There is a stark split across specialties in how physician compensation is structured, according to recent data from the American Medical Association.
Psychiatrists and pediatricians draw roughly two-thirds of their pay as salary, with little tied to how much they produce. At the other end, ophthalmologists and orthopedic surgeons earn the majority of their income based on productivity, with salary making up just over a third or less.
The AMA’s “Policy Research Perspectives Report” includes 2024 data from the AMA’s Physician Practice Benchmark Survey.
| Specialty | Salary | Productivity | Financial performance | Bonus | Other |
| Psychiatry | 68% | 19% | 2% | 7% | 4% |
| Pediatrics | 67% | 18% | 0% | 9% | 6% |
| Emergency medicine | 63% | 23% | 4% | 5% | 5% |
| Cardiology | 63% | 28% | 4% | 5% | 0% |
| Internal medicine | 63% | 27% | 4% | 2% | 4% |
| OB-GYN | 61% | 29% | 4% | 4% | 2% |
| General surgery | 59% | 14% | 5% | 9% | 13% |
| Radiology | 59% | 28% | 4% | 7% | 2% |
| Family medicine | 58% | 29% | 3% | 5% | 5% |
| Internal medicine subspecialties | 56% | 27% | 5% | 7% | 5% |
| Anesthesiology | 55% | 36% | 3% | 9% | 7% |
| Other | 53% | 41% | 5% | 7% | 4% |
| Surgical subspecialties | 46% | 40.7% (41%) | 2% | 9% | 2% |
| Orthopedic surgery | 36% | 53% | 7% | 2% | 2% |
| Ophthalmology | 35% | 57% | 1% | 7% | 0% |
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