In 2019, primary care physicians earned an average of $237,000 and specialists earned $341,000. This is according to the 2019 Medscape Physician Compensation Report, which surveyed almost 20,000 respondents in 30 specialties. Orthopedics was highest earning specialty at $482,000. According to Medscape, orthopedics has been in the top five earning specialties every year for the past five years.

How does a medical staff define its cultural values for peer review? The first requirement is for physician leadership to have a vision of better values. Unless physician leaders can articulate to the staff what they would like the culture to become and why, most people are not interested in change for change’s sake. Typically, development of these values begins with the leader’s recognition that peer review is perceived to be, or actually is, punitive. Then, through outside education, the physician leadership realizes that there is a better way.

One-fourth of America’s practicing physicians are age 65 or older, and this proportion will continue to rise as the peak of the baby boomer generation enters the ranks of the elderly. According to the AMA, more than 40% of the nation’s 1 million doctors are older than 50. These are daunting statistics. Significant numbers of doctors practice into their 70s and beyond with competence and care.