How Do Physicians Gauge the State of Their Personal Finances?
As of December 2011, a Gallup poll reported that 52.5% of Americans considered themselves to be thriving, 43.7% were struggling, and 3.7% were suffering.[5] Our Medscape survey indicates that many physicians also perceive themselves as having financial difficulties. Over 38.8% of the physicians in active practice who responded said that they had no or minimal savings for their age and stage. Only 12.8% of these physicians believe their savings to be more than adequate. Such responses could reflect the more difficult economic climate for the younger generation of physicians. Of note, well over 80% of physicians in our survey who are semi- or completely retired believe that they have adequate or more than adequate savings for their stage in life, but they comprise only 15% of all who responded.
When looking by groups at the percentage of physicians having no savings and unmanageable debt, it was not surprising to find more generalists in the top 5 (family physicians 8.6%, general surgeons 7.4%, pediatricians 7.1%, and intensivists 6.8%). The specialty with the most physicians who reported unmanageable debt, however, was plastic surgery at 9.3% (see Table 1).
Table 1. Physicians and Financial Status
| Specialty | Have more than adequate savings, manageable or no debt |
Have adequate savings, manageable or no debt |
Have minimal savings, manageable or no debt |
Have no savings and unmanageable debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anesthesiology | 15.1% | 51.0% | 23.3% | 3.8% |
| Cardiology | 16.8% | 48.0% | 24.3% | 4.7% |
| Critical Care | 12.5% | 42.7% | 32.8% | 6.8% |
| Dermatology | 17.5% | 49.4% | 20.5% | 4.3% |
| Diabetes & Endocrinology | 12.6% | 45.9% | 28.5% | 6.3% |
| Emergency Medicine | 13.6% | 49.2% | 25.9% | 6.3% |
| Family Medicine | 10.3% | 43.5% | 32.3% | 8.6% |
| Gastroenterology | 18.1% | 46.9% | 26.0% | 3.8% |
| General Surgery | 13.6% | 44.9% | 27.7% | 7.4% |
| HIV/ID | 14.6% | 49.4% | 23.8% | 3.3% |
| Internal Medicine | 12.5% | 42.3% | 32.9% | 6.3% |
| Nephrology | 12.9% | 50.5% | 24.3% | 4.7% |
| Neurology | 12.0% | 45.2% | 29.8% | 5.9% |
| Ob/Gyn & Women's Health | 15.2% | 46.0% | 27.3% | 6.4% |
| Oncology | 15.7% | 51.5% | 21.5% | 3.9% |
| Ophthalmology | 17.5% | 48.7% | 22.1% | 5.5% |
| Orthopaedics | 20.8% | 46.0% | 19.9% | 6.1% |
| Other (please specify) | 12.6% | 47.1% | 27.7% | 6.5% |
| Pathology | 19.1% | 48.1% | 21.1% | 5.3% |
| Pediatrics | 11.9% | 47.2% | 28.3% | 7.1% |
| Plastic Surgery | 11.4% | 40.9% | 32.0% | 9.3% |
| Psychiatry & Mental Health | 13.3% | 45.4% | 29.6% | 4.5% |
| Pulmonary Medicine | 15.5% | 50.3% | 24.4% | 2.4% |
| Radiology | 21.0% | 50.3% | 16.6% | 4.4% |
| Rheumatology | 15.0% | 49.1% | 24.8% | 3.3% |
| Urology | 19.1% | 50.1% | 20.0% | 5.5% |
Medscape Internal Medicine © 2012
WebMD, LLC
Cite this: Carol Peckham. Profiles in Happiness: Which Physicians Enjoy Life Most? - Medscape - Mar 22, 2012.
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