Dok,

I largely agree. There is a good deal of docs who don't work as hard as, say, a PCP with busy call (they have the worst work/money ratio) - I think of radiologists and any specialist doing a lot of interventions. In private practice, they are usually from 350-400 UP.

But no doubt, US docs have student loans, and many people in management are overpaid - but that does not just 500-700 K incomes which are not a rarity. IMHO, 400-500 K incomes should be reserved for some highly specialized, very busy surgeons with a lot of unscheduled work and call (e.g. Neurosurgeons, trauma surgeons), not for your average radiologist.

The reimbursement in Europe varies, can be pretty good for private practice in Germany, and pretty bad for the hospital physicians there.