While many physicians specialize in a field of medicine that they’re passionate about, others choose their residency program based on salary potential. Considering the exorbitant costs of college and medical school, plus the salaries that residents make, that’s understandable.
Fortunately, med school graduates can follow their passion and follow the money at the same time.
How?
By doing additional training and sub-specializing in a narrower field.
If you’re considering a top-paying medical career in an area such as cardiology, surgery, or anesthesiology, here are seven high-paying subspecialties to consider going into after medical school.
Plastic Surgery
Plastic surgery is a surgical subspecialty, but there are so many intricate facets of this practice that it has subspecialties of its own. The average plastic surgery salary is $619k per year, but you can increase your salary by specializing in cosmetic surgery, hand surgery, cranio-maxillofacial surgery, or reconstructive surgery.
Plastic surgeons spend six years in residency training, and many go on to pursue a fellowship for an additional year or two.
Interventional Cardiology
Cardiologists are some of the highest paid physicians, earning an average of $507k per year. Interventional cardiologists earn even more.
Interventional cardiologists perform coronary interventions, such as cardiac catheterizations and stent implantation, that can eliminate the need for more invasive cardiac surgeries. For the specialized work they do, they can earn a starting salary of $527k or more.
To become an interventional cardiologist, you’ll need to complete three years of an internal medicine residency followed by three years of a general cardiology fellowship. An additional one year of an interventional cardiology fellowship is also required.
Obstetric Anesthesiology
Obstetric anesthesiologists specialize in providing pain management during labor and administering anesthesia during cesarean births. While general anesthesiologists earn an average of $448k per year, obstetric anesthesiologists earn more than $580k, making it the highest paying subspecialty in the field.
To work in this subspecialty, one or two years of fellowship training is required after completing residency.
If you’re not interested in working in obstetrics, adult cardiac anesthesiology and pediatric anesthesiology are also viable, high-paying subspecialties.
It’s important to note that some of the work that general anesthesiologists do can be performed by CRNAs who earn significantly lower salaries. Because it’s more cost-effective for hospital networks to hire CRNAs, specializing in a particular area of anesthesiology can give you an advantage when searching for a job.
Read this article to learn more about the differences and distinctions between anesthesiologists and CRNAs.
Interventional Radiology
With an average annual salary of $483,000, radiologists are an important part of many patients’ healthcare teams. Specialize in interventional radiology and you can earn $500k per year or more.
Interventional radiologists do much more than read imaging tests and screens. They perform a wide variety of procedures, including carotid stenting, angioplasty, liver biopsy, and varicose vein ablation.
Residency for interventional radiology takes six years, which includes four years in a diagnostic radiology program followed by a two year fellowship.
Radiation Oncology
The average salary for an oncologist in the U.S. is $463k per year, but radiation oncologists make up to $780k for their expertise.
Like medical oncologists, radiation oncologists treat cancer, but they do so with radiation therapy as opposed to medication and chemotherapy. Radiation therapy uses gamma rays and X-rays to treat cancerous tissues in the body, making it an effective treatment that doesn’t require invasive, surgical options.
Radiation oncology is its own residency program, and it takes five years to complete with the option to do further fellowship training upon completion.
Orthopedic Spine Surgery
If you’re interested in becoming an orthopedic surgeon, you’ll earn an average of $573k per year. But the highest paid pros in this specialty are those that focus on the spine.
Orthopedic spine surgeons earn an average of approximately $750k per year and focus specifically on disorders that affect the spine, such as scoliosis, sciatica, and degenerative discs. Training includes four years in an orthopedic surgery residency plus an internship year for a total of five years in residency. Fellowships are optional.
Glaucoma Ophthalmology
The average ophthalmologist’s salary is approximately $388k per year, but you can earn slightly more by specializing in glaucoma treatment.
Training consists of three years in an ophthalmology residency program followed by at least one to two years in a glaucoma fellowship. With the aging population plus a large number of retiring physicians, ophthalmologists are in high demand.
In Conclusion
No matter what area of medicine interests you, there are subspecialties that you can study to earn an even higher salary and access even greater job opportunities throughout your career.
The idea of doing an additional year or two in residency or fellowship training doesn’t appeal to every med student, and it’s understandable why. Just keep in mind that an extra year or two in training can net you tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars more over the duration of your career.
