Chaaaaa-ching, it’s time to turn that white coat into some green with the 20 medical specialties that make the most money. How gross! The idea that people aren’t saints and, in fact, want to make money rather than just help people, it’s not a nice thought, I think. Then I look at my rent bill.
Maybe money doesn’t make the world go round, like the saying goes. But money definitely DOES talk. And to me, it usually says “you don’t have any of me!” But if you are a doctor it probably says something else, maybe your money is super fancy and it even speaks French. I wouldn’t know. What I do know is that you can make even more of it as a doctor doing certain specialties.
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Just what are those 20 medical specialties that make the most money? Well, have we got the list for you. You may also be interested in the 10 Most Competitive Residency Programs in the US. Coming out of a great program is another way to make even more money as a doctor. And why be rich when you could be filthy rich? (Sorry, had to pause to clean up for a second. Writing that sentence just made me barf.)
Medicine is one of the most difficult and important sciences which is requiring dedicated work, deep knowledge and experience. In order to diagnose, treat and cure a patient you need to be a specialist in the field you are working so that you will provide the patient with the best treatment. In order to create our list, we took the annual earnings using The Atlantic and Forbes as our sources.
We found which fields are medical specialties and how much they are earning averagely every year. After we had found the specialties, we sorted the list by their average annual earnings, starting from the lowest to the highest paid specialty. Keep in mind that the list contains only specialties (not the sub-specialties!). Please enjoy the 20 medical specialties that make the most money.
20. Nephrology
Average annual wage: $306,302
Nephrology is a medical specialty in which doctors are specializing in kidney care; they diagnose, treat and cure kidney diseases. They are also dealing with people who have a problem with high blood pressure and some kind of metabolism disorder. If you have some kind of kidney problem you need to contact a nephrologist because if one disease isn’t cured on time it can become very dangerous and even fatal for a human life. Nephrologists need to have deep knowledge of medicine in order to provide their patients with the best medical treatment.
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19. Obstetrics and gynecology
Average annual wage: $315,295
Obstetricians and gynecologists are providing medical care to patients during pregnancy and childbirth. They also diagnose, treat and help patients in order to prevent diseases which could affect the reproductive system. Obstetricians and gynecologists may also provide general medical care to women. This profession is requiring extreme care and knowledge because overall they are helping women to bring another life and if they don’t know how to react and behave in a certain moment during complications the results could be fatal. This is why this medical specialty is well paid and found its way on our list.
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18. Emergency medicine
Average annual wage: $320,419
Emergency medicine is also one of the most paid specialties because it treats people who need help immediately. People who are working in the emergency medicine department are called emergency physicians and they are dealing with people who are in life-threatening conditions. Their primary job is, when a patient is brought into the emergency room to stabilize their condition and then refer them to another department, which can help them recover. Emergency physicians are often working together with people from another department in order to give the patient the needed help in the right moment. This specialty is extremely hard and people who are working here need to be ready at any moment.
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17. Pulmonology
Average annual wage: $321,000
A pulmonologist is a physician who has specialized knowledge and skills to diagnose and treat lung conditions and diseases. Pulmonology is the study of the lungs and respiratory tract and the issues affecting them. In this day and age of contaminated air and prevailing smoking habits, pulmonologists are quite needed.
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16. Oncology
Average annual wage: $341,701
Medical specialists who practice oncology are also called “cancer specialists.” Today, oncologists have a very important role in the world because more and more people every day are being diagnosed with cancer. Oncologists are people who are helping their patients by diagnosing cancer, staging cancer, and determining the aggressive nature of it. Oncology and research of cancer also involve screening the general population, or people who are related to a person who was diagnosed with cancer, because often the predisposition to cancer is inherited.
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15. Ophthalmology
Average annual wage: $343,144
Ophthalmology is one branch of the medicine which is related to diagnosing, treating and prevention of diseases of the eye and visual system and it is one of the 20 medical specialties that make the most money. The eye is very sensitive and could be affected by a number of clinical conditions, that is why ophthalmology is involving diagnosis, therapy for such conditions as well as microsurgeries if needed. An ophthalmologist is a medically trained doctor who spent more than 10 years studying hard in order to provide his patients with the needed help. The people who are most at risk are those who are older than 65 years, because their visual system is becoming weaker and they need professional care.
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14. Colorectal surgeons
Average annual wage: $343,277
Doctors who are working in the medical specialty field colorectal surgery are dealing with disorders of the rectum, colon, and anus, and they are called colorectal surgeons. A long time ago, this medical field was known as proctology and the latter term is still used in medicine. Because of the hard work, the colorectal surgeons are earning a pretty high salary on the annual level, which means the long years of studying are paying off.
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13. Anesthesiology
Average annual wage: $357,116
The anesthesiologists give patients a general or local anesthetic before or after surgery. However, this is not only what they do, anesthesiologists also stay during surgery to monitor the patient’s blood pressure, temperature, heart rhythm, the level of consciousness and the amount of oxygen in the blood. Anesthesiologists are the ones who need to keep a patient safe and comfortable during surgery. You may think this is easy, but in order to be an anesthesiologist, you need to have a great deal of education and expertise.
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12. General surgery
Average annual wage: $360,993
We are continuing our list of medical specialties that make the most money with general surgery that is a medical specialty that is focused on the stomach, particularly diseases or issues affecting the abdominal contents and esophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver, colon, bile ducts, small bowel, as well as the thyroid gland. General surgeons are often dealing with diseases which involve the skin, breasts, hernias, trauma and peripheral vascular surgery. Any surgery, whether is simple or complicated is dangerous and one bad move can lead to serious damage to the patient or even be fatal. This is why general surgeons spend years studying and gaining experience in order to become specialists.
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11. Hematology
Average annual wage: $376,660
You already know that hematologists make great money, but do you know what they do? Hematology is one branch of medicine which is practiced by well-educated specialists who deal with the diagnosis, treatment, and management of people who have blood disorders. The hematologists are dealing with people who have anemia to those who have blood cancer. In order to cure their patients and give them the needed medications and treatment, hematologists need to have deep knowledge of this medical specialty. Because of their hard work and effort, they are earning a great salary, but we can’t say it is undeserved.
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10. Dermatology
Average annual wage: $400,898
A dermatologist ranks 10th in our list of medical specialties that make the most money. It is a person you need to consult immediately if you have some problem with your skin. Dermatologists are people who are dealing with and helping people who have significant problems with their skin, hair, and nails as well. The skin is the largest and the most visible organ of the human body thus the most vulnerable as well. Sooner or later, unfortunately almost every person has some problem with their skin. There are periods when you have problems with skin, like acne during the teenage day,s and there are also serious diseases, like skin cancer, which needs to be treated asap.
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9. Plastic surgery
Average annual wage: $407,709
Plastic surgery is a process of reconstructing or repairing some parts of the body by the transfer of tissue. This treatment can be required because of some serious injury, a birth defect, or cosmetic reasons, either way, it is a serious undertaking and plastic surgeons need to be very careful while they are doing their job.
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8. Otolaryngology
Average annual wage: $412,000
In the 8th place of our list of 20 medical specialties that make the most money is otolaryngology, which is one of the oldest medical specialties in the world. People who specialize in this medical specialty are diagnosing, treating and helping patients prevent a serious disease of the ear, nose, and throat. Also, they are helping their patients with related structures of the head and neck. This kind of specialists are often called ENTs.
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7. Radiation oncology
Average annual wage: $418,228
Radiation oncologists rank 7th in our list of medical specialties that make the most money. They have a very important job. They need to have deep knowledge of medicine because they are working with radiation and vulnerable people who just survived one of the worst diseases. A radiation oncologist is helping people by curing cancer with radiation therapy, which is also called radiotherapy. Radiation oncologists are working with other specialists close especially surgeons but medical oncologists and palliative care physicians as well. They work as a team in order to understand the condition of the patient better and help them recover as soon as possible.
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6. Gastroenterology
Average annual wage: $433,000
Up next in our list of medical specialties that make the most money is gastroenterology that is the study of normal function and diseases of the stomach, esophagus, colon and rectum, small intestine, bile ducts, liver, and pancreas. A successful gastroenterologist needs to understand the normal function of these organs in order to diagnose, treat, and cure them with the right medicine, quickly and effectively. Gastroenterologists study more than 10 years in order to get the needed knowledge to help people with diseases related to liver and the gastrointestinal tract. In addition to that, they need to have expertise after studying in order to help better. This is why gastroenterologists have a high paycheck, their effort is paying off.
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5. Cardiology (invasive and non-invasive)
Average annual wage: $454,000
Cardiology that ranks 5th in our list of medical specialties that make the most money is a medical specialty from which cardiologists earn a pretty penny. There is invasive and non-invasive cardiology and because of the two branches, we decided to calculate the average annual wage from both and insert it on our list. The invasive cardiologists are experienced in routine heart catheterization, electrophysiology studies, emergent angioplasty, permanent pacemakers among other procedures while non-invasive cardiologists are preventing cardiovascular diseases. They are helping to make a difference in people’s lives by leading them to do tests, diagnosis, needed treatment in order to recover. The average annual wage for invasive cardiologists is between $512,000 while the average annual wage for non-invasive cardiologists is $396,000.
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4. Urology
Average annual wage: $461,000
Urology ranks 4th in our list of medical specialties that make the most money. It is the branch of the medicine in which doctors are diagnosing, threatening and curing the urinary system. Urologists are curing the urinary tract in both men and women and they are treating and curing the reproductive tract in men. Also, urologists can perform surgeries. The surgery may be simple or complicated, from opening a blockage in the urinary system to removing cancer.
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3. Thoracic surgery
Average annual wage: $471,137
We are continuing our list of medical specialties that make the most money with thoracic surgeons that are treating lung cancers, esophageal cancer, chest wall tumors, performing chest reconstruction after an injury, lung transplantation for end-stage diseases of the lung and other complicated surgeries which require deep knowledge of medicine and years of experience. Thoracic surgeons need to work in a team to provide a patient with the best healthcare.
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2. Orthopedic
Average annual wage: $535,668
People who specialize in this medical branch are called orthopedic surgeons and they are dealing with people who have problems and diseases in bones, muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons, skin, and nerves. All of these elements are making the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons that rank second in our list of medical specialties that make the most money are diagnosing, treating and curing the musculoskeletal system providing the patients with great healthcare, and the needed therapy as well as medications, enabling that way fast recovery. They are treating their patients trough surgeries and use of corrective medical devices.
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1. Neurosurgery
Average annual wage: $609,639
On top of our list of medical specialties that make the most money is the medical specialty neurosurgery. In order to become a neurosurgeon, you need to study more than 10 years and gain years of experience. Neurosurgeons perform surgeries of the nervous system especially on the brain and the spinal cord. This kind of surgeries are extremely dangerous and one wrong move could have permanent consequences to patient’s health. This is why neurosurgeons are making the most money and we can’t say they are not deserving the big paycheck.
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This was our list of 20 medical specialties that make the most money. Keep in mind that the annual wage is average and can vary from one country to another.
