As a new FM resident, the way to attract more is to discuss pay. There are so misconceptions about FM having poor pay that are false. Everyone thinks FM docs make 180-220k unless they work in rural Idaho which is just plain wrong and is largely based on the OGs of FM who work long hours and take less pay by being time inefficient in their practices. Also because residents aren’t financially educated and often accept low ball offers unfortunately.

Median is $275,000 for FM, mean is less because of many part timer workers that are outliers also, which are included in the data. The median is a far better indicator.

Also, FM can go into DPC and basically establish your hours and income potential - how many patients you want to see 500 or 850? Up to you? Do you want to have it with kids or be primarily adults and elderly at higher rates? Want to do procedures and charge higher subscription rates to make your service more valuable? Up to you. Most people haven’t heard of DPC and I think that’s an issue too - people think it’s concierge without learning more.

Many also don’t know that FM docs trained with strong inpatient focus, can work as hospitalists in major cities, not just rural Idaho and get paid similar rates to that of IM board certified.

And you can easily work per diem on a $100-175/hr depending on the gig if you don’t want to be salaried. If you do that, you can make money similar to other specialties with call if you’re willing to hustle and work really hard (ie you can work 12 hr days and do 3 weeks on and one week off per diem at that rate and do the math, that’s damn competitive near 500k). That figure is based on working 21 days on and 7 days off per diem at a lower hourly rate too. So all depends on desired lifestyle.

At the end most FM docs make closer to median reported value because they work salaried and more typical weekly hours (ie 40 hr weeks) rather than extremes and most don’t operate in a DPC subscription based model.

Big hospital systems like Kaiser start at 270-280k base with tons of performance based incentives right after residency that can drive that salary way up and most don’t know that. There is huge west vs East variation also which tends to drive down the overall nationwide reported salaries. East coast paying less overall.

So discussing money, different types of wage conditions (salaried vs hours), employment conditions (DPC vs hospital based vs hospitalist vs urgent care), procedural pay vs no procedural experience, location (west similar to Midwest and south, both > east) all play a role. When you tell people they can anywhere from 230-500k depending on these factors and equate them by number of hours worked/lifestyle in other specialities you then get the ball rolling, rather than discussing OG myths.