How much do Doctors and Lawyers get paid?

[Eug]

no his actual pay was 800kish before personal taxes and such the total to the hospital would have been like 1.6 million

as for my dad im pretty sure he salaries himself at ~285K (private practice) so 500k gross might actually be low

I was talking about your dad.

 

[Sulaco]

That's low considering the amount of training and education needed, but "slave wages" is a little dramatic, don't you think?

Not really. Congress has since changed the laws, but when my dad was a resident, there was no limit on how much they could work them.

He would often work 14-18 hour days. Then be on call and sleep at the hospital for 2-3 hours, before being paged again to the ER.

Factor in the immense stress and what is riding on his decision making and knowledge, it's VERY low pay, indeed.

 

[CountZero]

What I find to be true is that it's better to be a driven go-getter from a lower ranked law school than a more passive person from a top law school. I went to a top five school and there's really no guarantee that you'll be financially successful because you went to a good school. You need to learn/know how to network and put your nose to the grindstone. However, certainly going to a good school will open more doors for you.

One major advantage that lawyers have over doctors is that you don't need much equipment to practice your craft. These days all you need is a computer, access to Lexis or Westlaw, and clients.

True though that may be you have to be driven compared to the other people going to law school. At a low tier school everyone thinks they will be in the top 5% and doing law review but reality is most won't. On top of that there's a fair chance the big firms don't even recruit from your school. The kicker is that those lower tier schools will try their best to convince you that the experience the top 5% have is the one everyone has and it just isn't true.

I agree with your assessment and I'm not saying that going to law school means joblessness so much as I'm saying if you are picturing a big city famous firm working your way to partner you need to have a reality check. If you are interested in law itself then go for it but if it is prestige or just something to do with a liberal arts degree run the other way.

 

[vshah]

no his actual pay was 800kish before personal taxes and such the total to the hospital would have been like 1.6 million

as for my dad im pretty sure he salaries himself at ~285K (private practice) so 500k gross might actually be low

nuts. two of my friends who are getting married are both doctors, orthopedics and radiology. they're gonna be making bank in a few years...

 

[Anubis]

it really depends on where you live. BIL would not be making anything close to that where my dad currently is. actually last we talked about it he would prob be making 1/3rd of it doing the same work

 

[TheVrolok]

That's low considering the amount of training and education needed, but "slave wages" is a little dramatic, don't you think?

I make about 1470 per pay period (after taxes). That's 38220 a year take-home, or 735 per calender week. I work between 70-80 hours a week on the clock, with obviously more time off the clock (probably another 10-15 easy) which comes out to be between 9.19-10.5 dollars an hour (without counting "at home time"). Minimum wage in PA is 7.25 an hour. In addition, I have 330k in student loans that I owe. FWIW.

 

[Soundmanred]

Hutz: Mr. Simpson, I was just going through your garbage, and I couldn't help overhearing that you need a babysitter. Of course, being a highly-skilled attorney, my fee is $175 an hour.
Homer: We pay eight dollars for the night, and you can take two popsicles out of the freezer.
Hutz: Three.
Homer: Two.
Hutz: OK, two. And I get to keep this old bird cage.
Homer: Done!
Hutz: Still got it.