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What Other Factors Should You Consider?
How Can Locum Tenens Help with Salary?

As a physician, deciding which specialty you want to choose can be a big decision. While it’s important to consider what interests you—for example, do you like working with children, or are you fascinated by the human brain and how it works—it’s also important to consider how much you will earn.

According to the 2021 Medscape Physician Compensation Report, physician salaries by specialty break down as follows:

Specialty	Compensation
Plastic surgery	$526,000
Orthopedics and orthopedic surgery	$511,000
Cardiology	$459,000
Urology	$427,000
Otolaryngology	$417,000
Radiology	$413,000
Gastroenterology	$406,000
Oncology	$403,000
Dermatology	$394,000
Ophthalmology	$379,000
Anesthesiology	$378,000
Surgery, general	$373,000
Critical care	$366,000
Emergency medicine	$354,000
Pulmonary medicine	$333,000
Pathology	$316,000
Ob/gyn and women’s health	$312,000
Nephrology	$311,000
Physical medicine and rehabilitation	$300,000
Neurology	$290,000
Rheumatology	$276,000
Psychiatry	$275,000
Allergy and immunology	$274,000
Internal medicine	$248,000
Infectious diseases	$245,000
Diabetes and endocrinology	$245,000
Public health and preventive medicine	$237,000
Family medicine	$236,000
Pediatrics	$221,000

Between October 2020 and February 2021, Medscape surveyed about 18,000 physicians across nearly 30 specialties for their compensation report. Not only did they look at salary, but they looked at job satisfaction and challenges, hours worked, and impact due to COVID-19. So it is important to note that some of these salaries may have been affected by the pandemic. There may have been a decrease in elective procedures, or an increase in cosmetic procedures due to constant video meetings, according to Medscape.

Physicians may have also seen fewer patients or worked fewer hours during the pandemic—nearly 13% of physicians surveyed said they had months where they earned no income. More than a third of primary care physicians and specialists (39% and 42%, respectively) said they expect their income to return to pre-COVID levels in the next year, while 43% of PCPs and 41% of specialists said they expect it to take two to three years for their income to return to normal.

What Other Factors Should You Consider?

In addition to considering salary, you may also want to look at the supply and demand for your chosen specialty. According to new data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the U.S. is facing an estimated shortage of 37,800 to 124,000 physicians by 2034.

Specialty	Shortage range
Primary care (family medicine, general pediatrics, geriatric medicine)	17,800 to 48,000
Non-primary care specialties	21,000 to 77,100
Surgical specialties	15,800 to 30,2000
Medical specialties	3,800 to 13,400
Other specialties	10,300 to 35,600

Part of the reason for these shortages is that a large portion of the physician workforce is nearing retirement age, according to the AAMC. Not only that, but nearly half of practicing physicians felt burnt out at least once a week prior to the pandemic—and that burnout is likely to have increased since the pandemic.

Salary can also vary based on geographical location. According to Medscape’s compensation report, the top-earning states for physicians were:

State	Salary
Alabama	$348,000
Kentucky	$340,000
Oklahoma	$338,000
Indiana	$337,000
Missouri	$332,000

The lowest-earning states were:

State	Salary
Oregon	$304,000
Connecticut	$303,000
Massachusetts	$300,000
New York	$298,000
Minnesota	$296,000

How Can Locum Tenens Help with Salary?

If your chosen specialty doesn’t quite meet your preferred salary range, fear not. Taking on locum tenens assignments can help you earn more, especially if you live in or are willing to travel to an area that has a shortage of your particular specialty. You can take on as much or as little work as you want to meet your income goals. Conversely, you may decide to become a full-time locum tenens provider. Whichever path or specialty you are leaning towards, be sure to weigh the pros and cons first to make sure everything aligns with your goals and values.

Ready to begin your locum tenens career with Barton Associates? Take a look at our open jobs or fill out the form and one of our representatives will reach out to you!

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What Physician Specialties Pay the Best