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It has been stated that there is an oversupply of pathologists and standard supply and demand principles would stipulate a corresponding reduction in price, i.e. compensation would drop. This is a testable hypothesis, specifically whether there has been a decline in the starting compensation of newly hired pathologists.
To test this hypothesis the analysis looked at the compensation of new Assistant Professors of Pathology. More specifically, the compensation at the 25th percentile from 1999 to 2013 was used, since new Assistant Professors would most likely be recruited at that level. The compensation survey was from the American Association of Medical Colleges. This survey draws data directly from the medical schools payroll, so the data are not self-reported salaries.
The compensation in 1999 was set at 100, and subsequent increases in compensation were related to the starting compensation in 1999, shown in the graph. Stated another way, if an Assistant Professor of Pathology was hired in 1999 at a salary of $100, then in 2003 the starting salary of a newly recruited Assistant Professor would be $120.
Since 1999 there have been increases in the cost of living, so just looking at starting salaries would not tell the complete story. The social security cost of living allowance (COLA) is also presented, the COLA data were obtained from this website:
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/news/cola/automatic-cola.htm
The graph clearly demonstrates that the starting salaries of new Assistant Professors of Pathology has increased more than the COLA.
Additionally, Medscape just reported the average increase in physicians salary for 2014. More than 500 pathologists reported an average increase in salary of 12%.
Daniel Remick, M.D.
Chair and Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical Center
To test this hypothesis the analysis looked at the compensation of new Assistant Professors of Pathology. More specifically, the compensation at the 25th percentile from 1999 to 2013 was used, since new Assistant Professors would most likely be recruited at that level. The compensation survey was from the American Association of Medical Colleges. This survey draws data directly from the medical schools payroll, so the data are not self-reported salaries.
The compensation in 1999 was set at 100, and subsequent increases in compensation were related to the starting compensation in 1999, shown in the graph. Stated another way, if an Assistant Professor of Pathology was hired in 1999 at a salary of $100, then in 2003 the starting salary of a newly recruited Assistant Professor would be $120.
Since 1999 there have been increases in the cost of living, so just looking at starting salaries would not tell the complete story. The social security cost of living allowance (COLA) is also presented, the COLA data were obtained from this website:
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/news/cola/automatic-cola.htm
The graph clearly demonstrates that the starting salaries of new Assistant Professors of Pathology has increased more than the COLA.
Additionally, Medscape just reported the average increase in physicians salary for 2014. More than 500 pathologists reported an average increase in salary of 12%.
Daniel Remick, M.D.
Chair and Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical Center