What Is the Starting Salary for Psychiatrists?
Understanding, diagnosing, and treating the human mind and its illnesses is the job of psychiatrists. Whether meeting with patients in a traditional office or performing independent research for inclusion in the medical publications, psychiatrists spend their professional life trying to unravel the secrets of how the mind works and why --- in some cases --- it stops working properly. High levels of education and experience are required to become a licensed psychiatrist, but starting salaries are also high.
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Starting Salary
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Those wondering about psychiatry as a long-term career probably have an immediate concern on their mind: starting salary. According to a report by PayScale in December 2010, psychiatrists earn between $61,277 and $148,800 during their first year in the field. This includes bonus pay and profit sharing income, but does not account for non-cash benefits.
Gaining Experience
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While understanding starting salaries is certainly important for soon-to-be psychiatrists, setting realistic expectations about how pay will increase over time is also important. Luckily, PayScale shows that after one to four years, top average salaries for the job already jump to $163,365. By five to nine years, another increase occurs to $186,586.
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Employer
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Salaries for psychiatrists not only vary based on experience, but also employer type. According to PayScale, self-employed psychiatrists make between $114,745 and $194,613 per year. In traditional hospitals, top average salaries for psychiatrists only reach to around $180,000. Employees of government organizations have a salary range from $146,851 to $185,756.
Benefits
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In addition to starting salary, non-cash benefits provided by employers is also a vital consideration for those thinking about entering the field of psychiatry. From PayScale's survey, it is found that 78 percent of psychiatrists receive medical coverage. Furthermore, 61 percent have dental care plans and 44 percent get vision coverage.
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References
- Photo Credit blue brain image by John Sfondilias from Fotolia.com
