Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1518055
23 GASTROENTEROLOGY How GI salaries stack up By Claire Wallace G astroenterologist salaries far surpass some of the other highest paying careers in the U.S., with GIs earning $501,000 annually, including base salaries, bonuses and stock options, according to Medscape's 2023 compensation report. Outside of healthcare, the highest paying jobs in the U.S. include IT managers, marketing managers, financial managers and lawyers. IT managers rank No. 8 in the list of best paying jobs for 2024, the highest paying job not in the healthcare industry. IT managers earn an average of $164,070 annually. Marketing managers earn $140,040, financial managers earn $139,790 and lawyers earn $135,740, according to U.S. News & World Report. Gastroenterologists earn over 150% more than the amount earned by some of the other top paying physician specialties in the nation. n Like every medical field, greater emphasis needs to be placed on retention. ere's a huge need for clinical gastroenterologists in order to increase the national percentage of patients receiving screening colonoscopies. e American Cancer Society's National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable Campaign goal is to reach 80% screening in every community. Unfortunately, decreased reimbursement rates have led some older gastroenterologists to enter retirement early. As EHR systems have become increasingly sophisticated with patient messaging, some gastroenterologists have wanted a change in pace due to the amount of extra time spent at night aer clinic and procedures. e key to retention is having protected administrative time for patient messaging and follow-up. e gastroenterology field should be mindful of physician burnout, so that our proceduralists keep scoping late into their careers. Also, having more gastroenterologists in our field would improve call schedules and our national colorectal cancer screening percentages. It would be awesome to increase the number of [Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education] gastroenterology fellowship spots nationally. n