Medicine
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Types of Degrees Medicine Majors Are Getting
The following table lists how many medicine graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.
| Education Level | Number of Grads |
|---|---|
| Doctor’s Degree | 28,623 |
| Graduate Certificate | 6 |
What Medicine Majors Need to Know
O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to medicine and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.
Knowledge Areas for Medicine Majors
According to O*NET survey takers, a major in medicine should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Skills for Medicine Majors
A major in medicine prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Abilities for Medicine Majors
As a medicine major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:
- Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
What Can You Do With a Medicine Major?
People with a medicine degree often go into the following careers:
| Job Title | Job Growth Rate | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Family and General Practitioners | 14.3% | $201,100 |
| Physicians and Surgeons | 11.4% | $200,890 |
How Much Do Medicine Majors Make?
Master’s Degree Starting Salary
The median starting salary of students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a master’s degree in medicine was $76,084 per year. These stats come from the U.S. Department of Education. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $76,084 (25th percentile) and $76,084 (75th percentile).
Note that some of these people may have jobs that are not directly related to a medicine degree.
Salaries According to BLS
Average salaries range from $203,880 to $211,780 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to medicine. This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.
To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.
Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Medicine
Some degrees associated with medicine may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.
How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to medicine have obtained the following education levels.
| Education Level | Percentage of Workers |
|---|---|
| Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level. | 3.5% |
| Doctoral Degree | 65.4% |
| Post-Doctoral Training | 31.1% |
Online Medicine Programs
In 2020-2021, 189 schools offered a medicine program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.
| Degree Level | Colleges Offering Programs | Colleges Offering Online Classes |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) | 0 | 0 |
| Certificate (1-2 years) | 0 | 0 |
| Certificate (2-4 Years) | 0 | 0 |
| Associate’s Degree | 0 | 0 |
| Bachelor’s Degree | 0 | 0 |
| Post-Baccalaureate | 0 | 0 |
| Master’s Degree | 0 | 0 |
| Post-Master’s | 3 | 0 |
| Doctor’s Degree (Research) | 1 | 0 |
| Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) | 195 | 0 |
| Doctor’s Degree (Other) | 0 | 0 |
Is a Degree in Medicine Worth It?
The median salary for a medicine grad is $203,880 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.
This is 411% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $3,279,600 after 20 years!
Top Ranking Lists for Medicine
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Majors Related to Medicine
You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to medicine.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- College Scorecard
- National Center for Education Statistics
- O*NET Online
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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