7 Employed Physician Specialties See Pay Drops

Despite average physician pay rising 3%, seven specialties saw pay cuts in 2026, Medscape’s Physician Compensation report found.

Medscape surveyed 5,916 physicians across more than 29 specialties between Sept. 5 and Dec. 17, 2025. “‘A Return to Normalization’: Physician Compensation Report 2026” also used data from the 2024 survey for these specialties: allergy and immunology, critical care, infectious disease, nephrology, otolaryngology, plastic surgery, public health and preventive medicine, pulmonary medicine and rheumatology.

In the 2025 report, Medscape found 15 specialties lost ground in pay, but this year, all but three of those specialties either had no change in pay or a 1% to 10% increase.

This year, three specialties are continuing to see a downward trend in pay: dermatology (11% decrease in the 2025 report), pulmonary medicine (-3%) and oncology (-2%). 

Here are the specialties seeing pay decreases in 2026.

1. Physical medicine and rehabilitation: -1%

2. Nephrology: -1%

3. Dermatology: -1%

4. Oncology and hematology: -2%

5. Pulmonary medicine: -2%

6. Allergy and immunology: -3%

7. Psychiatry: -3%