private practice vs. working in a university hospital (income)

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

WaitingImpatiently

Long Member
7+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
20+ Year Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2002
Messages
649
Reaction score
3
I know that doctors make more in private practice, but how much more? Right now, I have my sights set on spending maybe 10-15 years in a large university hospital after my residency doing research and teaching, but if the $ disparity is HUGE, then I might rethink those plans. It's certianly early to be thinking about this now, but I'd like to see some numbers.

Thanks

Members don't see this ad.
 
How big the difference is depends on your specialty. Internal medicine docs make a little less in academics, but not much (I estimate 130K vs 120K or something like that). Procedure oriented specialties like surgery, orthopedics, otolarygology have a somewhat higher difference in income. In some specialties, like derm or neuro, private docs can make a lot of money doing special procedure in private practice (like plastics stuff for derm and EMGs for neuro) that they can't in academics. I think one of the biggest differences is in radiology, with private practice docs making 250K-300K to start and academics starting around 150K.
 
Top