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Doctors are not paid enough

Do you agree?

My arguement is that they atudy fir 6 years then pracitce for a further 3 years and they are in so much debt by the time they finish medical school they atleast have 50,000 £ as medical school apparently is 9,000£ a years, That is a big debt and footballers,celebrities who do not save life but are millionaires do you think it is fair? They work so hard to become a doctor and have to pay off so much debt for wanting to have a job that helps others?

What do you think?

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I think the salary of a doctor should be around triple where it is currently. You can earn so much more in comparable careers without the degree of study: banking, finance, law, consulting, even some technology roles.

I think you've really got to love medicine to do it.

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I think the debt is not fair but how much they get paid is fair.
Of course not, they have money stuffed down their throats as it is. The amount they're paid could pay for three doctors in France
Don't they get a lot paid off? I genuinely thought they did although I've not checked it out. I think they deserve a high wage, but don't forget that 'people' tend to spend an awful lot more on football/ music etc than they do NHS and the like (out of choice), which is why celebrity status is better paid.

I'd happily pay extra into the NHS and see a rise in services and pay for staff, if it'd help. But then I don't buy season tickets, sports TV subscriptions and all that.
Pretty much all universities are £9000 a year. Then with maintenance loans on top of that I would say pretty much all students come out with a shed load of debt. I don't see why doctors are so special or need a pay rise.
That there is no shortage of very able candidates who fail to get onto medical degrees suggests that the pay is not an issue.

Surely if you want a job that help others, you would be willing to sacrifice some of your potential income. If not, go and work in finance.
I can see your point however the money footballers/singers/actors make, even if in your opinion they don't deserve, comes from the desire of people to watch them. The entertainment industry will always have more money than the medical because it requires a really rare and special talent.

The most important thing is that doctors do that job not for the money but the self fulfillment!
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 8
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Maria1812
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Original post by Keyhofi
I think the debt is not fair but how much they get paid is fair.


No wonder their are too little doctors in the uk and people complain abouth waiting so long for gp appointment because the debt is astounding and you start earning money when you are in your 30's thats tough you sacrifice all your youth to study medicine to help others. Its the debt that annoys me not the salary as much but the debt
Original post by Ritterschaft
The amount they're paid could pay for three doctors in France


Not sure if serious? The mean salary is higher in France, and they don't have to pay for med school.
I may be shooting myself in the foot here, but I think the pay is actually pretty reasonable.

Ultimately, an NHS doctor will live a comfortable life with an income far beyond that of the national average. The employment is secure, the salary rises are (generally) predictable and incremental. And, importantly, they work for a public system.

I would, perhaps, see some of the perks of being a junior doctor returned, as these were used as justification for the low starting salary.

Comparing a public worker salary to those in private, supply & demand industry is a little silly.
Original post by Maria1812
No wonder their are too little doctors in the uk and people complain abouth waiting so long for gp appointment because the debt is astounding and you start earning money when you are in your 30's thats tough you sacrifice all your youth to study medicine to help others. Its the debt that annoys me not the salary as much but the debt

Yeah I'm against high tuition fees too. Starting earning later but earning more kinda cancel out, especially as in the long run you earn much, much more than normal degrees.

The debt is paid back slowly though, so it doesn't have a huge impact on your life.
Original post by nexttime
Not sure if serious? The mean salary is higher in France, and they don't have to pay for med school.


Didn't know that, I thought it was more of an ordinary vocation in France which people did outbof the love of medicine
Original post by Ritterschaft
Didn't know that, I thought it was more of an ordinary vocation in France which people did outbof the love of medicine


This argument is something that pops up frequently and is very irritating.

Yes, medicine is about people and is a caring profession. Strangely, it seems ok to use this fact as a means of blackmailing doctors when it comes to salary.

On what planet is it reasonable to expect someone to work for free (hyperbole here) because the job they do is a caring one?

You don't go and say to a waiter "oh, your job is about serving people. You should do it for love of serving, not money".

Makes no sense.
Original post by Ritterschaft
Didn't know that, I thought it was more of an ordinary vocation in France which people did outbof the love of medicine


Loving medicine is one thing - loving the hours and stress is a lot more. They deserve a high wage if they do a good job at something that un-trained people could not do.
Original post by Etomidate
This argument is something that pops up frequently and is very irritating.

Yes, medicine is about people and is a caring profession. Strangely, it seems ok to use this fact as a means of blackmailing doctors when it comes to salary.

On what planet is it reasonable to expect someone to work for free (hyperbole here) because the job they do is a caring one?

You don't go and say to a waiter "oh, your job is about serving people. You should do it for love of serving, not money".

Makes no sense.


deciding how much to pay them is a problem which comes from an idiotic system like ours, reform to a system like on the continent is needed (for countless reasons)
Would prefer to see a nurse's salary rise
Reply 17
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Maria1812
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Original post by Smash Bandicoot
Would prefer to see a nurse's salary rise


Nurses is well deserve a better salary as the hous are long and the after care is very important for example giving medicine,helping patients to go to the toilet and stuff like this are very important.
Trouble is, where do you start or stop?

they get paid quite well. I know a couple, both GPs who have an amazing lifestyle.
no doubt they are clever and worked hard.

the average footballer would be unemployable in any other profession.
actors and musicians can earn vast amounts but also can earn peanuts.
Tbh, both nurses and doctors need to see a pay rise.

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