Physician satisfaction is widespread, but raises and student loan help are hard to come by, survey says
Survey was conducted in June by PracticeMatch, received input from 1,959 physicians.
Physicians are experiencing widespread job satisfaction, but not as many raises as they might like. That's according to data from physician staffing and job match firm PracticeMatch. Their 2017 Physician Compensation Survey shows.
The survey was conducted in June and received input from 1,959 physicians. Responses showed 40.5 percent expressing satisfaction with their job, and 34.5 percent saying they are very satisfied. Dermatologists and psychiatrists were the most satisfied by specialty, the firm said. Only 9.7 percent said they were very dissatisfied and 2.1 percent voiced extreme dissatisfaction.
When it came to income satisfaction, results were somewhat similar. Data showed 45 percent were satisfied with their income, and almost 21 percent were very satisfied. However, and almost equally large chunk, 19.4 percent, said they were very unsatisfied and 5.1 percent expressed extreme dissatisfaction.
However, for almost 40 percent income remained flat from 2015 to 2016 and 17 percent got only a small raise of between one and three percent. It will likely not come as a big surprise that Cardiologists are the highest paid specialty physicians, with an average annual salary plus bonus figure of $364,169. Urologists came in second with $357, 398 and dermatologists with $325,667.
Cardiologists also had the highest average signing bonuses at $26,536, with 33 percent of cardiologists scoring them in their current role, the second highest category behind hospitalists. Urologists came in third at 33 percent, PriceMatch said.
[Also: Population health, workforce salary management key hospital cost control strategies, CFOs say]
The medical profession is not without its speed bumps though. Survey results showed that only nine percent of physicians received student loan assistance, and almost 30 percent have an outstanding student loan balance.
St. Louis-based PracticeMatch provides practicing physician, resident, fellow, and advanced practitioner data services to in-house physician staffing professionals. They also provide medical professionals with physician employment opportunities and career resources.
Twitter: @BethJSanborn
