Attn: Attendings (and others)

[Dasani0127]

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I am trying to find out the various types of jobs after graduation and why people picked the ones they did.. eg academic physician versus private practice vs some fellowship then pvt practice etc.. (and to be honest i dont know what other types are out there) what you like dislike about your job vs others in the same field.. How do the salaries vary, how many hours per week do you work, how much call is required etc and are you happy?

Even those who are not attendings, please tell me what you think.
Thanks🙂

 

[Dasani0127]

bump..

 

[neurolddoc]

I have been in private practice for~20 years and have a few obsrevations.

The first decision point is academic vs. practice. I can't really tell you much abouth the former but if you are a resident you have insight into what the life of junior and senior faculty members is like.

As a resident you really get no idea of what practice is like. While some physicians join a hospital based practice or jion a multi specialty group, I think that the private practice of neurology in groups owned by the physicians are thriving. These are tough times for many primary care docs but a neurology practice that is large enough to have a clinical neurophys lab, neurovascular lab, sleep lab and, in some states, imaging can do well.

Fellowship training with broad exposure to CNP or neurovasc imaging is a big plus.

Some groups do a lot of clinical research but that is a big undertaking and you have to have good support personnel.

As far as life style is concerned, outpatient practice is very controllable; inpatient is much less so. This is especially true if you are involved in a stroke unit.

We have always hired people we intend to stay permanently and have structured compensation arrangements with a base salary with productivity incentive for a number of years leading to an ownership interest in the practice. Level of compensation varies by region, I'm sure.

 

[minstral]

Thanks for reply Neurodoc.
Could you give us what region you are in and perhaps a ballpark figure someone with your experiences grosses, and then some ballpark # your group offers new attendings out of residency or after a few years experience?

 

[neurolddoc]

Mid Atlantic area.

Don't get too hung up on "What is my salary". I know the tribulations of cash flow in the early years, student loans, etc. In a doctor owned practice look at how the practice is run, the kind of services they offer, patient volumes to get an idea of the long term potential within the practice. You are not working for a large corporation or the government. What a practice owner makes is pretty simple Gross-expenses=Take home.
A key issue is the mechanism of acquiring ownership in the practice... work-in, buy in, purchase of A/R....

 

[Fencer]

Take home of median US neurologist was about $ 210 K. Take home of Associate Professor is about $ 175 K. These figures were from 2007, before the economic crisis. In both, private practice and in academia, in the end, your collections determine your long-term salary but with higher overhead for academia. Even in academia, you will eventually need to buy your time to do research with grants.

Starting salaries are around $160 K (take home) for private practice and $ 120 K for academia. Clinical Neurophysiology (EEG/EMG) will get a bit more.

 

[neurolddoc]

I agree with the above but there is some regional variation. More desirable areas generally have more interest from candidates and starting salaries may be on the lower side. Less desirable areas may have to pay a bit more to get someone. Ironically the cost of living in a particular area is generally negatively correlated with starting salary.