What is the salary of a Primary Care physician?
LocumTenens.com conducted its Annual Compensation and Employment Survey in August of 2019. Survey respondents represent Primary Care physicians who practice on a locum tenens basis as well as those with permanent salaries. Primary Care physicians represent Internal Medicine, Family Practice and Pediatrics. Compensation results consist of only full-time, permanent employees and consider only annual salary and bonuses.
Average Primary Care physician salary in 2018
$245,146
Historical salary data
How does this year's salary compare to other years?
The Primary Care salary data is an average for the specialties of Internal Medicine, Family Practice, and Pediatrics. Notably, the average Internal Medicine salary increased by approximately 22% since 2016, while the average salary for Family Practitioners decreased by approximately 8% last year.
Survey Results
Demographic insights by gender
Most Primary Care physicians are male, with a 7% increase compared to the previous year.
Male
45%7% increase
Female
38%7% decrease
Where do Primary Care physicians work?
The majority of physicians practicing Primary Care work in clinics or community health centers.
Hospital employed
21%7% increase
Clinic or community center
30%No change
Group practice
19%5% decrease
How many paid vacation days do Primary Care Physicians receive?
On average, full-time employed Primary Care physicians received 22 paid vacation days in 2018. Some of these physicians didn't take all their earned time, leading it to expire at the end of the year. Curious about how much money those particular Primary Care physicians let go to waste by not using them before the end of the year? We calculated the average earnings those physicians might have made by doing locum tenens in those unused days.
Paid vacation days
22
How old are Primary Care physicians?
Almost 75% of respondents were either Baby Boomers (Primary Care physicians born between 1946 and 1964) or from Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980).
Job Outlook
The future: What’s in store for locum tenens
Next job change
44% percent of Primary Care physicians reported they are looking to make a job change within the next year.
Considering locum tenens
72% percent of respondents said they had not worked locum tenens last year but would consider it in the future.
Respondent demographics
Primary Care physicians who took this survey
By region
Years in practice
Employment status
Opinions about Healthcare Consolidation
Physician and Advanced Practitioners weigh in on Healthcare Mergers and Acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions have been especially prevalent in the healthcare industry over the past few years. In this year's Compensation and Employment Survey, 41 percent of physicians and advanced practitioners disclosed they had been employed at an organization where there was a merger or acquisition. The motivation behind these types of healthcare consolidations typically involves a combination of the following: improving quality of care for patients and making additional resources and expertise available to staff, all while reducing costs.
More than 41 percent of clinicians acknowledged that consolidation brought their organization increased access to additional resources, technology and expertise. However, when asked if they felt valued by the larger organization post consolidation, a staggering 48 percent of providers indicated they disagreed, with 27 percent of these respondents strongly disagreeing.
Have you ever been employed at a facility where there was a merger or acquisition?
42%
Yes
52%
No
6%
Unsure
Due to the merger or acquisition, were any members of the medical staff laid off?
48%
Yes
36%
No
16%
Unsure
Due to the merger or acquisition, how were you affected by the layoff?
How long did it take to integrate and unify the facilities involved in the new partnership?
"It helps patients as we will now have specialties we didn't previously have, so patients don't have to travel so far" -NP Neurologist from Northeast
In my experience with healthcare consolidation, the cost of care for our patients has decreased.
14%
Yes
43%
No
43%
Unsure
In my experience with healthcare consolidation, the quality of care we provide has increased.
23%
Yes
35%
No
42%
Unsure
"It leads to fewer choices of physicians (out of network) and increased confusion about patient bills or appropriate contact people for information" - Hospitalist from Southwest
In my experience with healthcare consolidation, my hospital or practice has gained access to additional resources, technology and expertise.
42%
Yes
19%
No
39%
Unsure
Post consolidation, we've become more efficient as an organization.
20%
Yes
36%
No
44%
Unsure
In my consolidation experience, our leaders paid specific attention to and placed value on shared culture.
19%
Yes
39%
No
42%
Unsure
Post consolidation, I feel I am valued by the larger organization.
14%
Yes
48%
No
38%
Unsure
"There is a loss of culture and a lack of genuine care of employees" - Ophthalmologist from the southeast
Methodology
Invitations for the survey were emailed to a database of more than 150,000 healthcare professionals in August 2019. Some recipients had been placed by LocumTenens.com, and some had not. There was a total of 3,580 respondents, both physicians and advanced practitioners, who were self-selected and spanned all 50 states. Physician respondents included those from 15 medical/surgical specialties: radiology; psychiatry; family practice; critical care; neurology; obstetrics/gynecology; pediatrics; anesthesiology; general surgery; orthopedic surgery; urology; cardiology; hospitalist; internal medicine; and emergency medicine. Advanced practitioner respondents included those from eight medical specialties: emergency medicine physician assistants; primary care physician assistants; critical care nurse practitioners; psychiatric nurse practitioners; emergency medicine nurse practitioners; primary care nurse practitioners; hospitalist nurse practitioners; and CRNAs.
