Procedural specialty
Obstetrics & Gynecology: Salary, Residency & Career Guide
Pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health and gynecologic care.
Typical Training
4 years
4-year OB-GYN residency
Attending Compensation
$420,859
Average Total Compensation
Employment outlook
+2%
Projected Job Growth
Relative Competitiveness Index
61 / 100
Competitive
Start in Medical School
M1 to M4 Preparation
Practical experience, projects and rotation planning.
See the Medical School RoadmapAttending Compensation and State Wages
U.S. Attending Compensation
$420,859
Average Total Compensation
BLS State Median Wages (Separate Data Series)
Highest published state medians. Select another state above for its figure.
Resident Pay by Institution
4-year OB-GYN residency.
2026–27 salaries, five published training-institution examples.
Selected institution
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
$77,049/ year
Pay varies by institution and postgraduate year.
Schedules and Work Setting
Schedule and Call
Labor and delivery cannot be scheduled around a clinic calendar. Groups may use laborist coverage to make call predictable, while gynecologic surgery and office practice have different demands. Ask how the obstetric and gynecologic roles are balanced.
Practice Settings
Labor and delivery, operating rooms and outpatient women’s health clinics.
Procedures and Clinical Work
- Vaginal delivery
- Cesarean delivery
- Pelvic and gynecologic surgery
- Office procedures
Fellowship Training
Fellowship Expectation Index
3 / 5
Fellowship Options
Common Fellowship Duration: 2–3 year(s) beyond residency. Complex family planning is two years; MFM, REI, gynecologic oncology and urogynecology commonly take three.
Most general obstetrics and gynecology careers are accessible after residency, but MFM, reproductive endocrinology/infertility, gynecologic oncology and urogynecology are distinct fellowship-defined careers.
Direct Practice
General OB-GYN, labor and delivery, prenatal care, ambulatory gynecology and many gynecologic procedures.
Specialized Practice
Formal ABOG subspecialty certification in MFM, REI, gynecologic oncology and urogynecology requires fellowship training.
Choosing a Path
If you love high-risk pregnancy more than deliveries, or reproductive endocrinology more than general gynecology, test that distinction early; you may be choosing a longer and different career.
Potential Fellowship Pathways
- Maternal–fetal medicine
- Reproductive endocrinology and infertility
- Gynecologic oncology
- Urogynecology
Fellowship Careers From This Residency
Choose a subspecialty to see its training requirements, clinical work and preparation pathway.
Preparing in M1 Through M4
Compare outpatient gynecology with labor and delivery on call. Residents learn longitudinal care alongside urgent obstetrics and gynecologic surgery.
Research or QI
A maternal morbidity review, contraception access project, operative outcomes study or postpartum follow-up intervention links patient outcomes to the real service.
Common Mistake
Basing the choice solely on deliveries, or ignoring operative training, night call and sensitive counseling around reproductive decisions.
Preparation by Year
- 1Observe a prenatal visit, delivery service handoff and outpatient gynecologic procedure to experience the specialty’s three rhythms.
- 2Find a women’s-health or maternal outcomes project with a clear clinical problem and protected patient privacy.
Ask a resident this: How does a resident progress from assisting with cesareans and gynecologic operations to independent decision-making?
MD vs DO Match Outcomes
1,100 of 1,284 matched to their preferred specialty
290 of 430 matched to their preferred specialty
MD vs DO difference: 18.3 percentage points
Applicant Considerations
The 2024 MD–DO outcome difference in OB-GYN was larger than in pediatrics or family medicine. Your application strategy should consider program-specific DO representation and the operative and obstetrical exposure offered by available rotations.
DO Application Strategy
Prioritize evaluated clerkship performance, letters from practicing OB-GYN faculty and programs where your academic and clinical experience match their setting. Ask schools and residencies about their current application pathway and exams.
Job Outlook
+2%
Projected Employment Growth
2025 to 2035, BLS occupational projection
Regional hiring depends on employers, workforce supply and patient demand.
AI and the Specialty
Potential Workflow Changes
Imaging support, documentation and scheduling may evolve; childbirth and hands-on surgery require direct clinical expertise.
Sources & Data Notes
Reviewed . National attending compensation uses Doximity's 2026 specialty survey (2025 pay) where available, then verified specialty-specific Medscape, Marit or Salary.com estimates. Doximity, Medscape and Marit report total compensation; Salary.com models base salary. Survey averages, modeled salaries and BLS wage medians measure different populations and must not be interpreted as identical metrics. BLS May 2025 state wages are shown separately and exclude self-employed physicians. The ophthalmology BLS category excludes pediatric ophthalmologists. State figures may be missing, top-coded, or suppressed. Job outlook uses BLS 2025–2035 occupational projections; it is not a local vacancy forecast. Resident stipend examples reflect published institutional scales for 2026 to 2027, by postgraduate year, not specialty. Stanford includes housing in its reported base salary; other institutions handle allowances differently.
The Relative Competitiveness Index uses a fixed score of 25 plus 1.75 times the 2024 U.S. MD preferred-specialty unmatched percentage, rounded, then applies the same 1.225 multiplier to every specialty. Neurological Surgery is 98/100; the score is not the applicant's chance of matching. It is not a 2026 estimate or DO-specific score. The MD and DO percentages compare different unadjusted applicant cohorts who ranked that specialty first. They do not account for application strategy, program selection, scores, or geography. Ophthalmology and urology have separate specialty match processes; other pathways may lack suitable NRMP cohorts.
The 1–5 Fellowship Expectation Index is an editorial assessment of customary career paths, not a measured participation rate or requirement. For residency profiles, compact training labels put specialty years before the clinical base or preliminary year; e.g. 3+1 means three specialty years and one clinical base year, even though the clinical year comes first. Fellowship-defined careers are presented in the separate fellowship explorer. Schedules, procedural scope, preparation suggestions, and potential AI effects depend on the program and practice setting; they are qualitative descriptions, not guaranteed outcomes or forecasts of physician replacement.
For Obstetrics & Gynecology: Doximity 2026, Average Total Compensation, reported under “Obstetrics & Gynecology.” The national estimate must not be treated as a state-specific compensation figure.
Obstetrics & Gynecology: ACOG describes the fellowship-to-subspecialty certification routes. The score does not claim a measured fellowship participation rate. Specialty-specific roadmaps describe illustrative activities, not mandatory publication, shadowing-hour, rotation, or skill requirements. Common fellowship routes: Complex family planning is two years; MFM, REI, gynecologic oncology and urogynecology commonly take three.