Sure, you can get a good idea of starting salaries from gaswork.com, but
keep in mind that you are pre-med and you will not be entering the field for at least 8-10 years. Salaries in anesthesiology will continue to decline as they have over the past 4 years while I have been a resident. Here are just a few reasons why: The economy has gone to ****! The cash cow of anesthesiology are short elective cases at ambulatory surgery centers. Layoffs, corporate bankruptcies, lost or reduced employment benefits, fear of taking time off work for an elective surgery have all resulted in a dramatic reduction in case loads, which will only get much worse.
👎 Furthermore, the payer mixes are deteriorating as people move from private insurance to government insurance or no insurance (both of which pay significantly less or nothing at all)
. To counter this loss in cash flow, current anesthesia groups are reducing the number of new hires, reducing starting salaries, prolonging partnership if offered at all anymore, not hiring at all for fear of significant case load reductions and overstaffing, and less retiring physicians due to the loss of their home equity and lost nest eggs in the recent stock market crash. Not to mention that midlevel anesthesia providers are gaining more privileges to practice solo anesthesiology by the day and could easily replace entire MD/DO groups if hospitals deem it more economical. Perhaps, if you are 8-10 years out, the field will come full circle (if history repeats itself)
. But, I'm afraid that if your an MS III-IV or PGY I, your anesthesia ship has sailed and you will be entering rough waters in a rickety old dingy.
😱
As a side note: The increase in applicants IMO is only due to a perceived awesome lifestyle, killer current salaries, and false notion that anesthesia is a cush residency. As salaries deteriorate, so will the lifestyle (much more work hours/weekends/hollidays will be required for same or less pay).
