laker23172

I want to become a doctor but i'm not sure what kind yet. What are the top 10 most rewarded doctors. ( do not include surgeons) rewarded= pay

inlikeflint

I am a practicing physician and I am rewarded every day, and it is not via my paycheck! I live in a malpractice crisis state, practice OB/GYN, and drive a VW bug. Most physicians did not go into the field for the type of rewards you are looking at. And the field of medicine in 5-10 years may be very different than it is today. Four years out from my residency and I traded in my Honda for a BMW. Fast-forward 20 years and things are a bit different, now a VW for me. I love it, the "rewards" now continue, and I wouldn't change a thing. It is the passion, the calling, and that is what will "reward" you.

You want just money, try interventional radiology or interventional/invasive cardiology. They "rake" in the dough in my area. They include some of the unhappiest folks I know. Money can't buy everything.

bluedevilmike

Venture capital, finance, corporate law, malpractice attorneys, investment banking, management consulting...

Do one of these well enough and you'll outearn several doctors combined.

BlueElmo

"They include some of the unhappiest folks I know"

Why is that?

laker23172

inlike flint i understand what your saying you sholud do something because you love it not because of the pay. I like the way you say what you really think. Sorry for being so greedy.

MedRomanian

BDM - ya but what are the chances that you'll do one of those well? There's got to be tons of competition in the fields you mentioned as well and plus success in those fields largely depends on the state of the economy as well - at least becoming a doctor (matriculating into med school) your basically guaranteed a reasonably "rewarding" income that's SECURE (unless your a surgeon or something and you get repeatedly sued) as long as there's sick people around.

bluedevilmike

1.) As for security, that's sort of true now, once malpractice premiums get reined in (which they will, one way or another), for now. But watch for health care reform in the near future which will - among other things - reduce physician compensation. This is a prediction, not a fact, but most health economists are in pretty strong consensus about this.

2.) As for the other jobs I mentioned, they're mostly hard to get into, the same way med school is hard to get into. Once you land your summer internship in them, they're also quite secure, and the expected value is so much higher (esp. per hour) that the additional risk is economically worth it, no question.

*I should clarify. You're right that many fields do depend partly on the business cycle. But if you make a little bit less than a doctor in the bad years and a TON more (think severalfold) in the good years, then that's hardly what I'd call "insecure", relatively speaking. And law, obviously, does not depend on the business cycle.

Being a doctor is a dumb economic move unless you're simply not qualified to go into a business field or medium-to-high caliber law schools. That's not to say it's a bad move at all - it's a very rewarding profession. But financially, it's not the best way to go, period.

Bigredmed

This is just one source, and I think it is LA salaries since it is from the LA Times. I'll post a couple more sources I find.


SPECIALTY
Years 1-2
>3
Max

Allergy/ Immunology
$158,000
$221,000
$487,000

Ambulatory
$ 80,000
$112,000
$152,000

Anesthesiology: Pediatrics
$ 283,000
$311,000
$378,000

Anesthesiology: General
$207,000
$275,000
$448,000

Anesthesiology: Pain Management
$315,000
$370,000
$651,000

Cardiology: Invasive
$258,000
$395,000
$647,000

Cardiology: Interventional
$290,000
$468,000
$811,000

Cardiology: Noninvasive
$268,000
$403,000
$599,000

Critical Care
$187,000
$215,000
$320,000

Dermatology
$ 195,000
$308,000
$452,000

Emergency Medicine
$192,000
$216,000
$295,000

Endocrinology
$171,000
$187,000
$260,000

FP (with OB)
$182,000
$204,000
$241,000

FP (w/o OB)
$161,000
$135,000
$239,000

FP - Sports Medicine
$ 152,000
$208,000
$363,000

FP - Urgent Care
$128,000
$198,000
$299,000

Gastroenterology
$265,000
$349,000
$590,000

Hematology/Oncology
$181,348
$245,000
$685,000

Infectious Disease
$154,000
$178,000
$271,000

Internal Medicine
$154,000
$176,000
$238,000

IM (Hospitalist)
$161,000
$172,000
$245,000

Medicine/Pediatrics
$139,000
$168,000
$271,000

Medical Oncology
$198,000
$257,000
$455,000

Neonatal Medicine
$286,000
$310,000
$381,000

Nephrology
$191,000
$269,000
$447,000

Neurology
$180,000
$228,000
$345,000

Obstetrics/Gynecology
$211,000
$261,000
$417,000

Gynecology
$159,000
$213,000
$358,000

Maternal/Fetal Medicine
$286,000
$322,000
$610,000

Occupational Medicine
$139,000
$185,000
$290,000

Ophthalmology
$138,000
$314,000
$511,000

Ophthalmology Retina
$280,000
$469,000
$716,000

Orthopedic Surgery
$256,000
$342,000
$670,000

ORS - Foot & Ankle
$228,000
$392,000
$791,000

ORS - Hand & Upper Extremities
$288,000
$459,000
$770,000

ORS - Hip & Joint Replacement
$330,000
$491,000
$715,000

ORS - Spine Surgery
$398,000
$670,000
$1,352,000

ORS - Sports Medicine
$266,000
$479,000
$762,000

Otorhinolaryngology
$194,000
$311,000
$516,000

Pathology
$169,000
$321,000
$610,000

Pediatrics
$135,000
$175,000
$271,000

Pediatrics - Cardiology
$145,000
$282,000
$607,000

Pediatrics - Critical Care
$196,000
$259,000
$398,000

Pediatrics - Hematology/Oncology
$182,000
$217,000
$251,000

Pediatrics - Neurology
$175,000
$189,000
$362,000

Physiatry
$169,000
$244,000
$313,000

Podiatry
$128,000
$168,000
$292,000

Psychiatry
$149,000
$169,000
$238,000

Psychiatry - Child and Adolescent
$158,000
$189,000
$265,000

Pulmonary Medicine + Critical Care
$215,000
$288,000
$417,000

Radiation Oncology
$241,000
$385,000
$787,000

Radiology
$201,000
$354,000
$911,000

Rheumatology
$179,000
$229,000
$378,000

Surgery - General
$226,000
$291,000
$520,000

Surgery - Cardiovascular
$336,000
$515,000
$811,000

Surgery - Neurological
$354,000
$541,000
$936,000

Surgery - Plastic
$237,000
$412,000
$820,000

Surgery - Vascular
$270,000
$329,000
$525,000

Urology
$261,000
$358,000
$619,000

SOURCE: Allied Physicians, Inc., Los Angeles Times and Rand McNally

*Updated June, 2006

Bigredmed

Another list:

http://www.cejkasearch.com/compensat...ion_survey.htm

bluedevilmike

These numbers, at least in some cases, are higher than the means I found (for 27708) on salary.com, indicating geographic sensitivity. Obviously, this makes sense. The point is that you should remember that LA has a very high cost of living and insane taxes.

Bigredmed

From the website:
http://www.allied-physicians.com/sal...laries-old.htm


Allied Physicians Survey 2000

Physician Specialties Average Base Starting
National Average
Average base $145,000
Starting $130,000

Cardiology - Invasive
$216,000
$195,000

Cardiology - Non Invasive
$195,000
$175,000

Family Practice
$136,000
$124,000

Hematology/Oncology
$161,000
$122,000

Internal Medicine
$236,000
$149,000

Neurology
$167,000
$131,000

Obstetrics/Gynecology
$324,000
$230,000

Occupational Medicine
$152,000
$128,000

Pediatrics
$136,000
$123,000

Psychiatry
$185,000
$135,000

Physiatry
$136,000
$119,000

Pulmonary
$179,000
$149,000

Radiology
$193,000
$162,000

Rheumatology
$154,000
$135,000

Surgery/Orthopedics
$286,000
$224,000

Urology
$227,000
$190,000

Physician Assistant
$67,000
$60,000




The following are specialties and information on compensation from a number of sources:


Anesthesiology
$223,082
$228,000
$213,400
$201,000
$262,327
$190,000
NA
$162,500
$180,690
$193,612
$203,326

Cardiology
$252,098
NA
$204,200
$205,900
$262,057
$182,000
$227,921
$150,000
$186,986
$198,045
$207,690

Emergency Medicine
$171,789
$171,000
$162,800
$128,300
$174,775
$150,00
NA
$150,000
$152,000
$154,911
$157,286

Family Practice
$126,574
$116,800
$125,600
$120,000
$132,578
$129,000
$126,957
$100,000
$126,838
$121,905
$122,625

General Surgery
$206,411
$232,700
$198,500
$164,400
$223,764
$169,000
$213,960
$150,000
$168,292
$175,703
$190,273

Internal Medicine
$134,897
$147,300
$131,200
$113,000
$141,129
$130,000
$131,205
$100,000
$126,840
$118,086
$127,366

Neurology
$162,250
NA
$147,600
$144,000
$188,765
$166,000
NA
$125,000
$134,417
$126,436
$149,309

Obstetrics/Gynecology
$219,829
$221,900
$209,700
$200,000
$231,565
NA
$214,081
$180,000
$193,000
$184,200
$204,752

Oncology
$192,055
NA
$170,700
$155,400
$229,184
$166,000
NA
$120,000
$213,731
$142,171
$173,655

Pathology
$202,486
$197,300
$173,600
$150,000
$210,070
$200,000
NA
$130,000
$150,761
$161,215
$175,048

Pediatrics
$130,380
$135,400
$126,900
$110,600
$135,000
$120,000
$120,357
$100,000
$117,053
$121,213
$121,776

Psychiatry
$163,446
$171,300
$167,400
$180,000
$168,123
$199,000
$135,682
$180,000
$173,446
$124,465
$138,267

Radiology
$238,648
NA
$219,100
$177,714
$291,251
$175,000
$213,316
$140,000
$189,723
NA
$209,150

bluedevilmike

Whoa - those are some huge standard errors.

Anesthesiology 27843.44921
Cardiology 33103.05886
Emergency Medicine 14385.91539
Family Practice 8682.706534
General Surgery 26926.20731
Internal Medicine 13120.78849
Neurology 20523.81036
Obstetrics/Gynecology 16780.66301
Oncology 34093.24158
Pathology 26950.92187
Pediatrics 10428.7754
Psychiatry 22214.2888
Radiology 43230.08027

Bigredmed

Yes, it becomes very clear that physician salaries vary widely. Considering the differences between geography, the sheer number of practice options, and benefit packages, this shouldn't be a surprise.

Of particular importance for those looking for the "most" money, realize that unlike almost any other profession, doctors are needed EVERYWHERE, even places where people don't want to practice. In order to lure people there, money is used to get MD's to places like North Dakota, where the cost of living is not that great. While your paycheck may not be as large as someone living in LA, but your money will go much farther, allowing you to live far richer than you might otherwise.

For example, a good friend of mine starting at KU school of medicine this fall, her parents live in Hutchinson KS, where her dad is a family practice doc. They live in an amazing house with an indoor pool, on the Prairie Dunes Golf Course which hosted the 2002 US Women's Open (#24 course in America according to Golf Digest). Her parents and all their doctor friends are pillars of the community. It's not even a question that he would earn more in a larger city, but it likely wouldn't make up for the difference in the cost of living...

laker23172

thank you big red and blue devil for providing these stats !

bluedevilmike

By the way, somebody gave me a pack of gum yesterday labelled "Big Red", and I couldn't help but think of CC. I think I'm spending too much time on these boards...