Neurologist's Corner

STATE LICENSURE EXPEDITERS: 

Doctors often ask us for information on licensure expediters.  A licensure expediter assists physicians with getting state licensed faster and without complications. Reportedly, they can speed up the licensure process up to 65% faster.  However, we have never received feedback on any particular company.  Below are three companies that are referenced to by NAPR (the National Association of Physician Recruiters).  Please, if you've had a good (or bad) experience with an expediting company, let us know so that we can make better recommendations.

Doctors Licensure Group, Inc.  They charge $550 per state (discounts for multiple states).  See www.doclicense.com.

MedLicense.com.  They charge $395-$495 per state (discounts for multiple states).  See www.medlicense.com.

Physician & Nurse Licensing Services.  They charge $550 for first state, $450 for each additional state.  See www.physician-nurselicensing.com. 

 

NEUROLOGY COMPENSATION SURVEY

Note: this is averages of working neurologists. It does not give an idea of the high end or low end of each region. Starting compensation ranges from as low as $110,000 to as high as $340,000. Factors contributing to highs and lows are community need (oversupply or undersupply of specialists), sense of urgency, managed care penetration / level of reimbursements, and / or liability costs. 

MedHIRE Survey
Residents / Fellows: Starting compensation ranges from $180,000-$200,000.
Practicing Neurologists: Starting compensation ranges from $200,000-$225,000.
Please note that this is starting compensation, thus it does not indicate the earning potential at a practice.

AMA Survey
All Neurologists: $201,241
Starting Neurologists: $151,960
East Coast Neurologists: $180,882
West Coast Neurologists: $199,614
Northern Neurologists: $201,241
Southern Neurologists: $204,000

Other Surveys
NB: Response rate to these surveys ranges around 10%.
NAPR/MGMA Survey (target group – mid-sized SSGs/MSGs): $239,511
AMGA Survey (target group – large SSGs/MSGs): $213,300
Sullivan Survey (target group: teaching hospitals, HMO's, large MSGs): $194,614
Hay Survey: $189,100
Warren Survey: $185,708
HHCS Survey: $171,298

 

FELLOWSHIPS

Here are some issues to keep in mind when considering whether to do a fellowship, and which fellowships to choose.  Ultimately, this is a personal decision and the greatest factor will be what you love to do.

 

What factors should I consider when deciding whether to do a fellowship?

  • We often find that practices seeking a general neurologist do not automatically give preference to candidates who have done a fellowship over a candidate who has done residency only.
  • By far, the greatest demand in neurology positions is for General Neurologists.  At any given time, about 75% of our openings are for general neurologists.  Our clients (hospitals, MSG's & SSG's) often express frustration at the difficulty of finding a neurologist who just wants to do general. 
  • If you do a fellowship, it does not guarantee that you will be able to find a position where you can devote a large percentage of your practice to your subspecialty.  A good rule of thumb is to expect to do 30% of your subspecialty.
  • Starting compensation usually does not increase for candidates who have done an additional year of training.  The only factor that will increase starting compensation is practice experience.
  • If you select a subspecialty that is not in demand, your choice of subspecialty may limit your choice of location.  In other words, if you are dead-set on a specific area of the country in which to locate, then doing an uncommon subspecialty will make your criteria too narrow to find a job.
  • Fellowship training only increases your income potential if the following conditions are met:
    • during fellowship you pick up procedural skills that bill/reimburse at a high rate (for neurologists this means EMG, sleep, botox, +/-EEG, pain)
    • your job allows you to perform lots of these
    • your compensation is determined by how much you bill/collect, as opposed to flat salary
    • you have little competition from other specialists in your location

 

Which subspecialties are in demand?

Currently, our practices are requesting the following subspecialties (in descending order).  (We will update this list from now on to give a more accurate picture of demand, but this is pretty typical.)

 

  1. General (Most expect proficiency in EMG and EEG)
  2. Clinical Neurophysiology (EMG/EEG)
  3. Epilepsy
  4. Sleep (The majority are not 100% sleep)
  5. Stroke
  6. Pediatric
  7. Movement Disorders
  8. Neurointensivist/Neurocritical Care
  9. Headache/Pain
  10. MS
  11. Vascular Interventional
  12. Neurorehab
  13. Neurobehavioral/Dementia
  14. Neuropsychiatry
  15. Neuro-imaging
  16. Neuro-opthalmology

 

Which subspecialties are experiencing a “turf war”?

Some subspecialties are experiencing great competition from other fields of medicine.  This table shows the turf wars and which field is “winning”, in our opinion.  What makes the difference between “winning” and losing is who has control of the hospital equipment and/or who gets the majority of referrals.  Some hospitals buy equipment and give a group exclusive use of it.  For example, a group of pulmonologists may have exclusive use of a Sleep Lab.  Turf wars should be considered when choosing a subspecialty.

 

Subspecialty

Competitor

Who is “winning”?

Sleep

Pulmonologists

Tie

Headache/Pain

Anesthesiologists & Physiatrists

Anesthesiologists

Neurobehavioral/Dementia

Psychiatrists

Unknown

Neuro-imaging

Radiologists

Radiologists

Neuro-ophthalmology

Opthalmologists

Ophthalmologists

Neuro-otology

Otolaryngologists

Otolaryngologists

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