The salaried PM&R physician

The breadth of medical practice for a physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) physician is quite extensive. Not only are practice areas quite different among PM&R physicians, but practice settings, procedures, and salary models also vary significantly. For PM&R residents and fellows who are making career decisions regarding specialization versus general practice and/or in the process of negotiating contracts, salary is a significant influence in their decision of clinical practice. Physician payment models may create inadvertent bias against women, those seeking less than full time clinical employment, and those interested in an academic career. In this review and commentary, we will discuss the more common payment models encountered, with a focus on a fixed salary payment model. We will also discuss our experiences as pediatric and adult PM&R providers in a salaried payment model at a not-for-profit academic institution.