How To Become A Medical Photographer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a medical photographer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted Expert

Peter Glendinning

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a medical photographer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $39.0 an hour? That's $81,114 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 11,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a Medical Photographer?

Peter Glendinning

W.J. Beal Distinguished Professor, Michigan State University

More photographs are made in 2 minutes today than were made in the first 20 years of
the medium's existence, from 1839-1859, but the markets for professional photography are endlessly greater today than they were at the beginning as well. While everyone with a mobile phone camera can make photographs, it has raised the awareness that there
is a big difference between professionally made images and amateur ones. A photographer who can demonstrate their expertise is as much in demand today as at any time in the medium's history.

ScoreMedical PhotographerUS Average

Salary

6.3

Avg. Salary $81,114

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

4.5

Growth Rate 9%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 6.98%

Black or African American 6.28%

Hispanic or Latino 15.01%

Unknown 5.54%

White 65.96%

Gender

female 48.87%

male 51.13%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress Level

4.5

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.5

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

1.9

Work Life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a medical photographer

Explore medical photographer education requirements

Most common medical photographer degrees

Bachelor's

65.3 %

Associate

22.8 %

Master's

5.0 %

Start to develop specific medical photographer skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	35.29%
Medical Photography	22.07%
Adobe Photoshop	15.98%
Surgical Procedures	9.92%
Digital Photography	5.13%

Complete relevant medical photographer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New medical photographers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a medical photographer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real medical photographer resumes.

Research medical photographer duties and responsibilities

Coordinate and manage providing and dressing the customers with old western costumes in preparation of taking their photos.
Schedule and photograph patients; create patient/doctor composite photos.
Provide high-end digital images of patients for total body cutaneous photography as well as surgical and autopsy documentation.
Compile portfolios for multiple photography competitions/certifications.

Prepare your medical photographer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your medical photographer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a medical photographer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Medical Photographer Resume templates

Build a professional Medical Photographer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Medical Photographer resume.

Apply for medical photographer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a medical photographer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do medical photographers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Medical Photographer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2024

Cons

Unpredictable schedule, high stress without necessity, lack of work/life balance

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2019