Saint Louis Job News & Opportunities St. Louis Front Page is a weekly news publication, with daily updates, spotlighting attractions, events, business and hospitality in St. Louis, Missouri and Southwest Illinois. St. Louis News Community Info St. Louis Job News St. Louis CitySide Business News St. Charles News Southwest, IL News Fairview Heights,IL Art Gallery News Hotel News Restaurant News Style St. Louis Not Just For Kids   Downtown Map America's Center Busch Stadium Gateway Arch Scottrade Center Laclede's Landing Old Courthouse Union Station Washington Avenue   Metropolitan Map Casinos Clayton, MO Grand Center Grant's Farm Forest Park Kimmswick, MO MO Botanical Garden Soulard St. Charles, MO West Port Plaza Transportation Lambert Airport How To Reach Us: St. Louis Front Page P.O. Box 1354 St. Louis, MO 63188 Voice: 314-771-0200 Fax: 314-771-0300 To submit news, contact: editor@slfp.com To advertise, contact: advertising@slfp.com Some Nurses Paid More Than Family Physicians ST. LOUIS (PRNewswire), June 22, 2008 - Nurses trained in administering anesthesia are offered higher salaries on average than are family physicians, according to a new report from Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, the nation's largest physician recruiting firm. The firm's 2008 Review of Physician and CRNA Recruiting Incentives indicates that the average salary offered to recruit family physicians is $172,000. By comparison, the average salary offered to recruit nurses trained in administering anesthesia (who are known as CRNAs) is $185,000. Salaries for family physicians also lag behind those offered to other types of doctors. The average salary offered to orthopedic surgeons in 2008 was $439,000, while the average salary offered to radiologists was $401,000, according to Merritt, Hawkins' report. "Demand for family physicians is through the roof and there are not enough of them to go around," notes Mark Smith, President of Merritt, Hawkins & Associates. "The way doctors are paid, however, tends to favor those who do surgical procedures rather than family physicians and other primary care doctors whose role is largely consultative." Merritt, Hawkins' 2008 report reviews the 3,146 physician search assignments the firm conducted nationwide from April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008 and tracks financial and other incentives used to recruit physicians. The report indicates that Merritt, Hawkins conducted 492 search assignments for family physicians during the 12 month review period, up 62 percent from the previous year. The firm receives more requests from its clients for family physicians than for any other type of doctor, Smith observes. General internists, are second on the list, followed by hospitalists, who specialize in providing care to hospital inpatients. A population that is both growing and aging is driving demand for family physicians and other primary care doctors, according to Smith, but the supply of such doctors is limited. "Most American medical students simply are not interested in becoming family physicians," Smith says. "The majority of medical students who elect to train as family physicians today went to medical schools overseas." The survey shows that a growing number of hospitals are employing physicians. Of the 3,146 physician search assignments reviewed in Merritt, Hawkins' report, 45 percent featured hospital employment, up from 19 percent three years ago. Traditionally, hospitals have recruited physicians on behalf of independent medical groups or have established physicians in solo practices, but that is changing, Smith observes. "Many physicians today are overwhelmed by the pressures of running a private practice," Smith says. "As employees, they can turn the business side or their practice over to the hospital and focus on providing patient care." A growing number of hospitals and medical groups are offering physicians signing bonuses as a recruiting incentive, the report indicates. Signing bonuses were offered in 74 percent of the search assignments Merritt, Hawkins conducted in the 12 month period examined in the report, up from 46 percent three years ago. Archived Stories: New MBAs Find Success Landing Jobs Before Graduation Job-hunting Teens: Is This Summer Job Right for You? 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