Reliable Salary Survey????

[OHMAN0125]

Hey guys,
Just wondering what is the most reliable site to look at incomes for different medical specialties. I know of the Allied Physicians site that lists a lot. However, do others think this site is pretty reliable? I've bumped into some ppl who swear it sucks.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Wizard of Oz]

It doesn't matter. Physician salaries are always changing, and by the time we finish residencies, each specialty will have government regulations placing restrictions on billing to degrees that will vary greatly from field to field. Radiology--great now, wait until Uncle Sam doesn't want to pay mucho out of Medicare for scans.

I've never met a practicing doctor who's salary actually agreed with one of the online salary calculators. Plus docs have to bury their income in real estate to shelter it from lawsuits.

 

[Law2Doc]

Plus docs have to bury their income in real estate to shelter it from lawsuits.

This doesn't really work, as few people risk the wrath of the IRS and any lawyer is just going to want to see tax returns to see what your income was.

 

[Law2Doc]

It doesn't matter. Physician salaries are always changing

Agree with this part though -- looking at salaries before you are well into residency is going yield fairly flawed numbers because this kind of stuff doesn't stay the same. And medicine is changing pretty dramatically due to insurance/reimbursement issues, increased popularity of lifestyle fields, and shortages/increased popularity in certain specialties/subspecialties.
A recent AMSA publication indicated that the average (postresidency) physician salary was $203k and that there has been a decline in salary of about 7% over the last decade. If you find a site that provides numbers consistant with that info, I would tend to think it is probably in the ballpark.

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

Gotta agree that what pays well now may not in 5-10 years when we're all out practicing. Plus salaries are wildly variable depending on where you live, amount of experience, academic vs. private sector, etc, so you're going to have a hard time tracking down a reliable survey. This is one from JAMA from a couple of years ago, so I guess it's as good an estimate as any to go by:

http://www.medfriends.org/specialty_hours_worked.htm

 

[Law2Doc]

Gotta agree that what pays well now may not in 5-10 years when we're all out practicing. Plus salaries are wildly variable depending on where you live, amount of experience, academic vs. private sector, etc, so you're going to have a hard time tracking down a reliable survey. This is one from JAMA from a couple of years ago, so I guess it's as good an estimate as any to go by:

http://www.medfriends.org/specialty_hours_worked.htm

It at least looks in the ballpark.

 

[NonTradMed]

Well, the hours sure suck. I'm assuming alot of that is eaten away by paperwork and insurance hassles? Hm, maybe I should have looked into pharmacy.....

 

[braluk]

lol yea, medicine is not something to get into if money was a driving force. THough the career is lucrative, the cost to benefit ratio may be much different than say investment banking, which has a high yield of money. Though the hours are ridiculous for an IB, the hours are spent on career related issues, instead of non-career related things such as a doctor filling out ridiculous amounts of forms and claims and such.

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

lol yea, medicine is not something to get into if money was a driving force. THough the career is lucrative, the cost to benefit ratio may be much different than say investment banking, which has a high yield of money. Though the hours are ridiculous for an IB, the hours are spent on career related issues, instead of non-career related things such as a doctor filling out ridiculous amounts of forms and claims and such.

Yeah, calculate out something like pediatrics and you end up with around $47 per hr. That's only seven bucks more than what I paid for tennis lessons last year, and that guy didn't have anywhere near 7 years of postgraduate education.

 

[vwhan]

Yeah, calculate out something like pediatrics and you end up with around $47 per hr. That's only seven bucks more than what I paid for tennis lessons last year, and that guy didn't have anywhere near 7 years of postgraduate education.

Unfortunately, Peds is one of the lowest paid (if not the lowest paid profession). However, I think lifestyle can be "controllable" for peds, especially for woman pediatricians that decide to become part-time after having children.

 

[zbruinz]

what's interesting is that podiatrists are making the same on average as the primary care docs according to:

http://www.cejkasearch.com/compensation/amga_midlevel_compensation_survey.htm

 

[NonTradMed]

Does anyone know if these salary surveys count part timers? What I mean is, there seems to be a disproportionate of part timers in peds and I'm wondering if that pulls down salary average.

 

[Wizard of Oz]

Does anyone know if these salary surveys count part timers? What I mean is, there seems to be a disproportionate of part timers in peds and I'm wondering if that pulls down salary average.

No--insurance companies actually reimburse docs less for treating kids.

 

[Dunce]

If anyone mentions investment banking they will be shot on site.