Internists' Salaries Rise; Surgeons' Continue to Fall

Radiologists and anesthesiologists remain among the best paid physicians, but internists received large pay increases in the past year, according to the 2010 LocumTenens.com Physician's Salary Survey.

The survey, conducted this spring, received responses from 1,703 physicians and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNAs).

It found that internists' salaries in 2010 averaged $191,864, a 6.6% increase over the $179,958 average salary in 2009. However, internists' annual salaries remain well below that of subspecialists like radiologists, who reported an average salary of $398,571 in 2010, up 5.1% from the 379,140 average reported in 2009.

The survey also found that anesthesiologists reported an average salary of $362,450 in 2010, up 2% from the $355,264 reported in 2009; psychiatrists' salaries averaged $202,975, up from $201,683 in 2009; surgeons' average salaries fell from $287,520 in 2009, to $284,642 in 2010. Since 2007, surgeons' average salaries have fallen $7,462, or 2.5%, from $292,104 to $284,642, according to the LocumTenens survey.

Certified registered nurse anesthetists also saw their average salaries fall from $178,068 in 2007, to $169,043 in 2009, to $166,833 in 2010, an overall drop in the last four years of $11,235, or 6.3%.

The Alpharetta, GA-based physician recruiting firm also provides salary breakdowns by region, years in practice, and gender. Survey respondents are physicians who practice on a locum tenens basis as well as those with permanent salaries. Respondent demographics included in the reports include region of practice, board certification, and time frame for making next job change.

In a separate survey released last week, the American Medical Group Association found that 76% of all specialties saw an increasein compensation, with the overall weighted average increase of approximately 3.4%. The primary care specialties' (excluding hospitalists) average compensation increase was about 3.8%. Other medical specialties had on average a 2.4% increase, and surgical specialties had a 3.8% average increase.

The Locum Tenens findings are also in line with those issued in mid-July by Dallas-based physician recruiters Merritt Hawkins, which noted that recruiting was down in 2009-10 for the first time in the 17-year history of the survey, even though there is nothing to suggest that demand has abated.

See also:

Physician Compensation Up for 3 in 4 Specialties

Six steps to a successful physician salary negotiation

AUDIO: Physicians: Reimbursement and Retention