I guess the real question is, do you have to go to school for 10 years to be a generic MD who can read the output of a machine and tell me my white blood cell count is elevated so I probably have an infection.

Here is an antibiotic.

btw, I'm not saying that years of school aren't worth it for docs that are more specialized (aka surgery)

"I guess the real question is, do you have to go to school for 10 years to be a generic MD who can read the output of a machine and tell me my white blood cell count is elevated so I probably have an infection.

Here is an antibiotic."

No, and this is what pisses me off about things like the FDA. They set the standard for risk, instead of letting the market find the appropriate level. And they've set it pretty high, and now basic shit is needlessly expensive and complicated. Cutting corners (ie, letting nurses handle it) is just fine. It might lead to more accidents, but it'll free up doctors to help a lot more people and more than make up for it.

"The problem is American doctors are smug elitist's who believe they're worth half a million dollars a year and american society believes they're worth it too (possibly through watching too much medical dramas on television).

Every other country in the world treats theur doctor's as humanitarians who deserve an above average but honest wage."

After at least 10 years of schooling (plus the debt), grueling work, and 12+ hour work days for many years, doctor's deserve the high wage. When you first start out as a doctor, you don't get that much. It only happens after specialization.

Other countries also pay developers $5/hour and you forget to mention that the cost of living in many "other countries" is significantly lower.

Medical training is equally tough in most/all other countries.

Cost of living is higher in most western european countries and japan than in the US, but their doctors are paid less than US doctors.

"Cost of living is higher in most western european countries and japan than in the US, but their doctors are paid less than US doctors."

That's because most western European countries have socialized health care. The fact that doctors aren't paid well is a product of the system.

They are smug, there is no reason we need to jump through hoops for routine things. But I don't think that's the problem. I think that if the market were truly free, consumer's opinion of the doctors' eliteness status would prevail.