I went to a risk management course recently that was put on by my malpractice insurer. They entice you to go by offering a 7.5% discount on your premiums for the next 3 years. I’ve been to a lot of risk management CME in the last few years. In fact, it seems like half of the CME I do is more about fending off lawyers than actually taking care of patients. At any rate, I was consoled by the fact that I was making a lot of money while I was there. Here’s my calculation:
My malpractice insurance is something like $18,000 a year. 7.5% of this is $1350. Since this discount lasts for 3 years, I’m really saving $1350 x 3 years = $4050 by attending this course. I spent 7 hours at the seminar, so that’s $4050/7= $579 per hour, far more than I make seeing patients in the ED.
In reality, my insurance is probably overpriced by about $1350 per year and this is just their way of making sure you come in and get the training. But either way, to me it was a very profitable way to spend a Saturday, even if it wasn’t as fun as going skiing. Sometimes saving money is just as lucrative as earning money. Saving money sometimes also gives you the benefit of giving you tax-free money. That wasn’t the case with this, since I pay for malpractice insurance pre-tax as a business expense, but if it was my auto insurance or something that I would pay for after-tax, then it would be worth 33% more.
What lucrative opportunities have you found to save a lot of money with very little time or effort?
Not buying a boat. Apparently, I am the only M.D. in my practice who has taken advantage of this lucrative money saving and time saving opportunity.
I’m a medical student, so not near as much money involved, but I got a random letter from AMSA saying that I could get 9% off my car insurance just by calling geico and telling them I was a member. I did this and voila, several hundred dollars a year cheaper. Total phone call time? <10 minutes.
Nice work. I’ve always wondered how GEICO’s claim service is.
They’re super nice. Every time I’ve interacted with them I have had a very positive experience, since apparently they have been making a big push on customer service the past few years.
Question for you if you don’t mind. I’m currently an MS1 and wondered if you had any suggestions for earning money while in school. I’ve got a work study set up for working in a lab this summer, but that’s really minimum wage to help build experience and maybe get some research out of it. Any suggestions for making some sort of income while in preclinical years? Thanks!
It’s tough to find a job that pays well, lasts only 2 or 3 months specific months, gives you good experience, and doesn’t require any significant skills. Concentrate on learning medicine during medical school. Financially, it’s about playing defense, not offense. Adequate insurance is important and minimizing your debt is crucial. Med School is a great time to learn to live on a budget. Earning, saving, and investing, not so important. I save more in a month now than I could in 4 years of medical school.
That said, I do know of a few med students that had jobs, usually research oriented. I recall one being a sperm donor as well. 🙂
The best gig I had in med school was as an MSIV doing H&Ps for the local surgicenter. The surgeon signed off on my H&P as he took the patient to the OR. I got paid $20 an hour (and this was 10 years ago.) But at that point I had marketable skills, which an MSI really doesn’t.