Which of the best paying specialties are relatively easy to match into?

[medstudent87]

Or, rather, which of the specialties that are easy or moderately difficult to match into are the best paying?

I'm not basing my decision simply off $$$ (I'm not even close to applying for residency), but I'm just curious. Anyone have any idea?

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[avatarftw]

The DO match data, to my knowledge, doesn't have extensively researched publications like the MD's NRMP.

However, according to the NRMP data, students matching into MD residencies in anesthesiology and EM have average Step 1 scores. (One's Step 1 score is the most important factor, by far, to match. This is per the NRMP analysis)

Or, rather, which of the specialties that are easy or moderately difficult to match into are the best paying?

I'm not basing my decision simply off $$$ (I'm not even close to applying for residency), but I'm just curious. Anyone have any idea?

 

[da8s0859q]

The DO match data, to my knowledge, doesn't have extensively researched publications like the MD's NRMP.

However, according to the NRMP data, students matching into MD residencies in anesthesiology and EM have average Step 1 scores. (One's Step 1 score is the most important factor, by far, to match. This is per the NRMP analysis)

Second this. Gas and EM are the two that come to mind -- solid but not-quite-derm-material Step scores, and often with handsome salaries. Not sure how competitive ophthalmology is.

But I'm also a lowly M2 with only word-of-mouth and statistics report knowledge of such things, so... fwiw.

 

[2012mdc]

Or, rather, which of the specialties that are easy or moderately difficult to match into are the best paying?

I'm not basing my decision simply off $$$ (I'm not even close to applying for residency), but I'm just curious. Anyone have any idea?

Check out http://aamc.org/programs/cim/chartingoutcomes.pdf

pg 9 - match rates by specialty.

I would consider >95% as very easy to match into, 90-95% easy to match into and 85-90% moderately difficult to match into

So in addition to EM and GAS, I would add Radiology to the mix. Maybe path as well but I'm not as familiar with how accurate the salaries are for that

 

[muhali3]

Check out http://aamc.org/programs/cim/chartingoutcomes.pdf

pg 9 - match rates by specialty.

I would consider >95% as very easy to match into, 90-95% easy to match into and 85-90% moderately difficult to match into

So in addition to EM and GAS, I would add Radiology to the mix. Maybe path as well but I'm not as familiar with how accurate the salaries are for that

Match rates aren't the best to go by since people who apply to particular specialties are heavily self-selected. Radiology has an average step 1 of 238 and 23% have AOA status. So an 86% match rate doesn't really mean if you apply you have an 86% chance.

 

[2012mdc]

Match rates aren't the best to go by since people who apply to particular specialties are heavily self-selected. Radiology has an average step 1 of 238 and 23% have AOA status. So an 86% match rate doesn't really mean if you apply you have an 86% chance.

I never implied that an 86% match rate implies that anyone has an 86% chance of matching. But compared to other high paying specialties like ortho, ENT, neurosurg, derm, plastics, its match rate is better.

I would say self selection plays a much larger role in RadOnc bc it's a much smaller field with a heavy research emphasis so the 87% match rate there is more misleading.

I never meant to imply matching into Rads was easy but it's not impossible either. One can't just look at Step 1 averages - they are often skewed by the 260+ crowd matching at the top places which is obviously difficult. But just matching anywhere in Rads is only moderately difficult. Check out pg 53. The match rate for a below average Step 1 is 60% (122/201). So even with a below avg Step it's better than a 50-50 shot. And just an avg Step (221-230) is 81% (122/151)

 

[MossPoh]

Yes, but who knows what those applicants with the lower board scores had going on besides that. Maybe they had an off day but churned out tons of published research and flat out honored every rotation third year. You can't go by one number.

 

[avatarftw]

According to the NRMP, research was only significant for specialties like dermatology, plastic surgery, radiology, etc. The graphs show that for just Step 1 scores, an average score applying to uber competitive specialties such as dermatology or radiology had a 50% or so match rate.

I don't remember what those people had in regards to grades and research. Actually, I don't really care right now since I'm a first year student.

Yes, but who knows what those applicants with the lower board scores had going on besides that. Maybe they had an off day but churned out tons of published research and flat out honored every rotation third year. You can't go by one number.

 

[2012mdc]

Yes, but who knows what those applicants with the lower board scores had going on besides that. Maybe they had an off day but churned out tons of published research and flat out honored every rotation third year. You can't go by one number.

I agree but based on several different numbers I would rate rads as moderately competitive to match into as opposed to highly competitive like derm, plastics, ortho, ENT, uro.

With the research aspect - check out chart 9 on pg 16. Rads is on the higher end but nowhere near derm, plastics, or nsurg.

Based on anecdotal evidence and different forums - one doesn't have to be an academic superstar to match somewhere in rads. An average Step with solid grades and some research can get you in somewhere if you apply broadly

 

[DoctwoB]

Good Pay/Good lifestyle:

EM and Gas

Good Pay/Bad Lifestyle

Gensurg and most gensurg fellowships
OBGYN

pretty good pay / Great Lifestyle

Psych, PM&R, IM hospitalist, and some IM fellowships (Endocrine, Rheum, and shift based Intensive care pop out as easy matches with good lifestyle)

ok pay, ok lifestyle

outpatient FP, peds, and IM

 

[ArcGurren]

Path isn't particularly hard to match into, and it also has a pretty decent pay (250k average from what i last heard). Great lifestyle too.

 

[LRAccord624]

Path isn't particularly hard to match into, and it also has a pretty decent pay (250k average from what i last heard). Great lifestyle too.

Shh! Gah, I am trying to make sure this stays a little-known fact! 😉

 

[mmmcdowe]

ER for sure. While it is still getting harder, I would say anesthesia is still up there.

 

[muhali3]

Shh! Gah, I am trying to make sure this stays a little-known fact! 😉

I think a lot of people know this but just don't want to be pathologists. Or don't like the oversaturated market. but yes...if anesthesiology is considered lifestyle/high-paying then pathology should be too.

 

[lordman]

What about Cardiology ? Interventional Cardiology VS. Gastroenterology comparing Paying & lifestyle ?

 

[drizzt3117]

Two of the highest paying subspecialties in medicine are relatively easy to match into their residencies...

Neonatology and reproductive endo.

 

[Xerxes1729]

Interventional cards is a rough lifestyle. A general surgeon can take an hour to get in for an appendectomy, but an occluded LAD can't wait.

 

[DrBowtie]

Interventional cards is a rough lifestyle. A general surgeon can take an hour to get in for an appendectomy, but an occluded LAD can't wait.

BUT, the cath may take an hour start to finish, while a perfed bowel/trauma might take 3-4 hours. To me being on call with shorter procedures that might put a kink in your night vs. something like a ruptured AAA which will completely hose your circadian rhythym.

 

[Geekchick921]

Two of the highest paying subspecialties in medicine are relatively easy to match into their residencies...

Neonatology and reproductive endo.

Two of my top three choices ATM (have been for awhile, too)!

My understanding is that REI is competitive, and I think Global Disrobal has said MFM isn't easy either, but both are paid very well with significantly better lifestyles than general Ob/Gyn. Gyn-onc and Uro-gyn (AKA "female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery) don't really interest me so I don't know how they compare. OldBearProfessor has said Neonatology isn't hard to match into, despite the fact that it's one of the few (if not the only) pediatric subspecialty that pays significantly more than general peds.

 

[IMnerd]

What about Cardiology ? Interventional Cardiology VS. Gastroenterology comparing Paying & lifestyle ?

They certainly get reimbursed well with the current fee for service model, and it is true that medicine is easy to match into, BUT fellowship match into Cards and GI is incredibly competitive.

 

[drizzt3117]

I mean I guess it depends what you mean by competitive. OB isn't competitive in general, it doesn't take an amazing board score to get you into a top program, and put you in line to get whatever fellowship you want assuming you continue your pattern of performance.

Two of my top three choices ATM (have been for awhile, too)!

My understanding is that REI is competitive, and I think Global Disrobal has said MFM isn't easy either, but both are paid very well with significantly better lifestyles than general Ob/Gyn. Gyn-onc and Uro-gyn (AKA "female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery) don't really interest me so I don't know how they compare. OldBearProfessor has said Neonatology isn't hard to match into, despite the fact that it's one of the few (if not the only) pediatric subspecialty that pays significantly more than general peds.

 

[myhandsarecold]

I would scratch off gastroenterology from your list. i mean, you pretty much need to rock your residency to get one of those positions. I would, however, put Anesthesia > EM > Ob/Gyn on top.

 

[ArcGurren]

Where the heck are people getting the idea that GI is easy to match into? It's one of the most competitive medicine residencies along with Cards. I do agree with it being great lifestyle + great pay though.

 

[Geekchick921]

I mean I guess it depends what you mean by competitive. OB isn't competitive in general, it doesn't take an amazing board score to get you into a top program, and put you in line to get whatever fellowship you want assuming you continue your pattern of performance.

I'm basing that on what I've read on the Ob/Gyn forum here and the fact that these two directories http://www.nrmp.org/fellow/match_name/obgyn/obgyn_prev11.pdf and http://www.socrei.org/uploadedFiles/Affiliates/SOCREI/Fellowships/REIFellowshipPrograms.pdf only show about 40-50 REI positions available across the country every year. Granted, I'm not as far along in this process as the regulars on this particular forum, and I've been trying to find how many general Ob/Gyn residency slots there are a year but I'm not getting anywhere. Regardless, that doesn't seem like a lot to me. Maybe I'm wrong. Hell, I hope I am.

 

[patel2]

Side note about competitive specialties: I was under the impression that ophthamology salaries have plummeted (at least as compared to the 90s), and yet it still is more competitive than ever to get into. Why is this?

 

[DrBowtie]

Side note about competitive specialties: I was under the impression that ophthamology salaries have plummeted (at least as compared to the 90s), and yet it still is more competitive than ever to get into. Why is this?

They still have a good lifestyle and the money is still above many other specialties.

 

[Salpingo]

To add to the "easy specialty, impossible subspecialty" list, there's dermatopathology (which I heard favors derms, and everyone in the path residency program are stabbing each other in the back for), interventional neurology (favors radiologists?), and interventional radiology (technically, there's a pathway from IM/gen surg, but apparently you get slaughtered by the diag radiology boards).

Not sure how competitive these subspecialties are, but EMG (neurology) and pediatric cardiology/pulm are supposed to pull in good money, depending on geography. I know several psychiatrists who basically double their 9-5 hours moonlighting in the psych ER, and end up pulling in 250-300k a year. Finally, if you can find a nuclear medicine job (a place that hasn't already filled the position with a subspecializing radiologist), you can make 250-300k.

 

[Salpingo]

Side note about competitive specialties: I was under the impression that ophthamology salaries have plummeted (at least as compared to the 90s), and yet it still is more competitive than ever to get into. Why is this?

Do retina subspecialists still pull in neurosurgery type dollars?

 

[bomgd3]

A pathologist with anatomical and clinical fellowship training (AP/CP) takes 4 years. It's a pretty cushy residency--you usually don't have overnight shifts and you'll probably work ~12 hours a day. You'll have to be on call to do autopsies and such, though. I know three who make $260-290k at hospitals, but I also know one who makes just $130k at an academic hospital. And the job market is fairly tight, so you need to be flexible with location.

if boardScore>=230
residency='radiology';
else
residency='pathology';
end

 

[HeyThere13]

Side note about competitive specialties: I was under the impression that ophthamology salaries have plummeted (at least as compared to the 90s), and yet it still is more competitive than ever to get into. Why is this?

Pretty much most salaries have plummeted since the 90s and dang near everything (except stuff like IM, Peds, FM) has become more competitive.

 

[drizzt3117]

I'm basing that on what I've read on the Ob/Gyn forum here and the fact that these two directories http://www.nrmp.org/fellow/match_name/obgyn/obgyn_prev11.pdf and http://www.socrei.org/uploadedFiles/Affiliates/SOCREI/Fellowships/REIFellowshipPrograms.pdf only show about 40-50 REI positions available across the country every year. Granted, I'm not as far along in this process as the regulars on this particular forum, and I've been trying to find how many general Ob/Gyn residency slots there are a year but I'm not getting anywhere. Regardless, that doesn't seem like a lot to me. Maybe I'm wrong. Hell, I hope I am.

There were 915 residency slots in OB-GYN in 2010. That took about 5 seconds to find in charting outcomes for the match.

In 2010, 36/52 or about 69% of US grads who applied to REI fellowships got them.

241 out of 312 US IM grads who applied to GI fellowships got them (77%). Sounds almost impossible to me.

450/542 (83%) of US IM grads who applied to Cards fellowships got them.

The data wasn't broke out into DO vs MD grads.

While there's clearly some self-selection going on, let's not let the data get into the way of the "almost impossible to match into GI if you do IM" rhetoric. I guess > 75% and almost impossible must be synonyms.

This isn't counting pre-match fellowship offers or people who did non-accredited fellowships. I think if you take that into account, the percentage would be significantly higher.

Source: http://www.nrmp.org/data/resultsanddatasms2010.pdf

 

[Masterdoc]

I would say Psych, Neuro and Anesthesia

 

[JokerMD]

asdf

 

[OpalOnyx]

Nothing is easy.

 

[smq123]

Two of the highest paying subspecialties in medicine are relatively easy to match into their residencies...

Neonatology and reproductive endo.

REI is fairly competitive, actually. Not as competitive as Gyn Onc, but definitely up there.

I mean I guess it depends what you mean by competitive. OB isn't competitive in general, it doesn't take an amazing board score to get you into a top program, and put you in line to get whatever fellowship you want assuming you continue your pattern of performance.

OB is becoming more competitive. It's now one of the "moderately competitive" specialties, up there with EM. It's not very difficult to get into (definitely not along the lines of derm, PRS, or rad onc), but is getting higher. I would say that if you were applying to OB next year, a Step 1 score of under 220 puts you at a significant disadvantage.

The 13 open OB spots this year was an anomaly. In past years, it's been about 4-6 slots available in the scramble (and many of those spots are just OB prelim spots that are ONLY available in the scramble).

REI is definitely one of the more competitive of the OB fellowships. If you don't have connections, and if you're at a community program, you are pretty much SOL.

 

[J ROD]

I think PMR is under the radar.....

Psy is another one but it takes a certain personality.....

EM is good too but the shift work and flipping days/nights burnsout some.

Anes is good but I think has longer hrs...than the ones above.

 

[dikoerastenie]

I think a lot of people know this but just don't want to be pathologists. Or don't like the oversaturated market. but yes...if anesthesiology is considered lifestyle/high-paying then pathology should be too.

I would be very concerned about the lack of jobs in pathology. Anesthesiology may have the same problem. It would be maddening if partners made big $$ and I could never become a partner.

 

[dikoerastenie]

I would scratch off gastroenterology from your list. i mean, you pretty much need to rock your residency to get one of those positions. I would, however, put Anesthesia > EM > Ob/Gyn on top.

How did you get that?? Do anesthesiologists make >$200/hr? Because they certainly work more hours. Even if anesthesia only worked 40hrs/wk, ER can work 3days/wk to be full-time! And "shift change" is not a concern if you only work 3 nights in a row.

 

[Music MD]

this is kind of sick.. im looking at some part time ED job offers. some of them are $200/hr for 5-6 shifts/mo. that's $14k for 6 days per month of work. can this even be possible? working a day and a half per week sounds like a dream to me. take home 100k and work a total of 70 days per year. Jesus h christ. maybe i can forgo the whole family thing and live in a shack somewhere and waterski/snowboard all the time? Or just live on a houseboat and go paycheck to paycheck, but barely putting in the effort, you know? 😀 maybe this medicine thing won't be such a prison after all

 

[shaggy alfresco]

Path isn't particularly hard to match into, and it also has a pretty decent pay (250k average from what i last heard). Great lifestyle too.

There's a lot of doom and gloom on the path forums about job opportunities.

 

[yamaraja808]

There's a lot of doom and gloom on the path forums about job opportunities.

Yeah so I have read and it will get worse in future years. I kind of had my heart set on pathology (more clinical).

 

[muhali3]

My advice: Do what you like and if you want more money, don't expect to get it from your job. Learn how to invest in real estate, stocks, bonds etc.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

My advice: Do what you like and if you want more money, don't expect to get it from your job. Learn how to invest in real estate, stocks, bonds etc.

There's always Botox.

 

[muhali3]

^lol true true. cosmetics is where its at.

 

[womp]

To answer the OP: OBGYN (213 Step 1) and Anesthesiology (220 Step 1). OBGYN has a lower average Step 1 score than Pediatrics (217), but how much you make does depend on whether your state is malpractice reform friendly or not.

On an hourly salary basis: Emergency medicine wins (among the below average Step 1 crowd).

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

To answer the OP: OBGYN (213 Step 1) and Anesthesiology (220 Step 1). OBGYN has a lower average Step 1 score than Pediatrics (217), but how much you make does depend on whether your state is malpractice reform friendly or not.

On an hourly salary basis: Emergency medicine wins (among the below average Step 1 crowd).

Yeah, but I've made several rants against EM.

If you like it, go for it. Shift work gets old and boring quick, especially when the pts you typically see are FOS. 👍

 

[AlexMorph]

Yeah, but I've made several rants against EM.

If you like it, go for it. Shift work gets old and boring quick, especially when the pts you typically see are FOS. 👍

FOS?

Also, the thing about EM, is having to deal with all the people who come in cause they don't have insurance but have annoying complaints like "my child is coughing too much" or "i bruised my toe a little". I would get sick of that real quick. Or maybe this is just urban ERs...

 

[womp]

Yeah, but I've made several rants against EM.

If you like it, go for it. Shift work gets old and boring quick, especially when the pts you typically see are FOS. 👍

At times it does seem like a glorified triage nurse. But hey, money is money and there are times you can do some really good things for your patients that makes all the other stuff worth it. Pretty much like every other field in medicine plus the shift work.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

FOS?

Also, the thing about EM, is having to deal with all the people who come in cause they don't have insurance but have annoying complaints like "my child is coughing too much" or "i bruised my toe a little". I would get sick of that real quick. Or maybe this is just urban ERs...

FOS = Full of ****.

That **** doesn't just exist in urban ERs, either.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

At times it does seem like a glorified triage nurse. But hey, money is money and there are times you can do some really good things for your patients that makes all the other stuff worth it. Pretty much like every other field in medicine plus the shift work.

Exactly. Do what you like.