Salaries increased last year for both physicians and advanced practitioners, according to a new report.
The average salary for a physician rose to $363,924 and for advanced practitioners, which includes nurse practitioners and physician assistants, to $122,973, according to a survey report released by LocumTenens.com.
The average physician’s salary has been steadily increasing, and was up by 16.5% since 2015, according to the report, which was based on an August survey. Survey respondents included physicians and advanced practitioners and compensation results are based on full-time, permanent employers and take into account annual salary and bonuses.
Salaries for advanced practitioners have fluctuated over the past few years, but have been on the rise since 2017, the report indicated.
The report included a breakdown by specialties for both physicians and advanced practitioners.
Here are the average salaries for physicians by specialty:
- Orthopedic surgeons, $539,464
- Cardiologists, $469,895
- Radiologists, $434,541
- Urologists, $430,000
- Anesthesiologists, $415,985
- Critical care, $376,090
- General surgeons, $372,500
- Emergency medicine, $360,433
- Neurologists, $333,115
- Obstetrician/gynecologists, $293,980
- Hospitalists, $283,530
- Psychiatrists, $272,821
- Primary care, $245,146
Here are the average salaries for advanced practitioners by specialty:
- Certified nurse anesthetist, $202,244
- Emergency medicine physician assistant, $166,194
- Emergency medicine nurse practitioner, $142,857
- Psychiatric nurse practitioner, $137,993
- Critical care nurse practitioner, $134,850
- Hospitalist nurse practitioner, $128,532
- Primary care nurse practitioner, $118,034
As with other salary reports released this year, primary care physician salaries were among the lowest. In this survey, the primary care salary was an average based on those working in internal medicine, family practice and pediatrics. The average internal medicine salary increased by about 22% since 2016, while the average salary for family practitioners actually decreased by approximately 8% last year, the report found.
Orthopedic surgeons, who were at the top of the salary list, saw average salaries increase by 10% since 2016.
Of those surveyed, most physicians are employed by hospitals, while most advanced practitioners work in healthcare clinics. Among physicians who took the survey, 40% were hospital-employed, 20% were in group practice and 14% worked in clinics or community centers. Among advanced practitioners, 27% were employed in clinics or community centers, while a slightly lower percentage (26%) were hospital-employed and 14% were in group practices.