As of 2021, gastroenterologist salary was considered 7th on the list of highest paid medical specialties according to Medscape data. The fact that the salary for this specialty is above the average for doctors may be one of the reasons for interest in this field. These doctors focus on diseases and disorders within the organs of the digestive tract. If I worked as this type of doctor, I would diagnose and treat problems in a patient's digestive system.
In this specialty area, you can help people with any type of disease and digestive disorder as a general gastroenterologist. Or it can become more specialized. For example, some become hepatologists and only focus on specific digestive organs, while others work in a laboratory, focus on irritable bowel disease, or specialize by skill or service.
Gastroenterologists receive extensive training, so it makes sense to compensate them highly for the position. To become one, you start with a four-year bachelor's degree and continue through four years of medical school. After that, he goes through a three-year residency program in internal medicine, becomes board certified, and then completes a three-year training program in gastroenterology. At this point, you will be able to take an exam to become certified in this subspecialty.
Interested in other paths in Internal Medicine? read ourInternal Medicine Salary Reporthere!
After all that training, how much could you expect to earn in this position? This article covers the average gastroenterologist salary you could expect working in this profession. You'll see how a variety of factors can affect salary, giving you the opportunity to earn more money. We cover ways to earn the most money possible through gastroenterology base salary, bonuses, and other factors.
Average Gastroenterologist Salary
The median national salary for a gastroenterologist is $539,961, according to the 2021 Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) Compensation and Production Report. The median salary is the point at which 50% of this type of professionals earn less and the other 50% earn more. The report shows that full salary ranges from $339,124 at the 10th percentile to $884,256 at the 90th percentile. These numbers reflect total compensation.
Salary information varies depending on the source and factors such as the data used and the date it was collected.Salario.comlists $396,109 as the median wage for this occupation in the US as of April 2022, with a range of $278,183 to $532,933. These amounts given are for salary only. When bonuses and benefits are added, Salary.com lists the median total compensation at $531,906.
ZipRecruiterlists the national average as $344,381, whilefact.comsays the median base salary is $208,835.pay scalesays the median base salary is $356,680.medscapeset the salary for gastroenterologists at $406,000 in 2021. Their data indicated that the salary for this profession increased steadily over time, rising from $380,000 in 2015-16 to $419,000 in 2019-20.
Factors Affecting Gastroenterologist Salary
Salary varies due to many factors. This knowledge can prove to your advantage in finding ways to increase your salary. These factors that affect salary create the wide range of salaries listed and the discrepancies between various sources. These are the main factors that affect the salary of the gastroenterologist:
Region
Living in different parts of the country can change your gastroenterology salary. These are the average salaries by region, according to data from MGMA:
- US East: $501,718
- West US: $519,791
- US South: $554,325
- US Midwest: $582,789
Related:10 Best States to Practice Medicine
Then you can consider the size of the area where you practice as a doctor, as this makes a difference in salary. It may surprise you to learn that he earns the lowest salary in large metropolitan areas of more than one million people, with a median salary of $515,378. The next highest is a metropolitan area of 250,000 to one million people, with a salary of $561,892. The salary increases to $585,117 in metropolitan areas of less than 250,000 people. Finally, you can expect the highest salary for this profession in non-metropolitan areas of 20,000 or more, with a salary of $636,079.
State by state, ZipRecruiter lists the states that pay the most for this occupation, which pay above the national average and are as follows:
- New York: $388,186
- New Hampshire: $376,305
- Vermont: $355,710
- Wyoming: $346,591
- Maine: $345,915
- Massachusetts: $345,397
Moving to another state? Take a look at ourState Medical Licensing Library.
practice type
Gastroenterologists make the most money when they work in single-specialty practices, with a median salary of $583,410, according to MGMA data. Compare this to the salary in multispecialty practices, which is $520,700 for this profession.
Another factor is the majority owner of the practice. Gastroenterology salary is lowest at physician-owned practices, $532,263. Increases in hospital owned practices/IDS to $545,990. There is only a slight increase in other majority owner practices to $546,093.
According to Medscape, employed and self-employed gastroenterologists earn a comparable amount, which is $405,000 for employees and $408,000 for the self-employed. However, this information does not take into account the potential for bonuses or benefits, so it is worth comparing what an employer has to offer in these areas with what a freelancer offers.
Fileour interview with gastroenterologist, Dr. Khadija Chaudrey
Level of Experience
It's natural to earn less money when you're just starting out in your profession, and then earn more as you gain years of experience and rise through the ranks within your field. During the fellowship, while working to become a gastroenterologist, he earns an average of $63,600 in total compensation, according tostudent loan planner.
After that, Payscale notes that a beginning doctor in this specialty earns a median total compensation of $311,159, which is 13% less than the median. At the end of her career, gastroenterologists earn 14% more than average.
Bonuses and Benefits
You can't just look at a gastroenterologist's salary when you want to increase your income. A significant amount of money can be earned through bonuses and benefits for a Gastroenterologist, so it is important to consider these amounts in addition to a base salary.
Salary.com shows that this type of doctor earns a median of $22,539 per year as a bonus. In addition, the value of the benefits adds up to $113,258. Adding the value of benefits and bonuses to the base salary brings the annual income from $396,109 to $531,906, which is a considerable increase.
Medscape data gives even higher amounts as bonuses for this occupation. Their report notes that these physicians earn an average of $60,000 in incentive bonuses and that they tend to earn bonuses that are 15% of their total salaries. Payscale says bonuses for a gastroenterologist can range from $10,000 to $77,000, and profit-sharing can go as high as $45,000. These are added to base salary to increase total compensation.
Salary by subspecialties
You can also consider how a subspecialty might affect your salary. One common type is the hepatologist, who focuses on the liver, pancreas, and gallbladder in particular, rather than all organs of the digestive tract. This specialty earns less than the average gastroenterologist salary, with a national average of $297,999 per year, according toZipRecruiter.
Gastroenterologists may focus on various skills, which can affect salary. The salary scale shows that the median salary in gastroenterology is $345,615, while GI lab is $375,000, internal medicine is $341,570, diagnostic and treatment planning is $350,000, and medicine/surgery is $358,430.
Average debt per loan for gastroenterology physicians
the medianstudent loan debtfor doctors it's $200,000, according to Student Loan Planner. This represents the university and medical school, so it is similar to any type of doctor. The total cost of payment is listed between $365,000 and $440,000.
One way to maximize your salary as a gastroenterologist is to reduce the burden of your student loans. You can achieve this goal by getting lower interest on your loan, which lowers your total cost to repay the loan. You'll then be able to keep more of your salary that would otherwise have gone toward paying off school loans. We offer special discounts forstudent loan refinancing, which you can compare to your current rates to see if you can save. You can also considerstudent loan forgiveness programs.
Related:How Moving Can Help Doctors Pay Off Student Loans
Ways to Increase Your Gastroenterologist's Salary
You can see from the information above that changing your workplace could bring you more income. For gastroenterologists, in general, one could expect to earn more money working in the Midwest. However, some states in the Northeast have the highest revenues when looking at the numbers state by state rather than by region. If you currently work in a lower-wage part of the country, you might consider moving. Another way to potentially move up is to move from a multi-specialty practice to a single-specialty practice.
How else can you increase your salary? If possible, you could see more patients. This may include accepting more patients into your practice or adding shifts at an additional hospital. Medscape data shows that this specialty spends 15.2 hours a week on administrative work, so if that number can be reduced, more patients could be seen to increase revenue. Consider negotiating your duties, including administrative work, when you sign your contract. This allows you to free up more time for additional income or a better work-life balance.
Speaking of negotiating, this is one of the best ways to turn around your gastroenterology salary. By negotiating your contract to begin with, you have the potential to increase your income at the start of a new job and beyond. You should also renegotiate as needed, such as if you gain skills or after you gain a certain level of experience.
Also, you cannegotiate a signing bonusor a good production bonus structure. Once you have good incentive bonus potential, try to hit that potential as much as possible. Medscape shows that physicians in this specialty tend to earn 73% of their potential incentive bonus. The more you follow your potential bonus guidelines, the more you can earn over a year. Also, be sure to negotiate a good benefits package that fairly increases your total compensation.
Seek support to maximize your earning potential
Once you get started in this profession, all of your training and knowledge will be in gastroenterology and the medical field. You may not be as strong in contract negotiations as this is not your specialty in life. That doesn't mean you should leave money on the table. Instead, getting expert assistance with contract review and negotiation gives you the best of both worlds. You can focus on your own specialty while working with experts to get you the best contract and promote the highest gastroenterologist salary possible for you.
Our team is ready tocheck your contract, so please contact us whenever you start a new job or are in a position to renegotiate your contract. We can help you create a contract that maximizes your earning potential. read ourDefinitive Guide to Medical Contract Reviewto discover everything you need to know. This is the best way to ensure that your compensation is fair, that your job responsibilities and duties are what you expect them to be, and that theconditions of your departurethe termination are clearly indicated.
Finally, it is beneficial to havedisability insuranceas a safety net. This type of insurance helps protect your gastroenterologist salary in the event of an illness or injury that prevents you from doing your job. Disability insurance ensures that you will continue to receive most of your hard-earned wages.
Disability insuranceit's not just for older doctors or gastroenterologists who already have current medical conditions. A disability can occur at any time in life. Therefore, it is vital toyounger doctorsthat they can earn millions of dollars in the future throughout their careers.
Without disability insurance, you could find yourself in a position where you earn no income or work in a position that pays much less than a job like a gastroenterologist.
For more information on disability insurance and how to choose the right provider,contacte a Physicians Thrive ahora.
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