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Earning potential
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Across the board the answer is likely to be no. However, an impressive CV such as an Ivy League education and training can make someone more successful in negotiating a better contract.
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Contract with whom? More of a large hospital sort of thing or smaller practices?
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Both
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i'm guessing that that people in private practice make more and that physicians from top schools are more likely to go into academics
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There should be an option when creating a thread to only allow attends/residents to answer. Legitimate answers like this get diluted by the onslaught of guesses and hearsay. I am also very interested in the details of this answer. Hospital or private practice? Also how does an Ivy Education compare to a school with a good regional reputation within the region of that school's influence (i.e most physicians around in hospitals and pp at least did either ugrad, med school, or residency at a regional institution)? Thanks for stopping by premed forums!
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lol
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Academia certainly draws physicians from more well recognized training programs and these programs tend to draw applicants interested in a high powered academic career.
However, reputation is important in all walks of life. While it is somewhat true that "academic credentials" are more important in seeking employment with "brand-name" employers, it can play a role in community private practice as well - with potential employers/partners and patients.
In regards to the latter, I need only to look in my own community: we have a local outpost of MD Anderson in town. Patients will drive all the way across town for a consultation because of the MDA name. However, what they don't realize or consider is that the physicians there are not MDA trained, but rather local doctors recruited to work there, and not necessarily the cream of the crop local physicians (not to say that they are not good at what they do, but it wasn't as if they hired oncologists who were generally regarded as top notch - perhaps because those physicians are successful in private practice and don't need the MDA rep or a salaried position).
I will also use that to my advantage: one of my favorite radiologists is Mayo trained; if patients are uncertain about seeing her for imaging, I will often name drop Mayo to convince them, and it works.
So its well recognized that patients assume a certain quality of care from academic pedigree. Employers will as well, even in the community. When negotiating an employment contract, the applicant with more options can ask, and get, more. So if faced with two applicants for a position (assuming all else equal, which it rarely is), an employer might prefer the applicant with a more prestigious academic pedigree as that can draw patients and referrals to the practice.
In regards to regional reputation, that can also be important. Potential employers like familiarity, as do applicants. It is not unusual to see practices with many physicians having trained at the same facility - you know the LOR writers, you know the training so there is a level of comfort. And just as there is a certain patient population that want the "name brand" there are just as many that prefer locally trained physicians, feeling a sense of community.
But honestly the bottom line, especially for private practice is the person. We recently interviewed for a new physician to join the practice. It came down to one from a nationally/internationally known fellowship program and another from a "no name" one. We chose the latter. The things that prompted us to take her over the one with the better academic credentials were the fact that she was engaging, locally raised and seemed to have a personality better suited for private practice. She was just a better fit. The former applicant later admitted to us that she was nervous about PP and afraid that it was "too much work", so she ended up in a salaried position which was a better fit for her.
I'm not sure if the above answers the questions raised. My POV is that someone who wants a high powered academic career needs to train in such an environment as Harvard is not going to be as interested in someone from a community residency training program as they are in someone from Hopkins. Someone who wants to work in the community may not find it as important, but even PP and patients look at credentials favorably. But at the end of the day, personality - availability, affability and ability - are most important in that environment.
