While orthopedic physicians recieve perhaps the biggest paychecks in the field, that doesn't necessarily mean that they are the most satisfied MDs, according to Medscape's latest Physician Compensation Survey. In fact, only 50 percent of the orthopedic specialists questioned in 2014 for the report said they would want to continue with medicine if they had a do-over, and just 44 percent felt like their salaries were fair. Meanwhile, dermatologists take the prize as the most contented specialists — even though they make $82,000 less than their orthopedic counterparts, Medscape found. What's more, a whopping 73 percent of the dermatologists who responded to Medscape's survey said they would continue with the same specialty if they could re-do their careers. Orthopedic doctors, while marginally unenthused, were by no means the most disillusioned of specialists, however — internal medicine practitioners were even less satisfied, with an overall rating of 47 percent. Curious about how your specialty faired in regard to satisfaction and average compensation? Take a look at the 26 specialties featured in the Medscape report (in order from highest compensation to lowest) in the table below. Source
