Oncologist

Duties and responsibilities: Oncology doctors, or oncologists, are specialists in the treatment of cancer patients, either as clinicians or in research and academic settings. As with all doctors, the pathway to this career is a long and demanding one; after earning an undergraduate degree, aspiring oncology doctors must complete medical school and a residency and earn licensure.

Salary: A PayScale.com report from September 2014 showed that oncologists in general earned a median annual salary of $217,856 at that time.

Education: All oncology doctors must complete an undergraduate degree program, four years of medical school and a residency or fellowship program that usually lasts two to four years, depending on the oncology specialty. Specialty areas include medical oncology, pediatric oncology, radiation oncology, or gynecological oncology.