Do you remember the first time you met your senior doctor? How did you feel then? Were you a little unsure or even frozen in awe? It is certainly not that “bad” today; but one question still remains: when will you move ahead with the step forward in your medical/medicine career and become a senior physician? Do you know that you might need an external help external medicine tutors? Well, you should take a look at StudyMind for more information about tutoring. 

In this crucial article, you can read what makes the work of a senior physician so special and why you should definitely become one. In addition, you will find out everything you need to know about the subject of senior physicians. But above all, I will show you where you can find the senior physician position with which you will be permanently happy.

What does a senior doctor really do?

You have already had enough time to look over the shoulder of your senior physician. So you know that his area of ​​responsibility is very different from yours. The senior physician is solely responsible for a part or functional area within the clinic. This means that he leads a team of specialists and interns. If his area has several wards, ward doctors can also be among them. A senior physician is a kind of “department head”.

A senior physician has the following tasks:

• Senior physician rounds to determine therapies and care strategies for patients
• Leadership and guidance of the subordinate doctors in his department
• Professional training of the subordinate interns
• Surgery and treatment of more complex cases
• Takeover of standby services
• Management of the nursing staff
• Personnel tasks – for example employee reviews
• Economic planning of his department – such as budget planning
• Ensuring work safety
• Monitoring compliance with hygiene regulations

As you can see, a senior physician not only has a lot of managerial responsibility, but also considerable administrative effort. This distinguishes him from subordinate doctors, who mainly deal with medical topics. However, in rare cases, it might be a surprise that senior physicians are also called in for on-call duty. Are you looking for a senior physician position without services? We would be happy to show you where to find them.

The duties of a senior physician can differ from clinic to clinic despite the same specialty. This is not least due to the hierarchical structure and organizational form of the hospital. Clinics are increasingly relying on the medical “collegial system”. In this model, several senior physicians share responsibility and tasks in one department. This constellation is particularly exciting for medical professionals who do not (yet) trust themselves to be a senior physician.

Your way to the senior physician

Do you feel up to the responsibility? Then your soul might show an interested in how to become a senior physician as soon as possible. After all, there are many ways to see a senior physician. Some of them are longer while on others you can find abbreviations. That depends not least on your goals.

What do you have to do to become a senior physician? There is no prescribed “training” for senior physicians. In most cases, young physicians begin their careers as assistant physicians in a hospital after their six-year standard study period. Here they can be trained to become a specialist, which takes another five to six years. If the specialist examination is passed, you can finally call yourself “specialist”.

How long could it take to enhance designation up from specialist to senior physician? As a rule, this is followed by a few years of practical experience as a specialist in order to gain sufficient professional experience. At this point, doctors often have the opportunity to become a senior physician. But caution is advised here. In terms of expertise, you are then already on a par with a “real” senior physician; however, you are not filling a corresponding position. For senior physicians, this results in a significantly lower salary compared to the regular senior physician – with comparable tasks, mind you.

If you are already working as a senior physician, you should be careful not to miss your promotion opportunities. A suitable senior physician position is then often not available. But don’t worry: together we will find the senior physician position where you will be permanently happy.

MORE salary as a senior physician

Do you have the prospect of a suitable senior physician position or want to be promoted to senior physician, the question of salary will arise at some point? If there is a collective agreement in place, your income as a senior physician is secure. Many a colleague will be happy about that, as he saves himself the uncomfortable salary negotiation. But you, on the other hand, can see the salary negotiation as a great opportunity to achieve an above-average senior doctor salary outside the collective bargaining agreement.

How much does a senior doctor earn on average? Usually this is regulated by collective agreements. The collective agreements of the municipal and university hospitals – the “collective agreement doctors for municipal hospitals” and the “collective agreement for all university hospitals”, are most widely used in public clinics. But some private hospital groups also pay their own collective wages. The salaries of senior physicians in the USA are, however, comparable to those of public hospitals. 

carrier	Starting salary	Salary after 7 years
Public (with collective agreement)	7,750 to 8,000 dollars	8,850 to 9,150 dollars
Private (with collective agreement)	7,850 to 8,400 dollars	8,450 to 8,800 dollars

Salary table for the monthly average salary as a senior physician in the clinic (rounded)