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Analysis | The average doctor in the U.S. makes $350,000 a year. Why?
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this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2023
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Doctors in the US have a significantly different career path than those in other countries. They usually take two extra years to graduate, and their residency is more grueling. The latter requires working 100+ hour weeks for 4+ years at minimum wage.
All this means that they often won't have a job paying above minimum wage until they are in their 30s - and that's when they need to start paying back loans.
Most doctors are high achievers who could probably have found a $100K+ job out of college, but they chose medicine instead. High salaries are the light at the end of a long tunnel, and without them many Americans doctors would decide that medicine isn't worth the sacrifice. In fact, specialties like pediatrics and family practice that "only" pay $150-200K are already struggling to attract new doctors.