private vs academic

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matthewg

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So judging by what I've been reading, private clearly makes more money and whereas academic makes good money, just not nearly as much.

I had also been reading and Child Psych just so happens to be another well paying path to take?

Can you tell me the pros and cons of the two? I'm rather ignorant about psychiatry right now, but it's information from you guys that have actually taken the classes and/or have had the experience that will help me out.

Also, what would it take to be a private psych? What are the pre-requisites and basics steps to being a private psych? Thanks for your help.

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You're getting a bit ahead of yourself, so keep reading, but trying to defer some of these major decisions:

For right now, you need to focus on an undergraduate degree that 1) you enjoy studying, and 2) helps you to get into a decent medical school. There's no one right answer to this...

While in medical school, confirm your desire to go into psych (not a foregone conclusion--lots of folks change their minds) and get some idea whether you see yourself doing primary clinical practice or whether you will be happier doing research and teaching in an academic setting. This distinction will be one of the main considerations (along with location and lifestyle) as you consider where to train for residency.

In residency, explore your interests in inpatient vs. outpatient, private vs. public practice, child vs. adult, other "sub-sub-specialties" you might want to emphasize. Finally, after 12-13 years of this, you'll hopefuly land among us in a practice setting where you can be happy and useful (and expect to make ~$180-200,000 a year, on the conservative side).

Good luck.:luck:
 
In residency, explore your interests in inpatient vs. outpatient, private vs. public practice, child vs. adult, other "sub-sub-specialties" you might want to emphasize. Finally, after 12-13 years of this, you'll hopefuly land among us in a practice setting where you can be happy and useful (and expect to make ~$180-200,000 a year, on the conservative side).

So during residency, I'll be able to test out all of those things? Because I guess that's where most of my questions lie, is what those things are like basically. I want to be able to try out everything, will I be able to?

Also, along with all of that, will I be getting paid during residency? And if so, generally how much? As you know, 12-13 years is a long time to not have a decent job.
 
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So during residency, I'll be able to test out all of those things? Because I guess that's where most of my questions lie, is what those things are like basically. I want to be able to try out everything, will I be able to?

Also, along with all of that, will I be getting paid during residency? And if so, generally how much? As you know, 12-13 years is a long time to not have a decent job.

You'll be making good money after residency, which is 4 years. I think OPD was stating that it can take that long to settle into an ideal job situation. That's not unique to psychiatry - that's all medical professions.

You'll get exposure to all of these facets of psychiatry.
 
Also, along with all of that, will I be getting paid during residency?

They slide some water and Ritz crackers under the door in the evening. In the big cities, it might even be sparkling water, but you get about half a cup after taxes. On Fridays, you get a cube of cheese too. It's awesome! ;)

First year salaries range from about 43-50k in most areas right now, and go up a few percent each year.
 
I think OPD was stating that it can take that long to settle into an ideal job situation.

It takes that long just to settle into any job in medicine. 4 years college, 4 years med school, 4 years residency (more for fellowships). It's a long haul. But as the previous poster noted you do get paid during residency. Unfortunately with the way medical school tuition has gone and student loan interest rates (6.8% fixed at the moment) it's hard to even make interest payments on that $200k student loan during residency.
 
Private practice does not inevitably pay more than academics, especially if you combine an academic career with a moderate amount of outpatient work. This combination is the rule among psychiatrists, and only a small percentage of people on an academic faculty never see private outpatients. In addition, academic jobs often include the sort of fringe benefits that private practitioners do not always get (very good health insurance, generous retirement plans, a generally steady flow of patient referrals). If you like something--like academics--you should really have a good reason not to do it.
 
Private practice does not inevitably pay more than academics, especially if you combine an academic career with a moderate amount of outpatient work. This combination is the rule among psychiatrists, and only a small percentage of people on an academic faculty never see private outpatients. In addition, academic jobs often include the sort of fringe benefits that private practitioners do not always get (very good health insurance, generous retirement plans, a generally steady flow of patient referrals). If you like something--like academics--you should really have a good reason not to do it.
Sorry if I sound ignorant, but what exactly do you mean by academics? In terms of psychiatry atleast.
 
Private practice does not inevitably pay more than academics, especially if you combine an academic career with a moderate amount of outpatient work. This combination is the rule among psychiatrists, and only a small percentage of people on an academic faculty never see private outpatients. In addition, academic jobs often include the sort of fringe benefits that private practitioners do not always get (very good health insurance, generous retirement plans, a generally steady flow of patient referrals). If you like something--like academics--you should really have a good reason not to do it.

Good point. I don't know of any "academic" psychiatrists that don't see private patients....except perhaps nearly retired department chairs or hard-core researchers - the latter being even more rare.
 
Some academic centers have income limits. At one southern university that I won't mention the name of, there was a 2005 $155,000 income limit for asst professors (this income limit included the combined total of base salary, medical director fees, private practice income, and research income)- anything in excess had to be given back to the university.
 
Some academic centers have income limits. At one southern university that I won't mention the name of, there was a 2005 $155,000 income limit for asst professors (this income limit included the combined total of base salary, medical director fees, private practice income, and research income)- anything in excess had to be given back to the university.

What the....

What was this place, the Univeristy of Communist Clinton?
:eek:
 
It was a southern university that you could probably guess by reading my profile. This medical school/Univ was run for the benefit of the deans and dept chairmen, which is why I am no longer in academics.
 
Sorry if I sound ignorant, but what exactly do you mean by academics? In terms of psychiatry atleast.

I mean people who are on medical school faculties, though I'd probably mean people who receive funding from those schools (as opposed to voluntary faculty--though there are definitely academically-productive voluntaries), though I probably mean people who produce writing and research as opposed to people who receive salaries for working on a medical-school affiliated clinical service. In other words, it's fuzzy, but psych faculties are often very large compared to, say, surgery faculties, where the number of faculty is limited by OR time, much less anthro or English faculties which go by a wholly different set of financial principles. Using that definition, clinically-oriented academics can make as much as private practice people.

There are some academic faculties that cap income. This is not done solely for the dean and chair as someone said. It is also done to encourage academic productivity rather than commerce. If the dean and chair wanted more of your money, they'd just tax it, since it's safe to say that few people are going to go way over the amount that becomes 100% taxed.
 
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