INCENTIVE FOR BECOMING AN ACADEMIC PHYSICIAN

[DZT]

I was just wondering, what are the pros/cons of becoming an academic physician as compared to the run-of-the-mill private practice/group physician?

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[SarahL]

I asked an MD professor at Yale the other day why he chose to go into academic medicine instead of into private practice. He said, "Well, I could have gone that route and made more money, but I didn't want my brain to rot."

 

[SarahL]

Grammatically correct version:

I asked an MD professor at Yale the other day why he chose to go into academic medicine instead of into private practice. He said, "Well, I could have gone that route and made more money, but I didn't want my brain to rot."

 

[PelicanMan]

It seems to me that academic medicine gives you more family time.

Plus you get to teach which is something I really want to do.

I am thinking of doing academic medicine.

 

[DZT]

Well, I consider myself to be a multi-tasker, and hence I would like to teach part time, and devote much of my time to private practice. Yeah, sounds crazy and I bet I will be pulling 60-70 hour weeks, but arent there people who split time?

 

[MamboKing]

wait pple in academic medicine make less or more money?

i thought u could teach 6 hrs a week and get good pay $$$ and then go to ur practice and stuff...

 

[USeF]

mambo- I'm sure there are plenty of doctors out there who are 'affiliated' with a medical school. These clinicians have their practice and maybe assist as an attending in a rotation twice a year. Though that's a grey area, I wouldn't classify them as academic physicians.

This is completely subjective, and I'm throwing out my personal interpretation...

An academic physician (IMO) would be a part to full time instructor AND/OR conduct clinical or basic science research AND/OR work in administration, such as a dean of student affairs, of admissions etc.

 

[DarksideAllstar]

Working at UCSF has taught me a lot about academic medicine.
1) Pay is less. Not bad, but not as much as if you were in private practice.
2) Teaching duties abound. In charge of residents, med students, etc. on floors.
3) Most I believe do clinical or basic science research.
4) Not much free time as was previously posted on this thread. I only work with Anesthesiologits, so this might be biased. Academic medicine is demanding.
5) Some specialties, for instance Rheumatology, give you ample time for research. At Stanford, Rheumatology fellows and faculty, typically are in clinic 4-8 hours per week, but are heavy researchers, so they spend more time in the lab.
6) Most of these may be different depending on the institution or program you are in, but I thought this may give you a general idea of what goes on in academic medicine.

 

[brandonite]

I think the main thing is just flexibility. You get to practice, if you want to. But you also can do research, you can teach, you can work with grad students, etc... And after 20 years of clinical medicine, if you're completely sick of seeing patients, you can become a full time academic. It's a nice quasi-retirement...

 

[johnM]

I work at the NIH, so I have a little different perspective of academic physicians. Here, there are many MD's and MD/PhD's who do research, both basic and clinical. Many see patients as part of their research, all of whom must fit a protocol for a specific study. It seems to me that these docs are HIGHLY specialized, seeing only a very select group of people. They tend to make less money than private doctors, but it's still a lot of money to me. :wink:
While schedules can be a little unpredictable (depending on research), I can tell you that my PI definitely works some sweet hours. I think a lot of it is determined by what you are doing and how hard you want to work, and I think my PI is just very committed to her family and wants to spend her time that way.

 

[Ceez]

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