the myth of medicine residents making less than minimum wage

[DJ LACTULOSE]

so i calculated how much an internal medicine resident makes per hour:

52 weeks/year - 4 weeks vacation = 48 weeks/year
80 hours/week * 48 weeks/year = 3840 hours/year

salary/ 3840 hours = salary per hour (before taxes)

pgy1: $40,319 / 3840 = $10.50 per hour
pgy2: $45,103 / 3840 = $11.75 per hour
pgy3: $48,876 / 3840 = $12.73 per hour
(note: salaries are harbor-UCLA internal medicine resident salaries before taxes.)

i think this is kind of interesting considering how many times we hear during med school that the average intern ends up making less than minimum wage. $10 per hour isn't bad. and the job is definitely better than working at mcdonald's (i think).

actually, a resident's hourly pay is probably more than $10.50 since most residents don't work the full 80 hours per week during elective and ambulatory months.

let's assume that the average intern works 13 four week blocks per year. usually this includes 8 blocks of wards/ICU/CCU, 1 vacation block, and 4 ambulatory/elective blocks.

for the 8 wards/ICU/CCU blocks:
4 weeks/block * 80 hours/week = 320 hours/block

for the 4 ambulatory/elective blocks:
4 weeks/block * 50 hours/week = 200 hours/block
(assuming 10 hours/day and no weekends or call)

8 * 320 + 4 * 200 = 3360 hours/year

pgy1: $40,319 / 3360 = $12.00 per hour
pgy2: $45,103 / 3360 = $13.42 per hour
pgy3: $48,876 / 3360 = $14.55 per hour
(note: salaries are harbor-UCLA internal medicine resident salaries before taxes.)

not bad... unfortunately, the current california minimum wage is $8.00 per hour (source: http://www.dir.ca.gov/Iwc/MinimumWageHistory.htm).

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[ocean11]

Don't forget you can supplement your income with moonlighting. Most programs that I've looked at are 48,000+ , still though..... not enough for all our education if you ask me!! they should double resident's salaries IMO

 

[DJ LACTULOSE]

48,000+ for intern year? are u only looking in NYC?

 

[pillowhead]

You're not including the vacation in the your estimates though. Any white-collar, full time job in this country that requires a graduate degree will have paid vacation, so I don't think it's fair not to include that in your calculations. We aren't part time Starbucks employees. It will have a small difference on the final hourly wage.

 

[bonovox]

It's a different beast altogether. The number of hours belie the fact that during your floor and unit months your LIFE is medicine... coming home after a long day and cracking open that internal medicine or cardiology or pulmonary textbook which is expected of you at any program worth anything.

 

[Adcadet]

I'm still surprised by the regional differences in pay. At my program we're paid:
PGY-1 $45,344
PGY-2 $47,255
PGY-3 $49,173

 

[DJ LACTULOSE]

Any white-collar, full time job in this country that requires a graduate degree will have paid vacation, so I don't think it's fair not to include that in your calculations. We aren't part time Starbucks employees.

yes, but any white-collar full-time job also won't be paid by the hour. it would recieve a salary. the comparison here is between residency and a minimum wage job (i.e. starbucks).

 

[lemonade02]

dj i know what you're trying to say but starbucks is anything but minimum wage. they treat their employees very well.

 

[Discobolus]

What you are forgetting is that at McDonalds you would be getting time and a half for any hours over 40, so 80 hours a week is actually more like 100.

 

[Annette]

You are also forgetting that anything over 40 hours/week or after 8 hours in a day is paid at time and a half. And holidays are also overtime.

$45k/((100*50)+ (40*2)= 45,000/5080= $8.86

Still, over minimum wage, but not by much.