2001-2002 SAEM emergency medicine faculty salary and benefits survey

The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) commissioned an emergency medicine (EM) faculty salary and benefits survey for all 2001 residency review committee (RRC)-EM-accredited programs using the SAEM fifth-generation survey instrument. Responses were collected by SAEM and blinded from the investigators. Data represent compensation paid for the 2001-02 academic year. Seventy-six of 124 (61%) accredited programs responded, yielding usable data on 1,355 full-time faculty representing all four Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) regions.

Blinded program and individual faculty data were entered into a customized version of Filemaker Pro, a relational database program with a built-in statistical package. Salary data were sorted by criteria such as program region, faculty title, American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) certification, academic rank, years postresidency, program size, and whether data were reported to the AAMC. Demographic data were analyzed with regard to numerous criteria, including department staffing levels, emergency department (ED) volumes, ED length of stay, department income sources, salary incentive components, research funding, and specific type and value of fringe benefits offered. Data were compared with those from previous SAEM studies.

Mean salaries were reported as follows: all faculty, $180,913; first-year faculty, $147,746; programs reporting data to the AAMC, $174,354; programs not reporting data to the AAMC, $191,397. Mean salaries as reported by AAMC region: northeast, $178,593; south, $176,314; midwest, $200,095; west, $166,779. Full-time emergency medicine residency program faculty work an average of 1,129 clinical hours per year.

Reported salaries for full-time EM residency faculty have risen approximately 8.7% since the last survey. Up to approximately 1,200 clinical hours worked per year, salary varies inversely with clinical hours worked. Total per-faculty patient contact time (overall workload) has grown approximately 13% since the last survey. Patient wait times have increased approximately 27% since the last survey. Significant regional differences in salaries have been present in all five SAEM surveys. Emergency medicine residency faculty continue to work at the upper extremes of patient encounters per physician, patient acuity levels, and department lengths of stay.