Academic Salaries/Hours

[DeadCactus]

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Trying to get a feel for what typical academic jobs look like across the country, mostly interested in information on the major academic centers in cities with >1 million people but interested in other locations as a reference too. I've looked through some of the previous posts, public access salary information, and salary surveys but it's hard to get a feel for how things actually come together and there seem to be a lot more variables at play affecting the quality of the job and compensation in comparison to community jobs where $/hr, typical monthly hours, and typical pph gives you a decent feel for the job.

If anyone is willing to share their experience, at whatever level of detail they are comfortable with, either in the thread or by PM, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[GatorCHOMPions]

I'm at a job/location that fits your bill.

I work about 120-130 hours/month, base + RVU compensation comes to about $210/hour (also great insurance and extra tax sheltered accounts above the usual 401k). For my area this is about the average pay or even slightly better including the benefits. About 75% of shifts are with residents and see approximately 2.5-3.0 pph during peak time and 1.5-2.0 pph during non-peak time. I'm considered full time clinical with no specific protected time, but I do have a couple ongoing projects and give lectures every now and then. It's loosely expected to be involved academically but by no means a strict requirement of any kind.

Overall I'm satisfied enough, but there's a level of hierarchy that exists more in academics than in non-academics. While I enjoy that my direct bosses are physicians, those in power tend to take the best shifts, have tons of protected time and are more out of touch with clinical medicine than they should be.

 

[carbonizedeyesockets]

Where I'm at has "core" and "clinical" faculty. Clinical is average 32 hours/week for 48 weeks/year. Core is 24-28/week. Depending on certain commitments outside the dept, you may get some buy-down. We have bonuses based on a lot of things; most of it is metrics of sorts (LWBS is a big one) and a bunch of extraneous stuff, which is really annoying. There are some small academic requirements for clinical faculty (e.g. 2 lectures/yr), but no requirement for research, publication, or regional/national presentations. 1/3 shifts without residents, but with a PA. On my own at the nonresident site, I usually average 1-1.5pph on my own. With PA patients (I see anything level 2 or 3, and some 4s and 5s), I get to 2-2.5. Every now and then I may hit 2pph on my own if its really busy and the nurses happen to be on point (usually not). With residents, usually 2-3/hr (that includes any patients I see on my own). Have had shifts where I averaged 4/hr. Benefits are decent with health, dental, disability, vision, life. 403b, 457, and a pension for retirement.

There are raises, which I believe are based on time since board certification and come in 2 year increments. They also adjust pay based on local rates, so if everyone around us raises pay, we would likely follow assuming our finances are good.

 

[DeadCactus]

Thank you both for your replies, I really appreciate it!

 

[Petypet]

Academic, major metro area. 100K level 1 trauma, 1-3 residents a shift, 8 hour shifts, pph as above, see patients with residents and indepednently. Around 300k in total package with benefits. Bonuses tied to academic stuff, not RVU. Best part is the buy down for academic pursuits and less night shifts. I make less money my colleagues in community but I see my kids the majority of the time.