You may have grown up thinking that the people who made the most money were either doctors, lawyers, or bankers. And you wouldn’t be wrong: positions in all of those fields made it onto Business Insider‘s list of the highest-paying jobs in the U.S. But did you know that all of the top five jobs were in some way or another related to medicine?
(Photo Credit: Phalinn Ooi/Flickr)
We decided to corroborate BI‘s findings with our own data, so that you can get the best numbers available in understanding just how much green a medical professional really sees.
Here are those top five medical positions:
If you think this is all about turning a few levers and helping people pass out: you’re wrong. There are inherent dangers in a patient having an allergic reaction to the anesthesia, waking up, or being poisoned by too much. It’s a fine line, and that’s why these doctors spend so many years in school training. The payout, according to our data, isn’t unattractive:
Salary Range: $102,920 – $397,420
Entry Level Median Salary: $250,495
2. Surgeon
As a writer with a brother on track to this career, I can’t help but think of the myriad benefits to having a surgeon in the family. Beyond someone who can suture your kids when they have a minor accident, the financial benefits might prove more enticing than most freelancers’ salaries.
Salary Range: $119,628 – $363,096
Entry Level Median Salary: $240,231
3. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon
Well, if you can’t quite make it into your school’s surgery fellowship, at least you can always fall back on Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. These are the folks who can fix both aesthetic and functional aspects of the hard and soft tissue in the aforementioned region of the face. Here’s what they make:
Salary Range: $100,000-$425,000
Entry Level Median Salary: $99,000
4. Obstetrician and Gynecologist (OB/GYN)
As the doctor responsible for the region of the body from which we all genesis, this honorable position deserves a spot on the top five list. Let’s take a look and see how they’re doing on pay day:
Salary Range: $99,935 – $280,822
Entry Level Median Salary: $190,000
5. Orthodontist
As it turns out, there’s more in it for your orthodontist than the pleasure of tightening your brackets and scolding you for not wearing your retainer. The good work that they do to make us pretty has them sitting pretty as well:
Salary Range: $79,168 – $257,132
Entry Level Median Salary: $152,000
Tell Us What You Think
Think we missed an important well-paying medical profession? Tell us your tips and complaints in the comments below, or join the conversation on Twitter!
As a well seasoned physician recruiter, there are many physician jobs that pay more then these. Fon instance,
a Gastroenterologist makes around $400k on average, Orthopedic Surgeons in the real world are making in excess of $450k. These are just two examples, but there are many higher paying than mentioned.
This is great news for Med students. A lot of people should get a career in medicine, it still has a demand.
Simply coming from personal experience of my very own 39+ years, I truly feel that Neurologists ought to also be on that list for having the tremendously soft heart that they do in LISTENING to as many EPILEPTIC patients, such as I was prior to my very own Brain Surgery! (among other types in that field!), in order to not just ‘help, but simply try their very best at UNDERSTANDING,!’ the root causes of our Inner Brain, which is what… Read more »