Salary
Average Salary: $179,291
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $7,485,040
Endocrinologists make upwards of $250k a year, which is a good thing considering all the student loans you have to pay back. But you won't be making that cool quarter million right out of the gate. You'll have to do a residency fellowship for two or three years, where you'll earn something closer to $50k-$60k a year as you learn your stuff.
Once you've completed your schooling, your options open up and you can work on staff at a hospital in your specialty area, mostly treating people in an outpatient wing, while also working rounds a few days a week. Don't want to work at a hospital? Running a private practice is another option. You can also teach or do research when you have the time, which will make you more valuable and increase your salary.
Of course, it depends where you live and how popular you are. If you're good at what you do and constantly have doctors referring their patients to you, you can make even more than $250k a year. Some hospitals and institutions hand out bonuses as well, giving you a few more clams to line your pockets with. If you work in Beverly Hills and also lecture and participate in speaking engagements, you'll make more than $350k. Not bad at all.
But if you're stuck living in the boonies, you'll make a lot less. As with anything, salary is commensurate with location, location, location!
However, even if you're not that popular and your clientele's not that well off, you're still looking at clearing at least $100k. It's a good living.