Infectious Diseases Physicians: Improving and Protecting the Public's Health: Why Equitable Compensation Is Critical.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Economics

Background:

• Infectious diseases (ID) physicians are essential for public health initiatives like infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship.
• Current compensation structures for ID physicians do not reflect the value of their contributions to population health.
• Undercompensation poses a significant threat to the future ID workforce by deterring medical students and residents.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze compensation data for ID physicians in public health roles.
• To compare the value of ID physician contributions with their compensation.
• To propose policy recommendations to rectify pay disparities between cognitive and procedural specialties.

Main Methods:

• Examination of compensation data for infectious diseases physicians.
• Analysis of the value of ID physician work in population and public health settings.
• Review of existing pay structures comparing cognitive and procedural specialties.

Main Results:

• Significant undercompensation of ID physicians compared to their public health value.
• Pay disparities exist between cognitive specialties like ID and procedural specialties.
• Lack of adequate compensation hinders recruitment into the ID field.

Conclusions:

• Urgent policy changes are needed to address the undercompensation of ID physicians.
• Reforming payment models can help attract and retain talent in infectious diseases.
• ID physicians must advocate for their value to policymakers and trainees.