income potential

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is it difficult for an IMphysician to make money like that of a specialist if they are buisness minded? what could one do in IM to make that kind of money without specializing?

 

[DrNick2006]

yes and no. If you are enterprising enough to develop an ownership in a large partnership then you could earn millions, however, most IM generalists now join larger practices and are salaried, at least that is my experience, and starting a practice is very difficult because you have no bargaining power as a lone individual with insurers.

 

[novacek88]

yes and no. If you are enterprising enough to develop an ownership in a large partnership then you could earn millions, however, most IM generalists now join larger practices and are salaried, at least that is my experience, and starting a practice is very difficult because you have no bargaining power as a lone individual with insurers.

Of course they are paid on salary initially. No one is offerred a partnership upon joining a firm. These large groups do offer partnership but only after 2 to 3 years of service so I can see how you could get the impression that they are only paid on salary. And these partners do not earn millions. They earn anywhere from 200K (low) to 500K (high) depending upon how large their group is. I'm certain there are firms in which partners approach 1 million but the majority of them earn in the 250K-400K range.

The reason why general IM salaries are in the 150K range on most salary surverys is because many internists become hospitalists while many others are working as salaries associates on their way to partner. And then others work in academic medicine which pays far less. But I'm sure if you surveyed general IM partners, the average salary would be around 300K.

 

[novacek88]

is it difficult for an IMphysician to make money like that of a specialist if they are buisness minded? what could one do in IM to make that kind of money without specializing?

If you want to earn a lot of money as an internist, you pretty should start your own practice and be willing to be paid less for your initial 3-5 years of operating. Like with anything, great reward requires great risk. You should be willing to either purchase an existing practice or start your own which could cost you 300-800K up front. So not only would you be paying off your student loans, you would be paying off this huge loan as well. Then you have to work hard to acquire hospital priviledges and negotiate your own contracts with insurers.

After all of this, you should hope to be popular enough to sustain enough demand to operate your practice. Like I said, it's a huge risk and one reason why solo practice is unheard of these days. Most IM physicians would rather join an existing practice or work as a hospitalist.

 

[cliffhanger]

Does anyone think these salary estimates are a bit inflated? 300-700K is what the folks on the radiology forums think they'll be earning 2 years out of residency... and even that seems like a pie in the sky. While I could certainly imagine a salary survey targeting just IM partners showing an average salary of maybe up to 250K, I have to believe only a slim minority earn much than that. 😕

 

[PaleAle]

Does anyone think these salary estimates are a bit inflated? 300-700K is what the folks on the radiology forums think they'll be earning 2 years out of residency... and even that seems like a pie in the sky. While I could certainly imagine a salary survey targeting just IM partners showing an average salary of maybe up to 250K, I have to believe only a slim minority earn much than that. 😕

Except that they are right. I met a radiology resident a few months ago at a community program who was getting recruitment letters offering (after he finished residency) partnership within 2-3 years. once you become a partner, salary is around $500K/yr with about 12-16 weeks of vacation per year. makes me regret doing IM for residency, that's for sure... keep in mind we'll never even touch those figures.

 

[cliffhanger]

Do you really regret doing IM? Is it largely b/c other specialties have better income, or are their other reasons? Anyone else have any regrets about their specialty choice? Just curious, since I'm an MSIII trying to make a very difficult decision.