General Surgery · Evidence depth: moderate
Vascular Surgery (Open)
Ownership-sensitivity model
The 10 vectors of a physician career.
Every path is scored 0-100 across 10 critical dimensions using public-data signals, modeled assumptions, and verification prompts. Modeled estimate. Not a salary survey. See methodology.
65/100
Income ceiling
Income ceiling
Solid, but ultimately capped by time and a poor payer mix.
The reality
Open vascular cases (like aortobifemoral bypasses) are extremely long, limiting your overall daily RVU production.
The signal
The patient population is heavily skewed toward Medicare and Medicaid, resulting in a structurally poor payer mix.
The catch
You are almost exclusively hospital-employed, negating any facility fee upside.
The verdict
It provides a very high base income, but it is definitively not a top-tier wealth builder.
20/100
Lifestyle control
Lifestyle control
Terrible control, dictated by relentless emergencies.
The reality
Your schedule will be constantly hijacked by emergent acute limb ischemia and ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms.
The signal
Complex, open cases frequently run late into the evening, destroying any semblance of a predictable schedule.
The catch
Even your scheduled elective cases are frequently bumped by add-on emergencies.
The verdict
This career fights your desire for a predictable, controllable life every single day.
Premium analysis
8 more dimensions scored, with the reasoning behind each
The scores are below. Premium adds what sits behind each one: the claim, the signal supporting it, the limitation that weakens it, and what it should change about your decision.
- Sleep / call burdenLower is better85/100
- Ownership / facility upsideHigher is better20/100
- Geography flexibilityHigher is better75/100
- Innovation / industry adjacencyHigher is better40/100
- Training opportunity costLower is better60/100
- Job-market densityHigher is better85/100
- Malpractice / litigation pressureLower is better70/100
- Burnout-mismatch riskLower is better85/100
Scores are modeled from the specialty module's evidence and are estimates, not measurements. Confidence and data depth are labeled inside every premium card.
DoctorCalculator modeled income structure
Derived model. DirectionalModeled base range
$475k - $605k
Anchored to Doximity 2025 Physician Compensation Report subspecialty row (Doximity 2025 public specialty table row 'Vascular Surgery').
Production upside
$650k - $815k
Long open cases at hospital ORs; production ceiling lower than endovascular colleagues'.
Ownership upside
Minimal
Vein-center and dialysis-access ancillaries; open-heavy practices are increasingly hospital-employed.
Salary-only gap
Low
The gap sits in outpatient vascular ancillaries owners keep. Open inpatient work is salary-priced.
Modeled estimate. Not a salary survey. Derived model. Directional only. Verify against real offers, contracts, and local mentors. Income scales with payer mix, ownership, and geography. See methodology.
Want the code-level view behind numbers like these? Open the RVU calculator for this specialty's procedures, CMS times, and locality-adjusted Medicare rates.
External benchmark reference
Verify independently~$550k
External benchmark reference - verify independently. Not ingested DoctorCalculator source data.
Best fit
- The Acute-Care Identity Seeker. Energized by intensity, emergencies, and high-stakes work.
Poor fit
- The Lifestyle-First Clinician. A good life on sane hours, and the math actually works.
- The Protected-Sleep Specialist. Strong income without surrendering your nights.
This path is described at validated confidence (Evidence depth: moderate). Detailed evidence cards are added as the module is validated; we will not manufacture precision before then.