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Differences in Lifetime Earning Potential Between Pediatric and Adult Physicians
Eva Catenaccio1, Jonathan M Rochlin2, Harold K Simon3
1Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland eva.catenaccio@gmail.com.
Pediatrics
|July 31, 2021
Summary
Physician compensation shows significant disparities. Adult physicians earn substantially more than pediatric physicians, regardless of training duration. This impacts clinical practice and access to care.
Area of Science:
- Medical Economics
- Physician Compensation Studies
- Academic Medicine
Background:
- Lifetime earning potential varies significantly between medical specialties.
- Pediatric subspecialties often have longer training durations compared to adult medicine counterparts.
- Understanding these financial differences is crucial for physician career choices and healthcare system planning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the lifetime earning potential of academic pediatric versus adult generalists and subspecialists.
- To evaluate the financial impact of potentially shortening training for pediatric subspecialties.
- To identify factors influencing earning potential within academic medical careers.
Main Methods:
- Utilized national physician survey data from 2019-2020.
- Estimated and compared lifetime earning potential using compensation and debt information.
- Modeled the effect of reduced training lengths on earning potential for pediatric subspecialties.
Main Results:
- Adult physicians demonstrated higher lifetime earning potential than pediatric physicians across comparable specialties (average 25% higher, $1.2M more).
- Reduced training length for pediatric subspecialists did not eliminate the earning gap; adult subspecialists still earned 19% more.
- Inpatient, procedure-oriented subspecialties yielded higher earning potential than outpatient, less procedure-oriented ones in both fields.
Conclusions:
- Disparities in physician earning potential are primarily driven by compensation levels, not training length.
- Specialty type (inpatient/procedure-based vs. outpatient/non-procedure-based) significantly influences lifetime earnings.
- Interventions to boost earnings in general pediatrics and less procedure-oriented subspecialties could improve clinical practice and patient access to care.
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