IR Physician Compensation at U.S. Medical Schools: Trends and Segments

Abstract

Purpose: To assess recent U.S. medical school trends in compensation for academic interventional radiology (IR) faculty and compensation characteristics based on rank, gender, and race/ethnicity.

Methods: Data for IR and diagnostic radiology (DR) faculty compensation were obtained from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), which annually surveys U.S. medical schools. IR faculty compensation data were analyzed from 2017 to 2023 with regard to rank, gender, and race/ethnicity and compared with DR faculty compensation.

Results: AAMC Faculty Salary Survey data for 2023 included responses for 874 IR faculty members, including 21 instructors, 457 assistant professors, 208 associate professors, 130 full professors, 42 chiefs, and 16 chairs. Median compensation increased by a rate of 5.0% per year for instructors and 3.0%-3.6% per year for all other ranks. Surveyed median and 25th and 75th percentile compensation for IR faculty were consistently greater than those of DR faculty at all ranks except chairs. From 2020 to 2023, this difference in compensation trended downward. Compensation for women was lower than men, with a gender pay difference of $35,000 (8.4%), $33,000 (7.5%), $26,000 (5.1%), and $32,000 (6.2%) for instructors, assistant, associate, and full professors, respectively, in 2023. In 2023, compared with White assistant professors, Asians made 94 cents, Black/African Americans made 97 cents, and Hispanic/Latinx/Spanish-origin physicians made 95 cents on the dollar, at the same rank.

Conclusions: IR faculty compensation has barely kept pace with inflation over recent years, overall increasing with rank, and overall higher than for DR counterparts.