earnings survey

[Guest guest]

I would strongly encourage all practitioners on this list to go to

http://www.payscale.com and enter your data under the occupation

acupuncturist. It is unlikely that any large vested interest in the

profession will ever undertake such a survey, so the only way we ever

have a modicum of truth on this matter is if we take it into our own

hands. Currently, there are only 147 entries for acupuncturist.

However, between the combined memberships of this list and the

traditional chinese medicine list, perhaps we could add 1000 more.

While you might want to prove me wrong for any number of reasons,

there are a number of self-serving reasons to provide accurate

information in this survey.

 

1. Don't you really want to know where you stand? You know what you

actually earn (and we are talking about net income here—the low

figure you actually report to the IRS—not gross income, the number

many people use when trying to sell their practices).

 

2. An accurate figure may be useful for things like negotiating

insurance fees and reimbursement rates, building leases, and loan

repayment. (The current congress may be sympathetic to the plight of

those who have overpaid for their education only to receive meager

compensation in the market—there is already talk of dramatically

lowering interest rates, relaxing consolidation rules, and providing

alternative repayment schemes, such as working in underserved markets

for loan forgiveness. The more data congress has from various

profession, the more likely this is going to pass over the objections

of the banking industry.)

 

3. If the profession looks more lucrative than it actually is, that

will play into the marketing strategies of schools. This will mean

more competition for the same size pie.

 

4. If you sell books, herbs, or other products, and/or teach at a

college or on the lecture circuit, you may have some incentive to

misrepresent this data to protect your vested interests. But in the

long term, aren't you also better off having accurate market research

to base your decisions on?

 

 

 

Chinese Herbs