SoCal_PA Posted October 8, 2014 Author Share Posted October 8, 2014 It's ok everyone, USC_PA is just worried cause he's going to a $150,000+ three year program. I'd be worried too. Thanks for being concerned but I'm fortunate enough to not have to worry about it. Why is money such a taboo topic....Is it bad to want to be successful? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKPAC Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Unfortunately, some people consider it bad to want to be successful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SocialMedicine Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 high salary is important for a career in medicine. because people in medicine are smart and can work just about anywhere. if they are not kept in medicine because of benefits such as salary and rewarding patient relationship they will work elsewhere. I am not longer naive to think that people in other jobs cannot have stimulating and rewarding jobs. if we want health people we need to have a high paid medical staff. PA school is EXPENSIVE to run. Just think about the salary of your faculty w benefits easily 150 a person. Office staff .... cleaning staff .... building fees .... technology .... internet ..... phones ....malpractice for students..... data storage .... it all adds up. And PA school will get more expensive due to clinical site charging money in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corpsman2PA Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Oh cut him a break. Money is always a motivator, although certainly shouldn't be the singular, or even primary one. I certainly wouldn't do this job for $75000 a year. Agreed. There's a reason that the "salary and contracts" section of this forum is so popular. And a reason why AAPA puts together a salary report amongst other organizations. We want to be fairly compensated for what we do. I provided great patient care as a Corpsman. But, it's also nice to make more $ and still provide high quality patient care. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheStonethatRolls Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Kind of a strong reactions Boatswain. Let you be cared for by someone with money as their primary motivator. You will note the difference. I'm not a PA. But I do work as a health care provider (RDH) . Money is always a motivator. I assure you that if you were getting paid 35k a year you wouldn't want to work in health care. And topics like this is important so people considering a future in PA can see what they are getting themselves into. To be honest I also hate that phoney baloney "You shouldn't be in it for the money" excuse. When I first went into the dental hygiene field that is what I was fed. Now that I'm a little more wiser I can tell you that if some one doesn't want to tell you what the profession makes or should be making then they're hiding something from you. The only people that really love what they do are kindergarten teachers. They get paid in scraps. Besides as others have mentioned, most people who enter programs like these have spent years and years in school. That is to say years and years of not earning much money, not going out to travel or have fun. High pay should be a prerequisite for professions like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinntsp Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Makes me worry when I see people motivated by money. This is patient care. You have to want to do that to be good. Money will come. It's important for our profession to make sure we get paid what we're worth. The whole concept that money should be an afterthought is ridiculous. Maybe one day we'll be able to think about it less if our govt ever decides to stop subsidizing corporate tax breaks and other spending with student loan interest profits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derbingle Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 At Boatswain, it was the "oh cut him a break". That said outloud is never neutral statement and usually said in disgust. At LKPAC, being successful is not only equated to making money, that is an extrapolation for a smart remark, and an assumption that has nothing to do with what i said, not much more, at Social Medicine, the best and brightest are already not doing medicie Anymore! They are smarter than that. And majority of you seems to be waiting with batied breath to defend your right to earn high dollars. ive been around medicine for 20 years, have seen the changes. Havent been a PA that long. But the cost of this education is something people are willing to incur, so they can get the job that pays well. People seek training, in any field, to job they can get paid well at. its all a mute point. There are so many contradictions in this forum, experienced people posting how they are worth as much as doctors, do as much, upset theybarent respected, recognized, yet, tearing down people with in their own profession as every oppurtunity. I just do t get it. Maybe some of it is the nature of emailing/message format, who knows. I do see a lot of support for new people, students, new PAs, but absolute intolerance for different perspectives with in the profession. The regular posters agree with each other for the most part and the rest can keep quiet. I feel The profession is narrowly represented here And shows the PA profession's lack cohesive goals or shared goals. Lots of individualism. I work in a busy inter city ER and what I see actually happening, no one wants to acknowledge. Anyway, it is a problem if, money is the primary motivator in patient care. Its why medicine is in such bad shape compared to 30 years ago. IMHO. Peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItRainsItPours Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 The cost of education is rising at a staggering rate. I've noticed that many practicing PA's are unaware of the cost of education in today's climate. I can tell you as an undergrad with no family support and who is quite debt adverse, also attempting to minimize costs by attending community college and in-state universities, and by working full time that the cost of becoming a PA can still easily exceed 100k in loans. This is the reality of the next generation of PA's. Discussion of salary IMO is not optional at this point, it is a necessity. I work full time in patient care and have it affirmed everyday that no other field would be as rewarding to me. I don't need a BMW M3 to feel successful. I just want to be able to pay off the loans, raise a family relatively comfortably, and save for retirement. A millienial attending private institutions for school could find themselves in a situation where one of these three areas could suffer significantly. To pre-pa's who don't pay attention to how much you are borrowing for school: Caveat Emptor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JMPA Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 simply compare other professions. does a sanitation technition deserve a salary equivalent to an MD?, should a school teacher earn the equivalent of an engineer?, shoulds one's time and finance sacrificed to learning be unrewarded with equivocal wages? it didn't work for the USSR and it will not work here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatswain2PA Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 At Boatswain, it was the "oh cut him a break". That said outloud is never neutral statement and usually said in disgust. ........... Anyway, it is a problem if, money is the primary motivator in patient care. Its why medicine is in such bad shape compared to 30 years ago. IMHO. Peace. Derb: Certainly wasn't a neutral statement, but wasn't "said in disgust". And, again, nobody (but you) is talking about money being "the primary motivator." And medicine is in such bad shape compared to 30 years ago because our government policies have further removed the person receiving the care from the entity paying for the care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Febrifuge Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Anyway, it is a problem if, money is the primary motivator in patient care. Its why medicine is in such bad shape compared to 30 years ago. IMHO. Peace. See, that's the part I find curious. Sure, there are plenty of people who are concerned about the status and the money... but is it really more of an issue now than in, say, 1958, or 1988? I think not. If anything, the last decade or two have seen a lot of changes aimed at standardizing and containing costs. Back in the day when doctors could literally set any price they cared to, I don't for a minute believe that the typical, representative doc was terribly altruistic about it. Some were saints I'm sure, and gladly exchanged their services for nothing more than a fresh-baked blueberry pie, cooled on the windowsill as the summer sun slowly set over the McGillicuddy farm, but it's a fact that some were price-gouging like crazy. The way it's been explained to me, that's part of why and how Medicare got started, back in the Johnson administration. The small-town doctor has always been the one with the nicest car, the biggest house, the perks and affectations. (Within that same small town, anyway.) It's deep in the culture. In short, medical professionals caring about money is really not a new development. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paula Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Every one cares about money in some form or another. It's the love of money that kills us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corpsman2PA Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Every one cares about money in some form or another. It's the love of money that kills us. Debate over. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArizonaPA Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 137,500 plus 2nd job = 167982 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceBanner Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 I think it's droll when people pull the "money shouldn't be your motivator" card. Get real. I have never been ashamed of demanding a fair wage and I am not ashamed to admit part of the reason I became a PA was because we can make a pretty good salary, by today's standards. All debt aside, would you do your job for $35k a year?? I wouldn't. We are professionals doing an important job, and as the title implies, professionals get f*cking PAID. I think supply and demand will continue to drive down the market value of PAs. Not dramatically, but I don't see it climbing much higher than it is now. A few reasons: 1. The new grad explosion will continue, saturating metro markets (where most people want or need to live) 2. Unless you have some specialized and valuable skills, why is an employer going to pay a 10-15 year PA $120k to do a job that a 1-2 year PA will do for $85k? 3. NPs outnumber us, will work for (slightly) less, and don't need an SP to practice in many states. A few other related thoughts on increasing our value: No offense to any one getting a doctorate, but unless you have goals of administration or education, no one is going to pay a PA with a "D" in their title any more than the rest of us to do the same work. My program had a dual degree option for an MMS/MPH, which was the biggest sham I've ever heard of. Tuition sink. Right now, no one really knows what CAQ's are. Residencies are big value boosters, but only very early in your career. After a couple years I think it makes more sense to work for full pay and let experience accumulate. Unless of course you want to do a complete specialty change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FBIDoc Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 I think it's droll when people pull the "money shouldn't be your motivator" card. Get real. I have never been ashamed of demanding a fair wage and I am not ashamed to admit part of the reason I became a PA was because we can make a pretty good salary, by today's standards. All debt aside, would you do your job for $35k a year?? I wouldn't. We are professionals doing an important job, and as the title implies, professionals get f*cking PAID. I think supply and demand will continue to drive down the market value of PAs. Not dramatically, but I don't see it climbing much higher than it is now. A few reasons: 1. The new grad explosion will continue, saturating metro markets (where most people want or need to live) 2. Unless you have some specialized and valuable skills, why is an employer going to pay a 10-15 year PA $120k to do a job that a 1-2 year PA will do for $85k? 3. NPs outnumber us, will work for (slightly) less, and don't need an SP to practice in many states. A few other related thoughts on increasing our value: No offense to any one getting a doctorate, but unless you have goals of administration or education, no one is going to pay a PA with a "D" in their title any more than the rest of us to do the same work. My program had a dual degree option for an MMS/MPH, which was the biggest sham I've ever heard of. Tuition sink. Right now, no one really knows what CAQ's are. Residencies are big value boosters, but only very early in your career. After a couple years I think it makes more sense to work for full pay and let experience accumulate. Unless of course you want to do a complete specialty change. The other 800lb gorilla in the room is the move toward ACO's and away from fee-for-service. If you generate the majority of your value to a practice from fee-based activities ie surgery and other specialties that are procedure-heavy, then I think you'll see a dramatic downward shift in salaries as these policies get implemented...at the end of the day when that pie gets divvied up, the hospitals, insurance companies and docs will get theirs...how much left over for the rest of us? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjl1717 Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Agree. Most will not get the gravity Derbingles post... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayMan Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Here's why money is important: you can calculate how much you are likely to make, thus calculate how soon you get to pay off your loans, thus calculate WHEN YOU GET TO START HAVING A LIFE. money matters. a lot. there are tons of jobs that pay 6 figures, its a matter of choosing which one you want. so it's never purely about money, but money is a huge factor in all our lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtmathew Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 If an academic institution is going to charge students 100-150k for an education, those students should expect an equitable salary upon graduation. I highly doubt anyone in the profession would be willing to make the sacrifices necessary to get into school if their primary priority was money. There are many easier ways to make money than attending night classes while working full time, going 6 figures into debt, and trading ALL of your time for 2+ years in exchange for an education. All of my fellow students, including myself, are in the medical field because they LOVE medicine/science/making people feel better. I (and im sure everyone else who has ever applied/attended/graduated from PA school) wouldnt have (volunteered then) worked in medicine for the past 4 years, making less than 30k a year, if I was "in it for the money". So, yeah, I guess money is important...but it doesnt start or end there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal_PA Posted April 25, 2016 Author Share Posted April 25, 2016 I was looking at my previous posts and found that this thread has >10k views! Just thought I'd give it a bump since it was popular :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatswain2PA Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 And it's a year and a half old. Perhaps another one....with greater ranges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted April 26, 2016 Moderator Share Posted April 26, 2016 And it's a year and a half old. Perhaps another one....with greater ranges. and specialty specific.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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