Medical students, residents, and sometimes even attending physicians are often curious about how much certain specialties make. Consider this, when you’re a resident looking for a job, how do you know if you’re getting a fair compensation deal? Is your offer below average? Sometimes contracts last 2 years or more. If you are given a below-average deal, it would last those 2+ years. How would you feel? Jipped?
It’s good to be well-informed of the current market trends. Physician salary surveys can give you an idea of what’s out there. Like any other study we’ve critiqued as physicians, there are biases and confounding factors. So take it with a grain of salt. But, the more surveys that come out, the better it is to get a clearer picture of what to expect.
The people at Profiles, a national recruiting resource, has come out with their 2011-2012 Physician Salary Survey.
Profiles has asked 80,000 seasoned physicians and 40,000 physicians who recently graduated to participate in their survey. The survey was conducted in September 2011 and shows you the national median starting salary as well as the national 6 year practicing average.
The lowest starting salary reported is $138,000 for family physicians. Pediatrics made more initially at $162,000! This is different from other surveys and great for pediatrics!
The highest starting salary reported is $465,000 for orthopedic spine surgeons. Second highest was neurosurgery at $395,000.
Use this survey and others when you get job offers. See if it’s competitive to the national average and determine whether it’s something you want to negotiate. To see the breakdown of salaries for all of the medical specialties in their newest survey, click here.
I will crosscheck my articles and update them with this new information over the next few weeks.
