Residency Pay ?

[TulaneKid24]

Hopefully some of the upper level residents can answer this question for me.

I have noticed in looking at residency program websites that there is a pay increase usually every year. For example, Boston U Med Center lists:

Post Graduate Year 2005-2006
PGY-1 $47,133.00
PGY-2 $49,271.00
PGY-3 $51,590.00
PGY-4 $55,088.00

Post Graduate Year 2004-2005
PGY-1 $45,320.00
PGY-2 $47,376.00
PGY-3 $49,606.00
PGY-4 $52.969.00

But the year before, they listed the following stipends:

Post Graduate Year 2003-2004
PGY-1 $43,682.00
PGY-2 $45,663.00
PGY-3 $47,813.00
PGY-4 $51,055.00

My question is -- Do you get annual raises based on NEW yearly changes or do you just get the normal pay increases at your year appropriate level when you first started? So, I guess to clarify my question, here is an example.

If you were a PGY1 Intern that started in the 2003 - 2004 Year, Would you get paid $45,663.00 for the PGY2 year (the normal raise for the year you started) OR do you get paid $47,376.00 for the PGY2 (the raise for the new salary academic year 2005-2005)? If so, that would be about a $4000.00 raise from the initial PGY1 salary of $43,682 when the resident started PGY1 in 2003. That seems like a huge raise!

So basically with those annual increases, that would be a average of about $16,000 pay increase for 4 years of residency, which would be great with inflation and all, but that seems like a huge pay jump! Any thoughts?

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[docB]

When I was at UC Davis we got our annual raises and any COLAs that the system put through. I believe that goes for all of the UCs.

 

[NinerNiner999]

We get annual inflation added (typically 3-4% annually) PLUS about $1000 per year of training. In all, about $2200 per year.

 

[Blade28]

I think each of the salaries are listed for their respective years. For example, in 2003-2004, interns make $43k, second-year residents $45, etc. They'll go to a new pay scheme every year...so in 2004-2005, the new second-years make $47k, etc.

 

[KidDr]

At BMC you get paid based on what PGY level you are, and what academic year it is. So yes, an intern starting in 2004-2005 will be making >$50,000 (around 53k if increases continue at current rates) by PGY-3 year. Not bad, but remember that the BMC residents are unionized and living in Boston isn't exactly cheap. Also keep in mind that the new salaries take effect in October of the respective years. So, an intern starting in June for the 2004-2005 year actually starts at the 2003-2004 intern salary level ($43,682), then receives the 2004-2005 intern salary ($45,320) beginning in October 2004. When this intern becomes a PGY-2 in July 2005, he/she receives the 2004-2005 PGY-2 salary ($47,376) until Oct 2005, then receives the 2005-2006 PGY-2 salary ($49,271). And so on. That means residents get 2 "pay raises" each year, in a roundabout way.

 

[BellKicker]

Wow, Midwestern programs pay crap. All my programs are around $39-42K. That includes big city programs where cost of living is high.

Just curious, what's the highest paying PGY1 salary anyone has ever seen?

 

[ears]

Wow, Midwestern programs pay crap. All my programs are around $39-42K. That includes big city programs where cost of living is high.

Really? Does the 10% higher salary at BU make up for the expenses of living in Boston vs., say, Cleveland? I thought living in Boston would be more than 10% more expensive, making $42k in the Midwest a better deal than $47k in Boston. (An actual question, not random flaming.)

 

[EMDrMoe]

Well, my curiosity was piqued, so I checked out salary.com (not always reliable, but I wasn't curious enough to spend more than a minute on it).

If you make $40,000 in Cleveland, you'd need to make $49,092 in Boston to live the same lifestyle (22.7% higher cost of living). As a side note, employers in Boston pay 8% more on average, so you'd make $43,209 to do the same job. (The difference pans out to losing $5,883 in disposable income.)