Posted on 06/08/2008 4:33:55 PM PDT by neverdem
Almost two-thirds of primary care physicians would choose another field if they had their careers to do over, a new survey indicates, while more than 50 percent consider themselves "second class citizens" compared to surgical and diagnostic specialists.
The survey was conducted for Physicians Practice, an award-winning practice-management journal read by more than 275,000 physicians nationwide. Conducting the survey was physician search and consulting firm Merritt, Hawkins & Associates. The annual survey is intended to measure the career satisfaction levels and concerns of primary care doctors, defined as family practitioners, general internists, and pediatricians. The survey suggests that though primary care doctors are both busy and in increasing demand, they are not necessarily satisfied with their place in the medical hierarchy.
"Between declining reimbursement, rising overhead, and loss of autonomy and respect, primary care physicians are feeling battered," notes Pamela Moore, senior editor of Physicians Practice. "That makes it more crucial than ever for them to create the sort of practice they can actually enjoy."
Only about 40 percent of primary care physicians surveyed said they would stay in primary care if they had their medical education to do over again. About 39 percent said they would become surgical or diagnostic specialists, while about 22% said they would not choose medicine as a career.
Over 80 percent of primary care physicians surveyed indicated that they have busy practices, while fewer than 17 percent stated that they are not busy enough. Over 57 percent said they are contacted about job opportunities about 50 times per year by physician recruiters. Both these findings suggest that primary care physicians are in robust demand and that the job market for their services is favorable.
However, about 60 percent of those surveyed felt that the income they derive from their practice is disappointing. About 50 percent of primary care physicians indicated they earn $150,000 or less a year. By contrast, Merritt, Hawkins & Associates' data indicate that cardiologists, radiologists and other medical specialists commonly earn $300,000 or more. Not surprisingly, fewer than 15 percent consider themselves equal partners with surgical and diagnostic specialists, while 85 percent consider themselves either "junior partners" or "second class citizens."
Practice overhead is a concern for many of the primary care physicians surveyed. The majority (62 percent) said overhead in their practices runs at 50 percent of their income or more. This can make a practice difficult to sustain, Moore notes. Almost 40 percent expressed doubt that their practices could support projected overhead over the next five years.
Complete results of the survey are included in the September/October issue of Physicians Practice magazine, and online at http://www.physicianspractice.com.
About Physicians Practice. Physicians Practice provides award-winning practice-management advice to more than 275,000 physicians through partnerships with 60 medical centers throughout the United States. For more than 17 years, doctors have trusted Physicians Practice for expertise on billing, coding, collections, technology, workflow, staffing, compensation, and much more. Physicians Practice is published by CMP Healthcare Media, LLC, a division of United Business Media.
About Merritt, Hawkins & Associates. Merritt, Hawkins & Associates is a leading physician search and consulting firm. Based in Irving, Texas it is a division of AMN Healthcare (NYSE: AHS), the largest health care staffing firm in the United States.
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Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/81499.php
Main News Category: Primary Care / General Practice
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Heh heh!
Exactly right. When I was in med school in the early ‘90s there was a huge push to encourage primary care and discourage subspecialty training.
re: “We’ve got a couple dozen doctors in our town and everyone of them are greedy little SOB’s”
You’ve got a couple dozen doctors in your town, and you know every one of them, and have come to the conclusion that every one of them is a greedy little SOB?
Fascinating.
On a possibly unrelated topic, there’s a saying that if more than three people in one’s life are a**holes, then maybe the problem is one’s own attitude. Perhaps a perception that every single doctor in ones town is “a greedy little SOB” might form a corollary to that saying.
If they bail, pay (=respect) goes up and more move into the job.
Actually, its the AMA. Keep the number of Doctors low, so those that are make big money.
Medicare and insurance reimbursements to primary care physicians are pitiful. On the other hand, my dermatologist gets a fistful of cash every time he squirts freezing liquid on a skin spot.
True in this town. Sorry it bothers you.
Most dental care is not covered by insurance or medicare. Dentists do as they wish and they regulate the number of graduates so that the supply-demand balance favors them.
The medical system isn't working - not for liberals, not for conservatives, not for doctors, not for patients . If it weren't for insurance companies, no one would win in the medical system. ( And doctors and patients together can't stand the insurance companies... but at least they love themselves... which is really sick.)
Lawyers pit patients against their doctors and those doctors against their paranoia of being sued - and insurance companies against them all. Yep, the lawyers might be the worst of all.
In all these expensive complex dysfunctional systems - where's medical care?
It's “rule based”.
Some specialties will remain here but much of it can be outsourced to U.S. educated folks in other countries.
I am somewhat surprised at some of what I have read on this thread. Understand, no one, almost without exception, decides to be a Physician because of greed, avarice or a healthy bank account.
There are 4 years of college (pre-med) and then 4 years of Med School. You then go on to make around 40-50k a year in a residency for at least three more years where you are little more than an indentured servant, with little or no life. Although you might only be in the residency for 3 years, before you leave, you will have worked enough hours for 6 years.
You enter medicine, because you want to help sick people and have a compassion for them and their suffering. It doesn’t have a damn thing to do with money because, quite frankly, there is no amount of money worth being exposed to the obscenity of human death and suffering and feeling powerless sometimes to help. There is no amount of money worth having very little life of your own. Money, what money? A fairly seasoned private plumber can equal or better a GP’s salary. There are always exceptions, but Physicians are slowly going the way of the Physician in the former USSR, right here in America. Anyone recall how Russian doctors would come here and work as dishwashers in America?
Physicians do the best they can with what they have, within the system they have to work. Just like you, they must make a living and they certainly do not deserve some of the demonization I have seen on this thread.
I just left primary care (internal medicine) to become a hospitalist. I can tell you primary care is no longer a sustainable lifestyle. I make about 1/4 of what my brother, an anesthesiologist, makes, and he is 10 years behind me in practice.
If Hilarycare becomes a reality, I plan to quit and open a quilt shop. Making any less than I already do, and being told what to do by the government would be an intolerable situation. Otherwise, I plan to hang in another 10 years or so until retirement (somewhat early)
We are not the only ones. Even in the hospitalist groups I see lot more foreign medical grads, and most of us are planning on retiring well before age 65
actually,outpatient internal medicine is disappearing. A good internist is highly in demand and difficult to hire. In my last job I worked for a large multispecialty group, and we had to hire FP’s to fill internal medicine slots, as there were not any internists to interview, let alone hire. Statistics show of the graduates in internal medicine programs, about 2/3 go on to subspecialty training, and 1/3 become hospitalists. Do the math on how many are going into primary care.
In Florida where my parents live, a good portion of their friends have no primary care physician and have to get there care from urgent care clinics. Expect this to get worse.
If you think doctors are poor little rich boys, come work with me for a day (or night, or holiday, or weekend, I work them all) I work long hard hours for less pay per hour than your plumber or handyman. And I did not start earning these “big bucks” until 7 years after graduating from college. All that time the student loans were accrueing interest and I had to pay for a place to live, etc...
I make a comfortable living, but rich??? Hardly
Move to Canada if you don’t like our doctors. Jealosy makes you look bad.
When I said that medical schools were pushing primary care and discouraging specialty training, it seems that internal medicine was also considered "specializing" and what was being pushed was FP.
It was almost cult-like. Several years ago, I was asked to give a talk to a group of about 40 medical students that were touring our hospital about what being a private practice specialist was like. When I asked what "everybody wanted to be when they grew up", every one of them was going into FP. Every last one.
Now that OB has become too litigious to mess with and FP's are leaving inpatient care to hospitalists, many of the FP's have become glorified PA's. .... and are being paid accordingly.
In Florida where my parents live, a good portion of their friends have no primary care physician and have to get there care from urgent care clinics.
Heck, I don't have a primary care physician any more. My last two primary care physician quit their primary care practices (they were both in their mid-50's). I haven't bothered to get a new one. I guess it's time for me to order up some yearly blood work on myself.
You and me both. My primary care physician (internist) is retiring this year. Guess I’ll be taking care of myself as well!
Great Britain Morale terrible among doctors (poll of NHS Docs69% wouldn't recommend MD career)
In addition to the article, there are a number of great posts and links there, some provided by Daffynition
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