The following table gives the incomes of Harvard medical graduates, by classes and by years of experience, according to a study recently made:
Average Earnings of Harvard medical graduates, by classes and by years of experience.[16]
| Years in practice | Classes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 1902 | 1903 | 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909 | 1910 | |
| First | $866 | $787 | $541 | $362 | $625 | $502 | $350 | $533 | $425 | $1,237 |
| Second | 827 | 1,089 | 790 | 995 | 773 | 826 | 588 | 1,250 | 874 | 1,083 |
| Third | 1,181 | 1,539 | 1,412 | 1,295 | 995 | 1,262 | 1,353 | 1,025 | 1,370 | 1,578 |
| Fourth | 1,505 | 1,694 | 1,720 | 1,566 | 1,559 | 1,765 | 1,963 | 1,575 | 1,632 | 1,835 |
| Fifth | 2,027 | 1,556 | 1,966 | 1,981 | 1,818 | 2,359 | 2,347 | 1,847 | 2,150 | |
| Sixth | 2,341 | 1,837 | 2,333 | 2,277 | 2,347 | 2,997 | 3,202 | 2,360 | ||
| Seventh | 2,527 | 2,161 | 2,654 | 2,967 | 3,043 | 3,650 | 3,545 | |||
| Eighth | 3,003 | 2,491 | 3,155 | 3,043 | 3,337 | 4,332 | ||||
| Ninth | 3,560 | 2,900 | 3,616 | 3,604 | 4,500 | |||||
| Tenth | 3,524 | 2,963 | 4,135 | 4,535 | ||||||
| Eleventh | 3,885 | 3,691 | 4,604 | |||||||
| Twelfth | 4,422 | 4,130 | ||||||||
| Thirteenth | 4,680 | |||||||||
| Maximum number of men | 38 | 39 | 29 | 39 | 33 | 26 | 29 | 29 | 25 | 26 |
[16] Training Rewards of the Physician (Cabot), J. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, Pa., v. 136.
Other Rewards Connected with the Practice of Medicine
The fact that the physician’s work has a great effect upon the length of life of the patient is in itself a great reward. During the past three centuries medical science has made so great an advance that the average working life of the English-speaking people has been almost doubled. The things that have added to this increased length of life are physical comfort, medicine, hygiene, and surgery. Aside from the satisfaction of seeing length of life increased, the worthy physician enjoys the satisfaction of holding a position of trust and leadership in his community. As a result of this, he is in a position to teach others what they should know. Through his work also a physician has a chance to come in contact with all classes of people.
The Length of Time It Will Take to Establish One’s Self in the Practice of Medicine
If one decides to establish one’s self as a general practitioner he must count upon at least a year of patience and hard work with little income. At the end of the year, however, if he has been fortunate in the choice of location, and if he has a good personality, he can reasonably hope soon to inspire confidence and come into public recognition. Often he can hasten this public recognition by giving his services, free of charge, to those whom he knows to be worthy of such assistance and consideration. If it is necessary for the graduate from the medical school to become an actual earner immediately, he will probably apply for an official position in some public institution, such as health officer, teacher, medical missionary, or research worker.
The Extent of the Need for Physicians
It has been said that in America the number of doctors, in proportion to the number of people, is greater than in any other country. A recent study shows that there were in the United States 151,132 practicing physicians and surgeons, 16,920 students in medical schools, and 6,955 instructors in medical schools. Before the European war the supply of physicians in the United States was large—so large, in fact, that the income of physicians was being materially affected thereby. As a result of the war, however, new fields of practice will be opening up for American physicians in other countries, because of the fact that many physicians in those countries were either killed or disabled, and also because students have not been graduating from the medical schools in those countries during the past few years. It is said that it will take five or six years to develop or to train a new group of physicians in England, France, and in other warring nations.