3. Salaries by Specialties
The last area to consider when youre researching your future income is the salary for your specialization. Each specialty has different earning potential, and its important to think about the starting salary before entering medical school - the specialty you choose will impact the years of study required after medical school, the hours youll need to work, and the average student loan debt youll be expected to carry.
Emergency Specialties
These doctors need to be quick on their feet and ready for anything! This specialty is great for doctors who are good in crisis situations and who want to diagnose and assess a broad variety of clinical cases. ER doctor salary and ICU doctor salary are around $281,000 per year on average, and will range between $211,000 and $309,000 per year, depending on the province you work.
Surgical Specialties
Doctors who enjoy the operating room more than the clinic can choose a surgical specialty. These may earn you more money although they often come with more hours and more pressure. Different surgeries will come with different rates of pay, varying from eye doctor salary in Canada of $769,000 per year to general surgeons, who earn an average salary of $452,000 per year. Other surgical professions, like orthopedic doctors, earn slightly less, at $429,000 per year.
Mixed Specialties
Some specialties lend themselves to a mixed practice, where you can both see patients and perform surgeries. These include professions like obstetrics/gynecology and pediatric oncology. Obstetricians [baby delivery doctors] bring home around $392,000 per year in salary, and pediatric oncologist doctors earn around $299,000-$360,000 per year.
Medical Specialties
If you are looking to specialize but dont want to be a surgeon, plenty of medical specialties will let you spend more time in the clinic. These specialties have an average salary of $360,000 and make up specialties like internal medicine , neurology, and pain management doctors. Internal medicine doctors earn a salary of $404,000 per year and neurologists earn an average of $311,000 per year.
Psychiatric Specialties
If you are compassionate and good at listening to patients, psychiatry might be for you. This specialty has an average salary of $260,000 per year.
Academic Specialties
If studying is your thing, you might consider a career in research or teaching. If this is the case, you are likely to follow your residency period with a fellowship in the research area of your choice. Fellowship doctors earn between $50,000 and $70,000 per year, which is slightly higher than resident doctor salary, which is around $60,00 per year. However, this period of lower earnings could be worthwhile later on, leading to more institutional career paths, like public health. Public health doctor salary is around $350,000 per year.
Alternative Specialties
There are plenty of ways to blend naturopathic or functional medicine with your traditional medicine practice. Naturopathic doctor salary is around $50,000-100,000 per year, and this can be added or blended with the salary you will earn from family medicine.
Physical and Rehabilitative Specializations
For doctors who are interested in how the body and its muscles function, you could set yourself up in a career like chiropractic medicine, physiotherapy, or sports medicine. Like alternative methods, areas like chiropractic medicine can be blended or added to your standard salary. Chiropractic doctors earn between $50,000 and $100,000 per year. Sports medicine doctor salary is around $278,000 per year, with starting salary around $222,400.
Another option for you to consider is doctor salary in the US vs Canada. Due to the nature of the Canadian medical system, some specialties earn more in the United States. Canadian doctor salary is typically lower versus the US, but while family doctors and other generalists are often better off staying in Canada, if youre a medical or surgical specialist, you could earn nearly twice as much by going across the border.
Doing your research will be a crucial part of this process, as the US medical system isnt always the best option for a Canadian doctor.