In this video, Mikhail Varshavski, DO, who goes by "Dr. Mike" on social media, asks doctors from various specialties how much money they make.
Following is a partial transcript of the video (note that errors are possible):
Varshavski: I asked 20 doctors to tell me how much money they make in a year. I'll go first. My official salary on paper for the hospital is $90 an hour, but most family medicine doctors earn roughly $250,000 a year.
Jake Goodman, MD, MBA: What's up everyone? My name is Jake Goodman and I'm a psychiatry resident doctor in my third year of residency training. The national average for residents is between $50,000 and $60,000 a year. Fortunately, psychiatrists make much more than that once you finish residency training.
Alok Kanojia, MD, MPH: When I was doing full-time clinical practice, my base rate was about $400 an hour. The cool thing is that earning $400 an hour allowed me to do things like see a ton of patients or clients for free. At one point, half of my practice I actually wasn't charging a single penny. I could still support my family of four without really too much trouble. The other really awesome thing about people in my specialty is that we tend to work pretty light and easy hours. The average mental health professional actually does about 30 to 32 hours of clinical care per week, which means that our job is pretty low stress.
Alok Patel, MD: How's it going? I'm Dr. Alok Patel. I'm a pediatric hospitalist. So if a child is hospitalized, count on me to coordinate care. My salary is a bit strange because I work at multiple sites, but my hourly rate ranges between $125 to about $150 per hour depending on what type of shift I'm taking, nights, weekends, etc. But I have seen job offers that have ranged between $120,000 per year to $180,000 per year. Some higher, some lower. Let's just say that no pediatrician of any type went into medicine for the money. We did it for the kids.
Anthony Youn, MD: My name is Dr. Anthony Youn and I'm a board-certified plastic surgeon. Well, according to Salary.com, the average plastic surgeon in Michigan makes $239,100 a year. Now, my base salary is close to that without bonuses, but I also make extra money via social media, via doing sponsored posts, and I have an online store where I sell my own Youn Beauty skincare called younbeauty.com. I would never ever complain about the money that I make and I feel very, very privileged to live a lifestyle that I do.
Antonio Webb, MD: Hi, my name is Dr. Antonio Webb. I'm an orthopedic spine surgeon here in San Antonio, Texas. So how much do spine surgeons make? It varies by practice type. A private practice spine surgeon in the South can expect to make -- once you build a mature practice, which takes anywhere between 3 to 6 years to build -- can expect to make seven figures.
Dana Brems, DPM: I'm Dr. Dana Brems and I'm a podiatrist, which is a foot and ankle specialist and surgeon. Well, according to MGMA [Medical Group Management Association] data, the average salary of a surgical podiatrist is about $300,000. I will say, although salary is very important, it really matters whether the specialty you're doing is something you enjoy and whether it matches the work-life balance that you desire.
Benjamin Schmidt, MD: Hi, I'm Dr. Benjamin Schmidt, also known as Doc Schmidt, and I'm a GI doctor, which means that I specialize in gastroenterology. If you break it down by the hour, right now as a GI doctor, I make a little over $260 per hour.
Danielle Jones, MD: I'm Dr. Danielle Jones -- some of you may know me as MDJ -- and I am an ob/gyn. That means I take care of anything having to do with periods, pregnancy, and the female reproductive tract. How much money you make as an ob/gyn doctor varies widely by where you practice and what kind of practice you're in. I currently work in Aotearoa, New Zealand, which is a public health system, and a full-time O&G specialist who has been out of training for 6 years, like myself, would make around $130,000 U.S. in this system, which is significantly less than one would make at the same level in the U.S. or even in Australia.
Richard Brown, MD: My name is Ricky Brown and I'm a board-certified plastic surgeon in Scottsdale, Arizona. How much money do I make? I make enough money to buy 333,333 Happy Meals. You do the math. Mmm, that was good.
Benjamin Winters, DDS: Hi, my name is Dr. Winters, a.k.a. The Bentist online, and I am an orthodontist. I'm going to be real with you. An orthodontist can make $250,000 starting out as an associate anywhere up to about $350,000. Then if you own your own office, you can make anywhere from $500,000 up to $3 or $4 million, and even upwards if you own multiple practices. Crazy, I know.
Ed Hope, MBBS: Hello, my name is Ed Hope. I'm a doctor working in the emergency department over in the U.K. I'm currently a locum doctor, which means I book shifts as and when I want them, and still quite junior, too. As such, my day rate is around £400 -- that's around $500 -- although a night shift would be around a third more.
Sanjay Juneja, MD: My name is Dr. Sanjay Juneja. I'm a hematologist and medical oncologist, basically specializing in blood disorders as well as cancers and how to treat them. As a medical oncologist, depending on what system you're in, some private practices get paid for literally the things they prescribe and how much they cost versus other systems where you get paid just for what you see, regardless of treatment. I like the latter because it kind of keeps you clean from thinking about cost as it relates to treating patients with cancer. Generally, those don't pay as much, likely somewhere between $400,000 to $500,000, depending on where you are in the country.
Siobhan Deshauer, MD: Hi, I'm Dr. Siobhan Deshauer, also known as ViolinMD. I'm an internal medicine and rheumatology specialist. Right now I'm doing temporary locum work, so I'm not the best example, but the average Canadian rheumatologist who is working full-time makes about $250,000 U.S. Then subtract about 30% for overhead costs and you've got $175,000 to $200,000 U.S. before taxes.
John W. Patton III, MD, MBA: What up? My name is Dr. John Patton, docjp3, and I'm a board-certified anesthesiologist and a regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine specialist. Sometimes people hear of the E-ROAD [emergency medicine, radiology, ophthalmology, anesthesiology, and dermatology] to success or ROAD to success. The E-ROAD to success is thought to be the subspecialties that allow for you to have a better lifestyle. You may be able to take no-call or spend more time outside of the hospital with your friends and family.
When we are in residency, when you factor in the hours that we work and the amount that we're making, it comes out to be less than minimum wage. Now that I'm done with training, I will say that it's really nice to finally be able to make a good living and be able to start thinking about paying back loans, the bane of my existence. Yes, they are still there. Being able to save for a down payment for a house, which is something that my wife and I have been wanting to do for a while. Now that we have a son, being able to put some money aside and for his college and whatnot. That's how I answer that question.
Varshavski: Doctors actually used to recommend these treatments and I can't believe it. Thank God medicine has come so far. As always, stay happy and healthy.
, is a board-certified family physician and social media influencer with more than 12 million subscribers.