Of the nine different geographic areas in the United States, annual median physician compensation was the highest in the North Central region so far in 2011 at roughly $225,000.
Hospital ownership of an orthopedic surgeon‘s practice could impact the physician’s annual compensation. For example, a spine surgeon at a hospital-owned practice averaged $714,088 while a spine surgeon at a practice that is not hospital-owned earned $633,392.
Roughly 76 percent of physician search assignments in 2010-11 offered a signing bonus, up from 46 percent in 2004-05. The average signing bonus was $23,790.
Of physician specialists in the United States, general surgeons are least satisfied with their compensation while dermatologists feel they are most fairly compensated. General surgeons made an average of $368,108 in 2010 while dermatologists earned an average of $451,953.
Retirement benefits have a wide range from physician specialty to physician specialty. Gastroenterologists (hepatology) averaged $42,287 in annual retirement benefits last year; hip and joint orthopedic surgeons averaged $38,388; anesthesiologists averaged $35,163; and radiologists (diagnostic-invasive) averaged $32,120.
Hospitalists had the greatest average annual compensation in the South based on 2010 data. Hospitalists who specialize in internal medicine, the most common hospitalist specialty, made $249,500 in the South compared with $222,771 in the Midwest, $213,756 in the West and $210,865 in the East.
In 2010, hand surgeons on average received $79,400 more than foot and ankle surgeons. Hand surgeons received an average of $572,945 last year, while foot and ankle surgeons received $493,545.
Neurological and cardiovascular physicians were among the highest paid in various surgical specialties for 2010. Neurological physicians made an average salary of $767,627; cardiovascular-pediatric physicians made $762,846; neurological-pediatric physicians made $643,188; and cardiovascular physicians made $560,659.
Six surgical specialties saw an increase in median compensation from 2010 to 2011. Physicians in emergency medicine earned an average of $268,787 in 2010 and $285,910 in 2011, a 6.37 percent increase, the largest of any surgical specialty.
The three medical specialties that experienced the highest median compensation increases from 2010 to 2011 are the following: endocrinologists, who made $233,000, a 6.46 percent increase from 2010; allergy physicians, who made $265,592, a 6.38 percent increase from 2010; and internal medicine hospitalists, who made $229,294, a 6.29 percent increase from 2010.
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