NEW YORK CITY—A recent study estimating average salaries and lifetime earnings across professions suggests that some medical careers can be extraordinarily lucrative.
In New York City, hospitals are also operating in a changing labor market, where demand for health care workers continues to grow as artificial intelligence reshapes parts of the industry.
The City had 1.08 million jobs in health care and social assistance in August 2025, according to the NYC Economic Development Corp.
The sector added 46,900 jobs during the first eight months of that year, even as other parts of the City's private sector lost 32,600 jobs.
Much of the health care growth came from home care and social assistance,though hospital employment also rose by 25,600 jobs between the first eight months of 2022 and the same period in 2025.
Nationally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects health care and social assistance employment to grow 8.4% between 2024 and 2034, faster than any other industry sector.
Here's what physicians in some of the country's highest-paying specialties at New York hospitals say about their day-to-day work, the challenges they face and how to break into the field:
Average annual salary: $360,600
The popular image of anesthesiology tends to begin and end with putting someone to sleep.
"In reality it is continuous physiologic management," Sam DeMaria, the chair of anesthesiology at Northwell's Lenox Hill Hospital, said.
The old notion of the anesthesiologist working quietly behind the surgical drape, removed from the rest of the room, no longer reflects the demands of the specialty, he said.
"You can have a routine day that suddenly becomes a crisis," he said.
As department chair, he divides his attention between clinical care and the operation of a hospital department.
A typical week includes quality and safety initiatives, faculty support, staffing and operational problems, and meetings with hospital and system leadership.
DeMaria encourages aspiring anesthesiologists to shadow physicians at different stages of their careers, and gain early exposure to the operating room to better understand the demands and realities of the specialty.
"The next generation needs to be the agents of change, or they will become victims of modernity in the form of job loss and erosion," DeMaria said.
Average annual salary: $212,700
At Northern Westchester Hospital, Xiaoling "Ling" Griswold, the chief certified registered nurse anesthetist, spends about 98 percent of her time providing anesthesia in the operating room.
She generally works four days a week, from seven in the morning until five in the afternoon, she said.
Her day begins with the patient's medical history, the planned procedure, and conversations with the surgeon and attending anesthesiologist.
From there, she develops an anesthesia plan and carries it out, adjusting as circumstances require.
Griswold was drawn to the specialty by the interaction between physiology and pharmacology: the way a drug can change consciousness or relieve pain, and the precision required to produce the intended effect.
She still finds the science fascinating, but remains candid about the physical and emotional toll of the work.
"You have to be able to perform under significant pressure, and things can go wrong in seconds," Griswold said.
Complex cases demand intense concentration, and the pressure can accumulate if a clinician does not make time to recover.
And, seeing a frightened or suffering patient can affect her more than she expects.
For someone considering nurse anesthesia, she recommends a clear-eyed understanding of the training involved: strong nursing experience, critical thinking and the ability to make decisions under pressure are essential.
The interest also must extend beyond the profession's financial rewards, she said.
Average annual salary: $454,900
Growing up in a South Asian community, Ravi Shah was familiar with the burden of heart disease.
Medical training introduced him to another dimension of the specialty: inherited and genetic conditions that can affect people regardless of their lifestyle.
He became interested in helping patients who had been born with heart conditions and had done nothing to cause them.
Now the associate director of the cardiac care unit at Lenox Hill, Shah now treats people with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and cardiac amyloidosis, conditions that can cause the heart muscle to thicken.
On other days, he rounds in the cardiac intensive care unit, evaluating critically ill patients and those being considered for advanced heart therapies or transplantation.
His remaining responsibilities include reviewing cardiac imaging, answering patient messages, managing medication refills and conducting research.
Although much of his work takes place in an outpatient office, Shah said the job extends beyond a typical 9-to-5 schedule.
"Emergencies don't know what time of day it is," Shah said.
He regards the unpredictability as one of the more demanding aspects of cardiology.
The physician must meet existing obligations while remaining available for urgent cases, sometimes at night, on weekends, or during holidays.
He is drawn to the problem-solving side of medicine, using questions that arise in patient care to guide research and refine treatment decisions.
That curiosity, along with communication, is what he would look for in a future cardiologist.
Patients need to understand their options, but physicians must also understand what matters to the people sitting across from them.
A treatment that extends life may involve trade-offs in quality of life, and discussing those trade-offs requires more than technical knowledge.
Shah advises students to spend time in an actual clinical setting before deciding on the specialty.
The version of cardiology presented in television dramas, he suggests, is a poor substitute for seeing how its days are spent.
Average annual salary: $317,500
Eric Ascher, a family medicine physician at Lenox Hill, was drawn to a different kind of medical encounter: sitting down with a patient and listening.
He sees multiple patients a day, five days a week, with an emphasis on preventive care and early detection.
"Medicine is a team sport and the family physician is often the coach, the quarterback, and the referee," Ascher said.
Ascher said he enjoys the less dramatic work of prevention: finding disease early or helping patients avoid it altogether.
The progress may be incremental, but it can change the course of a person's life, he said.
Average annual salary: $346,500
Oral and maxillofacial surgery occupies an unusual position between dentistry and medicine.
Its familiar procedures—wisdom-tooth extractions, dental implants, biopsies—are only a portion of the specialty's work.
Hunter Martin, who directs Northwell Health's oral and maxillofacial surgery program, divides his time between outpatient care and hospital work.
In the office, he sees consultations and performs minor procedures. In the hospital, he treats more complex cases and emergencies. He also works with residents as they develop the clinical and surgical skills required by the field.
"Every day brings a new challenge," Martin said.
The specialty can involve facial trauma, head and neck cancer, benign pathology, and corrective jaw surgery.
Its range is one of its attractions, and Martin recommends that students observe surgeons in both private practice and a hospital.
The settings reveal different aspects of the work, from routine consultations to cases requiring a broader surgical team.
Average annual salary: $346,500
James Slover, chief of adult reconstruction at Lenox Hill, divides his time between the office and the operating room, treating patients who need hip and knee replacements and helping them recover.
Two or three days a week are typically devoted to patient visits, while other days are spent performing surgery.
Because most hip and knee replacements are elective, the specialty offers more scheduling predictability than trauma surgery, he said.
Slover and his team spend months coordinating patients' care before and after surgery, preparing them for the procedure and monitoring their recovery. Many patients return for years of follow-up so their implants can be assessed.
"We have sort of profound relationships with our patients because it's really a significant undertaking for them to trust us to do something like a hip or knee replacement," Slover said.
Despite the challenges facing the health care system, Slover remains enthusiastic about medicine.
He encourages students interested in the field to pursue it with determination, and said the demands of the profession are part of what makes it so fulfilling.
Average annual salary: $381,500
Samuel Kim, chief of radiology at Glen Cove Hospital, typically works nine-hour shifts, either during the day or evening, with some weekend hours.
Using MRI and CT scans, radiologists help identify conditions that guide patients' treatment.
Kim said advances in imaging technology continue to improve the field, while developments in artificial intelligence offer new opportunities to support radiologists' work.
Although radiologists are responsible for interpreting images and making diagnoses, Kim said the work depends on a broader team of specialists.
MRI, CT, ultrasound, nuclear medicine and X-ray technologists each play a distinct role in producing the images physicians use to evaluate patients.
Kim noted that radiology's shift-based structure can offer opportunities for work-life balance, making it an appealing option for those considering the specialty.
He recommends shadowing a radiologist to gain a better understanding of the profession before pursuing it.
| Specialty | Average annual salary | Working years at full pay | Estimated lifetime earnings |
| Cardiology | $454,900 | 33 | $14.07 million |
| Radiology | $381,500 | 34 | $12.58 million |
| Anesthesiology | $360,600 | 35 | $12.23 million |
| Oral and maxillofacial surgery | $346,500 | 34 | $11.32 million |
| Family medicine | $317,500 | 36 | $10.72 million |
| Orthopaedic surgery | $239,200 | 34 | $8.23 million |
| Nurse anesthesia | $212,700 | 38 | $7.87 million |
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