Last year, we reported on orthopaedic surgeon compensation data from Medscape. This year, we take a look at orthopaedist compensation numbers (base salary, plus incentives and discretionary compensation) from the American Medical Group Association (AMGA).
According to the AMGA’s 2014 Medical Group Compensation and Financial Survey, median orthopaedic surgeon compensation in 2014 was $538,123, up 2.5% from 2013. Among the eight surgical specialties surveyed for compensation data (neurosurgery was not included), orthopaedists came in second to cardiac/thoracic surgeons (whose median was $569,073, up 8.2% from 2013).
Compensation data from orthopaedic subspecialists revealed the following medians, from lowest to highest:
Foot and Ankle $505,606
Hand $513,864
Pediatrics $516,544
Trauma $540,197
Sports Medicine $549,048
Joint Replacement $563,896
Oncology $569,353
Spine $749,445
Readers should keep in mind that two-thirds of the more than 950 orthopaedists who responded to the compensation portion of the AGMA survey were from group practices comprised of more than 150 physicians. Data from those individuals may not represent the compensation realities for orthopaedic surgeons in independent or smaller group practices.