to starve or not to starve ?

[medmind]

Do resident physicians earn a salary ? If so what's the average ?

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[ChubbyChaser]

Do resident physicians earn a salary ? If so what's the average ?

45K/yr

 

[Blade28]

Please do a search or browse through the General Residency forums.

 

[Character]

Do resident physicians earn a salary ? If so what's the average ?

lower than minimum wage with no overtime or holiday pay.

 

[ramseszerg]

lower than minimum wage with no overtime or holiday pay.

See, it's funny if you think about it, isn't that supposed to be illegal?

 

[ramseszerg]

Ah, I forgot I did this calculation a while ago.. it's actually not below min. wage. 70 hours per week*52 weeks = 3650 hours, times current min wage (8.75 here in Canada) comes to about 32K. So actually, it may or may not be below min wage.

 

[dd128]

lower than minimum wage with no overtime or holiday pay.

haha I know right, at least pretty close to it. 45K a year at 100 hour weeks works out to like $10/hr

 

[chad5871]

Well, residents are considered salaried workers, meaning they have to work however much is necessary to get the job done for the agreed amount. Plus, like floja2 said, minimum wage only applies to hourly workers. And the federal minimum wage is currently just $5.85/hour. 100 hours a week for 52 weeks at this rate is still about $30,000.

 

[SB100]

With all the hours for residency, it's not like you're gonna have time to be spending that money anyway

 

[Depakote]

Ah, I forgot I did this calculation a while ago.. it's actually not below min. wage. 70 hours per week*52 weeks = 3650 hours, times current min wage (8.75 here in Canada) comes to about 32K. So actually, it may or may not be below min wage.

just a head's up. As a resident you'll be expected to work ~80hrs/week.

 

[MilkmanAl]

With all the hours for residency, it's not like you're gonna have time to be spending that money anyway

I'm sure your lenders will come up with a way for you to dispose of your income.

 

[The Doctor]

On the flip side, not all specialties consume as many hours directly working. One of the specialties I'm considering generally spends 50 hours per week (up to 55 from what I've heard in some locations) or less at the hospital (with additional reading time) during residency.

Factor in the average 3 weeks of vacation and $44k introductory resident salary (these numbers are a mix of personal reports and official FREDIA data), and that works out to $17.96 an hour. Add to that standard benefits and health insurance, and the fact that you don't pay FICA taxes as a medical resident, and you're doing considerably better than federal minimum wage.

 

[SB100]

I'm sure your lenders will come up with a way for you to dispose of your income.

Good point, I'm screwed either way

 

[beachblonde]

Remember to take out all of your loan payments from you take-home salary, too. Bye bye payment deferrals....good thing you'll be locked in a hospital, because you'll be too busy to notice how it feels like half your salary gets signed right over to the bank.

 

[decafplease]

On the flip side, not all specialties consume as many hours directly working. One of the specialties I'm considering generally spends 50 hours per week (up to 55 from what I've heard in some locations) or less at the hospital (with additional reading time) during residency.

Factor in the average 3 weeks of vacation and $44k introductory resident salary (these numbers are a mix of personal reports and official FREDIA data), and that works out to $17.96 an hour. Add to that standard benefits and health insurance, and the fact that you don't pay FICA taxes as a medical resident, and you're doing considerably better than federal minimum wage.

But less than you could be paid as a medical assistant in some cities. (I know this for a I fact, I worked with MA's that made more than that.)

 

[decafplease]

Remember to take out all of your loan payments from you take-home salary, too. Bye bye payment deferrals....good thing you'll be locked in a hospital, because you'll be too busy to notice how it feels like half your salary gets signed right over to the bank.

Well, a huge chunk of my salary already goes to Uncle Sam, so I'm used to being pick-pocketed.

 

[Perrotfish]

Military residents get paid almost twice as much with no debt to service. Just throwing that out there.

Of course, then you're a doctor and you get a 20K raise while your civilian colleagues might increase their salaries by an order of magnitude.

 

[8744]

On the flip side, not all specialties consume as many hours directly working. One of the specialties I'm considering generally spends 50 hours per week (up to 55 from what I've heard in some locations) or less at the hospital (with additional reading time) during residency.

Factor in the average 3 weeks of vacation and $44k introductory resident salary (these numbers are a mix of personal reports and official FREDIA data), and that works out to $17.96 an hour. Add to that standard benefits and health insurance, and the fact that you don't pay FICA taxes as a medical resident, and you're doing considerably better than federal minimum wage.

Yes, yes you do.

During intern year, my pay worked out to around $11 and hour. Because I'm not working as many hours now, it's something like $15 or so with standard benefits. At my current program I only pay about $75 per month for medical insurance for my family and I eat for free at both of our hospitals. Parking is free (not the case everywhere) and I get up to $1200 per year reimbursed for books, licensing fees, and other education expenses.

It's enough for a single resident or a young couple with no real responsibilities to live on but that's about it. Periodically hospitals float the idea of not paying residents at all or curtailing benefits to save money. (My hospital considered then dropped the idea) The sad thing is that the medical schools would still be full even if residency required tuition fees.

 

[milliya]

so do you know ahead of time how much you will be making at your specific facility/specialty?

 

[kedrin]

Ah, I forgot I did this calculation a while ago.. it's actually not below min. wage. 70 hours per week*52 weeks = 3650 hours, times current min wage (8.75 here in Canada) comes to about 32K. So actually, it may or may not be below min wage.

you are not calculating in that someone making minimum wage would still get overtime pay if they worked 70 hrs a week.

 

[CSnowFoxD]

Well, residents are considered salaried workers, meaning they have to work however much is necessary to get the job done for the agreed amount. Plus, like floja2 said, minimum wage only applies to hourly workers. And the federal minimum wage is currently just $5.85/hour. 100 hours a week for 52 weeks at this rate is still about $30,000.

Wow, minimum wage here is a little bit less than $8 (I forget exactly how much, it keeps going up...). What's the point of a federal minimum wage if all the states have their own minimum wage anyway?

Does residency salary depend on where you are? It would suck if residents on average get the same where I am than in a state with a way lower minimum wage...and therefore probably lower cost of living.

Man, my friend who's a student teacher (?? not sure what exactly what it's called) teaching little elementary school kids while still in college working toward a teaching degree gets $15 an hour...

 

[plauto]

Wow, minimum wage here is a little bit less than $8 (I forget exactly how much, it keeps going up...). What's the point of a federal minimum wage if all the states have their own minimum wage anyway?

Does residency salary depend on where you are? It would suck if residents on average get the same where I am than in a state with a way lower minimum wage...and therefore probably lower cost of living.

Man, my friend who's a student teacher (?? not sure what exactly what it's called) teaching little elementary school kids while still in college working toward a teaching degree gets $15 an hour...

states cannot lower the minimum wage below federal standards. They can only go higher. NJ (where I live) raised the minimum wage to almost $8 due to high cost of living. That's the point.
Also, double check because your friend is BSing you. Student teachers do not get paid. In fact , they are still paying tutition to go to college because they are still college students.

 

[Raryn]

just a head's up. As a resident you'll be expected to work ~80hrs/week.

Yeah, its against the rules (laws? forget who made it) at this point to work residents more than 80 hours a week. Or well, technically, 160 hours every two weeks. They cant work you more than 80 hours a week on average though.

Now, lets assume one got paid minimum wage ($8.00 in CA) with time and a half for overtime. thats 52*(40*8+40*12)=41600. As Residents get payed 45k (or so) on average, I'd say you're better off a resident than as a minimum wage slave that actually has overtime pay. Of course, its all moot, since residents are salaried anyway...