Arizona republican., 1906-02-04

and prODaDly- ne InlnkS more aDout De-
 coming a man and a useful member of
 society than of being a mere money
 getter. He does not necessarily despise money, but his inner thoughts, his higher ideas, are along the ethical, scientific and professional sides of life. His first aim, his first ambition is to l become proficient in some speclai line | of work to actually do something
 worth the doing, something for the benefit of humanity. His secondary aim
 may be to make money; but he does not allow money getting to interfere with the development of his better tal- l ents The ordinary boy, the boy who does not know what he wants to do, | and does not seem to care what he does
 is not fit to enter the medical profes- l sion, and any attempt to force him in that direction is criminal. Thus it is the exceptional, not the average boy,
 who is fit to become a doctor.
 1 The physician is reasonably sure of a | Livelihood. but he must not expect to l be self-suppOrting during the first year
 and perhaps not during his second and
 third years of practice. His chances are much better in the country than in the | city. unless he possesses remarkable 1 skill or has strong social influence. A l | joy incomes of about twenty-five thou sand dollars a year, and possibly there
 are some whose receipts exceed this amount. The average physician in large cities probably receives from twenty i five hundred to five thusand dollars a year and comparatively few established city doctors have annual incomes of | less than fifteen hundred dollars. rhere
 are in large cit'0s quite a number of | family physicians who are not special | ists, who have practices worth from
 five thousand to ten thousand dollars a
 year.
 The average annual income Of the | physician esta blished in some country | center is from two thousand to three | thousand dollars; the minimum pro- | babIy being not over one thousand dol
 lars, and the maximum not in excess
 of from six thousand to seven thou
 sand dollars. We'll established country physicians earn from eight hundred to i twenty-five hundred dollars a year.
 comparatively few receiving more than
 the larger amount. The physician must 1 deduct from his income the cost or
 maintaining his practice which con-
 sists chiefly in keeping a horse and
 carriage and a man or boy to care for
 them, and the sums paid out for instru-
 ments. dressings and the medicine. The majority of physicians maintain their
 offices at their residence. consequently
 office expense is likely to be merely | nominal. Unless a physician is fortunate | enough to acquire an extended prac- tice. and stands well socially, he prob
 ably cannot become self-supporting in
 a large city inside of four or five years.
 The country center physician is not likely to find himself upon a self-main- l taining basis in less than year, and
 in many cases his income will not be sufficient to support him in ordinary comfort unless he has practiced three
 or more years. The country town phy- sician may have uphill work, for there
 may be much competition and even Op-
 position in his field. It is exceedingly
 difficult to usurp the older physician,
 who is the friend. as well as the phy- sician of the whole community. His pa
 tients are afraid of young physicians. If there is little competition, the coun- try physician may begin to earn his living in les than a year. Many young physicians begin in the country by suc- Iceeding some old doctor. who either has become too old to practice, or who
 removes to the city.
 The o-caIled specialist is a regular physician. who. after years of practice. devotes his time to some one disease
 or class of diseases.
 The specialist, except the one who
 devotes his attention to the eye. ear.
 or nose. seldom begins as a specialist. He usually does not attempt to act as i a specialist until he has succeeded in a general way. If he is successful to
 a marked degree, his income, 1T he is located in a large city or at a country
 center. is likely to be considerably in excess of the amount obtained by the
 regular family physician. Compara-
 lively few physicians. even good ones.
 have the peculiar ability necessary for
 becoming a successful specialist. The
 majority of physicians will do better
 in every way, especially financially. to
 continue their family practice, than to
 attempt to become specialists.
 Regular family physicians who are
 not specialists. and who practice in
 large cities. usually receive from one
 to three dollars per office call, the ma jOrity of such fees being one dollar:
 and from two to three dollars for out
 side calls, the two dollar rate being ' the usual one. The country center phy-
 sician seldom receives more than dol lar for office calls, no more than two dollars for outside calls. although the most successful may command three
 dollars for outside visits. Tn some of the smaller places the office fee is as low as fifty cents, and the outside call
 rate not higher than dollar or dol lar and a quarter.
 Nearly every doctor of ability can } earn his living. The specialist. if ex- , tremely sillful in diagnosis or in sur gerry rceives very large fees, often run ming into the hundreds. or even thou sands of dollars. Yet few specialists are wealthy men, because it is an un- } written law that the specialist shall 7 give much time to cases where there is | little or no hope of more than ordi- nary remuneration; and he must ofter be present, either actively or otherwise at numerous operations where there is