What's the income ceiling in radiology?

[Student189045]

I know this topic frequently gets a lot of hate, but the reality is I care about money. I love medicine and understand I could have tried for big law or wall street for a wayyy higher ceiling, but I have no interest in those fields. My question is what is the income ceiling for a radiologist, and how many hours are they working to achieve that? Is it possible to make 7 figures like a surgical subspecialty?

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[SpartanWolverine]

Possible but there's no magic to it... you have to bill enough to bring in the money to pay yourself and cover overhead. If you're willing to work hard, long hours and churn through studies you can make good money depending on your compensation structure.

 

[MadRadLad]

If you're making 7 figs in a straight up reading setup your life will probably be miserable with that volume. Upper 6's is definitely possible albeit again with a pretty high workload.

 

[Student189045]

Thank you for the reply, what about other partnership revenue streams such as real estate, owning imaging centers, etc...are those big in radiology?

 

[Hippocrates II]

Truly no offense intended, but if you're asking questions this basic, you were never going to pull 7 figures in 'big law or wall street'. Be content with the many hundreds of thousands of dollars you can make in this field while still maintaining some semblance of a good life outside of work. Making a million bucks a year as a radiologist is meaningless if you're working away all of your nights and weekends to make it happen.

 

[Splenda88]

Truly no offense intended, but if you're asking questions this basic, you were never going to pull 7 figures in 'big law or wall street'. Be content with the many hundreds of thousands of dollars you can make in this field while still maintaining some semblance of a good life outside of work. Making a million bucks a year as a radiologist is meaningless if you're working away all of your nights and weekends to make it happen.

Some people have different strategy when it comes to money/lifestyle. For instance, one of my friends from residency is working to make 450-500k/yr for 10 yrs as a hospitalist so she can [semi] retire at 36... then move to Mexico.

She said will travel to the US to do locum once in a while to keep her license active. She finished residency at the age of 25 because she was an IMG. I am not sure if she will stick to that plan.

Needless to say that her family made her go to medical school. She was not afraid to let people know that since she was forced to go to med school, she is just doing it for the $$$.

 

[Rad2013]

Keep in mind that we earn money the worst way possible from a taxation standpoint. Making 1M a year will be significantly less after taxes. Some states will be worse than others. I sometimes joke that from January through May, I work for the government. From July through December, I work for myself and my family.

 

[Student189045]

Truly no offense intended, but if you're asking questions this basic, you were never going to pull 7 figures in 'big law or wall street'. Be content with the many hundreds of thousands of dollars you can make in this field while still maintaining some semblance of a good life outside of work. Making a million bucks a year as a radiologist is meaningless if you're working away all of your nights and weekends to make it happen.

You missed my point entirely. I made that statement because whenever a thread like this is posted people say "you should have gone into law or finance if you care about money and you'd make way more!!!" which is a useless response because liking medicine and money don't have to be mutually exclusive.

 

[EPV213]

You can definitely hit that mark as partner in PP

 

[Chemdude]

Depends on how much you want to work. If you work like a dog and don't take any vacation you can hit $1 million.

If you want a "normal" job and are okay working in the midwest or Trumptown then you can make 600-800K.

 

[Hippocrates II]

You missed my point entirely. I made that statement because whenever a thread like this is posted people say "you should have gone into law or finance if you care about money and you'd make way more!!!" which is a useless response because liking medicine and money don't have to be mutually exclusive.

No, your point definitely landed on me. I'm merely commenting on your words of "...I could have tried for big law or wall street for a wayyy higher ceiling.". This is an often-made comment in the context of med students/residents suggesting they somehow left money on the table by going into medicine. I would say the odds of you out-earning a radiologist in another profession are not in your favor. Just my 2c. Carry on.

 

[nimbus]

Some people have different strategy when it comes to money/lifestyle. For instance, one of my friends from residency is working to make 450-500k/yr for 10 yrs as a hospitalist so she can [semi] retire at 36... then move to Mexico.

She said will travel to the US to do locum once in a while to keep her license active. She finished residency at the age of 25 because she was an IMG. I am not sure if she will stick to that plan.

Needless to say that her family made her go to medical school. She was not afraid to let people know that since she was forced to go to med school, she is just doing it for the $$$.

Good plan until she gets married and has 4 kids It’s ridiculously easy for any doctor to FIRE if they stay single.

 

[Tiger100]

Good plan until she gets married and has 4 kids It’s ridiculously easy for any doctor to FIRE if they stay single.

4+.

 

[Tiger100]

Many people choose radiology for a good balance between pay and lifestyle.

Then they ruin the lifestyle aspect by prioritizing the money aspect.

 

[RadJon]

If you're making 7 figs in a straight up reading setup your life will probably be miserable with that volume. Upper 6's is definitely possible albeit again with a pretty high workload.

Unless you have an imaging center or two...

 

[vm26]

Unless you have an imaging center or two...

Yes, if you happen to inherit one. Otherwise the buy-in will be astronomical given the initial cost of equipment/real estate purchase. Though still decent tech-fees have also been slashed drastically. Most importantly, given shortage, you may have to pay absurd fees for sub-par locum techs

 

[MadRadLad]

Unless you have an imaging center or two...

Not a practical assumption for 99% of people and @vm26 is dead on. Currently places are hemorrhaging techs and you will pay stupid amounts on the admin side. The days of making big bucks on imaging centers and tech fees is gone for those who aren't already in that game.

Also note that I said "in a straight up reading setup" in my initial post...

 

[Smallfishtinypond]

Location, money and lifestyle. A good job will have two out of three. Pick yours.

 

[VivaElBirdos]

What’s an example of a really good job offer? Like top 10% type job…is it $/RVU? 17 weeks vacation partner track?

 

[point542]

Ceiling for just clinical practice? Probably a lot lower than an entrepreneurial minded radiologist or one that has equity in imaging centers etc. Personally I've heard of partners making over 1.5 mill. I'm sure they are working a ****ton and have a lot of responsibilities though.

 

[Tiger100]

What’s an example of a really good job offer? Like top 10% type job…is it $/RVU? 17 weeks vacation partner track?

A job in the location that you want or at least within an hour of the place than you want to live.

Not more than Q5 weekends.
Minimum amount of evenings, nothing more than Q10.

6-8 weeks of vacation that you can choose and are not force on you. If you can take single days off, that's a HUGE bonus.

Average salary of a radiologist.

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FYI, 17 weeks of vacation is a waste of time unless you are in your early 30s and you live by yourself.

In most groups, you can't pick half of your vacation weeks and you are forced to pick the leftovers.
In most groups, you have to pick your vacations 8-9 months in advance.
In most groups, you can't take single days off.

If you have kids or your SO works, anything more than 6 weeks of vacation is a total waste. On the other hand, having least number of weekends or evenings are critical.

 

[DoctorMD1]

A job in the location that you want or at least within an hour of the place than you want to live.

Not more than Q5 weekends.
Minimum amount of evenings, nothing more than Q10.

6-8 weeks of vacation that you can choose and are not force on you. If you can take single days off, that's a HUGE bonus.

Average salary of a radiologist.

------------_
FYI, 17 weeks of vacation is a waste of time unless you are in your early 30s and you live by yourself.

In most groups, you can't pick half of your vacation weeks and you are forced to pick the leftovers.
In most groups, you have to pick your vacations 8-9 months in advance.
In most groups, you can't take single days off.

If you have kids or your SO works, anything more than 6 weeks of vacation is a total waste. On the other hand, having least number of weekends or evenings are critical.

There are people who travel without family. Vacation is never waste!

 

[Tiger100]

There are people who travel without family. Vacation is never waste!

It may happen 1-2 times a year. But I have not seen people with two kids and a wife or a husband who travel every 3-4 weeks on their own. You may live in a different place that I do.