Pediatric Ophthalmologist Contact?

[Undes1]

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Hey Yall,

I was wondering if there are any Peds fellow or attendings willing to discuss via email or PM some questions about Private Practice?

My wife is very interested but her only sources for info are her academic attendings which are either purely academic or have been out of private practice for a decade+. Also their opinions are limited to the local area (Midwest) and we 100% plan to move out West/PNW post fellowship.

Thanks!

 

[eyeeye_captain]

I don’t know if there are any peds folks on here unfortunately. You could try sending a DM to @mjohnsonets and hope he still has some notifications on, but he stopped being a recruiter to chase his pretty cool dreams, so he’s probably not checking in much if at all.

 

[Undes1]

Yep fair enough, I'll reach out. Thanks!

 

[RetinaDude]

I’m not peds but know several peds ophthalmologists in the private world. The ones who are making a great salary are doing more on the cataract side with peds sprinkled in. Peds ophthalmologists are in HUGE demand but there’s a reason they have much lower payment than other ophthalmology sub specialists……heavy reliance on Medicaid which typically has terrible reimbursement compared to private insurance

 

[Gonio5]

Ultimately, it is better to be the master than the slave. The slave's efforts pay for their own salary and part of the master's. In some fields, that is not realistic. The airline pilot can fly the plane but cannot start a big airline. The McDonald's cook cannot replicate a new McDonald's brand. However, some ophthalmologists can be the master. Sometimes, 2 or 3 ophthalmologists can be almost equal masters. Academics might be an exception because some people want to pursue scholarly goals. There are pediatric ophthalmology practices with only one or two pediatric ophthalmologists.

 

[Undes1]

Thanks for the responses

Do you all anticipate Peds Ophtho to continue its downward trend in reimbursements with the expected Medicare and Medicaid cuts around 2027-2028?

 

[Undes1]

I’m not peds but know several peds ophthalmologists in the private world. The ones who are making a great salary are doing more on the cataract side with peds sprinkled in. Peds ophthalmologists are in HUGE demand but there’s a reason they have much lower payment than other ophthalmology sub specialists……heavy reliance on Medicaid which typically has terrible reimbursement compared to private insurance

Yeah its seems like all of the positions that my wife has interviewed with actually encourage the mixing of comp/cataract to help pad the poor salary thats expected. These practices want a Dedicated Peds ophtho, but they know that they are becoming increasingly rare because of the poor reimbursements of a pure Peds only patient panel.

 

[Gonio5]

Thanks for the responses

Do you all anticipate Peds Ophtho to continue its downward trend in reimbursements with the expected Medicare and Medicaid cuts around 2027-2028?

Medicare and Medicaid have been cutting for 25 years. Nothing new. Bipartisan attack on doctors. Biden cut Medicare for 2025 and Trump did not reverse it.

 

[Slide]

Yeah its seems like all of the positions that my wife has interviewed with actually encourage the mixing of comp/cataract to help pad the poor salary thats expected. These practices want a Dedicated Peds ophtho, but they know that they are becoming increasingly rare because of the poor reimbursements of a pure Peds only patient panel.

Realistically if your wife wants to have a respectable salary seeing only kids, her best bet is academics. Pediatric ophthalmology pay is better since the universities can negotiate better contracts and the payment is on a RVU schedule so it's agnostic to payers.

 

[Trefoil]

There are employed positions listed for $350,00-$500,000. In California, they tend to trend towards $350,000-$400,000.

Peds is somewhat state dependent as many states supplement Medicaid, California tends to supplement more than most.

I also know Peds docs that have set up in a wealthy area and just do straight forward kids eye exams. Because wealthier people have insurance, you will generally do much better even with fewer procedures.

Realistically, you will not make as much as a retina or glaucoma person, but you are likely to have head hunters contacting you frequently to fill jobs.

I think it’s a good fit if you are trying to live in a city and like variety. Every kid is different and syndromic kids come with a ton of pathology. If you like complicated patients and are a bit of a masochist, it really makes the time fly by in clinic.

I was comp forseveral years, and the monotony kind of got to me. It was still pretty fulfilling, but your pathology is pretty repetitive.