11 Least Stressful Medical Specialties and Careers that Pay Well

It is possible to practice medicine without enduring loads of stress as our list of 11 least stressful medical specialties and careers that pay well will show you. While one might think that doctors’ work day is impregnate with pressure and tension that is not always the case. As a matter of fact, different rankings of the most stressful professions in the world almost never include doctors.

This does not mean that medical professionals are spared of those intense feelings of exhaustions, depression, and low satisfaction with the career. Medscape, which every year conducts a survey about burnout rates among different specialties, notes that burnout among physicians has reached a critical point. This conclusion is in the line with other analysis of doctors’ satisfaction which emphasize that burnout is much more common among doctors than general US working population. Unlike of previous ranking of  12 Easiest Healthcare Jobs to get into that Also Pay Well, today’s list focuses on physicians and surgical specialties.

In creating the list of 11 least stressful medical specialties and careers that pay well we used data from the latest Medscape survey Lifestyle Report: Bias and Burnout, which includes 24 specialties. The survey asked doctors to answer several questions among which two are important for this ranking: (1) Do you feel burnout and (2) how severe is your burnout on the scale 1 to 7, where 1 means “It does not interfere with my life” and 7 equals “It is so severe that I am thinking of leaving medicine altogether.” We assumed that specialties with lowest burnout occurrence and with lowest burnout severity rating are the least stressful ones. Since our aim was to create the ranking of medical fields which are not only least stressful but also nicely compensated the order in which specialties appear also depends on an annual income. Now, let’s see our list of least stressful medical specialties and careers that pay well.

11. Internal medicine

We start today’s list with internal medicine doctors. With the annual salary of $222,000 internists are the lowest paid among listed specialties. This is also a specialty with second-highest share of physicians who report experiencing burnout – 54% of internal medicine doctors say they are exhausted. However, the average rating of burnout among them is 4.23, which is eight-lowest point and also the reason why they found a place on this list.

10. Psychiatry

If we took into account only occurrence and severity of burnout among specialties, psychiatrists would be at the top of our list. Psychiatry has the lowest share of doctors who feel burnout (40%) and it is also the field with lowest average burnout rating (3.85). Since we were also interested in annual income, which is $226,000 in the specialty, psychiatry did not rank higher on this list.

9. Rheumatology

In the field of rheumatology, less than half of physicians report experiencing burnout (47%) whose average rating is 3.91 (second-lowest among all specialties). Like previously mentioned psychiatrists, rheumatologists earn much less compared to the majority of other specialists – $234,000 annually – which is why they do not occupy a higher place on the list.

8. Pathology

Compared to rheumatology, pathology has a smaller share of doctors reporting burnout (45%) however the severity of the exhaustion is higher (4.06). Pathologists can count on an annual wage of $266,000 which puts them among better-paid doctors.

7. Pulmonary medicine

Pulmonary medicine, where annual salary is $281,000, has third-lowest share of doctors reporting burnout (43%). Those who feel exhausted rate their tiredness as severe (4.31).

6. Ophthalmology

Ophthalmology has second lowest percent of doctors experiencing burnout – 41% report feeling exhaustion and lack of enthusiasm for work. Those who say that they are burned out rate the severity of the tiredness by 4.23 on average. With an annual wage of $309,000, ophthalmologists are in the middle of earnings range.

5. Emergency medicine

Emergency doctors, who earn $322,000 annually, occupy fifth place in the ranking of 11 least stressful medical specialties and careers that pay well, which might seem odd. When someone mentions emergency medicine the first thought that comes to the most people’s minds is stress, a lot of stress. However, these doctors obviously do not feel the same – although more than a half of them report experiencing burn out (55%) the average rate they gave to that feeling of tiredness was 4.1, which is fifth lowest among surveyed specialties.

4. Plastic surgery

Plastic surgery ranks this high on the list because of high annual salary of $355,000. Although 45% of plastic surgeons feel burn out, which is fourth lowest share among surveyed doctors, they estimate their exhaustion as pretty severe (average burn out among beauty surgeons is 4.36).

3. Anesthesiology

One would think that the job of an anesthesiologist that ranked 3rd on our list of least stressful medical specialties and careers that pay well is extremely stressful as their minor mistake can cost a patient’s life. However, they obviously have good coping mechanisms. Half of these physicians report burn out which they estimate at 4.15. The annual salary of $360,000 is a solid compensation given the importance of their work.

2. Gastroenterology

Among gastroenterologists, 49% say they experience burn out which they estimate at 4.27. The specialty is third best paid with an annual wage of $380,000. One thing though that is not so great about this specialty is that gastroenterologists spend one of the longest hours on the workplace among doctors listed here.

1. Dermatology

Dermatology occupies the first place on the list of 11 least stressful medical specialties that pay well. The specialty has the third-lowest percent of physicians reporting burn out (43%) while at the same time dermatologists estimate their burn out at 4.04 which is also third-lowest among all doctors. With an annual salary of $381,000, the specialty is second best paid so there is no doubt that dermatologists should be at the top of our ranking. Finally, these doctors belong to the group of those who spend the least time in the workplace.