Academic physician and physician scientist salaries

[Dr.Quiet]

Anyone in this forum know what the salaries of academic physicians (AP) and physician scientists (PS) are like? I did a search on Google and found several sites that provide information regarding physician salaries in general, but couldn't find anything specific to APs and PSs. My feeling has been that people with private practice usually make more money. But I wanted to know how significant the difference is. ADs, and PSs particularly, spend a substantially longer time in training and isn't it unfair if they make substantially less money? Sure they are driven by passion for science, but I feel they should be adequately compensated for their dedication and sacrifices. What do you guys think?

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[Ross434]

Anyone in this forum know what the salaries of academic physicians (AP) and physician scientists (PS) are like? I did a search on Google and found several sites that provide information regarding physician salaries in general, but couldn't find anything specific to APs and PSs. My feeling has been that people with private practice usuallu make more money. But I wanted to know how significant the difference is. ADs, and PSs particularly, spend a substantially longer time in training and isn't it unfair if they make substantially less money? Sure they are driven by passion for science, but I feel they should be adequately compensated for their dedication and sacrifices. What do you guys think?

Academic physicians make usually in the bottom 25% of the income scale (for their specialty). I think 250-300k is tops for the most elite specialties who are full professors. Otherwise, 90-150k for most. I think scientists make less, probably around 90-110k.

 

[Dr.Quiet]

Academic physicians make usually in the bottom 25% of the income scale (for their specialty). I think 250-300k is tops for the most elite specialties who are full professors. Otherwise, 90-150k for most. I think scientists make less, probably around 90-110k.

Does that mean M.D., Ph.Ds make only 90-110K after spending about 15 years in taining?

 

[Haybrant]

Does that mean M.D., Ph.Ds make only 90-110K after spending about 15 years in taining?

if you stay in academics and focus only on science, yup. But alot of md/phd's also see patients, just not full time.

 

[Sparky Man]

Does that mean M.D., Ph.Ds make only 90-110K after spending about 15 years in taining?

It's definitely a lifestyle choice. If money is not super-important to you, I think the academic route lends to a very rewarding career. You get to stay involved in research and work with a diverse group of patients.

 

[YYY]

For shure this kind of career is not of "moneymaking" type...But I think that if you wanna make money and stay in science this is 100% possible..Just involve commerce.

 

[Ross434]

Does that mean M.D., Ph.Ds make only 90-110K after spending about 15 years in taining?

Well, considering the government pays $300,000 for their schooling, and then gives them millions of dollars of research money to play around with for the rest of their life, the salary isnt the major "benefit" of this job.

 

[CBG23]

By academic physician, do you mean one who does research and sees patients or only one who does research?

 

[135892]

Ones that see patients, and then also engage in research can do very well for themselves. If you primarily just work on research then your pay won't be as high

 

[Chizwheel]

Academic physicians almost always make less than private practice physicians except for the most well known of famous physicians who can end up making far more through research grants, lectures, visiting professorships, etc.

Academic physicians tend to work primarily out of academic hospitals. They usually split their time amongst seeing patients and doing research. How they split it is up to their contract that they sign to work for whichever hospital. Because academic centers tend to be funded heavily from state grants and money, these physicans tend to be salaried through the hospital and often make far less than their counterparts in private practice.

private practice docs tend to see more insured patients and either work for a for profit hospital or work on their own. In these cases, they tend to do simpler procedures and diagnoses and more straightforward cases that have shorter hospital stays, more ambulatory cases, or simpler medical regimens. Private practice docs will usually refer complex or severely sick patients to larger institutions where academic docs work to take care of them. Shorter hospital stays and quicker procedures/work-ups = $$$ for private docs.

So ultimately its up to you to decide which route to go. Academic docs tend to develop the practice guidelines and work on cutting edge stuff. They accept the most complex patients and often have their patients under research studies to develop new ideas.

Private docs focus on less complex patients although they can perform as complex as they feel comfortable. They may do some research or publications but often they are not focused on academia and primarily are interested in their patient care. As a result, they have much more control over their salaries and often make far far more than their academic counterparts.

Both career paths are tremendously rewarding, its just up to you to decide which is better for you. It's not as cut and dry as some people would believe. There can be a substantial amount of overlap but private docs will never be as academic as academic docs and vice versa.

 

[JHopRevisit]

Well, considering the government pays $300,000 for their schooling, and then gives them millions of dollars of research money to play around with for the rest of their life, the salary isnt the major "benefit" of this job.

Couple of points:
1) Free schooling is only given to a percentage of academic medical scientists, those who participate in the MSTP and similarly funded programs. Many people become physician scientists with MD-alone or non-funded MD-PhDs.
2) Any financial benefit to the MSTP is quickly negated by the increased length of training and decreased salaries.