U.S. primary-care doctors made about $5,700 more than the annual cost of their training spread out over their lifetime. Orthopedic surgeons made five times what they had to pay for their training, according to the study.
"Although the tuition cost of medical education in the United States borne by individuals is substantial, it cannot fully account for the observed differences between the earnings of US physicians and physicians in all other countries," the authors wrote.