D. S. Strosberg1, S. Brathwaite1, S. Prakash1, J. Hazey1, B. Satiani1 1Ohio State University,Columbus, OH, USA
Introduction:
Comparison of compensation between academic versus private practice General Surgeons (GS) and relationship of compensation to career satisfaction is not well known. The objective of this study was to compare trends in compensation between academic versus private practice GS, assess satisfaction of academic GS with their compensation, and compare their reported salary to nationally collected data.
Methods:
Compensation data for academic and private practice GS were obtained from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), respectively. Comparisons of nominal annual compensation data were made between Group A (assistant professor GS versus private practice GS in practice for <7 years), Group B (associate professor GS versus private practice GS in practice for 8 to 17 years), and Group C (professor GS versus private practice GS in practice for >18 years) from 2003 to 2012. A 13 question survey regarding compensation and satisfaction was emailed to GS who completed training at a single academic institution over the past 20 years.
Results:
The AAMC median salary for GS in 2012 was $276,000 for assistant professors (n=686), $340,000 for associate professors (n=359) and $369,000 for full professors (n=380), while the MGMA private practice median salary was $353,425 for 3-7 years of experience (n=113), $373,174 for 8-17 years of experience (n=215), and $355,965 for greater than 17 years of practice (n=244). The difference in compensation over 10 years, with a rising difference in Group A, is depicted in Fig 1. 26 GS completed the survey (45.6% response rate), with 14 GS in academic practice (53.8%) and 12 in private practice (46.1%). The median years of experience was 4 (1.5-17). For respondents, the median salary for academic GS was $275,000 ($200,000- $600,000) compared to $352,500 ($315,000- $700,000) for GS in private practice (p=0.15). 12 academic GS (85.7%) believed they earned a total annual compensation less than GS with an identical length of experience in a private practice setting. 30.7% of academic GS would relinquish their academic career if offered a salary increase of 50% or more.
Conclusion:
Assistant professors in GS report consistently lower total compensation compared to their private practice peers. Although compensation alone is not often the main reason for attrition, increasing gaps between academic and private practice compensation may especially affect younger faculty. Academic leadership should consider optimizing non-financial incentives and narrowing compensation gaps to improve academic surgeon retention.
