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Guide

Doctor salary in Switzerland: resident to chief physician

Pay of residents, senior, lead and chief physicians in Switzerland: examples from published pay scales, each with its source, canton and date.

8 October 2026

Anyone in Germany or Austria asking what a Swiss hospital pays will find plenty of figures online and rarely a source. There is no single doctor's salary for Switzerland. There are pay scales published by individual hospitals and cantons and, for the senior grades, a few official surveys. The figures here come from them, each with its date and source. All amounts are gross and, where the source names a workload, based on a full-time post.

Why the figures differ

Hospitals largely set their own pay. In the canton of Bern, the Insel Gruppe, the regional hospital centres and two psychiatric clinics share one collective labour agreement, the Gesamtarbeitsvertrag or GAV; Kantonsspital Baselland has its own; and the canton of Zurich's own hospitals base their pay on the classes of the cantonal scale. Because these hospitals grant their own cost-of-living adjustments, their amounts can differ from the scale, according to VSAO Zürich. The government of the canton of Basel-Stadt states that pay at its hospitals cannot be compared directly, because its components are structured differently. Within a scale, what counts is years of experience and, from senior physician upwards, the function.

Residents (Assistenzärztinnen und -ärzte)

Four examples from publicly available scales, as of 2026:

  • University Hospital Basel. CHF 93,535 a year in the first twelve months and CHF 124,670 from month 85, each including the thirteenth month's salary (USB pay scale).
  • Kantonsspital Baselland. Fixed steps from CHF 93,785 in the first year through CHF 127,847 in the seventh to a maximum of CHF 132,048, for a full-time post and a 46-hour week excluding structured training (KSBL pay scale).
  • GAV Berner Spitäler und Kliniken. A starting salary of CHF 7,321.10 a month at the regional hospital centres and psychiatric clinics and CHF 7,273.60 at the Insel Gruppe; in the sixth year of specialist training CHF 8,415.45 and CHF 8,357.15 respectively. Paid thirteen times a year, valid from 1 April 2026 (VSAO Bern).
  • Canton of Zurich, cantonal pay scale. Annual base pay of CHF 102,779 in the first twelve months after the state examination, CHF 105,576 in the second year and CHF 112,870 in the third, including the thirteenth month's salary, as of 1 January 2026 (VSAO Zürich, canton of Zurich pay tables).

What these scales share is that they are graded by year. Under the Bern GAV, pay rises by 3 per cent of the starting salary in each of the second to sixth years of training, with no room for negotiation. What matters, then, is the year you are placed in. The Bern GAV counts medical work after the federal examination; how your years in Germany or Austria are counted is best settled before you sign.

Senior physicians (Oberärztinnen und Oberärzte)

From this grade upwards, placement depends on the function. Three examples, as of 2026:

  • University Hospital Basel. CHF 136,565 to CHF 162,240 a year for senior physicians and CHF 128,765 to CHF 159,705 for deputies, each including the thirteenth month's salary (USB pay scale). A function allowance for senior physicians can come on top (Basel-Stadt government).
  • Canton of Zurich, cantonal pay scale. Annual base pay without a specialist title from CHF 140,894 in the first year to CHF 160,679 from month 60; with a specialist title and professional responsibility CHF 153,197 to CHF 176,003; with management responsibility the classes reach CHF 202,284. All excluding any specialty component, as of 1 January 2026 (placement according to VSAO Zürich, amounts from the canton of Zurich pay tables).
  • GAV Berner Spitäler und Kliniken. Senior physicians are placed in pay band 24 or 25 depending on their function. For band 24 the professional association VSAO Bern gives a starting salary of CHF 9,584.25 a month, paid thirteen times a year. Unlike in the first six years of training, there is room to negotiate here, according to the association (VSAO Bern).

Lead and chief physicians (Leitende Ärzte und Chefärzte)

For the senior grades there is no scale that applies to everyone. The Bern GAV and the Kantonsspital Baselland agreement expressly exclude lead and chief physicians. Where the rules are published, pay is made up of several parts. At Stadtspital Zürich, under the implementing provisions in force since 1 April 2026, annual base salaries range from CHF 205,449 for lead physicians I to CHF 308,173 for chief physicians III. On top come a specialty component, set by specialty and by person, and a variable part; in total, pay is capped at CHF 500,000 for lead and CHF 750,000 for chief physicians (AB KAV).

The figures in the public domain therefore measure different things:

  • Base pay. In the canton of Zurich, lead physicians are placed in pay classes 25 and 26 under the classification plan (as of 2026), chief physicians in 27 and 28. In 2026 these classes run from CHF 147,256 to CHF 247,909 and from CHF 169,323 to CHF 279,103 respectively, including the thirteenth month's salary (canton of Zurich pay tables).
  • Average pay. At University Hospital Basel it stood in 2024 at around CHF 490,000 for chief physicians and around CHF 330,000 for lead physicians, including allowances; at the University Children's Hospital Basel at around CHF 380,000 and CHF 245,000. The cantonal government attributes the gap to the specialties and their market rates, with lower averages in psychiatric and paediatric specialties (Basel-Stadt government).
  • Distribution. According to the 2025 pay survey, the 190 chief physicians at listed hospitals in the canton of Bern earned CHF 401,044 on average, calculated on a full-time post, including variable pay and excluding the hospital's pension contributions. Three were between CHF 100,000 and 200,000, two above CHF 700,000 (Bern health directorate).
  • Total remuneration. For 2024 the government of the canton of Aargau gives average figures per full-time post of CHF 630,754 for chief and CHF 438,725 for lead physicians at Kantonsspital Aarau, and CHF 683,141 and CHF 438,713 at Kantonsspital Baden. These also include expenses and the employer's contributions to social insurance and the pension fund, so they cannot be compared with a gross salary (Aargau government).

Setting these figures side by side compares base pay with total remuneration. There is no reliable figure for lead and chief physicians across Switzerland, and we do not estimate one. With an offer at this level, ask about each part separately, including the range of the specialty component and what the variable part depends on.

What counts besides base pay

The thirteenth month's salary. University Hospital Basel and the canton of Zurich include it in annual pay; under the Bern GAV the monthly salary is paid thirteen times. The Kantonsspital Baselland annex does not say whether its amounts include it, though the agreement itself provides for one, paid with the November salary.

Working hours. For residents on a full-time post the Bern GAV sets 50 hours a week, 4 of them explicit training, and makes up the difference to 42 hours with 5 extra days of leave; for senior physicians it sets 46 hours and 7 extra days. At Kantonsspital Baselland doctors work within a range of 42 to 50 hours, planned at 46. The same annual salary can therefore stand for different numbers of hours.

Shifts and on-call duty. Supplements come on top of the scale. For the Bern GAV, VSAO Bern gives the rates for staff up to and including pay band 24, which means residents and some senior physicians: CHF 30 per on-call unit of 8 to 12 hours and CHF 10 an hour for night or weekend work; the two are not added together (VSAO Bern). Kantonsspital Baselland sets such supplements out in separate regulations; ask for them before you compare two offers.

What remains of the gross salary after social insurance, the pension fund and tax, and what you pay yourself on top, is covered in Swiss salary gross to net: deductions and tax for doctors.

How we work an offer through with you

When a hospital makes you an offer, we go through it with you: the grade you are placed in and the years credited, whether the thirteenth month's salary is in the amount quoted, how many hours make up a week and how shifts are paid. What binds in the end are the hospital's pay rules and your contract.

Sources

All sources are in German.