Emergency Medicine Physicians vs Psychiatrists: $336K vs $282K Median Pay

Emergency Medicine Physicians vs Psychiatrists: what changes?

Consider Emergency Medicine Physicians if you want to make immediate medical decisions and act to prevent death or further disability. Consider Psychiatrists if you would rather diagnose, treat, and help prevent mental disorders. Both list doctoral or professional degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Emergency Medicine Physicians and Psychiatrists. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Emergency Medicine Physicians

National median pay (2025): $335,550
Route into the job: Doctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.
Work to investigate: Select, request, perform, or interpret diagnostic procedures, such as laboratory tests, electrocardiograms, emergency ultrasounds, and radiographs.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 900

Know before you choose

Training continues through internship/residency after the degree path.

See the full Emergency Medicine Physicians brief

Psychiatrists

National median pay (2025): $281,870
Route into the job: Doctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.
Work to investigate: Prescribe, direct, or administer psychotherapeutic treatments or medications to treat mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 900

Know before you choose

Training continues through internship/residency after the degree path.

See the full Psychiatrists brief

How the national numbers differ

Psychiatrists has the edge on projected growth

Psychiatrists is at 7.2% projected growth, compared with 3.2% projected growth for Emergency Medicine Physicians.

Emergency Medicine Physicians has the edge on median pay

Emergency Medicine Physicians is at $335,550, compared with $281,870 for Psychiatrists.

49.5/ 100

Emergency Medicine Physicians

56.9/ 100

Psychiatrists

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Emergency Medicine Physicians vs Psychiatrists

Dimension	Emergency Medicine Physicians	Psychiatrists
Median pay (2025)	$335,550	$281,870
Pay percentile	99.5 percentile	98.4 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	3.2%	7.2%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	900	900
2025 employment	34,900	30,000
How you qualify	Doctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements	Doctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 5	Job Zone 5
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.	Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Emergency Medicine Physicians brief Read Psychiatrists brief

Emergency Medicine Physicians vs Psychiatrists: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Emergency Medicine Physicians

Psychiatrists

How the national numbers differ

Psychiatrists has the edge on projected growth

Emergency Medicine Physicians has the edge on median pay

Emergency Medicine Physicians vs Psychiatrists

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