Dollars for Doc

[ExFlyBoy5]

I looked up my DW's neurosurgeon and he got $147K in 2018. I am OK with that...he's one of the best of what he does and he deserves every dime he gets. He's the only professional that we have sent a Christmas card to for the last 8 years.

Edit: Well, I am *slightly* annoyed that the payments went to his research LLC which got a PPP loan and was subsequently forgiven.

 

[braumeister]

Nice!
Consulting fees can be astounding.
Reminds me of a professor I had while doing my masters. He was just incredible -- had published multiple books, was an amazing lecturer, and just had brains oozing out his ears. Everyone loved the guy because you couldn't help but learn a lot just being with him for half an hour.

He told the story of how he was approached by someone from IBM to speak to a gathering of their top salesmen at an annual shindig. This was in the late 60s. They guy asked him what sort of fee he would need to go to the meeting in Hawaii for a weekend. He had no idea, and was worried about how much it would cost in plane fare, etc., so he said "Maybe two thousand?"

The IBM guy laughed, and said "I'd be crucified if I agreed to that -- they would think I had brought some loser. Look, we'll pay you $6,000 and fly you over and back on a corporate aircraft, put you up in a top hotel, and give you whatever spending money you want while you're there."

Remember, this was 50 years ago when that kind of money really meant something.

After picking himself up off the floor, he agreed, and it turned into a regular yearly gig for him, and other corporations soon followed suit with their own amazing consulting gigs.

 

[Koolau]

my doc only got food and beverage $, which is explained as sales rep taking him to lunch or dinner. ok by me

One of my Docs seemed to have a rep in every time I had an appointment. The rep would bring samiches and salads for the whole crew. I suppose that allowed them to all sit together over lunch to discuss new drugs/promotions, etc. In any case, I don't see anything wrong with it and it would add up since I'm guessing it happened weekly.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Nice!
Consulting fees can be astounding.
<snip>

Yes, yes they can. Digging a little deeper, the neurosurgeon I listed also has several patents that are being used by the companies that paid the consulting fees. And...to make it a little sweeter, he's making royalties on said products. I looked at a couple of the patents and they are pretty remarkable. So, not only is he a very talented surgeon...he seems to be very good at finding solutions as well.

It's no surprise that he is in the same practice that famed Sanjay Gupta belongs to.