OB/GYN Salary Without Surgery (2026): What Office Gynecology and Non-Surgical OB/GYN Careers Pay

Many OB/GYNs reach a point where they want to stop operating, stop delivering, or both: after a malpractice scare, when call stops being sustainable, during pregnancy or parenting years, or later in a career when the hands are fine but the nights are not. The question is what that costs. This guide puts numbers on it, using what office gynecology jobs actually post, how OB/GYN pay is built from work RVUs, what malpractice insurance charges each kind of practice, and the non-surgical careers open to someone with OB/GYN training.

For the full picture of OB/GYN pay with surgery and obstetrics, including subspecialties and the malpractice crisis in high-premium states, see our OB/GYN salary guide.

What OB/GYNs earn without surgery

The average OB/GYN earned $420,859 in Doximity's 2026 report and $390,000 in Medscape's. Both figures are dominated by physicians who operate and deliver. No public survey publishes a dollar figure for gynecology-only physicians: MGMA reports “OB/GYN: Gynecology (Only)” as a separate specialty, but behind its paywall. The table brings together what is public.

Two things stand out. Office gynecology pays roughly $100,000 less than general OB/GYN, which matches the $87,000 gap in the self-reported survey and the “about $100,000” figure recruiters such as Barton Associates use. And the best-paying routes away from the operating room either need a fellowship (maternal-fetal medicine) or leave clinical practice (industry and health plans).

What office gynecology jobs post

Job postings are the most current evidence. These are 2025 and 2026 listings for gynecology roles with no obstetrics; most are clinic-only with no call.

The last two rows show the middle path: dropping obstetrics but keeping surgery. That keeps pay much closer to general OB/GYN (the Optum range tops out above $500,000) while ending labor and delivery call. If what you want to stop is the nights, not the operating room, gynecology with surgery is the higher-paying answer.

Read posted ranges carefully. A base salary with a productivity bonus can pay well above the base once your panel is full, and a $320,000-to-$500,000 range usually means the top end needs a high patient volume. Ask what physicians in the role actually earned last year.

Why office-only pays less: the work RVU math

Most employed OB/GYNs are paid on work RVUs (wRVUs), Medicare's measure of physician effort, either directly or through a bonus above a base. Surgery and deliveries carry far more wRVUs per hour of the physician's time than office visits do. These are the 2026 values, with Medicare's national payment at the 2026 conversion factor of $33.4009:

One laparoscopic hysterectomy carries 14.63 wRVUs, the same as about 7.6 moderate-complexity office visits. A global cesarean package carries 41.05. (Global obstetric codes include the prenatal visits, so dropping obstetrics also removes most of the prenatal clinic work they pay for.) Office procedures help but are small: an IUD insertion is worth about half an office visit in work RVUs.

That is why MGMA's median gynecology-only physician produces 4,873 wRVUs a year against 6,956 for a general OB/GYN, 30% fewer. The gynecology-only range is wide, from 2,051 at the 10th percentile (part-time physicians are in the sample) to 8,950 at the 90th. At the $57.88 per wRVU that AMGA's 2026 survey reports for general OB/GYN, the medians are worth about $282,049 and $402,613. The gynecology-only figure lines up with both the self-reported average and the posted salaries above.

One 2026 change runs the other way. CMS cut work RVUs by 2.5% for most services that aren't time-based, but office visits were exempt. A hysterectomy (58571) fell from 15.00 wRVUs in 2025 to 14.63 in 2026, while a 99214 stayed at 1.92. If your contract pays on wRVUs, an office practice lost nothing from the 2026 schedule.

A full-time office year, worked out

To see what full-time office gynecology can produce, here is a schedule we built (an illustration, not survey data): 18 visits a day, 4 clinic days a week and 46 working weeks, with a modest number of office procedures.

• Each clinic day: 8 × 99214, 6 × 99213, 3 × 99395, 1 × 99204, which comes to 31.0 wRVUs.
• Each week: 4 × 58300, 1 × 11981, 3 × 58100, 3 × 57455, 1 × 57460, 1 × 58558, which adds 21.2 wRVUs.
• Over the year: 5,706 wRVUs from visits plus 976 from procedures, 6,682 in all. Procedures are 15% of the total.
• At $57.88 per wRVU: about $386,754. At SalaryDr's self-reported $62 median rate it would be $414,284.

That is well above MGMA's gynecology-only median, and it shows where the money in office gynecology comes from: volume and visit complexity. Eighteen visits a day, four days a week, with most visits coded at moderate complexity, is a busy but sustainable clinic. A part-time schedule or mostly low-complexity visits lands closer to the median. The 2026 general OB/GYN median in AMGA's survey was 7,681 wRVUs and $419,021 in pay, so a high-volume office gynecologist can come within reach of it without an operating room.

Before you rely on this kind of math, ask how the employer credits wRVUs for visits by nurse practitioners you supervise, whether ultrasounds you read count toward your total, and whether the threshold for the productivity bonus assumes surgical volume you won't have. Our guide to how wRVUs work covers the contract terms.

Hours and pay per hour

OB/GYNs reported working 53.9 hours a week in Medscape's 2023 survey, among the longest weeks in medicine, and that excludes much of the time spent on call. Office gynecology postings describe weekday daytime schedules, often four days, with no call. Using the same survey for both salaries:

Per hour of scheduled work, office gynecology pays about the same as general OB/GYN, and it comes with no nights, no weekends in labor and delivery, and no being called in. That is the real trade: you give up about $100,000 a year, and roughly 14 hours a week plus call. Locum rates show the same pattern. A clinic-only gynecology day at $185 to $193 an hour comes to $1,480 to $1,544, while a 24-hour OB/GYN call day pays $2,300 (in-house in Michigan) to $3,500 (Alaska).

The malpractice saving

Malpractice insurers price by what you do. The standard rating classes (ISO codes) separate gynecology with no surgery (80244), gynecology with minor surgery (80277), surgical gynecology (80167) and surgical OB/GYN (80153). “No surgery” generally means no obstetrics and nothing beyond minor office procedures.

Real cases look the same. A New Mexico OB/GYN's premium rose from $44,908 in 2018 to $77,394 in 2023, then fell to $16,463 after she stopped doing surgery in 2024, according to Source NM. Office-only gynecology is rated closer to internal medicine than to obstetrics.

Who keeps the saving depends on how you are paid. Most employed OB/GYNs have their premium paid by the employer, so a lower premium doesn't raise their pay directly; it is one reason office-only roles are cheap for health systems to staff. If you are in private practice, or a contractor buying your own policy, the saving is yours. In Miami, where an OB/GYN premium averaged $243,988 against $59,736 for internal medicine, a self-employed gynecologist who stops delivering and operating could save well over $150,000 a year if the new premium lands near internal medicine's, enough to cover most of the drop in collections.

One cost appears on the way out. If your obstetric coverage is a claims-made policy, leaving it can require tail coverage for claims that arrive after you stop, and obstetric tail is among the most expensive. Read our guides to tail coverage and what tail coverage costs before you give notice, and negotiate who pays for it.

Ten non-surgical paths for OB/GYNs

1. Employed office gynecology

The most common route: a health system, multispecialty group or women's health practice hires you for clinic only. Expect $260,000 to $320,000 with a productivity bonus, a weekday schedule and no call. Large practices sometimes add a gynecologist so their surgeons can spend more time operating, which makes your referrals valuable to the group.

2. Gynecology with office procedures

Keeping IUDs, implants, colposcopy, LEEP, endometrial biopsy and office hysteroscopy is not surgery in the operating-room sense, and it raises both your wRVUs and your value to an employer. Office hysteroscopy, at 4.07 wRVUs, is worth more than two moderate visits. These procedures fit the “minor surgery” malpractice class, which is still far cheaper than surgical OB/GYN.

3. Veterans Affairs

VA places gynecology in Pay Table 2 for 2026: Tier 1 staff physicians range from $124,308 to $400,000 in total pay, and VA covers malpractice through federal law. VA gynecology roles often include surgery (a Fort Wayne posting paid $300,000 to $350,000 with inpatient surgery), but VA work qualifies for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which can be worth more than salary to someone with large federal loans. See our VA physician benefits guide.

4. Locum tenens clinic work

Clinic-only gynecology locums post $185 to $193 an hour in California for 8-hour weekday shifts, and $150 to $170 an hour in Alaska. Locum work suits a transition year, a move, or someone who wants to work part of the year. Rates with obstetric call are higher ($200 to $275 an hour, per Barton Associates), but that brings back the work you are trying to leave. See our locum tenens pay guide.

5. Telehealth and menopause care

Virtual women's health companies hire OB/GYNs mostly part-time. Maven Clinic posted $165 to $200 an hour for weekend women's and metabolic health work as a contractor (about 10 hours a week), and $115 to $175 an hour on weekdays. Midi Health posted $110 an hour for a half-time physician clinical advisor requiring five years of menopause experience. Full-time telemedicine salaries for physicians run lower than clinic pay; Teladoc posted $245,300 for a full-time primary care physician.

Menopause is the fastest-growing niche. The Menopause Society's MSCP certification costs $400 for members or $725 for non-members, and cash-pay menopause practices charge a lot: one Pennsylvania practice charges from $4,200 a year for membership, or $600 for a first visit and $550 for a follow-up. A salaried menopause gynecology role in Beverly Hills posted $265,000 to $275,000 with no call, no OB and no major surgery.

6. Maternal-fetal medicine

The highest-paying route away from the operating room, but it needs a three-year fellowship. Averages run $462,510 (Payscale) to $558,640 (Marit Health, 120 salaries). MFM work is ultrasound, consults and needle procedures such as amniocentesis, CVS and cerclage. Some MFMs deliver and do cesareans, but outpatient jobs with no deliveries exist: a North Georgia outpatient role working Monday to Thursday posted $500,000 to $650,000, and outpatient-only locum work pays $350 to $400 an hour.

7. Reproductive endocrinology and infertility

REI is procedural (egg retrievals, embryo transfers, hysteroscopy) but rarely involves major surgery. A University of Chicago faculty posting ranged from $280,000 to $380,000 for an assistant professor, while private fertility groups recruit at $350,000 base or more and about $700,000 once fully ramped, according to AMN. It also takes a three-year fellowship.

8. Pharmaceutical and biotech industry

Women's health drug and device companies hire OB/GYNs for medical affairs, clinical development and drug safety. Salary.com puts a medical director in clinical development at $379,317 on average (October 2026), with a range of $307,110 to $451,910, before bonus and stock. Specific postings: Organon's global women's health medical affairs director $204,100 to $347,300; Genentech lead medical directors $213,000 to $396,000 base. No patient care, no call, but also no clinical income on the side unless you keep a clinic day. See our pharma and biotech consulting guide.

9. Health plan and utilization review

Health plans need OB/GYNs to review prior authorizations and appeals, because reviews must be done by a physician in the same specialty, which makes your board certification the credential they pay for. Devoted Health posted $280,000 to $345,000 plus equity for a utilization management medical director (June 2026); UnitedHealth Group ranges ran $269,500 to $425,500. Part-time reviewing pays $130 to $145 an hour at Oscar. Our medical director pay guide covers these roles.

10. Expert witness and medical-legal work

Usually side income rather than a career. Expert Institute lists an average of $592 an hour for gynecology experts, with individual OB/GYN experts charging $450 to $800 an hour for depositions. SEAK's 2024 survey across all fields found medians of $450 an hour for case review, $475 for depositions and $500 for trial. Being in current clinical practice makes you a more credible expert, so this pairs well with an office practice. See our physician side income guide.

Two roles often suggested as non-surgical aren't quite. Laborists (OB hospitalists) skip the clinic but do cesareans and operative deliveries; 2025 and 2026 postings ran from $254,153 (six 24-hour shifts a month in Utah) to $400,000 (fourteen shifts a month in Louisiana). Complex family planning and pediatric and adolescent gynecology are fellowships with procedures; Society of Family Planning faculty had a median salary of $268,440 in its FY2022 survey.

Board certification if you don't operate

This is the trap to avoid. The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology says candidates who limit their practice to outpatient care only will not be eligible for initial certification, and its certifying exam covers obstetrics, gynecology and office practice regardless of a candidate's current practice. If your own case list is short on obstetric or surgical cases, ABOG allows cases from other sources, such as residency, with its credentials committee making the final call.

Once you are certified, ABOG's continuing certification requirements include an outpatient practice attestation, which is how office-only diplomates keep their certification. Confirm the current rules with ABOG for your situation. The practical rule is simple: finish initial certification while you are still operating and delivering, then narrow your practice. Many employers, health plan reviewing roles and hospital credentialing committees require board certification.

Going back is harder than leaving. Hospitals grant surgical privileges based on recent case volume, so an office gynecologist who wants to operate again in five years may need proctored cases or a re-entry program. If you might want surgery back, keep a small surgical practice rather than stopping completely.

What the gap is after taxes

The $87,000 difference between the gynecology-only and general OB/GYN averages comes off the top of your income, where the tax rate is highest. For a single filer under 2026 tax rules, with no retirement contributions:

In Texas, the $87,000 pre-tax gap shrinks to $54,506 after tax, about 63% of it; in California it is $45,221. That is roughly $4,542 a month in Texas. Model your own numbers with our take-home pay calculator, which covers all 50 states.

Making the switch without a financial hit

1. Time it after certification. Pass the certifying exam with a full case list first.
2. Settle tail coverage. Find out whether your policy is claims-made or occurrence, and who pays for tail if you leave. Ask a new employer to cover prior acts (“nose” coverage) instead.
3. Check your disability insurance. Own-occupation policies usually define your occupation by what you do when you become disabled. Once you are office-only, that is office gynecology, not surgical OB/GYN. Make sure the policy and its benefit still fit; see our own-occupation disability guide.
4. Rebuild the budget for the lower income. A $100,000 pay cut is roughly $4,400 to $5,200 a month after tax, depending on your state. Bring fixed costs down before you switch, not after. Our budget builder helps.
5. Protect student loan forgiveness. If you are on PSLF, a nonprofit or VA employer keeps the count going; a for-profit practice or a 1099 telehealth contract does not. Read our PSLF guide.
6. Add income that fits the new schedule. A weekend telehealth shift or utilization review work at $130 to $200 an hour replaces much of the gap in eight to ten hours a week.

Evaluating an office gynecology offer

1. Base and productivity. What is the wRVU rate and threshold? Compare with AMGA's $57.88 and SalaryDr's $62 median, and check that the threshold doesn't assume surgical volume.
2. Panel and volume. How many patients a day, how many new patients a week, and how long until the schedule is full?
3. Procedures you keep. Which office procedures are supported, is there office hysteroscopy and ultrasound, and who gets credit for reading ultrasounds?
4. Supervision. Will you supervise nurse practitioners or midwives, and do their visits count toward your productivity?
5. Call in writing. “No call” should mean no phone call, no hospital coverage and no backup call, stated in the contract.
6. Malpractice and tail. Is the policy claims-made, and who pays tail when you leave?
7. Non-compete. Office gynecology non-competes can cover a wide radius. Read our non-compete guide and contract red flags.

Check your offer against your specialty's averages with our pay benchmark, compare offers with the contract analyzer, and read our salary negotiation guide before you answer.