New Survey Suggests Young Physicians Not Happy Despite Salary Increases

Sarasota, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) – Younger physicians are earning more but are less likely to choose medicine again, according to the recent Young Physician Compensation Report from Medscape. Medscape’s compensation salary was released from October 5^th of last year through January 19^th of this year. Around 15 percent of over 13,000 physicians that responded to the annual survey were under the age of 40.

The average annual physician salary overall was $339K. When broken out by specialty, primary care earned an average of $260K and specialists earned an average of $368K.

While younger physicians usually earn around 15 percent less, according to the survey the under 40 category increased from an average of $272K in 2020 to $293K in 2021. For young specialists, the average was $324K, and for young primary care physicians the average was $214K. The West North Central region, including Minnesota and Missouri, saw the highest regional rise in salary for young physicians, going from $261K to $314K. The East Central region however had the most states with largest increases, containing 4 out of 10 top earning states with an average salary rising from $308K in 2020 to $275K in 2021.

Physicians aged 28 to 34 earn around 16 percent less than their slightly older peers in the 35 to 39 age category. Overall, the average annual salary for physicians aged 28 to 34 was $260K, compared to $311K for those aged 35 to 39. For specialists however, the gap is slightly smaller at 13 percent with an average of $297K per year compared to $337K per year for the older age bracket.

Among the younger physician group, there were significantly more female physicians than in the older age group. For those physicians over the age of 40, only 34 percent were women compared to 46 percent in the under age 40 group. While the increase is encouraging, female physicians are still making around 37 percent less than their male peers. In the under age 40 category, men earned an average of $337K per year, compared to only $246K per year for women.

Over the age of 40, more female physicians than males are seeking promotions, as 34 percent of women and only 28 percent of men were pursuing a promotion. Under the age of 40, 53 percent of female physicians and 59 percent of male physicians were seeking promotions.

When asked about the most challenging part of the job, 22 percent stated dealing with difficult patients was their biggest complaint. Nineteen percent cited long working hours, and 18 percent cited burdensome rules and regulations. Even with an increase in salary, it seems attitudes about their careers however have slightly deteriorated, as only 68 percent of young physicians  stated they would choose medicine again as their career, compared to 76 percent in the previous survey. Older physicians however appeared somewhat more content at 74 percent. Orthopedics topped the chart as the most satisfied specialty as 98 percent stated they would choose the same career.

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