Over the course of their lifetime, specialist physicians earn roughly $2.8 million more, on average, than primary care physicians, according to a study from the University of California Davis Health System in Sacramento.
For the study, which was published in the journal Medical Care, UC Davis researchers investigated data from the 2004-2005 Community Tracking Study, which is a national evaluation of physician demographic, geographic and market trends. In total, lifetime salaries and incomes were evaluated for more than 6,000 physicians across 41 specialties. The data were adjusted to account for age, sex, race, board certification and other factors that could affect earnings.
Researchers found that when broken down into general categories, primary care and specialist, primary care physicians earned roughly $2.8 million less. When divided into four categories — surgery, internal medicine and pediatric subspecialties, all other medical specialties and primary care — primary care physicians earned roughly $761,000 to $1.59 million less than the other specialties over their lifetime:
• Surgery: $4.59 million lifetime earnings
• Internal medicine subspecialties and pediatric subspecialties: $4.1 million lifetime earnings
• All other medical specialties: $3.76 million lifetime earnings
• Primary care (geriatrics, family practice, general internal medicine, etc.): $3 million lifetime earnings
"The need for primary-care providers is greater than ever before and expected to grow as millions more Americans become insured under the Affordable Care Act," said J. Paul Leigh, lead author of the study, in the news release. "Without a better payment structure, there will be extraordinary demands on an already scarce resource."
For the study, which was published in the journal Medical Care, UC Davis researchers investigated data from the 2004-2005 Community Tracking Study, which is a national evaluation of physician demographic, geographic and market trends. In total, lifetime salaries and incomes were evaluated for more than 6,000 physicians across 41 specialties. The data were adjusted to account for age, sex, race, board certification and other factors that could affect earnings.Researchers found that when broken down into general categories, primary care and specialist, primary care physicians earned roughly $2.8 million less. When divided into four categories — surgery, internal medicine and pediatric subspecialties, all other medical specialties and primary care — primary care physicians earned roughly $761,000 to $1.59 million less than the other specialties over their lifetime:
• Surgery: $4.59 million lifetime earnings
• Internal medicine subspecialties and pediatric subspecialties: $4.1 million lifetime earnings
• All other medical specialties: $3.76 million lifetime earnings
• Primary care (geriatrics, family practice, general internal medicine, etc.): $3 million lifetime earnings
"The need for primary-care providers is greater than ever before and expected to grow as millions more Americans become insured under the Affordable Care Act," said J. Paul Leigh, lead author of the study, in the news release. "Without a better payment structure, there will be extraordinary demands on an already scarce resource."
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