By the numbers

The top 10 most in-demand specialties in 2025, according to AMN Healthcare

AMN Healthcare’s report on physician recruiting shares insights on today’s most sought-after specialties along with starting salaries and other incentives.

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Family medicine is currently the most in-demand physician specialty, according to AMN Healthcare’s (formerly Merritt Hawkins) recent report on physician recruiting. Based off of a representative sample of 1,420 AMN Healthcare search engagements between April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025, the report shares insights into which specialties are the most sought-after by employers recruiting physicians—and what the average starting salaries offered are.

Their research found that the average starting salary for all physicians was $403,000, a decrease from 2024’s $406,000. Please note that this report tracks starting salaries and other recruiting incentives rather than total annual compensation; the salaries below will vary from what physicians actually earn and report on their tax returns.

The report also noted that the majority of contracts included a production bonus that would allow physicians to earn more based on the volume of work that they do and/or other metrics. Also, in addition to salary, many physician contracts include signing bonuses (roughly $38,000 on average), relocation allowances ($12,619 on average) and CME allowances ($4,073 on average).

Top 10 most-requested searches by specialty with starting salaries offered

  1. Family medicine: $275,000
  2. Anesthesiology: $485,000
  3. Internal medicine: $292,000
  4. Radiology: $551,000
  5. Gastroenterology: $552,000
  6. Cardiology: $470,000
  7. OB-GYN: $371,000
  8. Hematology/oncology: $490,000
  9. Psychiatry: $315,000
  10. Hospitalist: $279,000
Related

More physicians needed

“As has been the case for years, hospitals, medical groups and other organizations seeking to recruit physicians and APPs are doing so in environment where the demand for these professionals typically exceeds the supply,” the report noted. The report includes information from the Association of American Medical Colleges regarding research into the projected future physician shortage—by 2035, they predict a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians.

Read the full report here.

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3 comments

  1. Jehangir Pirzada, D.O.

    This reflects the influence of corporate medicine. The plan was to turn around distressed hospitals/hospital systems, make them profitable, and cut the fat. This is actually a good thing, because waste and inefficiency are hospital killers. Their first approach was to get as many surgeries/procedures done as possible, along with extracting as much reimbursement out of admissions (decrease LOS, documentation, and meeting metrics tied to reimbursement). They then realized that you can’t ignore the primary care doctors because PCPs are the doctors who decide which hospital their patients go to. They also realized you can’t keep increasing hospitalist workload and maintain staffing (because they were quitting). Then, a huge push was made to bring as many PCPs into their networks and more hospitalists, in addition to recruiting any physicians you need to perform surgeries/procedures. That list is just a reflection of hospital systems trying to maximize the income-producing physicians. You won’t see emergency medicine on that list because hospital systems know there is not enough juice for the squeeze in the ED. That is why most hospital systems contract emergency medicine groups to staff their EDs. What I would really like to see is a list of the most sought after locums specialties. The data should be taken from many different locums companies and not just one.

    Reply

    1. Jehangir Pirzada, D.O.

      Also forgot to add that infusions of chemotherapy and biologics are very profitable (with little overhead), and reimbursement for psychiatric illnesses is very good. Wanted to add that to explain those two specialties on the list.

      Reply

  2. Wild Bill

    Too all of you students out there trying to decide what to do.
    Follow your interests. It is a long career and happy one if you follow your heart, so to speak. It’s either a short career …due to burn out or a very long unhappy one if you don’t follow your interest. Once you are out of initial training it is VERY difficult to go back….a return to resident pay, uprooting family/personal life, being a scut boy or girl again…very difficult.

    When I was in medical school, about 1980, there was a health manpower issue in NEJM. It said FP/IM/Peds were the only specialties with any future. Many of us believed it. BIG MISTAKE. Family medicine is still in demand…why? because 1) it is the most difficult specialty (with IM and Peds) and 2) the lowest pay then and now…not to say you get (feel) no respect from the rest of the profession. Sure your patients may love you and yes, you can do a lot of good but you are the one who gets called to quick do the H&P so the surgeon can go to the OR, etc. If you are sure that is what you love, great, do it. But my advice is NO PRIMARY CARE.

    Follow your interests and your heart.

    CCOM ’82

    Reply

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