Cardiologist
Cardiologists are the specialists who investigate and treat conditions of the heart and blood vessels, from narrowed arteries to irregular heart rhythms.
- Median salary*
- $234,000
4.3%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 1,100
0.0%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +32.8%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Low
- automation risk
- Average hours
- 49/wk
+9h vs all jobs
- Shortage status
- In shortage
national
Most cardiologists divide their week between a hospital and consulting rooms, seeing patients referred by a general practitioner and following some of them for years. The role differs from a general physician's broad internal medicine practice: cardiology covers one organ system in depth, including imaging, procedures and long-term medication. In Australia cardiologists are registered with AHPRA and hold fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians after completing cardiology advanced training.
How much do cardiologists earn?
The median full-time salary for a cardiologist is $234,000 per annum, before tax, up $49,400 since 2018.
Where you work shapes pay more than the title does. Cardiologists employed by public hospitals are paid under state medical officer agreements, which build in loadings for on-call, recall and after-hours work, while income in private practice depends on the fees you set and the Medicare rebates your patients claim. Interventional work carries a different mix of procedural and on-call responsibility from non-invasive imaging and clinic sessions, and many cardiologists hold a part-time public appointment alongside private rooms.
What does a cardiologist do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Running outpatient clinics for people referred with chest pain, breathlessness or an abnormal ECG
- Reviewing echocardiograms, stress tests and Holter monitor recordings and deciding what they mean for treatment
- Performing procedures in the catheterisation lab, such as coronary angiography, angioplasty and stenting
- Adjusting long-term medications for patients with heart failure, arrhythmias or high blood pressure
- Discussing care with cardiothoracic surgeons, general practitioners and the nursing team looking after the patient
What skills do cardiologists need?
Employers look for patient care and support, clinical assessment and treatment, medication management, backed by Epic fluency and strong written communication.
Specialist skills
- Patient care and support
- Clinical assessment and treatment
- Medication management
- Care planning and coordination
- Health education and advice
Software and tools
- Epic
- Cerner
- Echocardiography systems
- Cardiac catheterisation lab equipment
- ECG machines
General skills
- Written communication
- Problem solving
- People leadership
Is the job growing?
About 1,100 people work as cardiologists in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 32.8% over the decade to 2035. That's very strong growth. Few roles in Australia are expanding this fast, and it points to solid demand for years to come.
How do you become a cardiologist?
Here's the path most cardiologists take, step by step.
- 1Complete a medical degree
Entry is through a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery or a graduate Doctor of Medicine, which takes five to seven years depending on whether you enter from school or after a first degree. The final years are spent on clinical placements in hospitals.
- 2Work as an intern and resident
The first postgraduate year is a supervised internship that leads to general registration with AHPRA, followed by a resident year rotating through hospital specialties. These years are paid and are where most people decide whether physician training is for them.
- 3Finish basic physician training
Basic training with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians runs about three years, including a written and a clinical examination that must be passed before you can apply for an advanced specialty.
- 4Complete cardiology advanced training
Advanced training in cardiology takes about three years and includes subspecialty exposure to imaging, interventional work, electrophysiology or heart failure. Training places are limited and often require moving cities.
- 5Gain fellowship and specialist registration
Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and specialist registration with AHPRA are needed to work independently as a cardiologist. Many people take a further fellowship year, in Australia or overseas, before taking up a consultant post.
Ready to apply as a cardiologist?
Whether you're working toward becoming a cardiologist or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can a cardiologist move to?
We don't list lateral moves for cardiologists: leaving means a full new qualification rather than a career move, and the realistic routes in are covered under how to become one.
Who works as a cardiologist?
The typical cardiologist is 47 years old; 81% are men, 82% work full-time, and full-timers average 49 hours a week.
- 47
- Median age
- 19%
- Female share
- 82%
- Full-time
- +9h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a cardiologist?
The week is long and rarely tidy: ward rounds, catheterisation lists, outpatient clinics and reporting sessions, with on-call woven through. Cardiologists carry decisions that cannot wait, because a heart attack needs the artery open within the hour, but much of the rest of the work is slow, cumulative management of people who will be patients for years. It suits someone who wants both procedure and long-term relationships, and who is comfortable being the person others ring when they are unsure.
What people like
- Procedures that change things within minutes. Opening a blocked artery during a heart attack and watching the patient stabilise on the table gives a direct result that few specialties can match.
- Following patients over years. Heart failure and arrhythmia clinics mean you see the same people across a decade, adjusting treatment as their condition and their lives change.
- Diagnostic detective work. Symptoms, ECG, echo and history rarely point one way, and working out what actually explains the breathlessness is a genuine puzzle.
- Teaching built into the day. Registrars, nurses and cardiac physiologists rotate through the unit, so explaining a decision is part of the ordinary working week.
What people find hard
- On-call and after-hours recalls. Heart attacks do not keep office hours, and a call to come in for a primary angioplasty at 2am cannot be passed to someone else.
- Reporting backlogs. Echo and Holter reporting piles up when lists and clinics run long, and a good deal of it happens at a screen in the evening.
- Routine, low-risk referrals. Outpatient clinics fill with chest pain that turns out to be muscular or reflux, which is reassuring news but eats a lot of time.
- Difficult conversations about prognosis. Telling someone their heart function has dropped, often with family in the room, is a regular part of the work rather than an occasional one.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ cardiologists?
Health Care and Social Assistance employs the largest share of cardiologists.
Top employing industries
- 1Health Care and Social Assistance
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Postgraduate | 50.6% | |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor degree | 44.1% | |
| Year 12 or below | 1.3% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 0.7% | |
| Certificate III/IV | 0.3% |
Will AI replace cardiologists?
Cardiologists sit at the low end of AI exposure. Tools already interpret an ECG, measure an echocardiogram and score risk from imaging, but they arrive as a second opinion: examining the patient, working in the catheterisation lab and talking through a result that does not fit the numbers stay with the cardiologist. The paperwork is the part most likely to disappear first.
Share of typical working time by exposure level
- Coronary angiography, angioplasty and stentingWire handling, stent sizing and split-second calls in the catheterisation lab depend on feel and live imaging that no current system performs on its own.30%low
- Outpatient clinics and inpatient assessmentMuch of the job is talking to a patient, listening to the heart and judging whether the breathlessness is cardiac or something else entirely.30%low
- Reporting echocardiograms and other cardiac imagingAutomated measurement and strain analysis now do the first pass on a study, but the cardiologist still decides what the numbers mean for this particular patient.25%moderate
- Clinical letters, referrals and documentationDrafting referral letters and discharge summaries is already being automated, which shortens the evening paperwork rather than the clinic list.15%high
Common questions about becoming a cardiologist
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much does a cardiologist earn in Australia?
$234,000 per year before tax for a full-time cardiologist. Public hospital pay follows state medical officer agreements and private practice income depends on fees and procedure mix, so earnings can look quite different depending on how the week is split.
How do you become a cardiologist?
You finish a medical degree, work as an intern and resident, then complete basic physician training with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, including its written and clinical exams. Three years of cardiology advanced training come next, followed by fellowship and specialist registration with AHPRA, usually 12 to 15 years after starting university.
Are cardiologists in demand in Australia?
Cardiologists are currently in shortage nationally, and employment is projected to grow 32.8% over the decade to 2035. The occupation is small, so those numbers turn into a limited set of hospital training posts and consultant appointments, and the practical question during training is which hospitals can offer advanced training in your subspecialty.
Will AI replace cardiologists?
Not in any direct sense. Algorithms already read an ECG and flag an abnormal echocardiogram, but they arrive as a second opinion: examining a patient, performing a procedure and weighing findings that do not fit the numbers remain clinical work, and reporting software tends to shorten paperwork rather than clinic time.
Can general practitioners or general physicians move into cardiology?
Cardiology draws people in rather than out: general practitioners, general physicians and resident medical officers all bring clinical experience that overlaps with specialty training. Median pay for a cardiologist is $106,800 more compared with a general practitioner, and $15,600 more compared with a general physician, though the sharper difference is scope, since those roles stay broad across adult medicine while cardiology trades breadth for depth. Many cardiologists eventually own or partner in private consulting rooms, which is often where earnings grow.
What are the hours like?
Full-time cardiologists average 49 hours a week, and that figure understates the on-call, because a catheterisation list followed by a night of recalls makes for a long stretch. Around 82% work full time, and part-time arrangements usually combine hospital sessions with private consulting.
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