How Do Doctors Get The Highest Paid Jobs?
If we're focusing on the highest paid professionals in medicine we immediately turn our attention to Doctors,
Doctors work in all sorts of settings like hospitals, their own office, medical clinics, nursing homes, surgical facilities, (and the list goes on and on.) How in the world do they get paid to do all this stuff when they're all over the place? Well, Doctors who work in a typical business setting may get paid a salary because they work for a larger institution or practice, but that salary is more like an approximation of the work you'll do in a year.
If you do not make a "salary" then you are getting paid "per service" which is the rate you charge for your time to see patients, perform services, or do consultations. In essence, the more work you do the more you get paid because you're charging for your time.
"Oooh, so I can just crank through a lot patients and make a ton of money!?" Well, you COULD do that, but there are some things to consider:
1. You can't just run through patients and not really care what's going on because then your patients don't get the care they need. 2. You cannot account for all of the insurance and payment hassles that come along with handling your own business.
So, where does all that money come from? Well, it comes from patients who have insurance, insurance companies, folks who just pay "per service", and third parties. Sometimes you have a patient whose relatives have "power of attorney" and are paying their bills.
If someone has insurance then you have to make sure your agreements with the insurance company are solid so they will pay you on time, and then you might STILL have to wait for that patient to pay you because their insurance didn't cover everything.
However, a good reason to run through lots of patients at a time is that you can build relationships with patients and their families. A good thing about having a "revolving door" at your office is that you can see people you truly care about. The Hypocratic Oath says "First, do no harm" and second it should say "Enjoy your patients". Would it feel awkward making money from people who are your friends? No, everyone is entitled to an income and your friends will certainly understand. (Heck, they need to go to the Doctor so why wouldn't they go to someone they know!?)
So, where does all that money come from? Everywhere! It's nice to have a big salary, but sometimes there's some extra hard work that has to be put in to get it. If you've read the job descriptions on this site you can see that we put emphasis on Doctor's fields owning their own business and having to hire a staff. This is why you put people around you: So you can get paid accordingly for services rendered.
So, where does all that money come from? You. You do the work, you hire a staff to keep track of it, and you can provide jobs for others, but if you persevere you can make a very comfortable living for yourself and your family (provided you survive medical school). (Just kidding, just kidding!)
