PROFESSIONAL PRESTIGE & FULFILLMENT
(Updated to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

Which of the following professions generally enjoys the most prestige among Asian Americans?
Doctor | 42%
Corporate Executive | 17%
Lawyer | 26%
IT Engineer | 10%
Investment Broker | 5%

Which of the following professions produces the least fulfillment for AA?
Doctor | 15%
Corporate Executive | 23%
Lawyer | 24%
IT Engineer | 18%
Investment Broker | 20%

Which of the following would be your dream career?
Pop Star | 13%
Novelist | 24%
Film Director | 12%
Sports Star | 27%
Actor | 24%
Wouldn't government official be a good position?

My dad's a diplomat/lawyer and he gets paid good. Close to 100K a year I believe. And since he's a government official, I think he gets tax deduction as well as tons of other goodies when he retires.

I think he only became a lawyer just to win respect but I don't know. He's bitter about the fact that Asians only serve Asian customers and stuff.

I want to become a doctor like many others, or perhaps a biomedical engineer. One of my friend works for a Jewish chiropractor and after he saw how much the doctor earns for working little, he wants to become one as well.
jjk    Tuesday, January 01, 2002 at 19:39:22 (PST)

>Unless you are in private practice,
>docs make around 75k-100k, some even
>make less.

"Those who speak do not know. Those who know do not speak."

I am a private practice physician, and unfortunately the discussion here is full of misinformation and ignorance. I will break the silence and give you some real numbers.

Most Asian American physicians are in private practice. Surprised? Physician incomes vary widely according to specialty. Primary care docs do not make a lot of money but are politically influential since they control referrals to the specialists. It is true that some pediatricians in private practice make as little as $80K. Primary docs (internal medicine, family practice and pediatrics) make less money, usually about 1/2 to 2/3 what specialists make. Neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons generally make over $500K per year; I know a very busy neurosurgeon who makes $2 million per year. A neurosurgeon will bill $30,000 for one lumbar spine operation. Most specialist docs will make between $200K-400K in a large city, more ($400-600K) in smaller communities or in well insured suburbs. Incomes are highly dependent on local conditions, payor mix (insurance coverage of your patient population) and can vary widely from year to year.

Any discussion of income should also include lifestyle. Lifestyle in medicine is not good. The number of hours you put in and the nights and weekends on call are not pleasant. Most highly paid specialties require at least 6 years of training after medical school, at less than minimum wage. So 10 years after you graduated from college, you finally get to start private practice. You hope the job market is good, otherwise you may have to take a job far from your desired location. Your first few years are generally not very profitable as you try to build your practice. It is a long, hard road. Not to mention the constant efforts of government officials to regulate the heck out of you and cut reimbursement; malpractice lawyers trying to make their fortunes by taking yours; and the constant risk of exposing yourself to deadly diseases like hepatitis C and HIV. And if you have not practiced medicine, you probably cannot imagine the really unpleasant things that you sometimes must do, often repeatedly in the course of your day.

Looking back on it, I don't think I would go into medicine again, but since I am making a good living now I will continue. I really can't recommend medicine as a career today. Things are changing very quickly for the worse, although there will probably be a few good years left before the system collapses and is replaced by socialized medicine. Problem is, the pipeline is so long and so costly to enter. You don't know what conditions will be like when you emerge from training. Things changed dramatically between the time I entered medical school and the time I finished training, ten years later. It is difficult to say what conditions will be like when current medical students finish their training, let alone those who are applying for medical school now.

AA doc    Tuesday, January 01, 2002 at 13:58:49 (PST)
My parents are doctors. After college I was accepted into Medical, Dental, and a Graduate Mathematics program.

After contemplating my future I decided to give consulting a go, since it was the only positive income choice at the time. Grad students get paid very little.

Parents told me I was committing "Career Suicide." Paid big $$ to hold my place at various institution to hold my place for a year, as I banged away at my future. I was basically kick out of the family when I decide not to return to continue my studies the following year. One on the holidays would my parent contact me to tell me I have been making the wrong choices after college.

Through some twist of fate I now run a company. And have already made more $$$ than my parents made in their life time. My parent have since gone back and re-written my history after I left college, so it is more pallatable to them. So we never "bitterly fought over my career ending decisions" they are now "constructive sessions in which they help molded my future."

However, even though I'm married w/ children and run a successful business. I'm still known as the son of Dr. So-and-so in the Chinese community. Because I'm still considered relatively young in the Asian Community, it takes some time for people in the older generation to realise what I've accomplished outside of the Asian Community. And they still refer to me as son of Dr. So-and-So.

My advise, if you are after $$$ then take all the talent and drive that will get you your MD or JD and funnel it toward making money when you are young. As my peers were coming out of top med and law school. I was already hiring people making the same amount into my company.

If you are after prestige and immediate status in the Asian community. Get your MD and JD. You gain immediate status in the community. When I go out with my lawyer and doctor childhood friend. I still winch when people go "Whose your friend Dr. So-and-so?"

So if you are talented, enjoy that type of work and want to be recognized immediately, then get you JD or MD.

If you are talented, just want $$$, and don't care if nobody knows who you are, then go against your parents conservative wishes and risk entrepuership.

A business needs to make 50 MIL before it is a blip on anyones map (bankers, investors, general public, etc.). In general a lawyer or doctor will get the same social status no matter what their income. A doctor or lawyer making 80K gets similar status and respect as a one making 1 MIL.

Also no matter what you decide to do, help out another Asian once in a while. If we don't help them out, who will.
AC dropout    Monday, December 31, 2001 at 12:46:42 (PST)
MS3 Student,

Medicine is the BEST PROFESSION out there but I wouldn't say its the $$$ that attracts people to it. If you want $$$, getting old at the age of 30 and just finishing Med school is not what many people have in mind. A Medical Degree however, can be like vintage wine or some other old sacred item, it becomes more "valuable" or "desirable" as time goes by. Nothing is more attractive than to see a seasoned doctor who knows his or her trade inside out...

In terms of $$$, for many people, its investment banking, or tech related. At least these people churned $$$ before they hit real adulthood! Whether the sh*tload of $$$ that they make gets burnt before they are seniors is their choice, but if they manage their $$$ properly, they should have a fat surplus.

Unless you are in private practice, docs make around 75k-100k, some even make less. Surgeons command much more... Other professions such as IT engineering, a business related field w/a MBA degree in a top school can generate more $$$ than a doc...

I don't suggest Asians to go into Law unless they really want to, it's another one of those wannabe passion oriented professions like an actor or musician..I used to work in a law firm and we had some Asian Lawyers, these guys are worn out and the $$$ that they make can be generated in some other field with less time and effort...But, some people like to have the JD title, at least it shows some status.. If anyone out there who is ambitious enough...I suggest the MBA/JD joint degree. This degree gives you the best of both worlds, more opportunities and kicks ass because of its dual nature.

Being influential for Asians in America is not being the doctor or lawyer, you can be a doctor or lawyer and keep a low profile which many Asians like to do and never be influential. To be influential, you need to be creative and/or bold and so far many Asians are perceived by Westerners as cowardly, too strict, and lack any inventiveness..they are many wealthy Asians with $$$ but don't do anything with it...But being influential can be harmful to Asians as well...so it's always safe to be humble.

Asians can be much more ambitious and domineering    Monday, December 31, 2001 at 08:45:04 (PST)
Both lawyers and doctors make tons of money. However, more people of Asian origin are admitted into medical schools than into law school. Why? They need the best in medicine, as wrong medicine or mistakes would result in law suit. One cannot sue many lawyers in this country. One definitely cannot sue district attorneys or other law enforcement officers for wrongful conviction, imprisonment or even wrongful administration of death penalty. Actually wrongful imprisonment of a black or hisapic person may get you re-elected in most places. The current gubernatorial candidate in Illinois, Jim Ryan,wrongfully and wantonly imprisoned minorities, but his career advanced as a result. Similarly Oklahoma City DA, Robert Macy made his career out of wrongully imprisoning people. There would be more Asian and black DAs with better qualifications than the current white ones, once they stop the practice of electing them, and allow these low lives to be sued in courts out of their property. They should treat elected officials and DAs the same way as they treat doctors. Otherwise the quality of lawyers in this country would be lower than those of the doctors.
Asian American Male    Sunday, December 30, 2001 at 15:24:02 (PST)

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