Salaries offered to the top 20 recruited physician specialties: 42 statistics

Of the 20 most-recruited physician and advanced practitioner specialties, 13 had higher average base salary offers in 2012-13 compared with the year before, according to a report from physician staffing firm Merritt Hawkins.
Merritt Hawkins based its data on nearly 3,100 physician and advanced practitioner search assignments from April 2012 through March 2013.
Hospitals, health systems, accountable care organizations and other healthcare organizations heavily recruited primary care physicians — like those in family medicine or internal medicine — the most in the past year. However, their salary offers only increased marginally, and for some, such as family physicians and pediatricians, their starting salary offers were actually down year-over-year.

Orthopedic surgeons continue to command the highest salary offers, though their average salary offer dropped 7 percent in 2012-13 to $483,000 compared with the year prior.

Here are 42 statistics on average base salary offers to the 20 most heavily recruited physician specialties and advanced practitioners over the past year. Note: Figures only represent base salaries or guaranteed income. They do not include production bonuses or benefits. Data is sorted by highest average salary offer from last year. Click here to see which specialties are in high demand.