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Radiologist Salaries Grow 9%, Mammography Gaps, and PET vs. SPECT MPI
April 16, 2026
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Together with
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“Do I get paid fairly? Yes. Is it fair in comparison to my adult colleagues? Absolutely not. Our medical system is based on ridiculous rules that shouldn’t matter.”
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Anonymous, in response to a new Medscape survey on physician salaries.
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Is today’s system for educating and training radiologists really meeting the needs of the healthcare workforce? In this edition of The Imaging Wire Show, we discuss this question with Medality Co-Founder and CEO Daniel Arnold, and focus on new online education solutions the company has developed to fill the gap.
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It’s not quite double-digit growth, but it’s pretty close. The latest physician salary report from Medscape reveals that radiologist salaries grew 9% in 2025, with medical imaging seeing the third-highest growth rate among the specialties tracked.
The new Medscape report found that radiologists had an average annual salary of $571k in 2025, up 9% compared to $520k in 2024 and $498k in 2023.
- Radiology ranked #3 among the 29 physician specialties tracked by the survey, trailing only orthopedic physicians and surgeons ($611k) and cardiologists ($575k).
Radiology’s numbers mark the second straight year of strong salary growth for the specialty, a welcome trend given anemic growth in 2023, when salaries rose only 3.1% – not enough to keep ahead of inflation.
- Indeed, industry experts analyzing the new Medscape numbers called the figures a “return to normalization” for physician pay gains.
Medscape reported a generally “positive vibe” to the survey compared to a year earlier, with more respondents saying they felt fairly paid (53% vs. 48%), and eight specialties reporting average annual compensation over $500k. Other important findings included…
- Technology-driven efficiency appears to be helping physician productivity, enabling doctors to see more patients and generate more work-related relative value units.
- Rising demand for services in orthopedics, radiology, and cardiology is driving pay growth, especially given the static supply of physicians.
- The new data – and improving physician sentiment – could indicate that medicine is climbing out of the trough of doctor burnout that bottomed out during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The gender gap between salaries for male and female physicians was $102k, worsening slightly compared to last year (31% vs. 29%).
- The average workweek shortened slightly (49 vs. 50 hours).
The Takeaway
Medscape’s new salary survey findings are positive news for radiologists – and indeed all physicians – and are a welcome departure from the days of burnout and stagnant wage growth. So far, predictions that AI will take jobs from radiologists remain far in the future.
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Radiology Case Report
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The Modern Way to Send and Receive Medical Images
Medicom Connect enables you to automate clinical image exchange across your healthcare ecosystem with workflows that automatically find, retrieve, and deliver images directly to the point of care, improving access and care coordination. Learn more about Medicom’s solutions today.
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Intelligent Imaging in Radiography
As a technologist, you face tight schedules, complex exams, and the need for consistent quality. Check out this article from Siemens Healthineers to learn more about their intelligent imaging solutions and see what experienced colleagues have to say about using them.
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- Bunkerhill Gets Contrast CAC Clearances: Bunkerhill Health received FDA clearance in March for two new solutions for calculating coronary and aortic valve calcium from contrast CT scans. Bunkerhill Contrast CAC and Bunkerhill Contrast AVC use AI to detect and quantify CAC and AVC on contrast-enhanced non-gated chest CT scans, and complement the company’s existing clearances for non-contrast CT. The company also noted the new CMS reimbursement pathway that began April 1 for AI analysis of CAC and AVC.
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A New Solution for Radiology Reporting
Sectra Reporting delivers a fully built-in, AI-enhanced reporting experience that seamlessly connects PACS imaging data and measurements through intuitive templates. Discover how it can meet your needs today.
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Leadership in Life Sciences
Quibim is committed to accelerating its development within the life sciences sector and strengthening collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies. Learn about recent leadership developments that are moving the company forward.
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Bring Your Radiology AI into Your Clinical Workflows
CARPL enables healthcare providers and researchers to develop, test, and deploy their own AI models within existing clinical infrastructure. From seamless data ingestion and de-identification to model training, packaging, and live deployment, CARPL provides an end-to-end environment tailored for radiology.
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