What are the salary differences between IM academia, hospitalist, and private practice? What is your speculation and info on this matter?

In general private practice has higher incomes than salaried jobs.. sometimes substantially.However employment benefits,ie vacation,retirement plans will offset some of the differential.In academic settings there are often income caps and monies must often be shared with the university.In private practice there are no such limitations..Some star faculty can negotiate better deals for themselves if they are adept at bringing in patients and procedures,but the most powerful money makers often end up go out on their own.

ny, i think many of us understands this. just wondering approximately while precisely how much money that involves. i dont think many of us will make life decisions based on this issue, but it's a question aroused by curiosity.

Originally posted by ny skindoc
In general private practice has higher incomes than salaried jobs.. sometimes substantially.However employment benefits,ie vacation,retirement plans will offset some of the differential.In academic settings there are often income caps and monies must often be shared with the university.In private practice there are no such limitations..Some star faculty can negotiate better deals for themselves if they are adept at bringing in patients and procedures,but the most powerful money makers often end up go out on their own.

bump

JAMA published this data in 2000. I will list their academic avg salaries and you can compare it with surveys that include academic and private practice salaries just to get a feel for the situation. Most attendings will tell you that the difference is ~20% between academicians and private practioners, depending on the amount of clinical work you do. Many academician's also refer to this difference as the "dean tax", since part of their salary is used to train students and pay for the salaries of the people working above you. There are still some in some specialties that are considered "stars", I remember reading a few years ago about how some neurosurgical faculty at a prominent university were getting paid a little over a million per year. If you do mainly research, you should expect to get paid 60-80 K per year. I would just cut and paste the article, but it's in adobe format (and it's too big to be attached) so here are the numbers, written out:


Mean Academician's salary in 1998-1999 (listed in the 1,000's)
Basic Sciences (PhD's only):
Anatomy: 86
Biochem: 81
Micro: 85
Pharm: 86
Physio: 86
Other basic science: 86
Clinical Sciences (MDs only):
Anesthesiology: 188
Cardiology: 190
Family practice: 134
Medicine (and subspecialties): 146
Neurology: 138
OB/Gyn: 198
Pathology: 148
Pediatrics (and subspecialties): 130
Psychiatry: 134
Radiology (and subspecialties): 205
Surgery (and subspecialties): 248

Here is a website with salaries from 2002: http://www.physicianssearch.com/physician/salary2.html

So in academia, the more clinical work, the higher the salary? I was under the impression that the more grant money you can get, the higher your salary?

Comparing the academia and physiciansearch, it appears that there is more than 20% reduction. ie, with neurology, it's more like 40%!!

Also, are academians allowed to work for private hospitals outside of office hours?

In general, clinical work pays better then research work. These days, all academicians are expected to generate more then their own salary in revenue though, whether that be from seeing patients in a clinic or getting research grants to pay for their salary. Your second question is a bit complicated, because it depends on what you call someone who works in academics. Physicians in private practice do sometimes admit and manage patients in academic centers, giving housestaff (residents) orders and doing a little bit of teaching as well. These physicians do usually have clinics outside of the university setting or admit patients to other hospitals as well. Many university physicians have their own private clinics that are affiliated with the university as well. Universities have found that private clinics are a good way to supplement income. Anyways, the situation is complicated and dependent on whatever the physician and university wants to do. There is no universal rule that prohibits academic physicians from working in private, non-academic hospitals. Some private physicians choose part-time instructor positions for universities as a way to gain prestige and legitimacy as an expert in their field among their colleagues and patients.