Qualifications

• Anyone wishing to pursue a career as a physician must first receive a bachelor's degree (minimum of four years) and attend several years of medical school. After completing four or more years of medical school, most prospective physicians must then do three to eight years of internship and residency depending on the area of medicine they are practicing. Admission into medical school is extremely competitive and candidates will usually need to exemplify high levels of leadership, academic excellence and participation in extracurricular activities. After completing medical school, all physicians in the United States must complete and pass licensing and certification exams to legally practice medicine.
  
  

Location

• In the case of physicians, the pay scale average is fairly similar across the country. For example, in the state of Texas, which has a lower cost of living than many other states, the average physician compensation is $152,700 a year. In California, well known for high rent and living expenses, the average salary of a physician is virtually the same at $152,905.
  
  

Types of Physicians

• The area of medicine in which a physician practices has a significant impact on her salary. The most common type of doctor in the U.S. is an internal medicine physician, and she can average an income of $158,000 a year. A psychiatrist can expect a national average of $134,000. However, an anesthesiologist, whose average work week is sixty one hours per week and who requires more graduate medical education than an internal medicine physician, will average $225,000 annually. Orthopedic surgeons, often the highest paid doctors in health care, require even more education and average $323,000 a year in compensation.
  
  

Type of Employer

• The average physician salary for those practicing medicine at a hospital is $146,896 a year, but in private practice that number raises to $154,572. Non profit organizations often pay less to their employees, but a physician for such an organization can still expect to make an average of $153,537. At the high end of the spectrum are the self employed physicians, earning an average of $163,347 a year. A doctor working for a school or district will average $86,897.