Resident Salary Comparisons at Anesthesia Progams

[MDEntropy]

Of course no one ranks residency progams based on pay scales, but Cali is a costly place to live (with exceptions like the valley and Sac).

Still, I am curious to compare the pay scales of programs in Cali. The trick is all the hidden benefits - such as moving stipend, housing allowance, expected inflation (or COLA) related increases.

Skrubz, perhaps you can lead off by telling us the CA-1 salary, institution and dept housing stipends, moving bonus, expected increases etc at Stanford Anesthesia. And how about the salaries for CA-2 and CA-3's?

How much of a discrepancy really exists across Cali programs? We could extend this to all programs - but of course the NY programs really need to pay up. It is SOOO expensive there.

At UC's the base salaries do not change across campuses, and these numbers are available on the web.
CA-1 40,100
CA-2 42,100
CA-3 45,300

Of course hidden benefits are not published but could be shared here by interviewees, future/current residents etc. This is were it really gets interesting. What sort of incentives does, for example, USC have?

A difference of 20% in salary by year 4 (CA-3) could be considered quite significant.

How would it feel as a graduating CA-3 to get a job paying 195K when your fellow graduating CA-3 colleauge just next door will make 240K and work the same amount.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Brachial_Plexus]

Originally posted by MDEntropy

How would it feel as a graduating CA-3 to get a job paying 195K when your fellow graduating CA-3 colleauge just next door will make 240K and work the same amount.

How about starting at $300k and working EVEN LESS !

 

[drlard]

Your salary as a resident should not play any role in your ranking of programs. In the end, a few thousand dollars (less after taxes) is meaningless. Choose the strongest program you are comfortable at not the one where you salary as a CA-3 will be more.

 

[MDEntropy]

not value judgments, drlard.

Originally posted by drlard
Your salary as a resident should not play any role in your ranking of programs. In the end, a few thousand dollars (less after taxes) is meaningless. Choose the strongest program you are comfortable at not the one where you salary as a CA-3 will be more.

I might tend to agree with the sentiment of your statement, but it is a value judgment. $10,000-20,000, over 3 years, perhaps in the heart of one's youth, might make a significant quality of life difference for a resident and his/her family, particularly if all other variables are held constant (i.e. applicant otherwise indifferent between programs A&B).

Furthermore, like it or not, salary does play a role in how people rank programs and how all jobs are chosen for that matter. Perhaps you might consult your future program chair about this. I think he has taken actions which say that 'a few thousand dollars' is NOT meaningless. Has he not?

Nevertheless, I wasn't interested in starting a discussion on this matter, and I think it is inconsiderate for you to try to steer the thread away from the fact collection I am aiming for. Perhaps you did this unintentionally but do you really have anything to gain by doing this anyway? Please, instead, tell us about the incentives UCSF has recently offered to attract residents. Even programs of the highest quality have offered some persuasive stimuli, so why not discuss them?

As an aside, chosing the 'strongest program you are comfortable at' may be the way you made your primary ranking decision (1 vs. all others), and this may have been the right way for you, but this may not work best for everyone. I am sure that there are many residents and resident significant others who would disagree with your statement, as following this advice might, eventually, tear a family apart.

peace

 

[Skrubz]

Originally posted by MDEntropy
Skrubz, perhaps you can lead off by telling us the CA-1 salary, institution and dept housing stipends, moving bonus, expected increases etc at Stanford Anesthesia. And how about the salaries for CA-2 and CA-3's?

while i agree with dr. lard in that i don't believe salary shouldn't be used to decide a residency, i'm not naive enough to think that everyone agrees with me. here's the info i got from stanford:

2003-2004
CA-1 $45,904
CA-2 $48,726
CA-3 $51,350

other benefits (per their brochure):
educational fund - $1000/yr (stanford hospital), $500/yr (department)
PDA allowance - $250 one-time
license assistance - $808
housing allowance (taxed) - $3000 one-time (hospital), $2400/yr (department)
3 weeks vacation, 1 week conference leave

enjoy.

 

[Pinky]

Last year when I was doing my prelim medicine year in Chicago, I made about $38K. This year, I am making about $41K in Houston. However, my take-home this year is about the same as last year. The difference is that the costs of parking, vision, health, dental are more at this program. In addition, Social security tax was not deducted from my salary last year. This year $1100 was withheld.

I thought that I would see $3000 (minus taxes) more this year than last. I was wrong.

 

[Tollway]

Pinky- What program are you at??