How Much Do Doctors Make and How Do They Feel About It?

Doctors still make quite a good living these days, although almost half feel underpaid. That feeling depends on the specialty though according to Medscape Compensation Report 2016. Medscape surveyed nearly 20,000 physicians across 26 specialties in their annual report. Here’s what they found:

Doctors’ average earnings ranged from $204,000 to $443,000.

The highest paid specialties were:

Orthopedics - $443,000 Cardiology - $410,000 Dermatology - $381,000 Gastroenterology - $380,000 Radiology - $375,000 Urology - $367,000

The lowest paid specialties were:

Pediatrics - $204,000 Endocrinology - $206,000 Family Medicine - $207,000 Infectious Disease - $215,000 Allergy - $222,000 Internal Medicine - $220,000

The physicians who felt the most fairly compensated were in these fields:

Dermatology - 66% Pathology - 63% Emergency Medicine - 60% Psychiatry - 58% Radiology - 58%

The physicians who felt the least fairly compensated were in these fields:

Urology - 42% Allergy - 43% Endocrinology - 43% Orthopedics/Ophthalmology/Nephrology/Rheumatology - 44%

These numbers are obviously only part of the story as evidenced in The Deceptive Salary of Doctors and Why Many Doctors Live Paycheck to Paycheck.

However, what can we take away from this?

It pays to specialize in certain fields, but that doesn’t guarantee you won’t feel underpaid.

For more articles by Passive Income M.D., visit his website or find more of his articles on Physician's Money Digest here.