Cardiology is a broad field and includes several subspecialties including adult cardiology, heart failure, interventional cardiology and electrophysiology. There are also cardiovascular pediatric/congenital and cardiothoracic surgery specialties.

Those who pursue cardiology as a specialty have opportunities in research and science, as well as working with patients in clinical settings. In fact, many physicians find themselves dedicating portions of their time to both academia and clinical work!

With the many career options, you can have a challenging career and fulfilling personal life. As your life changes, you can expand into different fields within cardiology that fit your changing lifestyle.

According to the 2018 Medscape Physician Compensation Report, the average physician compensation in the Cardiology specialty is $423k.

Many factors affect compensation in cardiology, including practice setting, geography and subspecialty. MedAxiom's 2017 Cardiovascular Provider Compensation and Production Survey looked at subspecialty salary ranges, finding the median salary for electrophysiology the most lucrative, with a median salary of $607k. Interventional cardiology followed with a median salary of $606k, followed by invasive cardiology at $571k and general non-invasive at a mean of $531k.

For a specialty in cardiology, medical school graduates must pursue an internal medicine residency, followed by 3-5 years of cardiovascular fellowship training, and must pass the American Board of Internal Medicine exam. Those looking to specialize into pediatric cardiology need three additional years of specialized training, and surgeon trainees need another five years of cardiothoracic surgery training.

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