A new compensation reports shows that cardiologists are the second-highest-paid physicians earning approximately $410,000 annually. However, fewer than half of them believe they are paid fairly.
Satisfaction with compensation among cardiologists varied by gender and by self-employment. 61 percent of employed male cardiologists and 38 percent of the male self-employed cardiologists reported fair compensation. 74 percent of employed female cardiologists and 25 percent of self-employed female cardiologists were satisfied.
In terms of bureaucratic tasks, paperwork was considered to be the biggest one. 55 percent of the self-employed cardiologists and 65 percent of the employed one spend at least 10 hours per week on paperwork and administrative tasks. 19 percent of employed and 8 percent of self-employed cardiologists spent more than 20 hours per week on such tasks.
50 percent of cardiologists reported symptoms of burnout as compared to 55 percent of those in critical care, urology and emergency medicine and 40 percent in mental health.
Orthopaedics ranked the highest in pay, making an average of $443,000 annually. Compensation in cardiology increased by 8 percent but the highest increases were seen in internal medicine and rheumatology. Compensation declined for pulmonologists and allergists. Highest pay increases were found in the Northwestern states as compared to the Southwestern states.
In addition, those working in healthcare organisations earned $454,000 and those working in office-based single-specialty groups earned $449,000. Those working outpatient clinics made around $190,000.
When asked if they would make the same career choice again, few cardiologists said yes. The same question resulted in a yes from 75 percent of cardiologists five years ago but in this new study, the number declined to 57 percent. Also, this year male cardiologists earned $81,000 more than female cardiologists but this gender inequality was found among physicians overall. Female cardiologists in an office-based setting spent much more time with patients than in medicine overall.
Source: Medscape
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
