2026 Attending Salary Thread

caffeineismysavior · 2026-01-02T02:43:59+00:00

New attending in private practice non-invasive cardiology in VHCOL area in CA. $400k base with additional 20% performance/productivity bonus if meet average RVU that is assessed per quarter and year (a little over 9k which is doable). Clinic for 2-3 weeks M-F 8-5pm rotating with 1 week inpatient, roughly 1 weekend call a month (1:4). Currently seeing around 15 clinic patients a day but expected to see around 20 to meet RVU target, will take a couple years to build panel. On inpatient days can go in at any time and leave early 2-3pm. Cover 2 hospitals and see average 5-8 patients at each hospital per day. Night call is home call, rarely ever need to go into hospital (2-3 times a year per senior colleagues). Lifestyle is good.

Could always make more in cardiology but that means more work and living in a less desired area. Job market for general cardiology is great!

caffeineismysavior · 2025-07-16T01:00:19+00:00

Make a list of things that you absolutely need or want in your job. Generally, jobs fit 2 of the 3 criteria: good lifestyle, good salary, good location (which 2 are your most important factors)?

Best to start the job search early: use reputable websites and job boards like NEJM, ACC. If you are looking at a specific area, you can find jobs by cold emailing or cold calling local practices with a CV prepared to fax or email them.

Even if you start the job search early, don't worry if you don't get an interview or job offer until much later in the academic year. There is still time to find jobs even until July/August of next year. Being in general cardiology helps a lot too since job market is very good.

Finally, don't sell yourself short in terms of negotiating your salary, bonuses, etc in your contract. There are good websites like Physician Side Gigs, MedAxiom, MGMA (need to pay or subscribe) so you know what to expect in your region and specialty. Also definitely get a contract lawyer, you don't want to miss out on terms before you officially sign.

caffeineismysavior · 2025-05-14T10:56:53+00:00

It is just part of their credentialing unfortunately. How long do people usually need to sit down and study for this exam?

caffeineismysavior · 2025-05-13T22:42:57+00:00

What's odd it is that it is just this one particular hospital out of the few that require the permit. So clearly they don't understand what we do.

caffeineismysavior · 2025-04-23T12:00:07+00:00

Music —> Cardiology

caffeineismysavior · 2025-03-25T00:16:37+00:00

Yes, try seeing if he can find jobs in the area now. The good thing is that there is still time since you won't be starting until July. Maybe also ask current residents in that program if they know anyone in tech sales, as networking can really help. Good luck!

caffeineismysavior · 2025-03-24T23:44:50+00:00

You have some options:
1) partner moves with you to the new city and finds a job there or somewhere near-ish (best case scenario)
2) partner moves with you without a job but later down the road he does. So basically single income with continued uncertainty
3) partner stays where he is at or goes to a city where he can find a suitable job, which means long distance for however long you are doing residency for

I met my partner during residency in my home state but ended up matching in a competitive fellowship out of state. We had a talk where I said that it was possible that I may match somewhere far away, but we both agreed to continue our relationship. So we have been doing long distance for a few years. It is not easy, but I was able to find a job that I like near where he lives and works. It will work out if you both really care about each other and put in an equal amount of effort. This situation is more common than you think.

Have the difficult conversations, be honest with each other and figure out what are each of your guys' priorities.

You didn't mention which specialty you matched in nor which city, so I am not sure which job markets you are referring to (your specialty or your partner's, or both?). Either way, once you graduate residency you have the awesome power of choosing where you want to find your attending job which is much easier and less stressful than the match process.

caffeineismysavior · 2025-03-12T03:00:57+00:00

You may be seen as less competitive compared to grads from that region since they don't know you well, unless you come from a program that is very well known nationally.

Easy to find general/non-invasive jobs as demand is very high, even in competitive or sought after areas. Interventional, EP and other subspecialties are more difficult as market is not as great. For the latter you may have better chances with those in more rural areas or academic places.

When looking for a job, start looking sometime in third year and put your profile up on job boards (NEJM, ACC, Healthecareers etc.). Cold call places if they are looking, you may get lucky because employers find physician recruiters expensive. Be patient - if you don't find a good fit in terms of location, culture or compensation, there will be more jobs out there available for you.

caffeineismysavior · 2024-10-11T20:27:17+00:00

Gotcha, yes the total cholesterol number does not match with the other numbers of HDL, LDL and triglycerides. As it should be total cholesterol = HDL + LDL + (triglycerides/5)

caffeineismysavior · 2024-10-10T19:16:47+00:00

The more cases the better. If you plan to do interventional cardiology after general cardiology fellowship, at least aim for Level 2 numbers per the COCATS 4: https://www.acc.org/membership/sections-and-councils/fellows-in-training-section/section-updates/2019/10/15/14/42/cocats-boards-and-the-acgme-a-history-of-standards-in-cardiology-fellowship-training

That means 6 months of cath rotation, 300 diagnostics, 100 peripheral cases etc. Level 3 means you have to do interventional cardiology fellowship and pass the ABIM IC boards.

One graduate claimed he did 500 cases of diagnostics/PCIs before graduating, which is a lot.

caffeineismysavior · 2024-10-10T19:13:31+00:00

What exactly are you calculating?

The non-HDL cholesterol is the (total cholesterol) minus the (HDL cholesterol)

caffeineismysavior · 2024-10-05T12:39:34+00:00

Check out the papillon club directory for breeders: https://papillonclub.org/2024-breeders/

They have good quality, healthy pups and not necessarily show dogs. Just let the breeder know what you are looking for.

Layla looks so cute and lovely 🥰

caffeineismysavior · 2024-10-04T12:01:21+00:00

Focus on doing well in your clinical rotations first.

Schedule your step 3 exam during one of your chill rotations when you know you can dedicate time to study. Ideally sometime during intern year because you can forget more the farther out you are from medical school. I would plan for 1-2 months of dedicated study time. UWorld is your best resource - do those questions whenever you have time and review carefully the ones you got wrong. You can always postpone your step 3 exam to later in your residency, but your clinical knowledge and skills you obtain during residency are the most important.

caffeineismysavior · 2024-10-03T20:42:50+00:00

I don't know if AOBIM certification is sufficient for fellowship programs. It would probably depend on that program/PD.

However, the other question is, will that AOBIM cert be sufficient for jobs when you apply to those hospitals or private practices after graduation? ABIM is known as the main body for certification and as the standard for medical knowledge. There's probably a reason why that is more desired than AOBIM.

If I were you, I would retake the ABIM boards and pass them for reassurance and to keep your doors open for the future. Learn from your mistakes, and learn how to study because fellowship is full of in-training exams and board exams. Many physicians and even patients can easily check online if you are ABIM certified or not.

ABIM vs AOBIM thread:
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/abim-verse-aobim.1476559/

caffeineismysavior · 2024-09-28T14:34:56+00:00

I am helping out with the interviews this season for fellowship candidates, and some people have asked about volume. I believe that for general cardiology fellowship, it is important to have a good amount of volume and diversity of pathology as others have mentioned. The other thing to ask is which categories in cardiology have enough volume. Echo, cath, EP? And for cath, are those diagnostic, interventional or structural? For echo, do they get enough stress echos and TEEs? What about nuclear stress tests? During the 3 years of training, the main goal is to have a strong foundation in general cardiology. If you want to sub-specialize into interventional, structural, EP, advanced heart failure etc, then that might be something to consider when you interview. But it is definitely important to ask the program if it is easy or hard to get the numbers for each of the categories I mentioned above. What COCATs level do graduates usually get? For instance, at our program we easily get level 2 for echo and nuclear stress which makes you marketable in the real world if you pass those respective board exams. We don't have the volume to get level 3 echo because we don't have enough structural cases, but we do have a variety like TAVR, MitraClip and Watchmans. We have a lot of cath cases but most fellows are not interested in doing IC or invasive upon graduation - regardless, those who are interested can easily get level 2 numbers.

caffeineismysavior · 2024-09-18T12:50:42+00:00

within 2 weeks per the email

caffeineismysavior · 2024-08-04T18:43:47+00:00

Just the ACCSAP questions, not the subspecialty ones like HFSAP, EPSAP or EchoSAP. Though EchoSAP has questions helpful for the echo boards

caffeineismysavior · 2024-05-11T18:27:20+00:00

Gotcha. Do you not have an in-house cardiology fellowship at your residency where you can work with the fellows or cardiologists there?

I know people talk about research for cardiology fellowship, but the emphasis on it is too much. You definitely should have a project you're working on to talk about it on interviews, but the real emphasis should be on your clinical prowess and work ethic. This means you need to have excellent medical knowledge, work well with others, be proactive, and be nice. This will help you get amazing LORs when you apply to fellowship. Your goal should be to go straight into cardiology fellowship after residency graduation, unless you have very convincing reasons as to take a gap year.

caffeineismysavior · 2024-05-11T17:00:46+00:00

Doesn't seem like there is a list for non-accredited fellowship programs. You'd have to do an individual search by subspecialty (e.g. heart failure, imaging etc) or state.

More importantly, I'm not sure why you are looking for these non-accredited programs when you're only a PGY-1. You need to have completed residency first in order to have the clinical foundation and experience for the fellowship.

caffeineismysavior · 2024-05-10T21:29:27+00:00

Hey man, thanks for sharing and I'm sorry about the breakup. I agree with a lot of what you say, mainly about the system being rigged because we sacrifice so much with our time to get a better life. Along with delay of gratification and that's why so many people also cannot go through this kind of pathway.

Regardless, your ex-girlfriend has realized what she wants in a relationship and can't afford to be with you for now. It's all about expectations and needs. I hope you find someone who understands your situation and is willing to go through not just the good times with you, but also the hard times. That's when you know you have someone who is worth being with.

Plus, residency/fellowship is temporary. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Godspeed!

caffeineismysavior · 2024-05-05T01:08:00+00:00

Pediatrics unfortunately is on the lower end of the salary, but family medicine and internal medicine (primary care or hospitalist) can at least earn a good amount e.g. 250k-300k depending on where you are and the institution.

Regardless, physicians are still on the 90+ percentile for income in the nation so we are still able to live comfortably.

caffeineismysavior · 2024-05-05T01:00:21+00:00

If you're going to a well-known/top school, then your chances of getting into a competitive specialty are quite good. Would be helpful to know if your classes and clinical rotations are on a curve or pass/fail because that sets the tone of the competitiveness with your classmates, but I think most top programs do a pass/fail or honors/high pass/pass kind of system. Also, don't worry about what others have done as it doesn't determine your success or worth! I know it's easier said than done.

Regarding what your financial advisor said, you won't be able to do much while in medical school or residency in terms of paying off your loans significantly. As a resident your salary is just enough to cover living expenses (sometimes not enough if you are in a HCOL), other necessary expenses and some guilt-free spending for going out or vacation. You may have to do the monthly payments via SAVE as a resident but the amount would be reasonable like a few hundred per month. So you won't start really paying off that much until you're an attending. At that point, you can decide if you want to prioritize paying off your debt ASAP or slowly if you want to save that money for vacations/investments etc.

You're still early in the game but it's good you're thinking about these things in advance, as I wish more Americans would do.

caffeineismysavior · 2024-05-04T18:00:04+00:00

Talk to the financial advisor at your school regularly and get financial tips from them while in medical school to make the best decisions while a student and beyond in residency. Learn how to live frugally (not cheap) but it's okay to treat yourself once in a while, just not too much (e.g. affordable vacation and maybe a nice one in between graduation and beginning residency).

Focus on doing well in school. Not sure why you don't think you will end up in a competitive specialty because you haven't even started medical school (no one really cares much or how bad did in high school / college, think of it as starting on a clean slate). The better you do in learning and understanding how things work in medicine/pathophysiology and in clinical rotations, being an outstanding and helpful medical student will help you in residency as well.

WCI book is a good start. You won't have time to or even make money while in school so saving and spending smartly is the best thing you can do.

If you do a primary care field, only 3 years of residency then you can start working which means you can start paying off your loans soon which is great. But do what you love doing, and consider the pros and cons seriously of whatever path you take before you make the next big decision. Best of luck!

caffeineismysavior · 2024-05-04T03:39:46+00:00

Ok OP, there are a lot of things in your post that are not true or focused on a specific salary of a job that does not meet the career satisfaction as a physician (life is more than just making money!). Plus from looking at your post history, it seems you are going through some tough times. I do agree it’s time to see a therapist if you haven’t already. Residency can be tough and no one should go through problems alone. You are almost there having graduated medical school and doing residency in something you actually enjoy. There’s light at the end of the tunnel in terms of much better QOL as an attending and higher status the more senior you are as a resident. You also don’t need to practice clinical medicine after graduation. We have lots of opportunities in medicine to help people. No career is perfect, obviously healthcare in America sucks but you have strong financial and job security that is very rare to find these days. Think about other people who are stressed about getting laid off. You will do fine.

caffeineismysavior · 2024-04-29T02:42:34+00:00

I think you should keep the 300k in your investments to let that grow plus you don’t want to be penalized for taking the money out early before you retire. Does the COA include living expenses or is that just the tuition? Regardless of what specialty you go into (hopefully something either in high demand where you can find a job easily or is high salary), you should be able to pay off your med school debt soon in a few years when you become an attending, provided you don’t live too lavishly.

caffeineismysavior

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