Physicians & Surgery

The doctors who diagnose illness and the surgeons who operate, plus the people who work right beside them.

Top pay: highest pay, longest training

• Family Medicine Physician: Treats patients of every age for everyday illnesses, checkups, and long-term conditions. Typical pay $240k.
• Pediatrician: Cares for babies, kids, and teenagers, from newborn checkups to childhood illnesses. Typical pay $210k.
• Internal Medicine Physician: Diagnoses and manages complex adult illnesses, often as the main doctor for hospitalized patients. Typical pay $255k.
• General Surgeon: Operates on the abdomen, skin, and soft tissue: appendixes, gallbladders, hernias, trauma, and cancers. Typical pay $340k.
• Orthopedic Surgeon: Fixes bones, joints, and ligaments, from torn ACLs to hip replacements. Typical pay $450k.
• Neurosurgeon: Operates on the brain, spine, and nerves: tumors, aneurysms, and spinal injuries. Typical pay $600k.
• Cardiologist: Diagnoses and treats heart and blood vessel disease. Typical pay $430k.
• Dermatologist: Treats skin, hair, and nail conditions and catches skin cancers early. Typical pay $400k.
• Obstetrician-Gynecologist: Cares for women's reproductive health, pregnancy, and childbirth. Typical pay $310k.
• Pathologist: The 'doctor's doctor' who diagnoses disease by studying tissue, blood, and cells under a microscope. Typical pay $300k.
• Forensic Pathologist: Performs autopsies to figure out how and why someone died, often for police and courts. Typical pay $250k.
• Physician Assistant: Diagnoses illness, prescribes medicine, and even assists in surgery as part of a physician-led team. Typical pay $133k.
• Sports Medicine Physician: Treats injuries and keeps athletes, from high schoolers to pros, healthy enough to compete. Typical pay $270k.
• Palliative Care Physician: Relieves pain and suffering for people with serious illnesses and helps families make hard decisions. Typical pay $260k.
• Flight Surgeon / Aerospace Medicine Physician: Keeps pilots and astronauts medically fit to fly and studies how the body handles altitude, G-forces, and space. Typical pay $220k.
• Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon: Rebuilds and reshapes the body after injury, cancer, burns, or birth defects, and does cosmetic surgery. Typical pay $450k.
• Medical Oncologist: Treats cancer with chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted drugs. Typical pay $400k.
• Reproductive Endocrinologist: A physician who helps people who are struggling to have children, using treatments like IVF. Typical pay $350k.
• Locum Tenens Physician: Doctor who fills temporary gaps at hospitals and clinics around the country, working a few weeks or months at a time. Typical pay $320k.
• Independent Medical Examiner: Doctor hired by insurers, courts or disability programs to examine injured people and give a neutral opinion on their condition. Typical pay $250k.
• Medical Review Officer: Doctor who reviews positive workplace drug tests, checking for legitimate prescriptions before a result goes to the employer. Typical pay $220k.
• Concierge Physician: Primary care doctor who charges patients a monthly or yearly fee for unhurried visits, same-day access and a direct phone line. Typical pay $280k.

Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship

• Physician Liaison: Builds relationships between a hospital or practice and the doctors who refer patients to it. Typical pay $72k.
• Resident Physician: A new doctor in paid, supervised training after medical school, learning a specialty in a hospital. Typical pay $70k.
• Ambulatory Care Nurse: Registered nurse who works in doctors' offices and outpatient clinics. Typical pay $85k.

Starter: fastest way in

• Orthopedic Technologist: Applies casts, splints, and braces and assists orthopedic surgeons in clinic. Typical pay $48k.
• Medical Assistant: Takes vitals, preps patients, gives shots, and keeps a doctor's office running. Typical pay $44k.
• Medical Scribe: Follows a doctor and types up each patient visit in real time so the doctor can focus on the patient. Typical pay $37k.
• Surgical Coordinator: Schedules surgeries for a physician practice and gets patients ready for the big day. Typical pay $46k.

Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.