Obstetricians and Gynecologists

US occupation · SOC 29-1218

Job titles people report: GYN (Gynecologist), MD (Medical Doctor), OB (Obstetrician), OB/GYN (Obstetrician Gynecologist), OBGYN (Obstetrician and Gynecologist), OBGYN MD (Obstetrics Gynecology Medical Doctor), OBGYN Physician (Obstetrics and Gynecology Physician), Physician, Physician GYN (Physician Gynecologist), Physician OB (Physician Obstetrician)

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025
$292,910
Half earn more, half earn less
Middle half earn
$179,810 – $369,390
25th to 75th percentile
People employed, May 2025
21,260
Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
Projected change, 2025–35
+1.7%
Growing slower than all jobs (0% to under 3.5%)
Openings a year (projected)
500
New jobs plus replacing people who leave
Typical education to enter
Doctoral or professional degree
BLS
  • All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
  • Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
  • Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Provide medical care related to pregnancy or childbirth. Diagnose, treat, and help prevent diseases of women, particularly those affecting the reproductive system. May also provide general care to women. May perform both medical and gynecological surgery functions.

Main tasks

  • Treat diseases of female organs.
  • Care for and treat women during prenatal, natal, and postnatal periods.
  • Analyze records, reports, test results, or examination information to diagnose medical condition of patient.
  • Perform cesarean sections or other surgical procedures as needed to preserve patients' health and deliver babies safely.
  • Collect, record, and maintain patient information, such as medical histories, reports, or examination results.
  • Explain procedures and discuss test results or prescribed treatments with patients.
  • Prescribe or administer therapy, medication, and other specialized medical care to treat or prevent illness, disease, or injury.
  • Monitor patients' conditions and progress and reevaluate treatments as necessary.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)
Doctoral or professional degree
Training once hired: internship/residency
O*NET Job Zone 5
Extensive preparation
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Interests it suits

The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.

  • Investigative: research, analysis and solving problems with ideas
  • Social: helping, teaching and caring for people
  • Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 6 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Health & Nursing

  • Medicine
  • Osteopathic Medicine/Osteopathy

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Health & Nursing at the Major step.

Where many students take health & nursing

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Other fields

Our college matcher doesn't offer this field as a major, so we can't suggest colleges for it here.

Medical Residency/Fellowship Programs

  • Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program
  • Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Program
  • Maternal and Fetal Medicine Fellowship Program
  • Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency/Fellowship Programs, Other

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

← All careers

Sources

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0

Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk