Doctor's salaries

Something that I have been interested in learning more about has been the salaries of doctors. I remember my parents talking about it when discussing their own incomes (my dad's a psychiatrist), but I wasn't able to learn much because my parents only gave vague numbers to me. Lately, the issue has caught my eye again. I know that many people feel that doctors make a lot of money. From what I have heard, I always believed that they would make around $100,000. For example, I heard that 6-figure salaries usually came from rigorous occupations such as being a doctor, lawyer, etc from teachers in the past.

One thing that I know for sure about doctor's salaries is that they are quite high in comparison to other fields. Now, I've studied my share of science and believe that a whole life dedicated to it is indeed difficult, justifying a decent income. Personally, It's funny to me how doctors seem to make a lot of money, although people often disregard that in most cases, they not only have to go through the standard 4-year college education, but also have take a harsh 8 years of combined medical school and internships afterwards.

Doctor's salaries are particularly interesting for me because I want to become a doctor in the future, however I am not sure if the struggles of having such a long period of education are worth it in the long run. So far, all I know is that doctors make big cash by any standards, although "big" is a variable term. Especially because I live in New York, average salaries are raised and mean even more if I am competing for the expensive property and whatnot in this overpriced state.

Being that I didn't have a lot of background information on doctor's incomes, I chose to do some research on the topic. As a requirement for my advisory, I decided to do the search on the information engine "Wolfram Alpha". This search provided extremely detailed statistics on their salaries. The statistics stated that annually on average: anesthesiologists make $211,750, general practitioners make $168,550, general internists make $183,990, obstetricians and gynecologists make $204,470, general pediatricians make $161,410, psychiatrists make $163,660, surgeons make $219,770, and all other physicians and surgeons make around $173,860. These statistics didn't really surprise me all that much, but it did make me feel more confident in being a doctor. Now that I know I could potentially make so much cash from participating in the medical field, the combined 12 years may not be that bad. Also, I now know what specializations of doctors would reap most of the rewards, so I now have a better idea of what I should become.

All of this makes me think that being a doctor is actually a plausible, realistic goal for me now. If I am able to keep my grades and do whatever trivial things are required for me, I'm set! In the future, if I can make an income reaching above and beyond 200k, I may not be living a rich life, but it would sure be a pleasant one nevertheless. Also, I can now appreciate the luck I have had with such an educated father (although he is in his 60s and doesn't work too often, so it would be understandable if he only barely hits the six-figure mark).