Becker's Hospital Review

77 FINANCE CMO / CARE DELIVERY 29 physician specialties ranked by annual compensation By Kelly Gooch D uring the COVID-19 pandemic, pri- mary care physicians earned an aver- age annual compensation of $242,000 and specialists earned an average of $344,000 — a decrease of $1,000 and $2,000, respec- tively, compared to before the pandemic hit. In its Physician Compensation Report 2021, Medscape collected responses from about 18,000 U.S. physicians across more than 29 specialties. e Medscape survey was conducted from Oct. 6, 2020, through Feb. 11, 2021, aer the COVID-19 crisis began. Physicians experienced several hardships during the pandemic, including temporary office closures and restrictions on elective procedures. But in an article about its latest survey, Medscape said physician salaries were overall able to stay steady at the end of 2020, because of factors such as telemedicine reim- bursement, government programs, capitation and staff reductions. e following is annual physician compen- sation by specialty with the percent changes from the 2020 edition of the Medscape report, which is based on data collected from Oct. 4, 2019, through Feb. 10, 2020. is report re- flects only full-time salaries. Note: e list includes a tie at No. 25. Percent- ages are rounded. 1. Plastic surgery: $526,000 (10 percent increase) 2. Orthopedics: $511,000 (0 percent) 3. Cardiology: $459,000 (5 percent increase) 4. Urology: $427,000 (2 percent increase) 5. Otolaryngology: $417,000 (9 percent decrease) 6. Radiology: $413,000 (3 percent decrease) 7. Gastroenterology: $406,000 (3 percent de- crease) 8. Oncology: $403,000 (7 percent increase) 9. Dermatology: $394,000 (4 percent decrease) 10. Ophthalmology: $379,000 (0 percent) 11. Anesthesiology: $378,000 (5 percent de- crease) 12. Surgery, general: $373,000 (2 percent in- crease) 13. Critical care: $366,000 (3 percent increase) 14. Emergency medicine: $354,000 (1 percent decrease) 15. Pulmonary medicine: $333,000 (3 percent decrease) 16. Pathology: $316,000 (0 percent) 17. OB/Gyn: $312,000 (1 percent increase) 18. Nephrology: $311,000 (1 percent increase) 19. Physical medicine and rehabilitation: $300,000 (3 percent decrease) 20. Neurology: $290,000 (3 percent increase) 21. Rheumatology: $276,000 (5 percent increase) 22. Psychiatry: $275,000 (3 percent increase) 23. Allergy and immunology: $274,000 (9 percent decrease) 24. Internal medicine: $248,000 (1 percent decrease) 25. Infectious diseases: $245,000 (0 percent) 25. Diabetes and endocrinology: $245,000 (4 percent increase) 27. Public health and preventive medicine: $237,000 (2 percent increase) 28. Family medicine: $236,000 (0 percent) 29. Pediatrics: $221,000 (5 percent decrease) n New York City's Mount Sinai performs world's 1st tracheal transplant; procedure culminates 30 years of research By Erica Carbajal S urgeons at New York City-based Mount Sinai per- formed the world's first human tracheal transplant during an 18-hour procedure in January, marking the launch of its tracheal transplant program, the health system said April 6. Providing blood supply to the trachea has been one of the greatest barriers to successfully transplanting the organ. The procedure is the culmination of the efforts of more than 50 specialists and 30 years of research at Mount Sinai. Given the large number of COVID-19 patients who have sustained tracheal damage and airway disease from intu- bation, the team anticipates a growing number of people will benefit from the novel surgery. The recipient, a 56-year-old woman from New York City, underwent the procedure Jan. 13. Her trachea was severe- ly damaged from a bad asthma attack that led to repeated intubations. The organ was further damaged after failed surgical reconstruction attempts. She had been breath- ing through a tracheostomy tube and faced a high risk of suffocation if her trachea collapsed. After removing the trachea and related blood vessels from the donor, the team, led by Eric Genden, MD, reconstruct- ed the organ once it was inside her. Surgeons then con- nected the small blood vessels responsible for supplying the donor trachea with the recipient's blood vessels, and used a portion of the esophagus and thyroid gland to help establish blood flow to the trachea. "Seeing the graft come alive and knowing that the organ was well vascularized was an amazing experience," Dr. Genden said. "Knowing that this procedure and 30 years of research will save countless lives was indescribable. It's why we do what we do, to make a difference." n

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