<p>How much does income in this field actually vary by? Like does someone have a percentile run down. Say for a cardiologist. Because what I feel is that while its harder than other fields to get through education, once you do everyone pretty much makes the same amount or that there is less variance than there is in other fields. Am I right or wrong on this?</p>
<p>I think it’s the opposite. Depending on where you work (small private practice vs. state/gov hospital vs. big private hospital) and what you do, it ranges a lot. For example, surgeons can make high six figures depending on what type of surgery they do and surgeons in general seem to make a bit more than other physicians. </p>
<p>I found this from a google search: [2011</a> - 2012 Physician Salary Survey - Profiles - ProfilesDatabase.com](<a href=“http://www.profilesdatabase.com/resources/2011-2012-physician-salary-survey]2011”>Resources | Profiles Database)</p>
<p>Basically, it ranges a couple hundred thousand dollars, but even on the low end, it’s a lot of money.</p>
<p>There is a large variation in income between specialists. Orthopedics surgeons are at the top, whereas primary care specialists are at the bottom. Many have recognized the need for primary care physicians to be paid at a more equitable level, but many students choose specialties because of the fascination with the field as well as the fact that specialties are rewarded with better pay, which is also a big issue if students have a large amount of medical school debt.</p>