Gen PM&R vs. Pain Med salary

[runfar]

I’ve noticed that there is quite a difference in average salary when comparing pmr (mid $200’s) with pain medicine (near $400’s).

• What is the pain guys doing to earn that that a physiatrist isn’t?
• Is it just that when these salary surveys are done the pmr docs doing pain submit there salaries under “pain management”?
• I guess my real question is, if someone is doing 20 flouro’s a weak, 10-15 EMG’s a weak and seeing msk patients in clinic (something I would consider general physiatry) would one be closer to the 250’s or 400’s??

Thanks for your input.

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[bronx43]

I’ve noticed that there is quite a difference in average salary when comparing pmr (mid $200’s) with pain medicine (near $400’s).

• What is the pain guys doing to earn that that a physiatrist isn’t?
• Is it just that when these salary surveys are done the pmr docs doing pain submit there salaries under “pain management”?
• I guess my real question is, if someone is doing 20 flouro’s a weak, 10-15 EMG’s a weak and seeing msk patients in clinic (something I would consider general physiatry) would one be closer to the 250’s or 400’s??

Thanks for your input.

Why would someone doing fluoros, EMGs, and general physiatry be considered doing pain medicine?

 

[runfar]

In these parts many of the pm&r docs have a typical week that I describe and have "pain" somewhere in their practice title.

 

[SSdoc33]

you cant generalize salaries like that. in most big cities, a "general physiatrist" (however you choose to define it) would most likely make less than 250. a pain doc significantly less. when you get out to fly-over country, those numbers change.

 

[Llenroc]

It's not that there's some folks doing "general" and others doing "pain". Mostly, it's a spectrum.

In fact I'd say it's a spectrum ranging from inpatient to "general" outpatient to pain medicine. That's what I've seen typically. Few people are purely doing one, especially in the private practice.

If you're at the right end of that spectrum and you're doing just pain, and you've got other people sending you all the referrals, doing all the work up, doing all the physical exams, interpreting all the EMG's and MRI's, doing to the trials of therapy, and all you do is go from room to room to room injecting people then yes I can imagine that must be quite lucrative.

 

[PMR 4 MSK]

Currently, procedural medicine pays more than cerebral, diagnostic pays more than procedural, and surgery pays the most.

The more you do of the latter stuff and the less of the former, the more you generate.

What you actually get paid may or may not have anything to do with that. That depends on how you are set-up to get paid, self-employed vs emplyed, overhead, etc.