salary of assistant professor (research)

[tortuga87]

Does anyone know the ballpark salary for an MD or MD/PhD assistant professor in psychiatry who is primarily focused on research. E.g., 80% research, 20% clinical?

The figures I find on the web usually include clinical faculty who make more, and also include PhD salaries who may make less

I have heard it might be as low as 80-90K just colloquially which worries me

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[shan564]

Does anyone know the ballpark salary for an MD or MD/PhD assistant professor in psychiatry who is primarily focused on research. E.g., 80% research, 20% clinical?

The figures I find on the web usually include clinical faculty who make more, and also include PhD salaries who may make less

I have heard it might be as low as 80-90K just colloquially which worries me

Definitely not 80-90k at my institution. I don't know the precise numbers because there is also a complex bonus structure that, as I understand it, often has a substantial contribution.

 

[vistaril]

Does anyone know the ballpark salary for an MD or MD/PhD assistant professor in psychiatry who is primarily focused on research. E.g., 80% research, 20% clinical?

The figures I find on the web usually include clinical faculty who make more, and also include PhD salaries who may make less

I have heard it might be as low as 80-90K just colloquially which worries me

120k(although counting call and other clinical fill in stuff you would probably be expected to do more along the lines of 70-30)

 

[dl2dp2]

The standard salary line starts at 120k, BUT this does not include the additional clinical revenue, which can be quite substantial. I would say the total take-home is highly variable depending on the site, but comparable to a 100% clinical faculty position. Believe me, the issue isn't salary. If you can get the funding to pay for the 120k, you'll be fine. The issue is getting the funding.

 

[vistaril]

I can only speak to 3 institutions I know of who have junior faculty psychiatrists who work 75/25ish splits and shared their salary with me, but the 120k included everything. They needed the clinical part to get to the 120k. Then again, they werent bringing in lots of funding or anything right away, so they were never going to get 120k alone for research with no guarantee that that wouldn't just be sunk money....

My guess is that someone would have to be something of a big shot coming out of residency with some funding sources lined up(which most people dont have) to get 120k in base salary for research and then extra for some clinical revenue.

 

[dl2dp2]

120k included everything.

This is 120k on "40" hours a week. Then yes you are correct. The higher total income is predicated on additional work outside of the standard 40 hours, because the grant money generally stipulate a certain "percent effort" for what it's paying for.

Another way to say this is, on a per hour basis, research pays a very low salary. This is also standard, public knowledge. For instance, with a K08, your salary is capped by NIH at 98k for at least "80% effort", which is 30 hours a week. This means that the institution cannot make you do more than 10 hours a week on a standard work week, or it's defrauding a federal agency. However, you can elect to work additionally outside of this frame to make more money on a per hour basis, with or without institutional involvement.

Interestingly, the same thing is true for other specialties, and for this reason the salary differential between researchers and clinicians is amplified in other specialties. If you are OP and interested in further details, PM me. Thx.

 

[psychattending]

I believe the AAMC puts out a publication that lists salaries by region of the country. Major research institutions typically will pay less than other places. Vis-a-vis NIH rules, if you are payed off of a grant, your pay is not based on hours per week but as %effort. Most of us work far more hours than 40 but it varies by institution. Thus the calculation has to be based on how many hours you work in a typical week at your institution.

 

[twright]

110-140K starting at my institution. What it comes down to is funding. At other institutions you might get startup funding to do research until you start getting your own grants, but ours does not. If you are a 75% researcher and your K23 caps its salary contribution at $90K, then that means whatever you raise in clinical work during your 25% makes up the rest of your salary. Say you can make $35K for 8 weeks of urgent care work per year. Then your salary is 90+35 = $125K. The only way you get more is if your division chief has non federal funding to use to top you off. Generally this is more of an issue for clinical people trying to transition to research. For example I know one 85% clinical guy who was making about $190K. Then he got a K. Well, that K only covered $90K of his salary for 75% effort. That means the remaining $100K of his salary would need to be funded by 25% clinical effort -- which doesn't happen unless you are a heart surgeon. Because the department wasn't willing to top him off, he decided to forgo the K an stick with clinical.

 

[michaelrack]

That means the remaining $100K of his salary would need to be funded by 25% clinical effort -- which doesn't happen unless you are a heart surgeon.l.

It isn't that hard to generate well over $200/hr during 10 hrs a week of clinical time, for most specialties- but a lot depends on how much overhead the dept takes off the top .

 

[whopper]

Wow, I thought the salaries would be higher because I've usually seen research doctors as doing something more rare and difficult than us clinical ones and know many but never asked them their salaries. Heck my salary is > twice what I'm seeing on this thread and I am faculty at an academic institution.

Believe me, the issue isn't salary. If you can get the funding to pay for the 120k, you'll be fine. The issue is getting the funding.

Probably the root of my problem of understanding because most of the researchers where I am are getting very good funding.

 

[slappy]

Research pays peanuts. I even know a few junior attendings who moonlight to make up for the deficit.

 

[twright]

Eventually you can work your way up to a higher salary, depending on your success with grants. At our institution most junior faculty 5-7 years out are probably making $180K. Still peanuts compared to real money but it's not nothing.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Wow, I thought the salaries would be higher because I've usually seen research doctors as doing something more rare and difficult than us clinical ones and know many but never asked them their salaries. Heck my salary is > twice what I'm seeing on this thread and I am faculty at an academic institution.

The economics of academics has very little to do with actual supply and demand concepts, I've seen.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat...pply_for_vice_chancellor_s_job_in_clever.html

 

[Phd student]

I`ve just read your post and I see that it was posted in 2014. I wonder where things are at with your plans for faculty position. I am planning on applying for assistant professor at the psychiatry department and I would like to ask you few questions if you got time for this.
Hope all is well. Thank you.

 

[dl2dp2]

I`ve just read your post and I see that it was posted in 2014. I wonder where things are at with your plans for faculty position. I am planning on applying for assistant professor at the psychiatry department and I would like to ask you few questions if you got time for this.
Hope all is well. Thank you.

okay