Whiny pediatricians...

I went back to work this morning.

One of the first patients I saw was the pet of a pediatrician.

A little background:

If you bring in your pet for emergency or general practice services, you usually have to pay your bill upfront. However, we offer payment plan options to people, and have the names of several non-profits that provide emergency funds for poor people who cannot afford their pet's medical bills.

Pediatricians are among the lowest paid of anyone who graduates from medical school. As a result, it has become full of med school losers and women who want to work part time.

Today, this pediatrician (who works as part of a large group practice and was able to take the day off to bring their pet in) was whining about having to pay their bill. They were whining because they "only" make $134,000/year, and the bill was $500.

Whether or not the doctor chose a payment plan is unknown to me, I have no dealings with the billing department.

However, the doctor was telling us that we are "lucky" to be able to bill upfront. He was complaining that his group practice "forces" him to participate in Medicare & Medicaid. He states that their low reimbursements contribute to his paltry salary. He feels as if every patient should be a "self pay" and that patients should not be seen unless they are willing to pay an itemized bill for all services rendered. He complained that the "art" of caring for "the future of our country" was going to die out because "pediatricians just don't get paid what they are worth".

We told him that although there are many people who actually do pay upfront, there are many more that simply walk out on bills or stop paying their payment plan. We can't provide top quality care for pets at times because people can't pay for it, and the hospital can only take so many hits doing things for free. He couldn't believe that the average veterinarian makes a lot less than a primary care doctor.

I also want to note that this man had an EXPENSIVE purebred pet that he purchased from a breeder, and he lived in a very expensive waterfront Long Island community.

Here is what we discussed, as childfree people, when he left:

1. We thought pediatricians went into practice for the "love of children".
2. The average Joe Schmoe knows that there are plenty of poor families and poor children out there. Wouldn't you consider this before you chose peds as your field of practice?
3. If you know that your field is particularly low-paying, why would you choose to spend so much disposable income on a purebred pet and an overpriced waterfront community?

Well, my break is over, but I wanted to get your opinion on this doctor's predicament. Should be interesting to hear.

My heart bleeds.

What a douchecanoe.

Maybe this will be a good antidote to that guy's thick-headedness:

A friend of mine is a pediatrician, and she would have strangled that dude with her stethoscope. She saves her complaining for parents who are actually in charge of her patients....people who have kids, then abuse, neglect, or generally aren't up to the heavy lifting of parenting. I enjoy her facebook posts for this reason. Oh, and she's CF, and I can guarantee that she doesn't bitch about the cost when she brings her awesome lab mix to the vet.

Hubby makes a little more than 136 000. We never had a b*tch about a vet bill. We certainly helped put the vet's kids through college. Having no two legged critters frees a lot of capital. It depends on where one's priorities are. We do not buy a new car every two years, have the latest giant screen TV or go on cruises, exotic vacations. We enjoy our time at home with our pets, since we have no guarantee they'll be with us forever.

He feels as if every patient should be a "self pay" and that patients should not be seen unless they are willing to pay an itemized bill for all services rendered.


...This asswipe is completely unrealistic. He must think his patients are made of money. Or expects them to just suffer if they can't afford his stringent ideals on healthcare.

Fuck him.

If you want to go into medicine for the money you pick anesthesiology, not pediatrics. And for the record, vets make the least amount of any medical professional with a Dr. title.

If you are whining about a vet bill that is 4 percent of your MONTHLY salary, you have no business owning a pet.

If you are broke, move out of the Hamptons. Stop buying a new Mercedes or BMW every year. Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses. Pick up "The Millionaire Next Door" from your library, and give up the high end lifestyle.

Like Barren, I am fairly well off after years of being one of those overpaid military people eyes2. I live in a nice neighborhood but not an overpriced one...I just did not want to clean up that square footage. I drive a nice car that is nine years old. I am looking for a possible second car, which will be used rather than brand new. I did buy a flat screen TV but I have an old tube TV up in my sitting/workout room. I take vacations, but I look for bang for the buck (working for an airline helps.) I may inwardly cringe at a vet bill but won't flinch.

These people are making lots of money but are blowing more than they make....I bet the ranch on it.

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From a bottle cap message on a Magic Hat #9 beer: Condoms Prevent Minivans
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I want to pick up a bus full of unruly kids and feed them gummi bears and crack, then turn them loose in Hobby Lobby to ransack the place. They will all be wearing T shirts that say "You Could Have Prevented This."

I love this board.

This doctor's complaint that human medicine should be run like veterinary medicine is actually quite common. Most doctors feel that they are horribly underpaid and overworked. I know that medicine is difficult, however these people chose to be there.

No matter how much I bitch and moan about kids, I don't want them to be sick or hungry. Sure, in an ideal world, people would plan before they had children, but that's not the way it is. And sometimes, shit just happens leading to people being on Medicaid. I was DISGUSTED that this man, who supposedly went into his career for the love of children, was whining that he had to take Medicare and Medicaid. What the fuck does he care? He's in a group practice, he's not the one doing the billing.

I'm always disgusted at private physicians who opt out of Medicare and Medicaid, but I have a particular hatred for pediatricians and psychiatrists who do so. It's a matter of of not wanting to deal with the "undesirables" of society: the poor, the mentally ill and the elderly.

I really wonder about people who go into human medicine. The majority of doctors that I have come into contact with, professionally and personally, are rabidly Conservative and most are religious.

Maybe it's different in urban areas or other parts of the country, but I don't see much "humanitarianism" in human medicine.

Only 134k? Cry me a fucking river.

What I find particularly annoying about this guy is that he TOLD the vet staff his annual earnings. Who the hell does that, especially when he has to know that it's more than what everyone in the office is making? What an ass.

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Only 134k? Cry me a fucking river.

Right? My goal is to be making HALF that.

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Only 134k? Cry me a fucking river.

Right? My goal is to be making HALF that.

I'd be doing cartwheels if I made 25% of that. That motherfucker can suck my dick, and tug my balls while he's down there.

Whiner pediatrician must not realize that there are all kinds of people who bust their asses every day for way less than 134k dollars. They may not have gone to med school, but that doesn't mean that they don't work just as hard or harder than this pediatrician works. He sounds like he has no idea how fortunate he is. To sit complaining about making "only" 134k AFTER Medicare/Medicaid, no matter how much orthos and neurosurgeons and others may make, just makes him seem delusional.

There are also people in this world who, while busting their asses making far, far, far less than 134k, at the same time are making sacrifices each month to pay off their $500 vet bill, payment by payment. Because they love their pet, and they are grateful that the vet allows them to make payments instead of suing them.

Just to complain to a veterinarian and his/her employees, who all certainly make way less than this pediatrician does, is further delusional and really tacky.

I suppose the dog was just a status symbol so he can brag that he has a pedigreed such and such?

Heaven help him if he ever ends up on Medicare himself. It could happen.

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night_owl
Whiner pediatrician must not realize that there are all kinds of people who bust their asses every day for way less than 134k dollars. They may not have gone to med school, but that doesn't mean that they don't work just as hard or harder than this pediatrician works. He sounds like he has no idea how fortunate he is. To sit complaining about making "only" 134k AFTER Medicare/Medicaid, no matter how much orthos and neurosurgeons and others may make, just makes him seem delusional.

There are also people in this world who, while busting their asses making far, far, far less than 134k, at the same time are making sacrifices each month to pay off their $500 vet bill, payment by payment. Because they love their pet, and they are grateful that the vet allows them to make payments instead of suing them.

Just to complain to a veterinarian and his/her employees, who all certainly make way less than this pediatrician does, is further delusional and really tacky.

I suppose the dog was just a status symbol so he can brag that he has a pedigreed such and such?

Heaven help him if he ever ends up on Medicare himself. It could happen.

Talking about salaries is something that I find high earning people do around here, but they think that it's NOTHING.

"Oh, but I ONLY make $200,000 after taxes, I mean - that's NOTHING after mortgage, tuition, etc. POOR ME."

eyes2

It falls upon deaf ears where I work, being that most of us have 2 college degrees, and went into vet med because we felt passionately about animals, not because the $18/hour salary was so enticing.

The other complaint I like is the "wealthy people should not pay more taxes because they WORK so hard". I work hard, too. Where's my break? Supposedly a hedge fund manager or something showed up over the weekend for an emergency visit, and lectured people about the "the insidious threat of socialism" and "that fucking Muslim in office who is stealing our money".

What is that guy worth? A sad million or something?

There are some people who live a comfortable lifestyle and are grateful that they have it. Then, there are other people who just can never have enough.

I know it's mean, but I wish poverty on them. Just so they can see "the other side".

I make WAY WAY less than 134K and I found the money for my dog Archer's emergency care when he needed it. If I can literally pull that money out of my ass when necessary I fail to see why someone making THREE TIMES more money than I do can't cough it up. If I had been face to face with that cock sucker I think I really would have taken a swing at him.

Two things I would like to say.

My father was a dentist with the VA and made about that amount of money but with 5 kids it went quickly - That's what happened because he was devout Catholic. Often when people find out someone is a doctor or a dentist they charge top dollar. Your office is probably not doing that but for example, the mechanic who would fix his Chevrolets charged a lot, knowing that he was a dentist. Contractors often do that too. I also saw a psychiatrist for a long time and I think he kept me on because my dad never questioned and always paid him. And no, he did not help me at all and I went all through school depressed and a career ruined. Later on, I would be guilt-tripped because they paid "top dollar".

The Catholic church was also a money drain and it turns out my parents paid nearly $75,000 over 25 years to a church where the priest was always nasty to us, even when dad passed away and we had to arrange the funeral. I don't dare ask: What did all that money buy? Couldn't they be nice to us for that much?

Many doctors pay for private schools and/or move to expensive school districts for their kids. And no, their kids go to the best universities and pay much more.

That is happening with my sister and the BIL I cannot stand, Jupy. Jupy is family practice and has always been decent to me but he talks all the time, talks PAINFULLY LOUD and has hygiene issues and so smells. It is gross, but he has twice made their dog sick, each time with a $500 vet bill. But my sister cannot tell him to clean up which would prevent the vet bills because "he cannot handle the truth". He also has mold in his house and would rather painfully loud cough all the time than solve that. Yet people think he is wonder because "he is a doctor".

Maybe what the pediatrician was trying to do was make you think he is all-knowing because he is a doctor. Good you did not fall for that. Now is the chance to charge him top dollar.

Meanwhile, hasn't this guy heard of a credit card? Why can't he just put it on his American Express?

Pediatricians are the most self-righteous assholes in the health care world. They act like every word they utter is some great revelation of knowledge worthy of etching in stone. They bark orders like Marine drill sergeants, and they have this knack of pissing off every other health care professional, especially other docs. Everything in a hospital could be running smooth, on time and without any incident until a fucking pediatrician walks through the door and all hell breaks loose.

Never, ever, ever would I go back to pediatric nursing even if it meant me living on the streets instead of working.

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cfbitchfromla
Pediatricians are the most self-righteous assholes in the health care world. They act like every word they utter is some great revelation of knowledge worthy of etching in stone. They bark orders like Marine drill sergeants, and they have this knack of pissing off every other health care professional, especially other docs. Everything in a hospital could be running smooth, on time and without any incident until a fucking pediatrician walks through the door and all hell breaks loose.

Never, ever, ever would I go back to pediatric nursing even if it meant me living on the streets instead of working.

I have limited experience with general pediatricians, but they sound exactly like neonatologists. Performing "miracle saves" on what should have been a miscarriage is now a child with severe CP and is blind. What a miracle.

I find that any physician who works with children have a lot more of the "God complex" than other physicians.

I have met a couple and seen others on those real-life medical shows that think they are better than other doctors because they are saving THE CHILDREN and of course that is more important than anything. I would love to make a quarter of 134,000. What an ass. I don't make near that but managed a $500 bill for my dog a couple of times. Couldn't do anything else for several paychecks but I paid for my dog without bitching.

Mr. Neptune, his AMEX is probably maxed (they do cut you off after a certain point.) People who have all the trappings of success are usually leveraged to the hilt with no wiggle room. They spend far more than they make.

Depending on the vet and your relationship, payment plans are possible. When my Sebastian passed last month, I did not pay on the spot. I asked for a private cremation and when I picked him up, I paid the bill in full (which was close to the poor, broke pediatrician.) But I am also a long time client and rescue foster, and this is where we bring our rescues.

I have mixed feelings about Dave Ramsey but completely agree with having a fat emergency account. That "oh shit" account saved my ass more than once. Maybe the doc needs to rethink those priorities. (Status symbol pups are often riddled with medical issues, especially if not from a VERY reputable breeder.)

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From a bottle cap message on a Magic Hat #9 beer: Condoms Prevent Minivans
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I want to pick up a bus full of unruly kids and feed them gummi bears and crack, then turn them loose in Hobby Lobby to ransack the place. They will all be wearing T shirts that say "You Could Have Prevented This."

He only makes $134,000 per year? WOW! Why am I going for a PhD again? I should opt for an MD! I can stick kids in the ass with a needle and shove wooden paddles down their throats for that kind of money.

The highest paid professor at my college makes $120,000, and he sits in an endowed chair that pays half of that salary. I've never heard him complain about having to take his cats to the vet.

Boohoohoo, only 134K a year? My heart is not exactly bleeding for that whiny asshole.

It's not just the pediatricians complaining. My mother has a few clients that are wealthy doctors, and they were complaining that after the ACA takes effect, they would go from making $1,000,000 a year to "only" $800,000. eyes2

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nobodylikesyourkidbutyou
Boohoohoo, only 134K a year? My heart is not exactly bleeding for that whiny asshole.

It's not just the pediatricians complaining. My mother has a few clients that are wealthy doctors, and they were complaining that after the ACA takes effect, they would go from making $1,000,000 a year to "only" $800,000. eyes2

This is what I mean. These people are delusional. The argument is "Well, a doctor spends $200K on a education, they are entitled to a LARGE salary". "A doctor has an IMPORTANT job - they DESERVE a large salary".

I know many people with A LOT of educational debt, and they aren't MDs. I also know plenty of people with important jobs who make nothing. Then again, these people also live within their means, don't overspend, either don't have kids or don't send them to expensive private schools, etc etc.

Americans seem to think that society owes them an affluent lifestyle. Fuck you!