MGMA: 2008 saw higher starting MD salaries

These days the talk about specialists losing income to primary care under the Obama administration is gaining traction. The CMO of the hospital system where I work told us : "Specialists had their good days, they should thank god for their boom times and move on to smaller pay checks - its's inevitable".

But as of last year, specialists continue to ride the higher Y-axis slots of income increase graphs....a survey of salary offers for 3250 residents freshly minted off their programs by MGMA ( Medical Group Management Association) last year shows that specialist salaries saw increases way more than Primary care did. Here are the specialties with the biggest jumps:

Neurology: upto $230,000 –- up 15%
Non-interventional cardiology: Upto $400,000 – up 14.29%
Anesthesiology: upto $312,500 – up 13.64%
Emergency medicine: Upto $215,040 – up 12%

Surprisingly, Internal Medicine saw a 10% increase in average starting offers.

(A big chunk of Internal Medicine trainined residents now opt for Hospitalist positions with starting annual salaries from $180,000 to $225,000 and a working time of 6 months a year and no 'calls' like General internal medicine.)

As usual, like most other previous MD salary surveys I have posted before, the highest paid specialties were procedure-heavy ones like Neurosurgery, radiology, thoracic surgery, cardiology, orthopedics, while family medicine, infectious disease, geriatrics, pediatrics stayed at the lowest rungs - Pediatrics, in particular, manages to stay lowest on any salary survey !

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