@ Tromner.. As long as we live in a volume based reimbursement system (Do more get more) then your willingness to do call, cover other docs etc will increase your likelihood of being noticed by other doctors in the area. It will also *significantly* increase your earnings potential.
I laugh when I see people (mostly probably younger residents or med students) who hold on to avg salary numbers by specialty like a bible.. Those are a rough generalizations.
In any specialty (again in the system we have now), if you are willing to grind you will get more. I know internists who make loads of money and I mean loads of money.. why? Because they are willing to work hard, and often round more weekends than not. Yet if you follow average salary stuff people think a lot of general internists don't make that much money.
@
jackshepard.. 200K + 5 years out from residency is very reasonable.
@ Paddington, you mentioned a certain recruiter by name. I respectfully disagree with your opinion of this recruiter. There are others out there who can get the job done. It is perfectly acceptable to work with multiple recruiters since they tend to have different jobs.
@ Taus, I agree with you .. I'd never pick the first job based on salary alone. There's often a huge catch, and sometimes the shadiest jobs i.e. those asking you to do questionable practices will pay new grads a lot because they want to sucker someone in... the wiser vets can sniff a rat a mile away. Location is somewhat overrated now; we live in an era where doctors rarely set up shop in one city and never move again.
My personal thoughts on PM&R and salaries etc:
1. Post-Obamacare there will likely be eventual large shifts in how we get paid. I believe the trend will be to get away from being driven by volume. Nobody knows when this is coming but many healthcare experts expect it to happen at some point. This will include things like Bundled payments as well as pay for performance.
2. "Are there enough PMR doc or not enough?" Both. It totally depends on where you live. Go to a big metropolitan area with a few residency programs especially in a popular city to live in, then you can expect to have relatively lower earnings potential.
Go to a smaller town or less saturated area and you will have plenty of business.
3. You can earn a great living doing anything in PMR, whether its pain, EMG, inpt, SNF etc. You can also earn very little, e.g. starting lowest end salary of a VA PMR is listed at 98K. Long term income is dependent on your ability to adapt to changes in healthcare, your marketability/charisma, where you live, etc. Ultimately you will find that your income is dependent actually not as much on what you bring in, but on how well you manage your expenses. If you have lots of overhead, read: mouths to feed, expensive office space, poor book mgmt, expect to be crying poor for a very long time.
Of course the other option is going employed, but be careful who you are getting in bed with.
4. Earning more money does not lead to more happiness. IN fact it can often lead to more personal pressure and stress.
5. You will be significantly more savvy and better able to set up what you want in your ideal practice 5 years after you start.
6. In 5 years who knows what we will be doing.
