How Does Your Salary Stack Up Against Various Medical Specialties?

Physicians-to-be, practicing physicians, and many of their patients take great interest in how much money doctors make. Physician compensation surveys can offer some eye-popping numbers — orthopedic surgeons make more than $450,000 a year! — but they are often highly misleading. A key shortcoming is that surveys neglect what's called opportunity cost, which is the amount of money lost from choosing the next best alternative.