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Job conditions for different specialties


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Hey,

 

I've been doing a lot of searching online and found some conflicting resources about things such as salary, hours, benefits, etc. I know this is a bit premature to be wondering about these things as I am just applying to medical schools in the next year or two, however, I would still like any info you all can give me!

 

I'm mainly looking for a breakdown of a few different specialties. For example, what starting salaries are and what salary you might expect after working 5-10 years. What kind of work week you have (ie hours, weekends, on call, etc) and what kind of benefits packages you get (vacation, dental, etc, vs providing your own in private practice) and how long the residency period is for each.

 

The fields I am interested in are:

 

General Surgery

Thoracic/Cardiovascular Surgery

Urology

Orthopaedic Surgery

Ophthalmology

Otolaryngology

Dermatology

 

I know it's a lot to ask! But any information that I get is greatly appreciated :)

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What's the general range of internal med? Like the average is ~ 297k, but I'm sure interventional cardiologists can probably make like 800k while more office-based specialties probably like < 200k?

 

Only one example but the general internalist I knew in St Thomas - standard practise - was over 300K.

 

Family medicine docs earn more than 200K now if done in a moderately structured way.

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Both of those links look really helpful! Thanks everyone! Only other main thing I'm still looking for is the average overhead for the different specialties, for example, I've heard that ophthalmologits have quite high overhead, but nothing on what percentage of their salary is lost to overhead, etc. So any insight to the overhead costs of the specialties would be awesome :) (I know that this can vary a lot, however, I'm just looking for general numbers right now)

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Both of those links look really helpful! Thanks everyone! Only other main thing I'm still looking for is the average overhead for the different specialties, for example, I've heard that ophthalmologits have quite high overhead, but nothing on what percentage of their salary is lost to overhead, etc. So any insight to the overhead costs of the specialties would be awesome :) (I know that this can vary a lot, however, I'm just looking for general numbers right now)

 

General numbers for overhead:

vary depending upon city and type of work.

 

The guideline is 20-40% of gross salary, but this would level off at a certain point. Moo put up a post a while ago about overhead... It was a good one.

 

I'd say, just guessing that overhead will probably be somewhere in the neighborhood of 100-200k depending upon specialty... That's just a very uneducated guess...

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200K would be extremely high overhead. Maybe for a plastic surgery clinic doing ORs outside of a hospital? Otherwise can't think of anything that high. There may be occasional large capital outlays (radiologist buying a new machine, dermatologist buying a new laser) but 200K per year on an ongoing basis seems quite high.

 

Professional fees (OMA/equivalent, CPSO/equivalent, CMPA, +/- RCPSC or CCFP) are about 3-5 K per year. Office space depends on your needs, maybe 50 K at the high end with a large clinic? And a secretary for 30 K. Those would be most of it. Some might need a nurse, but that would likely be shared or for limited time. 100 K seems about average, but variable among specialties.

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200K would be extremely high overhead. Maybe for a plastic surgery clinic doing ORs outside of a hospital? Otherwise can't think of anything that high. There may be occasional large capital outlays (radiologist buying a new machine, dermatologist buying a new laser) but 200K per year on an ongoing basis seems quite high.

 

Professional fees (OMA/equivalent, CPSO/equivalent, CMPA, +/- RCPSC or CCFP) are about 3-5 K per year. Office space depends on your needs, maybe 50 K at the high end with a large clinic? And a secretary for 30 K. Those would be most of it. Some might need a nurse, but that would likely be shared or for limited time. 100 K seems about average, but variable among specialties.

 

Thanks for the info! Nice to have a lil better of an idea of what it would cost. I'll take a look around for the post that was mentioned as well!

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Any idea for the salary range of a typical Canadian Psychiatrist? Thanks!

 

More than family medicine at least, I am guessing?

 

Depends. Psychiatrists are one of the lowest paid specialties. Don't go into it for the money.

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You'll hear different things from different people. Some are saying that shrinks get paid quite well if you know what you're doing.

 

I'd say the golden rule of thumb is that you'll get paid as much as you're willing to work.

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You can totally get paid more for being a crummy doctor. One can argue that if you're truly money hungry, you're more likely to see more patients in less time and boot them outta the door. Like my mom's specialist who triple books and cancels spontaneously when he/she is overwhelmed---- after people have already taken days off work.

 

The doctor who actually spends a lot of time doing a comprehensive physical and listening to the patient sure isn't making a lot.

 

I've seen psychiatrists who spend like 15 min on a new consult...They're making a lot, but at the expense of patient care.

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