A recent article in Medscape looked at Family Physicians’ compensation levels. It is a very interesting piece and a nice summary of our specialty in general. Let me give you some of the highlights:

• Family physicians again ranked near the bottom in average earnings..
• Only pediatricians earned less..
• Only 10% of family physicians in the survey said that “making good money at a job I like” was the most rewarding aspect of the job. The top two answers by far were “gratitude/relationships with patients” (chosen by 34%) and “knowing I’m making the world a better place” (27%).
• more than one third of family physicians (36%) reported a decline in compensation in this year’s survey
• Male family physicians continue to be paid much more than their female colleagues, this year 29% more, widening the gap from 26% last year. 
• Most family physicians (83%) who incurred financial losses this year said they expect that income will return to normal within 3 years
• The survey also ranked specialties by the amount of time physicians spent on paperwork and administrative tasks, including participation in professional organizations and clinical reading. Family physicians fell squarely in the middle, with 17 hours per week spent on such tasks. 
• But, like most physicians, family physicians are once more working normal hours. They average 49 hours per week, which is slightly more than before the pandemic.
• However, close to one third of family physicians said they would stop treating at least some patients they already have and will not take new ones or haven’t decided yet.

So, how can you summarize this? Well, if you add hours worked plus admin tasks together then you have 66 hours a week to be the second-lowest paid specialty. DPC cannot guarantee you more money, though a filled practice did make me more money than the average as stated in the article. But here is the best part: I had tons of tax deductions and retirement benefit options open to me that I didn’t have while being employed! (I mention the Safe Harbor 401K in my book). What money you do make goes a lot farther.

What about the other stuff? Well, DPC docs didn’t lose money during the pandemic. Most of us gained patients because we were doing a membership model and already had telemedicine in place. The industrialized family docs need 3 more years to get that back.

We don’t have 17 hours of admin tasks. Yes, running a business does take some time but not 17 hours a week.

Female docs can make more or less than their male counterparts in DPC depending on how much they charge and how many patients they want to have in their panel. It’s simple math.

Lastly, the top answer of “gratitude/relationships with patients” is what DPC is in a nutshell.

I have been doing family medicine for three decades. I am now retired from clinical medicine(sort of). I have heard the new initiatives and fancy terms being thrown around by the leaders in our specialty for years. Nothing in the insurance model ever changed.

I’m sorry. I lied. It did change. It got worse.

You want freedom? Better money? Better relationships with your patients? Less clerical work? More fun on the job? Then LEAVE the system. Become a Direct Primary Care doctor. You can thank me later.