Navigating Physician Salary by Specialty in Medical Genetics: A Guide

Understanding Physician Salary by Specialty in the Context of Medical Genetics

Physician salary by specialty is one of the most important practical considerations for residency applicants planning their careers. For those interested in a medical genetics residency, the financial picture may seem less straightforward than for more common specialties like internal medicine, surgery, or dermatology. Medical genetics is smaller, highly specialized, and often combined with other fields—so where does it fit into doctor salary by specialty comparisons, and how does it stack up against the highest paid specialties?

This guide walks you through:

• Where medical genetics sits in the physician salary landscape
• How combined training (e.g., Pediatrics + Medical Genetics) affects income
• Academic vs private practice earning potential
• Factors that drive salary differences within genetics
• What to realistically expect during training and early practice
• How to think about compensation alongside lifestyle and long‑term career growth

Throughout, remember that salary numbers are approximate ranges, based on publicly available surveys (e.g., Medscape, MGMA, AAMC) and reports through late 2024. Exact figures vary by geography, institution type, your mix of clinical and non-clinical work, and negotiation skills.

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Where Medical Genetics Fits in Physician Salary by Specialty

When applicants look at doctor salary by specialty, they typically see familiar lists: orthopedics, cardiology, dermatology, plastic surgery, radiology, etc. Medical genetics often doesn’t appear as a separate line item in large national surveys, which can make it harder to benchmark.

Broad Overview: How Genetics Compares

Based on aggregated data from academic centers, private groups, and national surveys that include “clinical genetics” or “medical genetics” as a category:

• Medical genetics attending salary (U.S.)
  • Early career (1–5 years in practice): roughly $180,000–$260,000
  • Mid-career: roughly $220,000–$320,000
  • Senior/section chief/medical director roles: $250,000–$380,000+ (depending on leadership responsibilities and institutional type)

These ranges place standalone medical genetics below many procedure-heavy and hospital-based specialties, and roughly comparable to or slightly above community-based pediatrics or general internal medicine in some regions, particularly in academic settings.

Comparison with Selected Specialties (Approximate Ranges)

To situate medical genetics among other fields (all are rough U.S. full-time clinical FTE ranges, not including bonuses or side income):

• Highest paid specialties (often cited top tier)

  • Orthopedic Surgery: $550,000–$900,000+
  • Neurosurgery: $650,000–$950,000+
  • Cardiology (invasive): $550,000–$800,000+
  • Gastroenterology: $500,000–$750,000+
  • Dermatology: $450,000–$700,000+

• Mid-to-high income specialties

  • Radiology: $450,000–$650,000+
  • Anesthesiology: $400,000–$600,000+
  • Emergency Medicine: $350,000–$500,000+
  • Oncology: $350,000–$550,000+

• Mid-range primary care and cognitively focused fields

  • General Internal Medicine: $230,000–$350,000+
  • General Pediatrics: $190,000–$260,000+
  • Endocrinology: $230,000–$320,000+
  • Rheumatology: $250,000–$350,000+

• Medical Genetics (standalone)

  • Clinical medical genetics: $180,000–$320,000+, often at the lower/middle of this band in academic centers, higher in specific private or hybrid roles

From this view, medical genetics is not among the highest paid specialties. It falls in the lower-middle income tier, particularly in academic roles, but with some earning potential growth as you add sub-specialization, administrative leadership, or laboratory and industry work.

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How Training Pathways and Combined Programs Affect Income

One of the key complexities with medical genetics residency is that it is frequently combined with another core specialty. That combination substantially affects your ultimate compensation.

Common Dual Pathways and Salary Impact

1. Pediatrics–Medical Genetics (4–5 years)

   • Often leads to roles as a pediatric geneticist in children’s hospitals and academic centers.
   • Typical salary: aligned with academic pediatric subspecialties, around $200,000–$320,000 depending on institution, region, and years in practice.
   • Some pediatric geneticists with strong administrative roles or high-demand subspecialization (e.g., metabolic disorders) may exceed $320,000+.

2. Internal Medicine–Medical Genetics

   • Less common but may position you as an adult geneticist in tertiary centers.
   • Salary range often mirrors academic general internal medicine plus subspecialty differential: roughly $220,000–$350,000+, with higher potential if you blend genetics with high-revenue consult services, telemedicine, or leadership.

3. Obstetrics & Gynecology + Genetics Collaboration (not always formal dual training)

   • Many genetics physicians work closely with MFM and OB in prenatal diagnosis.
   • A physician with OB/Gyn or MFM plus genetics-related expertise (e.g., in prenatal genomics) can see salaries closer to OB/Gyn or MFM levels:
     • OB/Gyn general: $320,000–$450,000+
     • MFM: $450,000–$700,000+
   • Here, you’re primarily an OB-based physician with a genetics focus, rather than a primary genetics-trained attending.

4. Medical Biochemical Genetics, Laboratory Genetics, and Genomics

   • Additional fellowship training (e.g., Medical Biochemical Genetics, Molecular Genetic Pathology, Clinical Laboratory Genetics and Genomics) can position you in laboratory-director type roles.
   • Hospital lab or reference lab directors with MD/PhD or MD training may earn $250,000–$450,000+, sometimes higher in private or industry-affiliated labs.

In practice, your salary identity often tracks your primary clinical home: pediatrics, internal medicine, OB/MFM, or pathology/lab medicine, with a genetics overlay.

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Academic vs Private Practice: Where Do Geneticists Earn More?

Unlike many procedure-heavy specialties, a substantial proportion of medical geneticists work in academic medical centers and children’s hospitals. That shapes the compensation pattern.

Academic Medical Genetics

Most medical genetics residency graduates join academic or quasi-academic settings, where responsibilities typically include:

• Complex outpatient consultations (e.g., undiagnosed syndromes, hereditary cancers, metabolic diseases)
• Inpatient consults for NICU/PICU/ICU or complicated adult cases
• Teaching residents, fellows, and medical students
• Participating in tumor boards or multidisciplinary clinics (e.g., cardiogenetics, neurogenetics, skeletal dysplasia)
• Some involvement in clinical trials or translational research

Academic salary characteristics:

• Base salary: often at the lower end of general physician salary by specialty comparisons in the same institution
• RVU incentives: may be modest, as genetics consults are time-intensive but not highly reimbursed
• Protected time: for research or program development may reduce billable clinical hours
• Additional income: small administrative stipends, speaking honoraria, or grant support (if research-based)

Typical ranges in many U.S. academic centers:

• Assistant Professor-level pediatric or adult geneticist: $180,000–$240,000
• Associate Professor-level: $220,000–$300,000
• Full Professor, division chief, or medical director: $250,000–$380,000+ (depending on scope of leadership and institutional scale)

Hospital-Employed and Private/Hybrid Roles

A smaller but growing subset of geneticists work in:

• Large multispecialty groups or health system-employed groups
• Private or hybrid models with hospital support
• Specialty clinics (e.g., fertility + genetics, oncology genetics centers, cardiovascular genetics programs)

These positions can offer:

• Higher base salaries than traditional academic roles, especially if they help relieve institutional bottlenecks (e.g., high-demand cancer genetics services)
• Productivity bonuses tied to clinic volume or downstream revenue (e.g., testing, procedures done by partner specialists)
• Potential for telehealth-based expansion, allowing higher patient throughput and regional reach

In these roles, compensation can move toward the upper ranges mentioned earlier:

• Adult hereditary cancer genetics attending in a large private system: $250,000–$350,000+
• Cardiogenetics-focused internist with strong referral patterns: $280,000–$380,000+
• Lab-affiliated or precision medicine clinic director: possibly $300,000–$450,000+ in select high-demand markets

That said, genetics overall is not structured like the highest paid specialties—you’re more likely to see strong job security, niche expertise, and lifestyle benefits than extremely high RVU-driven income.

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Key Factors That Drive Income within Medical Genetics

Just as physician salary by specialty varies, salary within medical genetics is influenced by multiple variables. Understanding these can help you make strategic training and career decisions.

1. Subspecialization and Niche Expertise

Subspecialty areas in genetics can command different levels of demand and compensation:

• Cancer genetics / hereditary oncology

  • High intersection with oncology and surgery; strong institutional demand.
  • Potential for better compensation within academic or hybrid settings due to downstream revenue from cancer treatments and surveillance.

• Cardiogenetics

  • Often embedded in large cardiology or electrophysiology programs.
  • Cardiologists themselves are among the higher earning specialties; a geneticist anchored in this ecosystem may negotiate stronger packages due to programmatic value.

• Neurogenetics, skeletal dysplasia, metabolic genetics

  • Critical in tertiary care pediatrics and adult neurology centers.
  • Salary often within the academic range but may increase with leadership of specialized centers or registries.

• Reproductive and prenatal genetics

  • Collaboration with OB, MFM, IVF clinics, and reproductive endocrinologists.
  • Salary may be enhanced when linked to high revenue fertility or MFM practices.

2. Geographic Region and Market Forces

As with all doctor salary by specialty, location is a major determinant:

• Urban academic hubs (e.g., coasts, major teaching centers):

  • Higher cost of living, sometimes slightly higher pay, but not always proportional.
  • High demand for geneticists can help with negotiation, but institutional pay scales can be rigid.

• Underserved or mid-sized markets:

  • Fewer geneticists per population, sometimes more aggressive recruitment packages.
  • Loan repayment, sign-on bonuses, and relocation incentives may be substantial.

3. Type of Employer

• University or children’s hospital: stable, often lower pay but strong benefits, academic titles, and research opportunities.
• Community hospital system / large multispecialty group: moderate-to-higher pay, strong focus on clinical efficiency, potential for productivity bonuses.
• Reference lab, biotech, or industry: highly variable; may exceed clinical salaries for roles in medical affairs, clinical development, or test development.

Industry and lab positions may provide total compensation packages (salary + bonus + stock options) that rival or exceed traditional clinical genetics roles, especially later in your career.

4. Clinical Load vs Non-Clinical Work

As you shape your career, your income is also affected by how you mix:

• Direct patient care (clinic and consults)
• Lab direction and oversight
• Administrative leadership (department, service line, quality, telemedicine programs)
• Research (especially funded, protected time roles)
• Education (program director, curriculum development)

Generally, more direct clinical work and program leadership correlate with higher salary, while heavy research or teaching loads (without offsetting grants or stipends) may modestly reduce your take-home pay but increase long-term career capital.

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Training, Early-Career Compensation, and Long-Term Growth

To put compensation in context, it helps to look at the full timeline: from medical school through residency, early attending years, and mid-career progression.

Medical School and Residency Years

During medical school, your focus is on matching into residency, not on salary. When you enter a medical genetics residency or a combined program, you’ll be paid the institution’s standard PGY-scaled salary, typically:

• PGY1–PGY4 base stipend: roughly $60,000–$75,000 per year in many U.S. programs, varying by cost of living and institution.

Because medical genetics is a smaller specialty, many residents match into categorical pediatrics, internal medicine, or other primary specialties first, then transition into a dedicated genetics track. Your pay during residency is usually the same as peers at the same PGY level, regardless of specialty.

Early Attending Years

Your first 3–5 years out of training are critical:

• Starting offers: often in the $180,000–$250,000 range for academic pediatric/adult genetics, higher for more clinically intense or specialized roles.
• Sign-on bonuses: may be modest (e.g., $10,000–$30,000) in academic centers; possibly higher in hospital or system-employed roles seeking to build genetics services.
• Loan repayment: some institutions (especially in underserved areas) may offer loan assistance, which effectively raises your total compensation.

Careful evaluation of the full package—not just base salary—is key: benefits, retirement matching, call expectations, protected time, CME funds, and relocation support all matter.

Mid-Career and Leadership

As you build expertise, your earning potential in medical genetics increases through:

• Promotion: assistant → associate → full professor (with incremental salary bumps)
• Leadership roles: division chief, program director, medical director of a genetics service or clinic
• Center creation: founding or co-leading specialized centers (e.g., precision medicine, cardiogenomics, undiagnosed disease programs)

These steps can add $20,000–$80,000+ annually over your base, depending on institution size and responsibilities.

Alternate and Supplemental Income Streams

Many geneticists eventually diversify their income:

• Tele-genetics: offering remote consultations, second opinions, or partnering with rural hospitals.
• Consulting: advising biotech, genetic testing companies, or pharmacogenomics projects.
• Speaking and writing: honoraria for CME talks, educational content creation.
• Industry transitions: moving partially or fully into lab/biotech/industry roles.

These opportunities can meaningfully add to your total physician salary by specialty picture, especially as you build a strong reputation in a niche area.

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Balancing Salary, Lifestyle, and Mission in Medical Genetics

It’s natural to compare medical genetics residency and eventual practice with more lucrative fields. Yet, many applicants choose genetics because of:

• Intellectual fascination with genomics and rare diseases
• Desire for complex puzzle-solving and longitudinal family care
• Interest in precision medicine and cutting-edge diagnostics
• Opportunity to shape an emerging, rapidly evolving field

Lifestyle Considerations

Compared with some highest paid specialties, medical genetics tends to offer:

• Predictable schedules: largely outpatient, with limited heavy overnight call in many practices.
• Fewer emergency procedures: consults may be urgent but rarely involve emergent hands-on interventions.
• Cognitive rather than procedural work: deep thinking, counseling, and multidisciplinary collaboration.

If you value work-life balance, teaching, and the opportunity to be at the forefront of genomics rather than purely maximizing income, medical genetics provides a compelling balance.

Strategic Advice for Applicants

If you are applying into the genetics match or considering adding genetics to another specialty, consider:

1. Clarify your primary clinical identity

   • Do you see yourself more as a pediatrician, internist, OB/MFM specialist, pathologist, or pure geneticist?
   • Your main identity often shapes your ultimate earning bracket.

2. Explore programs with robust genetics infrastructure

   • Look for institutions with established cancer centers, cardiology programs, or children’s hospitals where genetics is embedded into major service lines.

3. Ask detailed compensation questions on interviews

   • Typical starting salary ranges for recent grads
   • RVU or productivity structure (if any)
   • Opportunities for leadership or building new programs within 3–5 years

4. Think about long-term differentiation

   • Identify a niche early (e.g., cardiogenetics, neurogenetics, pharmacogenomics) and build research or clinical depth that can enhance both impact and negotiating power.

5. Stay open to non-traditional roles

   • Lab direction, genomics companies, digital health, and AI-driven diagnostics are all growth areas where genetics training is highly valued and sometimes better compensated.

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FAQs about Physician Salary by Specialty in Medical Genetics

1. Is medical genetics one of the highest paid specialties?
No. In most surveys of physician salary by specialty, medical genetics falls in the lower to middle income tiers, similar to or slightly above some primary care fields in academic settings. Highly procedural specialties (orthopedics, cardiology, GI, radiology, dermatology) typically earn significantly more.

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2. How much can I expect to earn after a medical genetics residency?
Early-career clinical geneticists in academic or hospital-based roles often start around $180,000–$250,000, sometimes higher in hybrid or private-practice environments. As you gain experience, subspecialize, and/or take on leadership roles, earning potential can rise into the $250,000–$380,000+ range.

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3. Does combining medical genetics with another specialty increase salary?
Often yes, but it depends on the combination and your eventual job. For example, if you are primarily an MFM specialist with advanced genetics expertise, you may earn incomes typical of MFM (often $450,000–$700,000+). If you are a pediatrician or internist with genetics training, your salary usually tracks academic subspecialty pediatrics or internal medicine with a genetics focus.

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4. Can medical geneticists earn more by moving into industry or lab roles?
Yes. Some geneticists transition into biotech, pharmaceutical, or reference lab positions (e.g., medical affairs, clinical development, lab directorship). These roles can offer competitive or higher total compensation than traditional academic positions, particularly when bonuses and equity/stock options are included.

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Choosing medical genetics means entering a field where intellectual challenge, innovation, and patient impact often compete with pure income as decision drivers. Understanding the financial landscape helps you make informed choices—but for many physicians in this specialty, the combination of salary, lifestyle, and scientific excitement makes it a rewarding long-term path.