Primary-Care Doctors: Saying No to $191,000 a Year

Primary-Care Doctors: Saying No to $191,000 a Year

This is ridiculous, and this kind of thing matters to me a lot, because the way I treat my body, I'm sure to need a good doctor soon. But... The author of this article so casually signs on to the idea that $191,000 a year is not enough for a general practitioner to make ends meet because of their astronomical student loan debt. Hmm, let's just do the math, shall we?

The author suggests that student loans for doctors can be as high as $500,000 when undergraduate school and all other expenses are factored in. Very, well. If we consider a 15 year loan, at 5% interest for $500,000 that's $48,000 a year to service the debt. This leaves the poor, helpless, underpaid doctor with $143,000 for all the other expenses he or she may have. That seems pretty damn good to me. Let's remember, everyone else has loans too... sure, a doctor's may be higher than most, but I say bollocks to this idea that general practitioners need a 50% raise to solve the problem. What we need is for us to understand the nature of supply and demand.

Now, let me be clear, everyone deserves proper health care, and we NEED GPs, but the problem is that too many "doctors" are heading off to careers in specializations. Ostensibly, this is because they need more money to pay their bills, but the truth is they're just greedy and have dollar signs in their eyes. Hey, I'll be the first to say more power to 'em, but at the end of the day, not every doctor is smart enough to be a neurosurgeon. I know we all want to think that our GP could have done anything, and we're the luckiest patient in the entire world, but the fact is, what I need is a GP who is just smart enough to send me to the smarter doctor, and I only need that about 1% of the time. The other 99%, I need some more tetracycline.

Enough's enough... you want $800,000 a year as a cardiac surgeon? I bet you do! But the truth is, most doctors don't have the brains to pull that off. Stop watching Grey's Anatomy and face the facts, most of you are not cut out for a life in the top level, medical world.

tail between my legs..

I went to Adagio today to ask for a job. You know, I seriously thought they would find something for me, but alas I was told that they have nothing. This is a real conundrum because Adagio was my fall back: meaning I didn't want to impose on Butch and Pat's kindness - I thought they would invent something for me if I asked - but I am desperate. I pictured a conversation along the lines of, "No, Butch, Pat, that is too much, I only need something to tide me over." 

Seriously, I was not sure how I would handle it when they offered me a job as their personal Chef with a full benefits package. I knew that would be uncomfortable, especially because it would mean I would have to see Butch in his underwear as I served them breakfast in bed. A sight that only the strong of heart could handle, and after having applied to C&S my heart has been in a weakened state for some time. 

Well, I did not need to convince Butch and Pat to just settle for something along the lines of a Friday night cooking shift, as I was told flat out they have nothing. Too bad, because I really like sipping wine with them, discussing the future of their business, and dreaming up ideas of things they could do to get the big time. 

Yea, I miss Adagio. 

But I don't miss Viola. Not at all. 

Tariq says no...

Tariq says that I will not last more than two minutes at C&S and he should know since he worked there. Of course, he worked in a nice cushy office space, and not in the negative twenty five degree warehouse, but I think he got the idea of what happens in the warehouse, and suggests that it is not exactly a job that is suitable for a person of my particular sensibilities. 

He is not the only one who has suggested that I reconsider this decision. The folks at the WeatherVane have a pool running as to how long I will last. At my last check - and mind you I was only offered this job yesterday - Andrea has me for bailing out by lunch time, and Josh gives me no more than first coffee break. If you want to get into the pool just stop by the 'Vane and ask Andrea. I think it's five bucks to get in. (By the way, I am not kidding.)

Now, I should be more honest, I have not actually been offered the job. I will not that I have the job if no one calls between now and Tuesday at three o'clock to tell me I failed my drug test. Since I have no even so much as been in a room with a person who was smoking pot in over ten years, I think I am safe. (It may be ten days if I really think clearly about it, but who's counting?)

Brandt blogs, so it must be cool.

I have been meaning to do this for some time, and now is as good a time as any. In the past I have been a Chef, Computer Science Teacher, Restaurant Owner, Bar Owner, and now I embark on my new career...

Warehouse Selector at C&S Wholesale Grocers.

I will be working in the freezer, picking items for delivery, nights fro ten hour stretches. The average temperature in the freezer is -20 F. Yes, that "-" is there on purpose! In fairness, I am going back to school in January to work towards a masters degree in hospitality management, so it is not as if my life will be put into freezer selector mode forever, however I do fear the cold that this place will put in a person's bones.