My sole observation on this matter is this: if we expect a physician to be honest, compassionate, and to perform their duties with a sense of honor and responsibility, then we must first ensure their basic needs are met through a livable wage. In my estimation, an American doctor should be earning somewhere between $180,000 and $350,000 annually, depending heavily on their specific specialty and whether they are working in a private practice or a major hospital system like the Mayo Clinic. Until we address this systemic issue, the healthcare landscape in America will never truly improve. It is something every patient ought to reflect upon when, in a moment of pure selfishness, they find themselves being rude or condescending toward the very people trying to heal them (and let’s be honest, patients can be incredibly difficult sometimes). Conversely, doctors must remember that regardless of their stress levels, they owe every single individual at least a baseline of politeness and, above all, unwavering professionalism.
Essentially, for a doctor to find any semblance of job satisfaction, they need sufficient compensation—just as judges, cabinet members, professors, and police officers do. So, who can really blame a government official for cutting corners or engaging in corruption when they are earning a fraction of what a private sector executive in the same field—say, at Goldman Sachs—makes?
The only individuals whose salaries I find even remotely realistic—though perhaps even excessive given the effort involved—are the C-suite executives and CEOs. They occasionally end up in court facing various allegations, but with those kinds of payouts, one can certainly afford to weather the storm.
