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Specialties, and what they change

You move between these by being hired, not by earning another degree.

• Surgery

  First assisting in the operating room, then managing patients on the ward. Long days, pay above the middle.

• Emergency medicine

  Shift work, no call at home, and you see everything. Burnout is real.

• Dermatology

  Clinic hours, no nights, and among the best paid.

• Psychiatry

  Badly short of staff nationwide, so hiring is easy and telehealth is common.

• Primary care

  The lowest pay and the widest medicine. Qualifies for the most loan repayment.