Of course these prices amounted to much more than they would be today, obviously, though still not as much as those things would cost today. I do think that the economy of a country town was probably such that living expenses were less to begin with, and then there was less to spend a high income on. I’m sure it was the same for lawyers. In the same sort of old movies, most lawyers rarely seem to be that terribly well off. Remember To Kill A Mockingbird?
That lawyer lived in a small Southern town that was evidently not too well off. He was prosperous by local standards, but definitely not the owner of a Mercedes.
In 1938, my father was seventeen and made $1.00/day as an architect (probably a junior architect, but he did design a few public buildings.) The listed fees seem more or less in line with today’s prices.
Qadgop
Have to say I have a tremendous respect for you.
More than any millionaire athlete, rock star, or politician you are the real thing.
Well, who would you like to take care of your kid at 3 in the morning when they can’t breath from an asthma flare-up and their temperature is 104? Someone you know has passed rigourous national testing, has been duly licensed and relicensed by the state only after showing they’ve continued to receive medical education while they’ve been out practicing, has had all these credentials inspected by the hospital or clinic they’re working at, and has insurance to cover them in case there’s liability problems down the road, or the person next door who works at the health food shop?
And in the US, we don’t have a union, either. Less than 1/3 of docs belong to the AMA, which is a special interest group.
Qadgop, MD
Well, very few Americans (to my knowledge) would have driven something like a Mercedes in the 1940s or 50s anyway. I don’t think people really bought foreign cars then, or at least nothing near to the extant that we buy them nowadays. If you were well-off (in the way a doctor would be), you’d buy one of the more expensive American cars.
Also, I seem to recall numerous jokes in old 50s-ish sitcoms about “marrying a doctor” being a gold-digging stereotype. In fact, at that time, I’d suspect that the only realistic big-money professions (other than ‘businessman’-type things) would be doctor/lawyer/banker-type things. As to why doctors make a fairly large amount of money? #1, they require very expensive training; #2, its difficult, and #3: its a service used by almost everyone.
Concerning imported Docs.
I prefer the rigorous American licensing laws for physicians and the intense schooling, having encountered quite a few foreign doctors within a 50 mile area around here in situations involving myself and others.
For the most part, they certainly do not seem real friendly nor appear to listen very well. In some cases, we doubted if the Pakistani Doctor even understood English all that good because we had problems understanding him.
On several occasions, two foreign doctors under treated an elderly, female heart patient, one declining to answer her questions, the other not answering them well. They kept bringing her back for tests and prescribing medication that did not seem to work.
One put her in the hospital whenever she went to the ER for chest pains and kept her there for 5 days each time, maybe visiting her for 30 seconds a day. She has excellent insurance and we discovered this doctor always charged her major bucks for hospital visitations when in the hospital under ‘observation.’
In this case, we took the lady to an American doctor, who almost fell over at her medication pile, her condition and her treatment records. Within 6 weeks he took her off of most of her pills, rushed her into surgery for the cleaning of her heart arteries, got her out of the hospital as soon as he could and reworked her treatment and pills. Now she feels better and is doing better.
He told us in private that she had been over medicated, plus apparently the previous two doctors never stopped certain types of medication before prescribing more.
I’ve not met any foreign doctor that I approve of and most around here work in private practice, small clinics or the hospital ER.
I need to correct myself here. I met one. A tall guy with something like a French accent who worked in ER and he did a damn good job and had a bedside personality that was great.
For predatory reasons, most of the foreign doctors I’ve met (I used to deliver medical supplies) have a huge black clientele. I figure they’re depending on poor minority clients to put up with their less than best treatments without complaints in return for lower prices.
I’ll take the American medical standard any day over those in other nations.
I once watched several operations on TV with French surgeons, and while their technique was good, I was appalled to find the doctors often wearing their surgical masks under their noses, not over them. Anyone familiar with microbiology and sterile technique knows that the nose can blow out bacteria!
To prevent contaminating the operating field with their own bacteria, surgeons wear masks, gloves, caps and gowns! The masks prevent airborne bacteria from being blown onto the surgical field!
Later, watching an operation by an Egyptian surgeon, I was stunned to find the guy with a full beard, wearing only a basic face mask, even though there are those designed to cover beards. Beards shed hair. The surgeon only washes, with sterilizing soap, his hands and forearms, not his beard. A beard hair, dropping into the surgical field, can carry a couple of hundred forms of bacteria! Anyone in the medical field knows that after an operation, the patients immune system is compromised and low, working to heal the incision, and for several weeks, they are a prime target for infections.
Thank goodness for the AMA!
Capital amputation? Would that be what it sounds like? Amputation of one’s head?
As far as immigrant doctors go, I believe they are required to go through a residency in the U.S. regardless of their training outside the U.S. They are arguably cheaper than U.S. doctors because they may be getting residency pay. I have a primary care physician but with an HMO I just get any doctor available when needed. I have dealt with foreign doctors. They can be more difficult to understand, but I have had no problems