Regional Differences in Salaries of First Year Fellows in Hematology-Oncology Fellowship Programs in the United States

Introduction:

Minimal data discuss the regional differences in the annual salaries of first-year fellows in the Hematology-Oncology programs in the United States. This study aims to ascertain whether any such disparities exist among the wages of the first-year fellows when stratified based on geographical location.

Methods:

A total of 176 Hematology and Oncology fellowship programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) were identified using the American Medical Association and Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database (FREIDA Online). Each program's website was searched using a direct link from FREIDA online or manually searching the programs on Google. Information was gathered regarding the salaries of first-year fellows from the data published on the websites. Programs were divided into five geographical regions: Northeast, Southeast, West, Midwest, and Southwest. The data was analyzed in SPSS 26, and a Chi-squared analysis was done to compare the salaries on the basis of regional differences.

Results:

A total of 107 out of 176 programs were included in this study. Of the available data, 94.6% (n=35) of first-year fellows in the Hematology-Oncology programs of North East earned more than $65,000 in a year, while 5.4% (n=2) made less than $65,000 annually. In South East, 27.8% (n=5) of fellows were paid more than $65,000 while 72.2% (n=13) of fellows were paid less than $65,000. In Mid-West, 58.3% (n=14) and 41.7% (n=10) of fellows received a salary of more than and less than $65,000, respectively. In South West, 63.6% (n=7) of fellows earned over $65,000 while 36.4% (n=4) of fellows made less than $65,000. In West, 94.1% (n=16) of fellows were paid more than $65,000 while 5.9% (n=1) of fellows made less than $65,000. (Table 1) All these results were statistically significant (p<0.001). (Table 2)

Conclusion:

There is a noticeable difference between the salaries of first-year Hematology-Oncology fellows in the United States based on regional differences. Further studies should be done to identify these pay disparities' underlying reasons and effects.

Abhyankar:Therakos: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Incyte: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. McGuirk:Magenta Therapeutics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Allovir: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Juno Therapeutics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Nextar: Consultancy, Honoraria; Orca Bio: Research Funding; Sana: Honoraria; CRISPR Therapeutics: Consultancy; In8bio, Inc.: Other: IIT Clinical Trial.