Doctors rate their happiness above average.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, doctors rate their career happiness 3.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 34% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy doctors are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Neurologist | 4.0 | $201k |
| Anesthesiologist | 4.0 | N/A |
| Orthopaedic surgeon | 3.8 | N/A |
| Radiologist | 3.7 | $201k |
| Orthodontist | 3.6 | N/A |
| Doctor | 3.4 | $106k |
| Surgical assistant | 3.4 | $46k |
| Internist | 3.3 | $194k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are doctors happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do doctors find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as doctors?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are doctor’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are doctors making the best use of their abilities?
Are doctors happy with their salary?
Doctors rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.4/5. The majority of doctors are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked doctors how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
1956 doctors
28% of doctors rated their compensation 5 stars
24% of doctors rated their compensation 4 stars
23% of doctors rated their compensation 3 stars
14% of doctors rated their compensation 2 stars
11% of doctors rated their compensation 1 stars
Do doctors find their jobs meaningful?
On average, doctors rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.7/5. Unlike many careers, doctors have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become doctors.
We asked doctors how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
1998 doctors
36% of doctors rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
26% of doctors rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
17% of doctors rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
10% of doctors rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
10% of doctors rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as doctors?
Doctors rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.8/5. The majority of doctors find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked doctors how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
2182 doctors
37% of doctors rated their career fit 5 stars
30% of doctors rated their career fit 4 stars
19% of doctors rated their career fit 3 stars
9% of doctors rated their career fit 2 stars
5% of doctors rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a doctor’s work environment?
As a whole, doctors rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.5/5. A solid majority of doctors enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a doctor.
We asked doctors how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
2178 doctors
26% of doctors rated their work environment 5 stars
27% of doctors rated their work environment 4 stars
22% of doctors rated their work environment 3 stars
16% of doctors rated their work environment 2 stars
9% of doctors rated their work environment 1 stars
Are doctors making the best use of their abilities?
Former doctors on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.6/5. Most doctors surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a doctor, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked doctors how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
2180 doctors
31% of doctors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
25% of doctors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
21% of doctors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
14% of doctors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
8% of doctors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars