CCCToad on 12/10/2009 at 20:24
(
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/moneymag/0910/gallery.bestjobs_highestpaid.moneymag/index.html?section=money_topstories)
I have to admit, the results of this were somewhat surprising to me. I didn't expect Anesthesia specialists to be the top paying job, especially when its hardly the most difficult job in the medical field (family members in medicine have told me its some types of specialty surgeon that are hardest). Even more surprising was that Psychiatrists rake in more than lawyers. Insurance agent is also a bit surprising to me, since the ones in my (small) hometown didn't live as high a lifestyle as the doctors and lawyers in town did. Finally, I'd have thought that the financial specialists would be higher, and that some banking professionals (like stock brokers) would make more than, say, your average "software architect".
Aerothorn on 12/10/2009 at 20:27
This really surprises me, given that I have a friend whose father is an anesthesiologist, and she has claimed that he doesn't make that much money. Hmmm.
While I appreciate that they went with the median as the main number, it would be nice to see a mean average, too.
the_grip on 12/10/2009 at 20:31
Hey, my job (software architect/manager) gets paid more than a lawyer?
Sulphur on 12/10/2009 at 20:31
The second highly paid mofos in that list are practising Ob/Gyns. Room with a view (or twenty) a day and the pay to go with it too.
Why didn't I become a doc like my gramps, now I know why he was a surly sonofagun but always with a glint in his eye.
D'Arcy on 12/10/2009 at 21:48
With the top four jobs being in the health industry, no wonder there's so much resistance to the Health Care reform in the US :p
SubJeff on 12/10/2009 at 23:01
Quote Posted by CCCToad
I didn't expect Anesthesia specialists to be the top paying job, especially when its hardly the most difficult job in the medical field
Well I think that the article explains it pretty much - its a life and death game, no doubt about it. Things can go from "everything is fine" to "OMG 10 SECONDS TO DEATH GET ME X DRUG AT X DOSE NOW NOW
NOW!" in the blink of an eye. In the UK our exams are pretty much accepted by the rest of doctors to be the hardest and that's because you have to know
exactly what is going on with your patient. For specialists (especially Thorac/Cardio/Neuro) this is even more hardcore.
Shudders. Remember that you may have a number of surgeons who can do operation X, but you have patients that can only be safely anaesthetised by a handful of people where everyone else would look at the case and go "No way is this guy going to survive the anaesthsia, never mind the surgery".
If you said "its not the most difficult job" I'd have to say meh, you're probably right. But you say "its
hardly the most difficult job" which is a little dismissive and belies some lack of understanding re: how tough it is.
In the UK I think its Neurosurgeons who have the highest mean pay.
That article would be more useful/interesting if it had means and ranges. And the Psychiatry rank is likely a US-centric thing related to private consultations that aren't necessarily about psychiatric problems but psychological ones.
Nevertheless I'm very surprised by the ranking of those two (Anaesthesia and Psychiatry) and even more so by the Anaesthetic Nurse one! We don't have those here at all.
Quote Posted by Sulphur
Why didn't I become a doc like my gramps
Never too late.
Gingerbread Man on 12/10/2009 at 23:15
Quote Posted by Aerothorn
This really surprises me, given that I have a friend whose father is an anesthesiologist, and she has claimed that he doesn't make that much money. Hmmm.
While I appreciate that they went with the median as the main number, it would be nice to see a mean average, too.
This. On both counts. Oddly. Except my friend is a male.
frozenman on 12/10/2009 at 23:34
Count me, well not exactly, but my brother is in residency for becoming an anesthesiologist, and now I can feel the glaring looks of disappointment from my parents!
Side-note, the_grip or any other software engineers: I got a B.S. in Physics but I'm interested in following up on some kind of software engineering path for graduate school/assc. deg. because A) you can get shit tons of money and B) i've enjoyed the challenges in the limited programming I have done. Is it "hard to get into" programming if you haven't been suckling at it's teet for several years already?
Scots Taffer on 13/10/2009 at 00:29
Nice to see insurance in the top 10 ... even if it is only if you are a scumbag broker!
This doesn't surprise me too much as I pretty much spent a good chunk of my late teens investigating highest paid occupations around the Western World and deciding which matched up to my skills/desires and so on. Surprised that dental surgeons aren't up there also because goddamn they can earn some dough.
The good thing about most of those jobs is that if you have a passion for it you can be pretty damn happy while making shitloads, though the personal responsibility side on all the medical practitioner roles in a place as litigation happy as the States makes me shudder.
The closest exception to the enjoyment factor is probably in actuarial work because unless you get specialised quickly and get into consultancy it's a fucking pit of a job. Years of full time study and full time work in high stress environments (average of around 8 years I'd expect) with monotonous numerical work (unless you have a passion for that, in which case good on you, you soulless excuse for a human) with the only possible reward being compensation. There are hundreds of actuarial departments full of zombie stats-processors who never complete their qualifications despite the pay increases it promises due to the fact that so much of it is automated and the exams are purely to justify a historically high average costing to companies.
I'm sure that could be true in some respects for a lot of lawyers too...
