Surgeons are one of the happiest careers in the United States.
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, surgeons rate their career happiness 4.3 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 2% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy surgeons 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiothoracic surgeon | 4.5 | N/A |
| Surgeon | 4.3 | N/A |
| Gynecologist | 4.2 | N/A |
| Ophthalmologist | 4.1 | $201k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are surgeons happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do surgeons find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as surgeons?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are surgeon’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are surgeons making the best use of their abilities?
Are surgeons happy with their salary?
Surgeons rated their satisfaction with their salaries 4.2/5. The majority of surgeons are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked surgeons how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
91 surgeons
49% of surgeons rated their compensation 5 stars
29% of surgeons rated their compensation 4 stars
15% of surgeons rated their compensation 3 stars
1% of surgeons rated their compensation 2 stars
5% of surgeons rated their compensation 1 stars
Do surgeons find their jobs meaningful?
On average, surgeons rate the meaningfulness of their work a 4.3/5. Unlike many careers, surgeons have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become surgeons.
We asked surgeons how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
93 surgeons
57% of surgeons rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
19% of surgeons rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
19% of surgeons rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
1% of surgeons rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
3% of surgeons rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as surgeons?
Surgeons rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.4/5. The majority of surgeons find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked surgeons how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.4 out of 5 stars
98 surgeons
62% of surgeons rated their career fit 5 stars
24% of surgeons rated their career fit 4 stars
7% of surgeons rated their career fit 3 stars
6% of surgeons rated their career fit 2 stars
How enjoyable is a surgeon’s work environment?
As a whole, surgeons rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.1/5. A solid majority of surgeons enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a surgeon.
We asked surgeons how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
98 surgeons
47% of surgeons rated their work environment 5 stars
26% of surgeons rated their work environment 4 stars
19% of surgeons rated their work environment 3 stars
4% of surgeons rated their work environment 2 stars
4% of surgeons rated their work environment 1 stars
Are surgeons making the best use of their abilities?
Former surgeons on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 4.2/5. Most surgeons surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a surgeon, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked surgeons how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
101 surgeons
55% of surgeons rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
28% of surgeons rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
8% of surgeons rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
4% of surgeons rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
5% of surgeons rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars