by Joseph Kim, MD, MPH
What are entry-level non-clinical physician job salaries?
Let me clarify what I mean by “entry-level” here: I’m referring to non-clinical jobs that physicians may find if they leave clinical medicine to pursue a non-clinical job in a company (such as a medical communications company, a health IT company, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or a consulting company).
So, let’s look at several examples:
* A primary care physician who’s making $120k/year leaves clinical medicine and begins to work in a a medical education company. How much could he/she make?
* A medical school graduate chooses not to pursue residency. He/she chooses to work in a consumer health company. How much could he/she make?
* An MD/MBA grad completes residency (earning around $50k/year as a senior resident) and finds a corporate consulting job. How much will he/she make?
* An oncologist who has been practicing medicine for 10 years leaves the practice of medicine to work in pharma. How much could he/she make?
Is there an “average” figure for the examples above? Suppose the range is roughly $80k to $250k/year, so the average is $165k/year. Is that accurate? Not quite. Should we be looking at mean, median, or mode?
The reality is that many entry-level jobs will not pay above $150k/year unless you’re a medical specialist. If you lack corporate experience, then you’re in a different category compared to physicians who have extensive corporate work experience.
Some sources will tell you that entry-level job salaries for an “average” physician ranges roughly between $90-130k/year. How do you make an argument that you deserve $130k/yr if a company offers you $90k/yr?
Several key factors impact this salary range. They include:
* Geography. Living costs will greatly influence your salary.
* Budgets. Some companies have much more negotiating “flexibility” around budgets. Others have very rigid budgets.
* Risk. Some managers have a “high risk/high reward” mentality and they may be willing to take a big risk by paying a high salary to acquire the best talent.
* Gender. Even today, men tend to earn higher salaries compared to women. It’s not fair, but it’s what frequently happens.
* Type of industry. Salaries for a “medical director” in industry #1 could vary tremendously compared to industry #2. Some companies simply have deeper pockets and bigger budgets.
* Your negotiation skills.
To ensure that you receive a competitive salary, you need to have very strong negotiating skills. I’ve found that most physicians lack such salary negotiating skills because they haven’t had much experience in this area. If you’re considering a new job, make sure you don’t undersell yourself.
Joseph Kim is a physician-executive who blogs at Non-Clinical Medical Jobs, Careers, and Opportunities.
Submit a guest post and be heard.
Similar Posts:
- Physicians are leaving medicine for alternative careers
- Non-clinical physician jobs frequently asked questions
- CRNA salaries surpass those of primary care doctors
{ 3 comments }
You probably know this already, but there is a company that regularly sends out brochures pitching their meeting which is a whole 2-day seminar on Non-Clinical Careers for Physicians. Maybe I’m imagining it, but the brochure seems thicker lately and the mailings more frequent. I don’t have the details because I threw it away, but I recall it was in Chicago in September because I toyed with the idea of going just to visit my old college town.
Not surprising that physicians lack negotiation skills, I must have missed that lecture in med school. Those of us in primary care have learned to accept less for medical appointments than services provided at the local spa, massage, hair coloring, pedicures etc….
Why do people chose to go into medicine in the first place? Is it really for money or prestige alone? If you look at it this way, one could go work for WallStreet, do us all a favor and leave room for people who truly have a calling for this profession.
I wonder when enough is enough, especially considering that overall, the care we receive in the US is way below the par compared to that of many other countries around the world.
Can we focus on quality for a change?
Comments on this entry are closed.