Published Aug 23, 2021

Do You Know How Much Your Cancer Doctor Earns? Oncologists Ranked 8th Highest Earning Doctors In The United States

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An Oncologists' Income

A 2021 report found that oncologists ranked eighth as the highest earning physicians in the medical field, earning $403,000 per year. However, they ranked highest in feeling fairly compensated for their work and choosing medicine again as a career.
Among oncologists, 61% of them are men while only 39% are women. Additionally, numerous studies have shown that female oncologists earn less money than their male colleagues across specialities.
Oncologists have been hailed for decades as some of the most heroic healthcare workers in medicine, and the doctor-patient relationship is a key aspect in guiding someone’s cancer journey.

Oncologists say they love their job, and they’re paid an average of $403K to do it, according to new data from Medscape Oncology.

Known as some of the most heroic doctors around the world, oncologists earn an average of $403,000 per year, which increased from $377,000 in 2019. The report followed physicians in 29 different fields, and found that oncologists ranked the eighth most earning while those in plastic surgery ranked the highest.

While the average income of oncologists went up over the past two years, the report found that the overall income of physicians across numerous fields did not increase that much despite hardships brought on by COVID-19. However, the report also stated that among all physicians surveyed, oncologists stated that they feel the most fairly compensated for their work and ranked highest on choosing medicine again as a career.

While oncologists feel fairly compensated and clearly love their career, there are still problems concerning gender equality in the field. Among oncologists, 61% of them are men while only 39% are women. Additionally, numerous studies have shown that female oncologists earn less money than their male colleagues across specialties.

Oncologists can really make a huge difference not only in someone’s cancer journey but also their emotional health.

Dr. Lawrence Piro explains his first priority when meeting a new patient

The Oncologist-Patient Relationship

Oncologists play a much more important role than just treating a patient. A cancer diagnosis can understandably lead a person to experience a roller coaster of emotions, such as confusion, anxiety, anger, or sadness. As someone’s cancer doctor, it’s up to them to provide the correct resources and assure them that this journey is something that they can get through.

“As a doctor, my main goal should be to be on your journey, not to totally prescribe your journey,” Dr. Lawrence Piro, president and CEO of The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute in Los Angeles, previously told SurvivorNet. “It’s their job to decide what’s important to them, and it’s my job to support and help them on their journey.”

One other important aspect of an oncologist’s job is to make sure their patient feels like a person first and foremost. In some cases, a cancer diagnosis may take over a person’s identity completely and make them feel less of the person they were before being diagnosed. So, while being on this journey with their oncologist, it’s key the patient is reassured they are the same person they’ve always been despite the cancer diagnosis.

“The first meeting with a patient, the most important thing for me is to understand who is this person who’s sitting in front of me,” Dr. Piro told SurvivorNet in a separate interview. “I want to be very clear on you’re a person. You’re going to see a doctor as a person. That doctor should know who you are…I think, as doctors, we’re trained for the content that we have, but we’re often not trained for the method of communication. I think that’s just equally important.”

Stupid Cancer founder Matthew Zachary explains the importance of the doctor-patient relationship

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