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
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