Anatomy Class or Party Night?

Have you ever wondered..."What if I went to medical school? I'd be making thousands more than I do!"
Well...you're right. In an article I just read on MSN.com they were talking about the top 10 best paying jobs in America.
9 out of the 10 are in the medical field. Each profession being in their own field and only being trumped out by one corportate job; CEO's.
A surgeon makes an average of $219, 770 per year. That's almost 6 times what I make now, and almost 10 times as much as I would have made had I stayed in the restuarant industry.

The article goes into talking about the break down of salaries and uses data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates from May 2009. It claims that the reason for such a high salary in the medical field is because of the cost of education and malpractice insurance for those with the PhD's.

Understandably...I only came out of a 4 year college with about $30,000 in debt, which is probably about a year of medical school. There are some us who were not blessed with the mind for medicine and shouldn't we be alright with the fact that we're paying people who were properly trained to do what they do?

Top medical jobs being:

Surgeon
Anesthesiologist
Oral/Maxillofacial Surgeons
Orthodontist
Obstetrician
Gynocologist

I think we can be ok with these people getting the correct and proper educations and then getting paid to do what they do. Messing with people's teeth, making people feel no pain during painful and hard surgeries, DOING the surgeries and making sure that a woman's in's and out's are working are pretty hard jobs; in my opinion.

A good quote from the article itself: "In operating rooms across the country, surgeons earn an average of $105.66 an hour. Maybe there are worse things in life after all than taking organic chemistry and being on overnight call." (Coster 1)

We then look at the bottom end of the spectrum. The food industry. Coming from personal experience, it really takes the right kind of person to work in this business. You need to be hard to the fact that money is not something that comes by easy, with a degree or knowing people. You work hard, long hours and you bust your butt for minimum wage, or if you're a waitress or waiter, far below minimum wage. The average server gets $2.71 an hour, plus tips. With the current economy though...who really goes out to eat any more? Or often? It's something that will eventually damage the server's world and really put a dent in the way the US populace sees dining out.

The average food service worker (cook, dishwasher, dining room/caf attendants) makes about $18,120/year. Granted they're not paying for school like a doctor would be, but they do need to make a living. A gynocologist or anesthesiologist can pay up to 6 digits a year in medical malpractice premiums! A food service worker needs to only worry about covering themselves and a family.

Fun Fact: The CEO of Occidental Petroleum, Ray Irani made 52.2 million last year and Disney's CEO made 20.8 million in salary, stock and bonuses.
Fun Fact: A surgeon makes about $105.66/hour where a food service employee makes about $8.71/hour.

Its really a world where you need to balance the pros and cons of each profession. A doctor is getting paid for the money and time and effort they put into 5-7+ years in medical school and the malpractice that could result from a lax hand. Food service workers are comprised of drop outs, college kids, people putting themselves through school or those just using it as a segway for a better job.

We need to realize that everyone struggles, even those people making 6 digits a year, just remember...when you're in bed after flipping your burgers and taking out trash, there is a doctor in an ER somewhere waiting for a patient coming in from a shooting, car accident, or worse. But where would we be without food service workers? Where are the people who are hardy workers living day to day to serve you? No where...its a harmony that we need to accept.


http://http//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37304991/ns/business-forbescom/