How much does a surgeon make? Well… it better be dang good for all of the stress they’re placed under.
To be in charge of fixing the human body is to be in a considerable position of trust. Surgeons don’t often go into the profession for the money. They’re usually exposed to surgical procedures while people are working their way through medical school and then become surgeons in the specialty of choice.
A surgeon’s education doesn’t end with graduating medical school, either, as they then go through internship and residency before becoming surgical fellows and taking their Medical Board examinations to qualify further into the profession.
Surgeons command high salaries due to the stressful nature of the work that they do within irregular hours and the years of training they have to complete to be considered as skilled surgeons. They are among the highest doctor salaries in the industry.
A surgeon consistently goes to seminars and training, even when they have been in the profession for decades. They have to keep up with medicine as it evolves through time, and so their education is never-ending. The formal education to ascertain whether someone is qualified to be a doctor totals 8 years, before another 8-10 years for residency.
How A Surgeon Makes Money
Surgeons perform operations and patient assessments to fix everything from eyes to bones and more. The earnings that they make depend on the demands in the profession they have chosen to work in.
Some procedures that are considered to be routine can take anywhere up to 12 hours to complete, which is a lot of demand on the human body. On top of this, surgeons attend to emergency situations and have to think on their feet.
Most surgeons must be available at all hours, and specialist surgeons often have to perform cutting-edge surgery that can take 18+ hours at a time.
How Much Does A Surgeon Make?
One of the highest paying professions in the healthcare industry is surgery, but even a surgeon with less than a year of surgical experience can expect to bring in a decent salary.
The amount a surgeon makes depends on a variety of factors. You have to consider the years of experience under the surgeons’ belt, along with which branch of surgery they work within. The average salary for a surgeon with less than a year of experience sits around the $180,000 range, whereas a surgeon with more than ten years can expect to see an average of $280,000.
In 2019, the location for the highest-paid surgeons was Cleveland, OH, with an average of $383,000. The lowest-paid surgeon roles were in Washington, DC, at $202,512 per year.
As mentioned earlier, salaries earned depend on the type of surgery performed. Oral surgeons, for example, receive lower salaries compared to those specializing in other areas. Surgeons dealing with neurosurgery and cardiothoracic surgery bring in the highest salaries, given that they are dealing with highly specialized areas of the body.
Cardio surgeons earn up to an average of $400,000, compared to trauma surgeons who average $292,000.
Another factor that affects the money a surgeon could make is whether they are working in public or private hospitals. With an average of $250,000 per year in a private setting, surgeons in government settings draw in around $180,000.
There are bonuses, commissions, profit sharing and salary opportunities for a surgeon to add to their wages per year.
Positions for surgeons are competitive, but there is always room for professional growth. Surgeons who are willing to work in rural areas are also more likely to find work due to the difficulty in obtaining surgeons in those areas.
Pros & Cons of Being A Surgeon
Surgery, just as with any profession, comes with pros and cons. Some of those include the following:
Pros
- Helping Others. Surgeons take an oath to ensure that they continually provide excellent medical care.
- Career Development. Education never ends for a surgeon, who undergoes several hours of medical skills labs and training seminars per year to stay abreast of the latest techniques.
- Variety. During residency, a surgeon chooses their specialty, and they have a huge range of paths that they can choose from.
- Respect. Surgeons are working in a respected, revered career. They carry a much higher social status due to the nature of the job.
Cons
- Expensive Education. It’s no secret that a surgeon has to go through many different years of schooling – and it’s not cheap!
- Stress. Surgeons literally have the lives of clothes in their hands – that can be stressful!
- Unsociable Hours. Surgeons are often needed to be on call, which means that they work unsociable hours. This leaves little time for a personal life.
- Lawsuits. Surgeons do deal with a high range of lawsuits due to medical malpractice. Mistakes happen, and surgeons are well aware that a small human error can turn into a big problem.