For its 2016 survey of physician compensation, Medscape received information from more than 19,000 physicians across 26 specialties. Orthopaedists again topped the list this year at $443,000 (see graph below), followed by cardiologists ($410,000), and dermatologists ($381,000). Orthopaedists and cardiologists were the top two earners last year also (see related OrthoBuzz post).
Although orthopaedists were the highest-paid group overall, only 44% of them felt they were fairly compensated (see graph below). Orthopaedists who felt fairly paid made $156,000 more than those who believed their compensation was not fair.
In Medscape’s calculations, compensation for employed physicians included salary, bonus, and profit-sharing contributions. For partners, compensation included earnings after business taxes and deductions, but before income taxes.