1998-1999 SAEM emergency medicine faculty salary and benefits survey

Objectives: The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) commissioned an emergency medicine (EM) faculty salary and benefits survey-for all 1998 residency review committee (RRC)-EM-accredited programs using the SAEM fou rth-generation survey instrument. Responses were collected by SAEM and blin ded from the investigators. Methods: Blinded program and individual faculty data were entered into a customized version of FileMaker Pro, a relational database program with a built-in statistical package. Salary data were sor ted by program region, faculty title, American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) certification, academic rank, years postresidency, program size, and whether data were reported to the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC). Demographic data were analyzed with regard to numerous criteria, i ncluding department staffing levels, ED volumes, ED length of stay, departm ent income sources, salary incentive components, and specific type and valu e of fringe benefits offered. Data were compared with those from previous S AEM studies. Results: Seventy-three of 120 (61%) accredited programs respon ded, yielding usable data for 70 programs and 965 full-time faculty among t he four AAMC regions. Mean salaries were reported as follows: all faculty, $167,478; first-year faculty,:$140,616; programs reporting data to the AAMC , $161,794; programs not reporting data to the AAMC, $165,724. Mean salarie s as reported by AAMC region: northeast, $167,876; south, $160,586; midwest , $190,957; west, $148,977. Conclusions: Reported salaries for full-time EM residency faculty continue to rise. Significant regional differences in sa laries have been present in all four SAEM surveys. Nonclinical hours are co mpensated at approximately one-half the rate paid for clinical hours. The d emographic data indicate that EM residency faculty are working at the upper extremes of numbers of patient encounters per physician, patient acuity le vels, and department lengths of stay.