than say.... a pediatrician or FP.
Allison

also, i really dont think that fees and really even income are enough to make me think twice about what I want to do... I would bet after overhead and insurance your friend makes A LOT more than the average american... even the average american holding a PhD.

I hear about doctors complaining about this a lot and one time i called a friend of mine on it
and he said what we all believe i guess...that no one goes into it for money but after school/loans and whatever your point of view shifts. I know this is true for a lot of people but i hope it never happens to me. mabye it is because i grew up poor, but if i have enough to not worry about my bills, save a little, and give my kids everything they need....you will never hear me complain about salary....that doesnt mean that i would never complain about bogus insurance rates or unfair laws....but this is about politics and the loss of respect for the profession...not to mention the crazy money paid out for bogus claims...people should not see these things and immediately connect them to salary, but instead...connect them to a change and think about how it affects the patient.

just my :twocents:

Allison

I heard some OBs paying $200,000 a year!

It's a hard road ahead of us with loans and mal. prac. insur. Dentists have low insurance thank God, but I agree with things have gotten out hand :boggled:

Is still worth every penny to become a Dr if is this your true call in life and you have love and passion for the profession :yes:

If you check salary.com and enter your salary it will show you a pay check sample of what you can bring home every 2 weeks! LOL!!!

Dental mom.

I have done some research inthe past about the malpractice insurance fees. Illinois and Pennsylvania have had HUGE increases in the premiums and are driving some of the docs out of business. Keyword...SOME...not all. There are a lot of factors.

I agree with the others, if you want to be in medicine, consider all of the pros and cons, but don't quit because of hte $$ and legal problems. You will not be rich, but that's not the goal. you will always be employable and very confortable, no worries there. Your impact, even if for one patient will be well worth all the hassles of the job.