“How much do you make?”
I was recently asked how much I make as a physician 👩🏻⚕️ (these kids on Tiktok are quite straightforward, I love it. 😂)
So here's the thing, as a part time per diem ophthalmologist in Los Angeles, my numbers are not typical. You can easily google 💻 average doctor's salaries by subspecialty (for ophthalmology, it’s $200K/year in California), but you might notice that the numbers range widely depending on the graph 📊 or website you find (the graph below is from Medscape, and they report ophthalmologists make close to $400K! That’s definitely not me).
This discrepancy is because pay is not only based on subspecialty - but on type of institution 🏥 (academic vs private private), type of job (salaried vs incentivized, full time vs part time), and location 🗺(it can vary by/within state and even city).
We also cannot forget to factor in the debt that physicians accrue 🏦 (200K on average), not to mention the years of schooling and lost income 💸 (some calculate up to 800K!). 😳
In the end, I advised the premed-hopeful not to worry about salary, because it can be variable and could be vastly different by the time he/she graduates. The only reason someone should pursue medicine is for the deep down passion and/or purpose, because those are the only things that will get you through the decade+ of studying, long nights, and sacrifice.
https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/2020-compensation-overview-6012684#5