Current trends in practitioner demand and salary
According to the Merritt Hawkins 2019 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives, primary care physicians are extremely in-demand. However, data gathered by Merritt Hawkins, a national healthcare search and conducting firm specializing in the recruitment of practitioners, indicates that there is increasing demand for medical specialists. For example, 78% of Merritt Hawkins’ search assignments tracked in the 2019 Review were for medical specialists (in comparison to primary care physicians) compared to 67% four years ago.
To gather this information, Merritt Hawkins gathered data from a sample consisting of 3,131 permanent physician and advanced practitioner search assignments that the organization and its sister companies participated in recruiting between April 2018 and March 2019.
Additionally, Merritt Hawkins’ data revealed the top 10 specialists currently in highest demand and their average starting salaries:
- Family medicine physicians: $239,000
- Psychiatrists: $273,000
- Nurse practitioners: $124,000
- OB-GYNs: $318,000
- Internists: $264,000
- Radiologists: $387,000
- Hospitalists: $268,000
- Neurologists: $317,000
- Gastroenterologists: $495,000
- Pediatricians: $242,000
Sources: Becker’s ASC Review and Merritt Hawkins