Some medical specialties are much cooler and more interesting than people give them credit for. What medical paths continue to fly under the radar?
Let’s take a deeper look at five of the most underrated specialties.
1 | Family Medicine
First, we have family medicine, which is at the center of primary care, and often the first point of contact between patients and the healthcare system.
Family medicine is often looked down upon by other specialties, especially the more subspecialized ones. However, there are several misconceptions at play when it comes to the way people view family medicine doctors.
For instance, many believe family medicine physicians lack expertise because they frequently refer their patients to specialists when complications arise.
In reality, family medicine doctors are experts when it comes to handling general complaints, especially when patients are presenting with five or six different diseases.
Part of the reason family medicine is underrated is because it’s the 6th lowest paid medical specialty at just over $300,000 a year. Check out our lowest paid specialties guide to learn more.
It’s an unfortunate reality that in our healthcare system, procedures are worth more than complex visits, which is why surgical specialties earn more money.
But despite the smaller paycheck, there’s a lot to love about family medicine.
First, there’s quite a bit of versatility. As a family medicine doctor, you can tailor your practice however you want. You can work in the clinic, be a hospitalist, focus on obstetrics, or go into rural medicine. The possibilities are endless. For example, family medicine can be an entry point to career paths like sports medicine.
Second, the work-life balance is excellent. Many family medicine physicians have four-day work weeks with regular 9 to 5 schedules. Of course, this is part of the reason family medicine physicians earn less than many other specialists. For example, vascular surgeons bring home over $550,000 a year, over $250K more than family medicine doctors, but they are frequently on call and work both longer and more unpredictable hours.
It all depends on your priorities and interests. To learn more about family medicine, as well as the other specialties we mention in this article, check out our So You Want to Be playlist, which breaks down the pros and cons of every medical specialty to help you choose what’s best for you.
2 | Pathology
Second on our list is pathology.
Pathology is the field of medicine concerned with the study of body tissues and fluids. Stereotypically, pathologists are the physicians who spend all of their day studying samples under the microscope. In reality, pathologists help doctors make diagnoses that might change the entire course of treatment for patients.
People often think pathology is a medical field exclusively for introverts and those who don’t want to deal with patients.
However, pathology requires significant interpersonal communication skills, as you’ll often be managing teams of residents, techs, and assistants. These leadership roles increase more in the private sector, especially if you’re running your own clinical lab.
You’re also in constant communication with doctors from other specialties, especially in multidisciplinary conferences like tumor boards, where doctors from different specialties meet to discuss complex cancer patients.
Pathology also has a great lifestyle as they’re rarely on call, usually only coming in for emergencies like certain leukemias or transplant evaluations. Their schedules are stable, and they work around 47 hours per week on average. Additionally, telepathology, or practicing pathology from the comfort of your home, is now a viable option for those who would prefer to work from home.
While it’s not as lucrative as other specialties, the average pay for pathology is comfortably in the middle of the pack, averaging slightly over $360,000 a year.
3 | Allergy and Immunology
Number three is allergy and immunology.
Allergy and immunology focuses on dysfunctional immune systems. Allergists treat patients with all kinds of allergies, as well as patients with asthma, immunodeficiencies, and more.
Many people think allergists only give allergy shots and see patients with runny noses. The reality is the patients they see are often extremely complex, and allergists are called in when no one else can understand what’s wrong.
Allergists also get to work in novel research, doing clinical trials to discover novel vaccines and immunotherapies, so the day-to-day of an allergist is quite intellectually stimulating.
Their lifestyle is also excellent. AI physicians mostly work in outpatient settings or in labs and have a typical 8-4 job with minimal call. These physicians tend to continue practicing long into their life rather than retiring because the work is fun, not terribly taxing on the physical body, and you can always step back to part-time.
Of course, this work-life balance does come with a lower salary, as they make just over $320,000 a year.
Recent years have demonstrated there is a substantial need for AIs. Physicians who take on leadership positions have the opportunity to help guide communities through emerging health crises and future pandemics.
4 | Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
At number four is physical medicine and rehabilitation, also known as PM&R or physiatry. PM&R deals with diseases of the neuromuscular system, focusing on both inpatient and outpatient management of non-operative orthopedics and neuro-rehabilitation.
One reason PM&R is underrated is because many people confuse physiatrists with physical therapists. While physical therapists deal with musculoskeletal pathologies and physical regimens to help patients, physiatrists do not actively handle their patient’s physical therapy.
Instead, physiatrists work closely with physical therapists, typically prescribing the regimens that physical therapists carry out. They also evaluate the patients from a medical perspective and perform any procedures that may help ease the patient’s symptoms, such as nerve blocks, joint injections, and more.
Physiatry is much more than curing patients from a simple pathology; physiatrists aim to help patients reclaim their independence after life-changing circumstances through both medical and procedural treatment modalities.
Generally, physiatrists work from 8 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday with very minimal call, and they rarely work nights or weekends. Not only that, physiatrists are well compensated for their hours, earning nearly $380,000 on average. Those who work in private practice can earn more, and those who specialize in procedures can earn still more than that.
5 | Sleep Medicine
Lastly, we have sleep medicine, which focuses on diseases that affect our sleep quality, like obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, restless leg syndrome, narcolepsy, and more.
Sleep medicine doctors work primarily in the outpatient setting and have two main roles. The first is to conduct and interpret sleep studies, where patients are hooked up to a machine for the night that monitors their sleep patterns. Their second role is to see and treat patients in the clinic.
Sleep medicine is a one-year fellowship you can pursue after finishing one of many residencies. Some sleep physicians are also pulmonologists, which means they’ve finished three years of internal medicine training, three years of a pulmonary and critical care fellowship, and one year of sleep medicine training. However, recently, more internists are going straight into sleep medicine after finishing their IM residency.
Other residency options that can lead to sleep medicine include pediatrics, neurology, psychiatry, family medicine, otolaryngology, or anesthesiology, and in these cases, you would tailor your practice to the sleep disorders most relevant to your specialty.
For example, pediatric sleep medicine specialists might prefer to see children with sleep disorders, and neurologic sleep medicine specialists can become their region’s experts in sleep disorders with underlying neurologic diseases.
The salary for sleep medicine doctors varies and is less widely reported, as it’s still an emerging career path. Salary is dependent on the physician’s primary specialty training, practice setting, years of experience, and industry leadership, with salaries ranging from $240-$500,000.
For example, a pulmonologist who pursues further sleep medicine training stands to earn a higher paycheck than a family medicine physician with sleep medicine training.
Should we make a So You Want to Be episode on sleep medicine? Let us know in the comments.
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