Justin Gray89 said:I've been reading through all the posts and noticed the whole debate about doctors taking bribes... I'm curious—what kind of salary do you think would actually be enough to satisfy specialists like that gentleman from the Mayo Clinic, so they wouldn't feel "forced" to take kickbacks?😕
hm, honestly, for that specific guy at the Mayo Clinic, I don't think any amount of money would ever be enough to stop him from looking for bribes. I mean, he had a management contract that sounded like it was at least $30,000 a month—maybe I'm exaggerating? Even if he were making $60,000, he'd probably still be looking for extra cash since, well, he seems to have some serious greed issues mixed with a total lack of morals and medical ethics. It's a pretty nasty combination, I guess. If he actually had any shame, he'd be 🙈 instead of trying to get his job back... but then again, if he had any shame, he probably wouldn't have ended up in this mess in the first place... hm. 🤔
Man, Scott Allen10, you’re probably just way too smart for this world. What do you think about the facts Kevin Allen10 is laying out here? I mean, he could have gone even deeper with the analysis, but there’s no point if you’re just going to tell him he’s lying anyway 🤣 . Yeah, of course, you immediately jumped to the idea that this nurse is just being paid minimum wage. And why? Because doctors are trash, so why should they care how nurses live... well, they should, obviously. I’m sure there isn’t a single doctor out there who pays their nurses as much as possible for their profession... and hey, I’m not even speaking from firsthand experience here. But I bet you’re about to say that it's the doctor's fault for paying a nurse more when they could just pocket the cash themselves, right? 🙂 I already know my words don't mean much to you, so I don't really feel like explaining myself further. Besides, why do you claim I'm just telling fairy tales? What would I gain from that? I honestly don't get your logic 😕 . You’re basically insulting every decent, normal GP out there—or are you claiming those don't even exist? Of course they write referrals; they’re just general practitioners! Just as a reminder, general practice doesn't have its own labs, ultrasounds, X-rays, or CT scans... so, whatever your personal experience was—that's on you—but please realize that generalizing like this says a lot about you as a person. Anyway, if you aren't happy with a doctor, you can always just take your medical records and go somewhere else. Then everyone's happy . And as for dentists, believe me, they aren't doing too bad—and certainly not worse off than GPs. They spend money on supplies, sure, but there’s usually a clear price list right on the office door for every service, so it doesn't seem to me like they’re struggling much with what Medicare pays them... though, I guess maybe not every dentist works that way...
Angela Bailey30: Well, true—but it’s really just this constant bashing of doctors that I haven't noticed happening to other professions, I guess. Most people in America are struggling right now, no matter what they do, but I suppose picking on the medical field is just the easiest target. It's everyone at every level, making impossible demands regardless of the working conditions.
Angela Bailey30 said:Hey Benjamin Murphy2, I don't really buy that argument from one of your posts—you know, the one where you mentioned having a brutal shift and then someone just walks in with a common cold. Look, I'm a professional soldier, and nobody ever asks me how many hours or days I've been standing in my boots on duty before they hand me an order. But, well, that was my career choice. And I don't mind it. I also believe that being a doctor was your choice, too. So, I don't think anyone forced you into it; you knew what you were getting into. Because of that, I can't really use a rough shift as an excuse for your complaint.
I guess that comparison isn't quite hitting the mark... of course people are aware of their profession and the choices they made, but that's not really the point—it's more about how patients act... and I suppose the core of the post is about how patients view doctors and their lack of understanding... like they expect doctors to be superhuman and totally ignore their need for privacy, sleep, or food... plus, they act like a simple cold is way more important than a doctor's physical and mental health, which, you know, can't really hold up without sleep...
Basically, I mean, you accepted the boots, and he accepted treating people—he just didn't account for patients who think they can demand a doctor at any time for basically anything...
Ah... this thread really blew up since I last checked 😁
But hey, the reality is that mistakes happen—there are all kinds of doctors and patients out there—but it feels like people just love tearing down the medical profession... like everyone is just itching to 🙂 doctors... Kudos to the exceptions, though. There’s a thread somewhere where happy patients are praising their gynecologists, which is honestly so lovely 🙂
Especially lately, looking at Mayo Clinic... today the local paper says the director of the Mayo Clinic, Haller, wouldn't talk to their reporter, and they're acting totally confused about why... as if they suddenly decided to be fair and give the man a chance to share his side of things... right after spending the last month dragging the hospital through the mud whenever they get the chance... Basically, it's just standard here—laypeople sticking their noses into expert business, assuming patients are always right no matter what nonsense they spout, and treating doctors like they aren't even more respected than jobs that don't require a high school diploma or any actual responsibility... I mean, who gives them the right to act superior just because they spent 25 years in school and decided to dedicate their lives to saving others...
Of course, when a tragedy happens, it's devastating, and I'm sure the doctor responsible feels terrible—who knows if they can even sleep at night—but I guess that doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that he's a human being, too, or that he's performed thousands of successful surgeries, or that there's always a certain margin for error or complication in any job... If someone works at a shipyard and a crane falls on their head, it's a tragedy, but nobody's pointing fingers or dragging them through the dirt. Then you have a killer who wipes out an entire family or a rapist who ends up free in a few years, yet nobody goes after the justice system like that. Why??? Because doctors are allowed to be targets, and they're brought down to such a level that anyone thinks they can say whatever they want... In a way, maybe doctors are partly to blame for letting it get this far... if they just went on a proper strike once to try and fix the situation...
For instance, my mom is a doctor herself, and about 15 years ago, when she broke her leg, a surgeon accidentally cut a major vein in her foot. He didn't even apologize; he just said, "In a few years, you probably won't be able to use that leg." But whatever, life goes on—thankfully she can still use the leg, even if it hurts... what can you do? Of course, she was furious and hurt by how he handled it, but it is what it is. She didn't start bashing everyone in medicine or renounce her own degree because of it...
Anyway, I hope you all stay healthy and happy, and ready to keep tearing down anyone planning to go to med school, studying it, or already finished... apparently, it's all just a bunch of dishonest, inhumane, and arrogant nonsense... 🙄
Thanks again to the normal people for having a normal perspective
Scott Allen10 said:Hey nimblestag31—looks like you might be getting a little ahead of yourself already, I guess!I guess I'll just leave it at that—maybe! Little pots. — I guess? Maybe just little pots. The whole debate about specialist doctors only making $5,000 or $6,000—it’s just total nonsense, I guess. And you're really sticking to those numbers—just dragging out this pathetic whining like Babić is personally paying you to do it. The starting specialist coefficient is around 2.04—I think the base rate is actually just a little bit higher than that, maybe. $1500You get a 0.5% bump for every year of seniority—I guess that's pretty standard—and there's usually some kind of extra pay for working conditions or responsibility too. On-call shifts get paid as well, depending on whether it's a regular weekday, a weekend, or a holiday, maybe somewhere around $500...$333Every single role within the department comes with its own little extra stipend—I guess. Even if you've got kids following you around... man... they still end up getting paid those standard, comfortable, super relaxing minimums of like $2,000 or $2,500—and that's just in the public sector here in America. It doesn't even matter if you're some top-tier expert totally dedicated to the job or just a total slacker who rolls in at 9 and vanishes by 1. So, don't try to sell me those stories—they're honestly a bit out of place, I guess.😕 If anyone’s unhappy with all this—which, I guess, is totally fair—they can always just reach out privately. I mentioned that before, too—so I'm not really sure why everyone is getting so worked up over nothing.
Wow—I’m actually pretty impressed. I feel like I finally see things clearly now—maybe a little enlightened, I guess! I mean, I'm sure those types of people exist—no doubt about that—but generalizing like this when you aren't really in the loop doesn't exactly help... it just ends up being annoying for me and people like me, I guess.
And that part about anyone who isn't satisfied being able to reach out privately—that is just phenomenal! — I mean, honestly, it's such a great touch. What if someone is technically private, but they're just working under a contract with Medicare and basically depend on them for everything—like their office space and all the funding their "private" practice actually has? Whoosh! And what if the doctor works in a clinic where they get paid per patient instead of relying on those phenomenal insights you have from working in hospitals? Plus, maybe they aren't even staying at work a single minute longer than required—just a little reminder that hospitals aren't a doctor's only workplace, and I'm sure not everyone in a hospital setting has those relaxing $12,000 breaks, right? Ah. 😳
So, now that we’re all out here stirring the pot and peddling these ridiculous stories... I guess I'm not even sure who those comments should actually be directed at—maybe just into the void? 😕
I mean, do you really think doctors who are complaining would just make up funny salary numbers? I guess—maybe they wouldn't bother doing that for no reason? Why would they even do that???!!! I guess they're just bored with life—so now they're getting union reps involved just to see what the public thinks... honestly, why didn't I think of that sooner? Silly me! That’s a really interesting take on doctors—honestly, I love it! 🙏
goldengull3 said:The whole medical residency system seems to be in pretty rough shape—we've got plenty of people working in departments, yet we're still facing a massive shortage of actual specialists. It’s not like an assembly line where you can just speed things up...
That's true, though I heard once we join the European Union, they'll probably require us to have at least twice as many residents in training. then we might end up importing trainees from neighboring countries—not that it would really help us much, I guess. 😳
Scott Allen10 said:Trust me, I'm feeling even more insulted by this medical corruption than you are—claiming a salary of "$5,000-$6,000" is clearly what your post is getting at. If that’s really your take, then maybe you're just being a little too hard on yourself.
Kudos to you—I have to admit, you've got some pretty unique ways of measuring value. I mean, $5,000-$6,000 is actually a great salary, especially if you're an MD—or even better, a specialist—who's actually good at their job, has years of experience under their belt, a family to support, and isn't just working a standard 9-to-5, but carries all that legal and moral responsibility to be there whenever someone needs them... 👍 Honestly, even $5,000-$6,000 seems like too much—we should probably lower it even more. Maybe they should just take $3,000 and stop complaining, right? 🙄
Scott Allen10 said:Doctors like him are paid incredibly well.
I mean, a small business owner with just three years of trade school is an entrepreneur—they earn whatever they can based on how much work they put in. And honestly, nobody is stopping doctors from taking out loans, upgrading their clinics or operating rooms, and making bank. If someone pulls in $100,000, then good for them, I guess.
The way things work within the Medicare system—which is already struggling with all its inconsistencies and debt—you get what you get, and even then, it’s actually not a small amount.
Okay, so doctors like him are super well-paid. Bradley Phillips35 was speaking generally about doctors, and if your last sentence is meant to apply to all doctors (and not just Šimić, who had that specific management contract), then you really don't seem to get what we're talking about here. Statements like that kind of make me feel a bit uneasy, maybe.
Casey Cook10 said:Yeah, I think he probably has a contract to cover like 99% of his surgeries through Medicare—so why even bother bringing a referral if you're already paying an extra fee to pick your surgeon? I guess it’s just to cover the ICU stay, meds, and stuff like that... I mean, a surgery isn't going to cost $50,000, not even with those ridiculous Medicare rates.
So, I guess Magdalena—which started out as this totally private facility with hidden owners—just couldn't make it work as a purely private entity. It seems like they pivoted to become this weird hybrid of private and government-run setup where the rules can just be bent whenever they feel like it... honestly, I can't help but wonder which one of those supposed shareholders is behind that move.😎
Man, things smell a bit fishy over at Dr. H-a's place—it's kind of awful—but I guess people find it way easier to just go to Magdalena instead of getting surgery in the local area. At least there, they have a somewhat legitimate price list where you just pay into an account... which is basically the same amount you'd be stressing over how to bribe someone back home, only without the headache of figuring out how much to bring. Plus, people seem actually happy with the facilities and the care there.
strangelove said:"aortic blood pressure is about 180 mm Hg, and flow velocity is 200!!! cm/s," says Woman from Rijeka🤣 🤣 Is she maybe just typing while drunk?
I was wondering the exact same thing—but then I thought, hey, maybe a woman really does know more than me, since I'm just a student and she's a surgeon... who knows? 🙄 That's 2m/s, folks! Well, I guess we all make mistakes sometimes.
jadesailor14 said:I read them too, like, super closely 😬 either because I'm just curious—or maybe because of this weird thing my brain does where I feel like I have to read every single letter on the page I mean, whatever it is I'll probably end up reading the fine print on a napkin at Starbucks 🤣
bluerider2 said:Exactly. We had this one doctor who would just write unam / unum or duos / duas in the dosage bracket—I guess he wasn't even sure if there was a neuter option for packaging—so when he actually needed to write quattuor or heaven forbid quinque, he’d just write out two separate prescriptions instead. 😁
Oh man, what are you guys even arguing about? I mean, I guess the most important thing with that doctor is whether he actually knows his Latin declensions—and honestly, the whole idea that doctors write messily because they don't know Latin seems kind of silly to me... those people have way bigger things to worry about in life than Latin... at least, I think so. 😁
Isn't it more important to wonder if they're giving a correct diagnosis and if you're actually happy with them as your doctor?
Personally, I'm all for using Latin terminology because I really love it 🙂 and, like someone else mentioned, if you don't understand something, you can just ask your doctor. Plus, using complex American medical jargon wouldn't be clear to most people either—if everything were written in plain everyday English, handwriting would be even worse because trying to squeeze a long explanation into a few words would take hours... A discharge summary or anything written in a hospital or clinic isn't meant to be a textbook for the patient; it's an official record for a doctor to interpret whenever you ask.
Man, there’s just so much going on—it’s honestly hard to believe... I know this one cardiologist in my area who basically picks one day a week to prescribe the exact same medication to every single patient he sees... 😲 even if those patients don't even have the symptoms that the drug is meant for... it's enough to drive you crazy. Then, people show up at their local family doctor feeling totally confused, and the GP tells them, "Hey, don't take that, just stick to your regular prescription," but I guess some folks still end up trusting the specialist more than some random general practitioner over there...
And who knows, maybe the guy is getting a kickback from some big pharmaceutical company like Pfizer or something... it's wild. Sometimes I almost feel like just walking up to him and asking what his deal is—but yeah, I doubt anyone would actually listen to me.
I'm not even from the city, but I just have to give my gynecologist a shout-out🙂
Dr. Vlastelic—he’s a guy, which is always a bit different—but I’ve been seeing him since day one and I don't see myself ever switching. We usually chat for a bit first just to break the ice and relax, I guess. I still remember my first visit; I was such a nervous wreck when I walked in, totally tense, and he managed to calm me down immediately... It is a little weird to think he might be an assistant in the OBGYN department in a few years, though😁 But whatever, I just feel this sense of closeness with him, almost like we're buddies. Still, he’s one of only two people who actually know what's going on down there
tzar said:Some students used to turn down better grades just to keep their GPA steady—for me, the whole goal was just passing the exam so I could go out, hang with friends, and just live my life. Honestly, I didn't care much back then. But looking back, it's a bit different now that I don't have parents who are doctors to basically hand me a residency on a silver platter.
See, I honestly can't wrap my head around why anyone in med school would act like that. I mean, messing around and hanging out is fine—totally get that—but the whole thing about rejecting grades? I just don't get it. Like, isn't the main goal just getting a passing grade? If you don't know half the material and you don't care how your hard work is actually being measured—or if you want to land a scholarship or something—it all seems kind of pointless. And people who actually give a damn about their grades come off as so pathetic.
I remember this one guy in my year who turned down a 3 or a 4 in Neurophysiology, and everyone was gossiping about him for a week straight. Like, wow, imagine being that person—people were acting like he was crazy for refusing a grade, as if he actually thought he could aim for an A. Personally, I think it's totally fine. If you genuinely love a subject and want to learn as much as possible, why wouldn't you turn down a grade just to keep studying? Sure, it probably won't help when you're applying for a residency later, but hey, if it makes someone happy, let them be. Though, I guess I wouldn't turn down a 3 in Neurophys myself... 😁
Sahara said:Yeah, but the real thing is that over the last few decades, everyone has just flocked to smoking, and nobody gives a damn about emissions. We barely even hear about the greenhouse effect or how plankton populations are dropping—I think I saw a documentary about it once—but honestly, long-term, those issues are way more serious than just smoking.
True, but I don't think a debate on that would really go anywhere—maybe if you started a thread, we'd see, but I doubt anyone would actually say, "Oh, the greenhouse effect is law, why would you tell me industry emissions are bad?" Or something like, "Wow, it's so smart to indirectly reduce plankton numbers, who cares, let them move off the planet."
😕 Most of us can't really change this situation anyway. It took ages for nature to get this unbalanced, and we've been hearing about melting glaciers for decades now. You've got groups like Greenpeace and all these conscientious people trying to avoid plastic packaging and stuff... but since these problems build up so slowly over such a long time, it'll probably take just as long to fix them.
The point is, smoking is just the most direct and effective way to bother non-smokers. There are two sides to this, and I guess the negative side has been favored for no reason so far. It seems like a misunderstanding—just a failure to consider the basic rights of non-smokers who simply don't want to breathe in tar and other junk that's obviously terrible for your lungs and everything else... And of course, they smoke because there are people who still want to indulge.
Again, I have nothing against smokers—go ahead and smoke if you want—but maybe they could just realize that some people are constantly being bothered by it. I kind of feel like if she were a smoker, she'd make an effort not to smoke around non-smokers or in their homes and stuff...
Anyway, the topic is about smoking bans and stuff.
Jose Chase2 said:Man, you non-smokers can be such a pain—honestly! It's not like I go around lecturing anyone for not smoking when we're grabbing coffee, right? Sure, it feels a little weird when I'm out with four friends and I'm the only one not lighting up, but I don't judge them for it 😢 He’s still a good guy even if he doesn't smoke! Why won't you just let us live our lives? Give us our freedom 🙂
So, are you actually joking or do you really feel that way??? i wonder... 🙄
c'mon, just think about it for a sec 😉 I guess someone already explained the issue pretty well in another post, so I won't bore you with it again
Or, like, imagine you're at coffee with five buddies who all happen to smell strongly of garlic. Or maybe onions—you know, healthy stuff, but you wouldn't want to smell like that, right? It'd be kind of rude. And I bet you'd say something to them. But with this, you're acting like it's fine