Doctors are so rich.
Right?
Well, it depends on the specialty.
A plastic surgeon and general practitioner are both doctors, but one makes much more
than the other.
In this video, we’ll go over the best paid specialties.
What’s going on guys, Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.
While the money should absolutely not be a primary reason for you to go into medicine,
let’s be real, it is an important factor.
After all, we wouldn’t pursue being a career as a doctor if it only paid $50,000 per year and came
with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
That’s just not a smart move..
That being said, I would argue that the salary of each specialty should not sway your decision
in which specialty to pursue.
It’s simply not nearly as important as finding a good fit in doing something that you love.
It doesn’t matter if you are making half a million dollars per year as a plastic surgeon if you can't stand the operating room.
I have additional thoughts on choosing a specialty in another video.
First, let’s set a frame of reference with
the average physician salaries overall.
If you took all the doctors in the United States and averaged their salaries, it would
come out close to $299,000.
That’s not bad.
Subdividing that group further, you’ll notice that primary care physicians average a much
lower $223,000 per year, and specialists average $329,000 per year.
Here’s the good news for doctors: physician income overall has been steadily rising over
the past 7 years.
One reason is the fundamental economic principle of supply and demand.
However, it should be noted that their rate of salary growth slow and steady, very much
unlike hospital administrator salaries, but that’s a topic for another video.
It’s important to note that the average salary of each specialty changes year to year.
In this last year, psychiatrists’ average salary increased by a whopping 16%, in large
part owed to the increased demand for psychiatrists in recent years.
Other specialties that have seen significant increases in compensation include plastic
surgery at 14%, PM&R at 13%, and oncology at 10%.
So Which Doctors Make the Most?
This year, plastic surgery topped the list at an average of $501,000 per year.
Orthopedic surgery trailed closely in second with $497,000 and cardiology in third with
$423,000.
None of these surveys are perfect.
The data I’m using comes from the Medscape 2018 survey of physicians.
There are other surveys out there, with similar but slightly different results.
In recent years, you’ll notice that a handful of specialties consistently perform at the
top in terms of compensation.
Those top 5 specialties include neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, cardiology,
and gastroenterology.
So what do neurosurgery, plastics, orthopedics,
cardiology, and gastroenterology have in common that results in such high salaries?
It comes down to one key thing: procedures.
The way the current healthcare system works in the U.S., procedures are compensated quite
handsomely.
On the flip side, you’ll notice that the 5 lowest compensated specialties are not
procedurally focused.
Does that mean you should pursue a specialty that is procedure heavy?
Not based on salary alone.
I personally love working with my hands and I love precise, meticulous attention to detail, which
is why I matched into plastic surgery.
But if you don’t love working with your hands, you’d be miserable doing any form
of surgery.
Now, there are several other factors beyond specialty
choice that can significantly sway the average compensation of a doctor.
A huge one is location.
In this year’s survey, Indiana, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Wisconsin, and Nevada topped
the list as the top-earning states for doctors.
States like New York and California are much lower on the list, even though both California
and New York have much higher average costs of living.
So what gives?
Again, it’s a matter of supply and demand.
Lots of doctors want to live in California, since it’s obviously the best state in the
U.S., in my totally unbiased opinion, and therefore there’s relatively more supply of doctors than demand.
As a result, hospitals can pay doctors less than if they were in, say, Wisconsin.
Because fewer doctors are eager to work in less populated areas like Wisconsin or Oklahoma,
hospitals need to pay a higher salary to attract talent there.
Simple economics at play.
The second factor is practice type.
Self-employed physicians, meaning private practice docs, on average make substantially
more than employed physicians.
This has held true for decades, although private practice is less appealing than it was 10
years ago.
Again, your decision shouldn’t be based on just the money.
Private practice usually comes with the significant added headache of handling the business side
of things, and you can expect to be working harder hours than if you were employed.
Unfortunately, there are factors outside of
your control, including race, gender, and age that factor into your compensation.
However, this is a topic for another video.
Do you think that the top earners would be the most likely to choose their specialty
again?
The correlation is there, but it is not as strong as you think.
Orthopedic surgery and plastic surgery topped the list, just as they do with average salaries,
but radiologists and oncologists also seem quite happy with their decision, despite having
significantly lower salaries.
Again, money isn’t everything, and it’s important you find a specialty you love.
Getting into one of these top paying specialties is insanely competitive, and you need to have
the strongest of applications to make it.
That’s where Med School Insides comes in.
We do much more than just make insanely helpful YouTube videos.
We have an entire team of top doctors who have excelled in plastic surgery, dermatology,
orthopedic surgery, and several more specialties.
They understand what it takes, because not only did they do it, but they even served
on admissions committees at top medical schools and residencies.
If you’re serious about maximizing your chances of acceptance and becoming the best
doctor that you can be, visit MedSchoolInsiders.com.
So what sets us apart from other companies?
Our team spent months creating a proprietary systematic approach that guarantees the best
results every time.
That means that, with us, you never have to worry about getting unlucky or getting a bad advisor.
And we don’t do cookie cutter approaches – just as we advocate here on YouTube, each
individual is unique, and to be the best doctor that you can be requires much more than just checking
all the boxes.
For you, ultimately, that means less variability and uncertainty with our services, and much more of
what you actually want: awesome service with awesome results.
From MCAT or Step 1 tutoring to personal statement editing and advising, we’ve got you covered.
For a limited time, use the coupon code YOUTUBEJAN for $30 off your purchase.
That is it for this video, thank you all so much for watching.
If you liked the video, please press that like button, and if you weren’t a fan, let me
know with a thumbs down.
New videos every Saturday morning that you won't want to miss!
Make sure you’re subscribed and have that notification bell enabled.
And I will see you guys in that next one.