Physician Salaries

1. Income Guarantee

Most physicians are actually not compensated with a traditional salary structure. Often, hospitals will provide interest-free loans that are forgiven over several years. These "loans" are called income guarantees, and are not the same as being paid a salary by an employer. Find out about the different types of income guarantees and how they help get physicians started in practice for themselves.

2. How Geographic Location Affects Physician Salaries

Physicians' incomes are affected by their geographic location. This includes the region of the country where they live, as well as the size of the city where they live. Generally, the upper midwestern United States has the highest reimbursements, on average. The northeastern region typically has the lowest, on average, but there are exceptions to both of these generalities.

Furthermore, town size plays a key role in insurance reimbursements. Doctors in smaller to mid-size communities often earn higher salaries than those in major metropolitan areas. Learn more about how and why this trend occurs.

3. Top 5 Highest Paying Physician Specialties

Some medical specialties allow physicians to earn much higher salaries than others. Learn which specialties command the highest physician salaries, and the average annual incomes of these top-paid physicians.

5. Physician Salaries by Medical Specialty

To learn more about physician salaries by specialty, refer to this list of the different types of physicians, click on the physician profile of the specialist that interests you, and that will take you to a physician profile which includes the average annual physician salary for that medical specialty.

6. How Much Do Residents Earn?

This article about resident physicians will give you some general information on resident pay, as well as provide you some resources to research individual residency and fellowship programs by location and specialty, for more specific physician salary information for each program.