As a surgeon (in the Aussie public system) I assure you I don't earn $2,000,000.. or even close to it. In fact, I earned more (on a per hour basis) working as an unskilled office assistant in my university holidays, without even correcting for inflation, let alone my >10 years training. But I do work a lot.. (112 hours last week and this is currently my 34th straight day on) so it adds up. And I've personally paid >$25k this year in mandatory training, licencing and insurance costs this year :P
A senior colleague of mine (who is a fully qualified specialist) works five days a week and makes about $1200 a fortnight. We're not all rolling in it! Usually surgeons only rake it in when working private practice in their 40s/50s, and by then, they're playing catchup having effectively worked for peanuts for 20 years.
Not after sympathy. I think pilots (based on discussions here) are woefully underpaid (especially in GA), but it doesn't mean that others, like surgeons, are all swimming in cash. As always, there are those who roll in it, and those who are struggling.
