Neurosurgery is the highest-paying physician specialty, with a median of $954,500, but it ranks last of 36 specialties for lifestyle balance, according to a Sept. 22 analysis from physician salary platform Marit Health.
Neurosurgeons average 56.6 hours a week, more than any other specialty and 11 hours above the 45.6-hour average, according to the analysis. Neurosurgery scored 0.50 on Marit’s Lifestyle Balance Index, where 1.0 is the average across specialties. It also scored 0.67 on schedule quality, the third-lowest of any field. Its call burden is above average, and neurosurgeons get 4.6 weeks of PTO a year, below the 5-week average.
General surgery ranks just above neurosurgery, at 0.61 and 53.7 hours a week. Critical care, OB-GYN and anesthesiology round out the bottom five, each at 0.64. The index is based on more than 24,400 anonymous salary and schedule submissions from full-time physicians. It combines weekly hours, schedule quality, call burden, percent clinical time and PTO.
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