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Ranking the Top Physician Jobs in America
Do you have the best job in America? Perhaps not … but your Physician Assistant comes awfully close. Physician Assistants came in second-place in a ranking of the “Top 100 Best Jobs in America,” as determined by Money magazine and payroll-data website Payscale.com.
Why do PAs have it so good? “No med school, no grueling internship, more freedom to move from one specialty to another -- yet all the satisfaction of delivering care,” Money magazine says. Median salary for PAs is currently $92,000, with top pay of $124,000, according to the magazine. Jobs for PAs over the next decade are expected to grow at a rate of 39%. PAs also got high marks from the ranking for personal satisfaction, job security and flexibility, though the position’s high stress was cited as a drawback.
In total, more than a quarter, or 27, of the Top 100 jobs were in the healthcare industry. Of that total, eight jobs were physicians. Did your specialty make the list? Here’s Money’s ranking of America’s top physician jobs:
No. 12. Dentist.
No. 25. Emergency Room Physician.
No. 29. Psychiatrist.
No. 34. Primary Care Physician.
No. 56. Optometrist.
No. 68. Anesthesiologist.
No. 75. General Surgeon.
No. 100. Obstetrician/Gynecologist.
How did Money come up with this list? Experts at PayScale.com used U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics growth forecasts for 7,000 jobs, and then identified industries with the greatest increases in jobs requiring bachelor’s degrees. It then ranked the positions by their estimated growth and pay, and eliminated jobs that were projected to grow less than 10% between 2008 and 2018. Also cut were jobs with pay below $60,000 (except high-growth jobs) and those with fewer than 10,000 positions available nationwide. After culling the list, jobs were ranked by several quality-of-life factors, such as stress and flexibility, and short- and long-term employment outlook.
No surprise which quality of life category got low marks across the board for physicians: Low stress.
Why do PAs have it so good? “No med school, no grueling internship, more freedom to move from one specialty to another -- yet all the satisfaction of delivering care,” Money magazine says. Median salary for PAs is currently $92,000, with top pay of $124,000, according to the magazine. Jobs for PAs over the next decade are expected to grow at a rate of 39%. PAs also got high marks from the ranking for personal satisfaction, job security and flexibility, though the position’s high stress was cited as a drawback.
In total, more than a quarter, or 27, of the Top 100 jobs were in the healthcare industry. Of that total, eight jobs were physicians. Did your specialty make the list? Here’s Money’s ranking of America’s top physician jobs:
No. 12. Dentist.
|
Salary |
|
| Median pay (experienced) | $142,000 |
| Top pay | $237,000 |
|
Opportunity |
|
| 10-year job growth (2008-18) | 15% |
| Total jobs (current) | 110,000 |
| Quality of Life Ratings | |
| Personal satisfaction | A |
| Job security | B |
| Future growth | A |
| Benefit to society | A |
| Low stress | C |
| Flexiblity | B |
No. 25. Emergency Room Physician.
|
Salary |
|
| Median pay (experienced) | $250,000 |
| Top pay | $368,000 |
|
Opportunity |
|
| 10-year job growth (2008-18) | 22% |
| Total jobs (current) | 25,000 |
|
Quality of Life Ratings |
|
| Personal satisfaction | A |
| Job security | B |
| Future growth | A |
| Benefit to society | A |
| Low stress | D |
| Flexibility | B |
No. 29. Psychiatrist.
|
Salary |
|
| Median pay (experienced) | $185,000 |
| Top pay | $269,000 |
|
Opportunity |
|
| 10-year job growth (2008-18) | 24% |
| Total jobs (current) | 40,000 |
|
Quality of Life Ratings |
|
| Personal satisfaction | B |
| Job security | C |
| Future growth | A |
| Benefit to society | A |
| Low stress | D |
| Flexibility | B |
No. 34. Primary Care Physician.
|
Salary |
|
| Median pay (experienced) | $174,000 |
| Top pay | $256,000 |
|
Opportunity |
|
| 10-year job growth (2008-18) | 22% |
| Total jobs (current) | 35,000 |
|
Quality of Life Ratings |
|
| Personal satisfaction | A |
| Job security | B |
| Future growth | A |
| Benefit to society | B |
| Low stress | D |
| Flexibility | B |
No. 56. Optometrist.
|
Salary |
|
| Median pay (experienced) | $108,000 |
| Top pay | $163,000 |
|
Opportunity |
|
| 10-year job growth (2008-18) | 30% |
| Total jobs (current) | 35,000 |
|
Quality of Life Ratings |
|
| Personal satisfaction | A |
| Job security | C |
| Future growth | A |
| Benefit to society | A |
| Low stress | C |
| Flexibility | B |
No. 68. Anesthesiologist.
|
Salary |
|
| Median pay (experienced) | $290,000 |
| Top pay | $393,000 |
|
Opportunity |
|
| 10-year job growth (2008-18) | 22% |
| Total jobs (current) | 25,000 |
|
Quality of Life Ratings |
|
| Personal satisfaction | A |
| Job security | C |
| Future growth | A |
| Benefit to society | A |
| Low stress | D |
| Flexibility | B |
No. 75. General Surgeon.
|
Salary |
|
| Median pay (experienced) | $260,000 |
| Top pay | $412,000 |
|
Opportunity |
|
| 10-year job growth (2008-18) | 22% |
| Total jobs (current) | 20,000 |
|
Quality of Life Ratings |
|
| Personal satisfaction | B |
| Job security | A |
| Future growth | B |
| Benefit to society | A |
| Low stress | D |
| Flexibility | B |
No. 100. Obstetrician/Gynecologist.
|
Salary |
|
| Median pay (experienced) | $210,000 |
| Top pay | $313,000 |
|
Opportunity |
|
| Opportunity 10-year job growth (2008-18) | 22% |
| Total jobs (current) | 20,000 |
|
Quality of Life Ratings |
|
| Personal satisfaction | B |
| Job security | B |
| Future growth | A |
| Benefit to society | B |
| Low stress | D |
| Flexibility | A |
How did Money come up with this list? Experts at PayScale.com used U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics growth forecasts for 7,000 jobs, and then identified industries with the greatest increases in jobs requiring bachelor’s degrees. It then ranked the positions by their estimated growth and pay, and eliminated jobs that were projected to grow less than 10% between 2008 and 2018. Also cut were jobs with pay below $60,000 (except high-growth jobs) and those with fewer than 10,000 positions available nationwide. After culling the list, jobs were ranked by several quality-of-life factors, such as stress and flexibility, and short- and long-term employment outlook.
No surprise which quality of life category got low marks across the board for physicians: Low stress.
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amelanotic
I count 6 physician jobs. Dentists and Optometrists are not physicians.
October 15, 2010 - [ 15:00:50 ]
Anonymous
Wow. OBGYN? Psych? General Surgery? As best jobs? How the heck did they come up with those? What happened to the real "lifestyle" specialties like derm and rads? Weird.
October 15, 2010 - [ 16:37:46 ]
LC
It did not mention sub specialist e.g. Cardiologist, GI, ID etc. Can you inform us about them as well
October 16, 2010 - [ 9:31:36 ]
Anonymous
pysician assisrtants are not physicaians and neither are optometrist. Physicians are held to a higher standard of training and education and they in many cases are not appropriately commensated for their work. Why spend eight grueling years in school 3-4 yrs in residency programs and to earn a medical degree M.D. or D.O. AND BE REWARDED withless money , have more responsibility and more on call time then if you did a 4 year program to be a PA . There is something wrong with this system
October 16, 2010 - [ 12:45:09 ]
doctor whooo
somebody got the numbers/information mixed up. To suggest that a primary care physician or general surgeon has any lifestyle or monetary advantage over ophthalmologists is ludicrous.
October 18, 2010 - [ 14:28:51 ]
anon
We all know PAs are not physicians. We also know they have 6 years of post-secondary education. They also earn less than half that of their supervising physians. The only thing I do not know is how an adult can piss and moan about making 200,000 per year doing something that is highly regarded and not something you were made to do? Stop the crocodile tears. Why don't you do something else rather than be such a jerk.
October 18, 2010 - [ 22:43:36 ]
X ER guy x 21 yrs
The comments are all excellent... the ER guys make alot because they work on Holidays...swing shifts...nights ...and stress would rank as the worst here( give it an F )..with death, lunatics and anger a part of every' lovely' shift. ..Dermatology would be the very best...no call...no nights ...no stress...and lots of ' fun ' old people to talk too.... all day.
October 19, 2010 - [ 16:41:13 ]
Anonymous
I am a psychiatrist and am very happy with my job but would disagree with the D grade on job security. With an estimated >60,000 shortage of psychiatrists nationwide, I never worry about keeping my job. Nor would I worry about finding another if I wanted one.
October 20, 2010 - [ 10:14:39 ]
me
notice the low grades in stress, 90% of my stress as a pcp is goverment and insurance BS and hassel. if they would just the bill and not try to keep from it, they would save money
October 21, 2010 - [ 15:21:13 ]
Anonymous
Sure are some jerks in medicine! Who cares about your ego based definition of physician. PAs, dentists and optometrists, by law, practice a medical standard of care. Health care providers should stop squabbling about definitions and jealousy of earnings. Do whats best for your patients and enjoy life!
November 8, 2010 - [ 12:12:47 ]
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