It’s just like how it sounds : a medical director directs a medical practice.  These individuals are responsible for the daily clinical care that goes on.  In large organizations, there may be multiple medical directors; one for each division.  For example, a Medical Director of Infectious Disease or Medical Director of Family Practice.

You can also be a Medical Director for a nursing home in which you would be responsible for the residents that live there and for all of the nursing care given there.  A Medical Director of a pharmaceutical company may lead a team toward development of a drug or through a regulatory process.  I even found a Medical Director position for a medical education company that develops CME content.

The median compensation for physician executives in a Medical Director role is $251,000.  However, the pay varies widely.  Here are a few examples of actual salaries of medical directors :

• Robert Spence, Medical Director at Good Samaritan Hospital – $313.799
• Thomas Graham, Medical Director at Union Memorial Hospital – $750,844
• Dr. Gilbert Kilman – Medical Director at Epocrates – $102,074
• Dr. Frances Fergusson – Medical Director at Pfizer – $209,940

The must-haves for this position is your MD/DO degree, clinical experience, and management experience.  The amount of years required for experience can range from 3 years to 7+ years.  If you are looking for a pharmaceutical medical director role, these positions also require research related experience.

Medical Directors are involved more closely with clinical care than upper-level executives.  Their position requires good management skills combined with sound clinical knowledge.  It can be a very rewarding experience to lead a close team of healthcare professionals at the point of care.  Or if you prefer pharmaceuticals or educational, you’ll work with a diverse group of people.

Sources
NonClinicalJobs.com, “Medical/Scientific Director for a CME Company in Newtown, PA”
Forbes.com, “Gilbert Kilman”
Forbes.com, “Framces Fergusson”
Health Cost Services Review Commission, “IRS 990 Compensation Summary of the Maryland Hospital Industry’s Top 5 Paid People Per Hospital
ACPE, “2009 Physician Executive Compensation Survey”

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