Careers, task by task
Dermatology
Diagnosing and treating conditions of skin, hair and nails, combining visual judgment with procedures.
- Training
- College, four years of medical school, then a residency of 3 or more years
- Today's median pay, May 2025
- Not verified yet
- Projected job growth, 2025 to 2035
- Not verified yet
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Last modified August 27, 2026
Occupational Outlook Handbook: Physicians and Surgeons
Scope: United States.
How it was done: Federal employment and wage statistics. Pay is the May 2025 median, half earn more and half earn less. Growth is a 2025 to 2035 projection.
Limits: A median across all ages, regions and employers, before tax. A projection, not a promise. It tells you nothing about one person's income. The outlook text on this page names aging and chronic illness as demand drivers, and does not mention AI.
Checked against the original on November 6, 2026.
Open the source (opens in a new tab)A snapshot of people practicing today, not a forecast of your income.
The work, and what we can verify about AI in it
Task lists are our editorial summary of what the role involves. They vary by setting. The status describes the evidence we've checked, not whether a job is safe.
Evaluating suspicious skin lesions
Information work
Narrow use or authorization
- Established now
FDA authorized DermaSensor in 2024 to help physicians who are not dermatologists decide on referral, for patients 40 and older. It caught 95.5% of cancers against 83.0% for primary care physicians, but correctly cleared only 20.7% of benign lesions against 54.2%.
What this does not prove: Not a screening tool or a sole basis for a decision. Many false alarms, and less data on darker skin. It could also raise referrals to dermatologists.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, January 12, 2024
De Novo DEN230008: DermaSensor
Scope: Physicians who are not dermatologists, patients 40 and older, lesions already judged suspicious. Study sites in the U.S. and Australia.
How it was done: FDA's order and review, with the DERM-SUCCESS study of 224 malignant and 1,355 benign lesions.
Limits: Not a screening tool and not a sole basis for a decision. Less melanoma data on darker skin, and the study was manufacturer funded.
Checked against the original on November 6, 2026.
Open the source (opens in a new tab)
Biopsies, excisions and procedures
Hands-on work
Insufficient evidence
Insufficient evidence. We haven't verified a solid source on AI in this task yet. That's different from evidence that nothing is happening. If you know of one, send it to us.
Managing complex and chronic skin disease
Judgment and accountability
Insufficient evidence
Insufficient evidence. We haven't verified a solid source on AI in this task yet. That's different from evidence that nothing is happening. If you know of one, send it to us.
Talking through risk and appearance
Human relationship
Insufficient evidence
Insufficient evidence. We haven't verified a solid source on AI in this task yet. That's different from evidence that nothing is happening. If you know of one, send it to us.
Skills that transfer
- Visual diagnosis
- Procedural skill
- Practice ownership
- Communication
What nobody has measured
- Performance across skin tones in real use.
- BLS pay and growth for dermatologists, which we have not verified.
Read next
Sources last checked November 6, 2026
Next review by February 6, 2027.
What changed, and how we decideCareer guidance, not medical, legal or financial advice. For a major loan or licensing decision, talk with a qualified professional, and bring your questions from here.
Do you disagree?
If you have counterevidence, or we got something wrong, we want to see it. Don't take our word for any of this.
Send us the evidence