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But doctors in Europe are paid a pittance in comparison. Like less than a third or even a quarter of US wages. That's the real issue - they will never want to

by _vbnz 4y ago

But doctors in Europe are paid a pittance in comparison. Like less than a third or even a quarter of US wages. That's the real issue - they will never want to take a hit to living standards. It was possible in the UK because it was directly after the war and the Blitz had killed hundreds of thousands of people, and there was a real threat of communism. Whereas the USA is nowhere that situation today. Things are going very well for the majority of people so drastic change would be very hard.

chmod775 4y ago
> That's the real issue - they will never want to take a hit to living standards. So what are they gonna do? Refuse to treat people and starve themselves to death? They'll be replaced by people willing to earn less and who probably care about the work they do rather than just caring about earning a fat paycheck - those exist, as other countries prove. Seems like a win to me.
- nivenkos 4y ago
  Yeah, go on strike, or refuse to work with the public health system, etc. Britain had all of these issues and it cost a lot of money. There's also other issues - like the NHS doesn't cover circumcision unless there is medical need (this is not so controversial in the UK, but would be in the USA), and it does cover gender transition surgery, etc. (despite covering no other cosmetic surgery, and nowadays not covering dentistry or opticians) - all of these issues are controversial and difficult.
jusssi 4y ago
> But doctors in Europe are paid a pittance in comparison. Like less than a third or even a quarter of US wages. I'm not sure that comparing absolute amounts between countries makes a lot of sense. And doctors would still likely be in top 1% to 5% also in Europe.
peoplefromibiza 4y ago
> But doctors in Europe are paid a pittance in comparison. It also doesn't cost them a million dollar to become a doctor. And they don't have to work 80 hours a week. Doctors in Europe are also easily in the top 5% earners.

by _vbnz 4y ago

chmod775 4y ago

> That's the real issue - they will never want to take a hit to living standards. So what are they gonna do? Refuse to treat people and starve themselves to death? They'll be replaced by people willing to earn less and who probably care about the work they do rather than just caring about earning a fat paycheck - those exist, as other countries prove. Seems like a win to me.

nivenkos 4y ago
Yeah, go on strike, or refuse to work with the public health system, etc. Britain had all of these issues and it cost a lot of money. There's also other issues - like the NHS doesn't cover circumcision unless there is medical need (this is not so controversial in the UK, but would be in the USA), and it does cover gender transition surgery, etc. (despite covering no other cosmetic surgery, and nowadays not covering dentistry or opticians) - all of these issues are controversial and difficult.

jusssi 4y ago

> But doctors in Europe are paid a pittance in comparison. Like less than a third or even a quarter of US wages. I'm not sure that comparing absolute amounts between countries makes a lot of sense. And doctors would still likely be in top 1% to 5% also in Europe.

peoplefromibiza 4y ago

> But doctors in Europe are paid a pittance in comparison. It also doesn't cost them a million dollar to become a doctor. And they don't have to work 80 hours a week. Doctors in Europe are also easily in the top 5% earners.