Physician compensation declined in 2022. Here are the highest-paid specialties
Physicians are facing a tough environment in 2023. After years of flat payments, physicians will see a 2% Medicare payment cut this year, adding to the already challenging financial conditions of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The payment changes have impacted how physicians feel about the healthcare industry, with many reassessing their careers in the field. Some are even considering new careers outside of medicine in order to find better work-life balance and greater autonomy.
Those feelings may be compounded by the fact that physician compensation declined by 2.4% in 2022, according to a study by Doximity. That’s compared to a 3.8% increase in compensation in 2021. According to the study, which is based on survey results with responses from more 190,000 U.S. doctors over six years and more than 31,000 full-time U.S. physicians in 2022, physician salaries have not kept up with the recent high rates of inflation. In addition, some specialties are linked to significantly higher compensation than others.
Here are the 15 specialties with the highest compensation in 2022:
- Neurosurgery - $788,313
- Thoracic surgery - $706,775
- Orthopaedic surgery - $624,043
- Plastic surgery - $571,373
- Vascular surgery - $557,632
- Oral and maxillofacial surgery - $556,642
- Radiation oncology - $547,026
- Cardiology - $544,201
- Urology - $505,745
- Radiology - $503,564
- Gastroenterology - $496,667
- Otolaryngology (ENT) - $488,536
- Dermatology - $468,509
- Anesthesiology - $462,506
- General surgery - $451,489
While compensation declined for physicians overall in 2022, emergency medicine specialists saw their compensation grow an average of 6.2% during the year, up to $385,554. According to the study, that’s “a likely result of the continued demand for emergency healthcare services.” By comparison, preventative medicine is the only speciality to appear on the list in both 2021 and 2022, though with compensation growth rates of 4% in 2022 compared to 12.6% in 2021.
The survey also looked at the gender pay gap, revealing that there were no specialities where women earned the same or more as men in 2022.
“All specialties had gender pay gaps over 10% with the exceptions of Pediatric Cardiology, which had a pay gap of 9.2%, and Nuclear Medicine, which had a gap of 3%,” the study reported.
Here are the five physician specialties with the lowest average annual compensation
- Pediatric Endocrinology - $281,266
- Pediatric infectious disease - $221,126
- Pediatric rheumatology - $226,186
- Pediatric hematology and oncology - $237,005
- Pediatric nephrology - $238,208
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."