Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is indicative of a starting salary for a trauma surgeon being over $250,000 a year. A higher level of education and training is required to be a trauma surgeon than say a pediatrician or general practitioner. It also means that you have to have excellent communication skills, as well as leadership ability in order to coordinate the care at an emergency scene. Another benefit is that you will have job flexibility due to your specialized knowledge.
A trauma surgeon is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and care of patients who are suffering from injuries caused by accidents or violence. It is important to note that a trauma surgeon is not the same as an emergency room doctor; he or she is just one type of physician within this medical field. Trauma surgeons must have excellent bedside manners and be capable of working with a wide range of patients with varying injury severity levels. Often times, they will perform surgery on site to treat life threatening injuries immediately after an accident, rather than bringing patients to an ER.
Starting Salary For Trauma Surgeon Overview
If you want to become a Trauma Surgeon, you’re going to need to know how much they make.
Trauma surgeons are the doctors who specialize in treating patients who have suffered traumatic injuries. They work in emergency rooms and trauma centers, operating on patients who have been injured in car crashes or fires, or by gunshot wounds and other causes of physical trauma. They can also be found working as part of an organ transplant team.
Trauma surgeons are highly trained medical professionals with extensive experience in both general surgery and emergency medicine. The average salary for trauma surgeons is $150,000 per year, although there is quite a bit of variation depending on factors like location and specialty area (whether you work in an emergency room or a hospital).
In order to become a trauma surgeon, you’ll need about 12 years of education beyond high school: four years for undergraduate college degree; four years for medical school; one year for internship; three years for residency training; and one year for fellowship if applicable (this last one depends on whether or not you’re interested in specializing).
Trauma Surgeon Salary
Trauma surgeons working in the United States typically earn salaries in the range from $117,988 to $423,856 a year including bonuses according to Payscale’s salary data. The annual bonuses for this occupation can amount to up to $51,064 a year, and the basic salary is usually in the range from $101,367 to $412,246 a year.
Based on the salary figures provided by Salary.com, 10% of trauma surgeons earn $262,696 a year or less, while the top 10% best paid trauma surgeons earn an annual salary of $483,152 or more. Jobstat records the highest salary at $415,446 a year and the lowest annual pay at $60,000 for this profession.
Salary range
Trauma surgeons’ annual pay depends on a variety of factors, ranging from location and employer type to years of work experience.
Surgeons with 1 to 4 years of experience are typically paid between $101,367 and $408,514 annually, and those with 5 to 9 years of experience earn salaries in the range from $70,957 to $353,845 a year.
Trauma surgeons with 10 to 19 years under their belt report an annual income in the range from $254,341 to $404,136, while professionals with 20 or more years of experience generally earn between $300,000 and $434,400 a year according to the salary information provided by Payscale. The average salary range for trauma surgeons with the degree of Doctor of Medicine (MD) goes from $153,193 to $426,917 a year.
Professional certification is one of the factors that can affect a trauma surgeon’s salary. Surgeons with the Board Certified Surgery qualification generally earn salaries in the range form $185,956 to $412,870 a year, while those with a certification in Surgical Critical Care from the American Board of Surgery are typically paid an income in the range from $235,000 to $360,075 a year according to Payscale’s salary data.
Trauma surgeons employed by institutions with more than 500 hospital beds generally earn a yearly pay in the range between $149,499 and $413,384. Those working for organizations that employ 5,000 to 19,999 people typically report an annual income in the range from $257,269 to $412,000 according to Payscale. Trauma surgeons employed by general hospitals usually earn between $124,021 and $405,644 a year.
Professionals working in the health care sector generally have salaries in the range from $118,359 to $416,867 a year, and those working at hospitals typically earn an income in the range between $58,734 and $407,716 a year according to Payscale.
Average salary
The average salary of a trauma surgeon employed in the United States is $351,262 a year according to Salary.com, $400,000 a year according to the recruitment agency Profiles, $260,046 a year according to Jobstat, and $305,940 a year according to Payscale’s salary data.
Starting salary
The recruitment firm Profiles reports an average starting salary of $298,000 a year for trauma surgeons in their first year on the job. Trauma surgeons with less than a year of experience are paid $11,500 in bonuses according to Payscale’s income statistics.
Hourly wage
The average hourly wage, as reported by Jobstat, is $129.52. The top hourly rate recorded is $206.59 and the lowest is $29.84 per hour.
Salary by specialty
Area of specialty is one of the major factors that can affect a trauma surgeon’s annual earnings. Professionals specializing in general surgery typically earn between $335,870 and $357,380 a year, those specializing in emergency and trauma report earning an annual pay in the range from $147,395 to $356,078, and surgeons specializing in critical care are generally paid between $247,465 and $443,847 annually according to Payscale’s salary data.
Benefits
Along with the annual pay and bonuses, trauma surgeons typically also get a variety of perks and benefits, and these can sometimes reflect their yearly income. Surgeons who have paid holidays and vacations generally earn between $147,949 and $400,559 a year, those who get malpractice and liability insurance are usually paid between $146,807 and $402,045 annually, and professionals who have 401(k) plans typically report earning an annual salary in the range from $110,000 to $421,847.
Trauma surgeons who get paid sick leave generally earn between $71,490 and $359,442 a year, and those who have life and disability insurance as part of their benefits package are paid between $71,490 and $426,209 a year.
Professionals who get 403(b) plans typically make between $57,779 and $410,452 a year, and those who get a cell phone report a yearly income in the range from $253,383 to $348,747 according to Payscale’s salary statistics.
The most popular benefits and perks among trauma surgeons are paid vacations and holidays, malpractice and liability insurance, 401(k) plans, paid sick leave, life and disability insurance, and 403(b) plans.
Bonuses
Trauma surgeons’ yearly bonuses depend on a wide range of factors, including geographical location, and they can vary significantly from state to state. Surgeons working in Pennsylvania get $30,000 a year on average in bonus money, those employed in New York are paid around $25,000 annually, and professionals working in Washington get $20,500 a year on average. California-based surgeons are paid around $20,000 annually in bonuses, those working in Colorado get $10,000 a year on average, and professionals employed in Ohio report getting $2,500 a year on average in bonuses according to Payscale’s salary data.
In terms of professional experience, trauma surgeons with 1 to 4 years of experience get around $30,000 a year, and those with 5 to 9 years of experience report being paid $5,000 annually on average in bonuses. Professionals with 20 or more years of work experience under their belt get $2,500 a year on average in bonus money.
Trauma surgeons’ bonuses can also vary depending on the size of the organization that employs them. For example, professionals working for organizations that employ 600 to 1,999 people are paid $5,000 a year on average, while those working for organizations with 5,000 to 19,999 employees get around $19,653 a year in bonuses according to Payscale’s data.
Bonuses can also vary depending on professional certification. Surgeons with the Board Certified Surgery qualification get $19,774 a year on average, and those with a certification in Surgical Critical Care from the American Board of Surgery are paid around $31,750 annually in bonuses.
The number of hospital beds is another factor that affect trauma surgeons’ bonus earnings. Surgeons employed by institutions with less than 50 beds get $2,500 annually on average, those working for institutions with 100 to 299 hospital beds are paid around $50,000 a year in bonuses, while professionals employed by institutions with 300 to 499 beds get around $1,000 a year in bonuses according to Payscale. Trauma surgeons working at institutions with 500 or more hospital beds report getting $21,750 a year on average in bonuses.
When it comes to contributions from profit sharing, professionals with 1 to 4 years of experience report earning $28,000 a year, and surgeons working at hospitals get the same amount on average.
Surgeons working at institutions with fewer than 50 beds report earning around $25,000 a year in commissions, and professionals employed by general hospitals report being paid the same amount.
Other income factors
Trauma surgeon salaries can also vary depending on the type of employer. For instance, surgeons working at hospitals typically make between $96,958 and $403,912 annually, those employed by non-profit organizations generally report earning a yearly salary in the range from $230,919 to $359,763, and professionals employed by universities and colleges are usually paid between $218,380 and $334,380 a year according to the salary figures provided by Payscale.
Factors That Affect Trauma Surgeon Salaries
Many factors can increase or decrease the salary range of a trauma surgeon. You can maneuver some of these factors to improve your ability to earn higher than the average base salary.
Others are simply factors that cannot be changed but still affect salary nevertheless. Having this knowledge base can help you know your fair market value and do what you can to put the salary odds in your favor.
Years of Experience
Every physician starts out earning as a resident. According to the Medscape resident salary report, a resident surgeon can earn as much as $65,700 per year, depending on the subspecialty.
This same report shows that this number will increase each year of residency.
As an entry-level trauma surgeon, once you gain experience, your pay should increase as well. According to Salary.com, you can be gaining $23,664 more than the national average after you have just five years of experience under your belt.
Interestingly enough, after the first five years, the salary will only jump another six to eight thousand with five or more years of experience earned.
Location
Just as with any career, the amount of compensation that a trauma surgeon would earn per year is dependent on the cost of living in the chosen location. And, further, on the current demand in the trauma surgeon field at that time.
The HealtheCareers website breaks down the average salary for trauma surgeon jobs in each state from 2019.
According to their compensation data, Minnesota was the highest paying state for trauma surgeons, offering $500,000 to full-time trauma surgeons.
Coming in at second place was New Hampshire, with $450,000 as the average trauma surgeon salary. New Jersey and Washington State tied for third with $430,000 as the base salary for a trauma surgeon.
As a whole, their data pattern shows that the northeast is the highest-earning area for trauma surgeons.
Even within states the pay rate varies. According to 2022 data from Salary.com, trauma surgeons in San Francisco make $459,700 in the 25th percentile and $717,998 in the 90th percentile. In Los Angeles, these figures are $415,929 and $649,633, respectively.
