At $686K, this specialty has the highest physician starting salary

Orthopedic surgeons earn the highest average starting salary ($686,000) among physicians, while pediatricians have the lowest starting salary ($244,000), according to AMN Healthcare's "Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives," published Aug. 5.

Gastroenterologists ($531,000) are offered the second-highest average starting salary, followed by urologists ($496,000), radiologists ($495,000) and dermatologists ($486,000), according to the report. 

Primary care physicians see significantly lower starting salaries than their specialist counterparts. Family medicine physicians and general internists earn an average starting salary of $271,000, less than half that of orthopedic surgeons.

While nurse practitioners are offered lower starting salaries than physicians, salary offers to NPs are rising, according to AMN Healthcare. The average starting salary offer for NPs is $164,000, up 8% year over year, and up 32% from five years ago.

"NPs are in rapidly growing demand as physician shortages persist," Leah Grant, president of AMN Healthcare's physician solution, said in a news release shared with Becker's. "Without them, access to healthcare would be even more problematic, particularly in rural and other underserved areas."

The average signing bonus for physicians tracked in the report is $31,103, compared to $11,037 for NPs, while the average relocation allowance is $11,284 for physicians and $7,910 for NPs and other advanced practice professionals. 

Editor's note: The report is based on a representative sample of the 2,138 search engagements AMN Healthcare conducted from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, and includes data on starting salaries and other incentives offered by the company's clients to physicians and advanced practice professionals nationwide

Click here to access the report. 

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