This election year the reform of the healthcare system and universal coverage for all are huge issues among the candidates. Nationally, this industry is one of the fastest growing. Despite this, many medical facilities are struggling to fulfill patient needs because they understaffed. Many believe that if these political promises become new policies, then a good number of healthcare jobs will be hurt and the industry will have an even harder time bringing in new workers.

A recent anesthesiologist salary survey conducted by LocumTenens.com, a physician recruiting firm, found that 63 percent of the professionals believe that universal healthcare will negatively affect their personal incomes. This firm asked 427 anesthesiologist how they felt such changes would change their earnings and found that 29 percent believed that their salaries would remain the same. Only 8 percent of participants felt that universal healthcare would cause them to make more money each year.

“We surveyed physicians in four specialties on compensation-related issues and, overall, 42 percent of respondents predicted that universal healthcare would negatively affect their incomes, while the same number predicted no effect,” said Pamela McKemie, who is the Senior Vice President of LocumTenens.com. “Our anesthesiologist respondents definitely showed the highest rate of negativity about their professional outlook under a universal healthcare scenario.”

One reason that many of those with medical jobs feel that they would be losing money is because universal healthcare would meant they would receive Medicaid reimbursement rates. Some believe that this will significantly decrease the quality of patient care, because not as much money will becoming into medical facilities. Although more people will be able to afford healthcare, those with healthcare jobs will potentially be working harder for the same amount of money or less than they are now.

According to the firm’s 2007 survey, 40 percent of anesthesiologists reported that their income for the year was the same (27 percent) or less than (23 percent) than their 2006 income. Around half of the participants said that they earned more last year than they had during the previous year. Of these individuals, 28 percent reported an increase in their incomes of between 2 and 9 percent. A slightly smaller portion (22 percent) said that they experienced an income increase of 10 percent or more. For 2008 the annual salary for the average anesthesiologist was $336,374.70, which was about a 4 percent increase from last year.


Over half of this year participants, 54 percent, said they did not plan on changing jobs in the foreseeable future. Another 28 percent said that felt they would be seeking different employment within the next 12 months.

The main reason these medical professionals said they would be soon looking for a new jobs was the desire for higher pay, which 41 percent cited as the reason behind their response. Another 17 percent said that they would be job hunting in the near future in order to find a better community for themselves and their families.

On the Brightside, 73 percent of participants said that, if given the choice to start over, they would still pick medicine as their career.

Labels: Healthcare Jobs, Medical Jobs

Kansas medical jobs pay better than any other careers in the state, according to the state Department of Labor’s annual Wage Survey. The list, which was released on Wednesday, September 24th found that the top ten highest paid professions in the state are all in healthcare.

The survey found that maxillofacial surgeons make the most in the Kansas. Statistics show that these individuals make, on average, $97.73 an hour. The other ten careers were obstetricians and gynecologists, physicians and surgeons (all other types), anesthesiologists, family doctors and general practitioners, psychiatrists, internists, podiatrists and dentists.

A similar report put out by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on the national wage averages found Psychiatrists to be the highest paid workers in the country. These individuals may make less than oral surgeons in Kansas, earning $90.51 an hour, but they still top the list. Throughout the country, 8 of the 10 highest paying careers are healthcare jobs.

The Kansas Wage Survey found that when in the state an individual works also matters. Pharmacists in Wichita, for example, average $47.31 an hour. Professionals in the same career in Kansas City and Topeka make $42.86 and those in Lawrence earn $39.48 an hour.

The report showed that workers in the state average $17.45 an hour, which is $2 below the national average. Out of near by states, residents in Missouri and Colorado make more, while those in Nebraska and Oklahoma earn less.

The workers who made the least in Kansas were counter attendants in cafeterias, good concession and coffee shop workers. On average, these individuals earned $7.08 an hour, while the national average is $8.57.

In Kansas the industry with the highest rate of employment was the service sector. Retail salespeople, cashiers, customer service representative and wait staff were at the top. Only one healthcare job, registered nurses, made this part of the list.

Those who conducted the survey grouped each job in to categories. Out of the, management, which made $39.77 an hour, had the highest average wages, followed by the legal field, earning $32.28. Architecture and engineering rounded off the top three, making $30.86 an hour.

Only employees of the farming, fishing and forestry industry in Kansas made a higher average hourly wage than the national average for a category. These individuals earned $13.98, while most in the country only made $10.89 an hour.

Labels: Medical Jobs

Despite a number of highly publicized layoffs in June, the employment outlook for a variety of Medical Jobs seems to be looking brighter. In July Medzilla.com, a career website that specializes in healthcare employment, reported a gain of 33,000 new jobs. Of the new jobs posted, 21,000 were in ambulatory health care and 10,000 were announcements for positions in various hospitals. After June’s mass layoffs, this refreshing news has many breathing as sigh of relief.

One of the areas that seemed to take a drastic hit during the middle of the summer was the pharmaceutical industry. Despite a more positive outlook for medical jobs, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Schering-Plough all announced that they still planned to reduce the number of individuals they employed.

Layoffs may not seem like good news, but in a portion of healthcare that is often riddled with job losses, the news that no company announced that they would be letting go of more than 500 employees is seen as a move in the right direction. Many experts believe this maybe a sign that the pharmaceutical industry is stabilizing.

“Last month had the smallest number of layoffs in biotech and pharmaceuticals that I’ve seen in quite some time,” said MedZilla’s director of Marketing Michele Hopps. “The numbers for June and July have been promising, the time to reach for that next great jobs is around the corner.”
With an increase in medical jobs being posted online and a decreasing number of layoffs in pharmaceuticals, those searching for employment in healthcare have better chances of finding a job in the current economy than most. New talent seemed to be in particularly high demand in hospitals.

Massachusetts, where job announcements increased by 2.6 percent, had the greatest number of positions posted online. California also saw a significant increase. Employers there posted a full percent more jobs than they had in previous months.

For the most part, jobs announced online in July were for primary care professionals. Other areas that remained strong included positions for educator and business development. There was also a 3.5 percent increase in the number of sales positions posted in the medical field, which some believe is another positive sign that the pharmaceutical industry is on its way back up.

Labels: Healthcare Jobs, Medical Jobs