The job with easy hours, four-day weeks and a $500k salary - but it's getting very competitive

A career in dermatology has become increasingly attractive for medical professionals who want easier hours alongside big paychecks.

Four-day workweeks and a median salary of $540,000 are among the perks of the profession, as well as the potential for fame on Instagram and TikTok , where dermatologists can earn up to $30,000 for sponsored posts, The Wall Street Journal reported .

That, coupled with a recent boom in skin care , has caused the field to thrive.

Applications for residency in dermatology are up 50 percent over the past five years, statistics show, with women overwhelmingly fueling that number.

Of the applicants who selected dermatology as their first choice when applying for a residency program this year, 73 percent were were women - up 10 percent from just two years ago.

'It's one of the only fields where you can work 40 hours a week like a normal person,' said Dr. Lindsey Zubritsky, who has three million followers on Instagram and TikTok in addition to her practice in Mississippi .

The 36-year-old acknowledged that the field has become 'ungodly competitive,' thanks to millennials and even Gen-Z taking notice.

'People are much more aware about our field now,' said Shereene Idriss, a dermatologist who owns a cosmetic practice in New York City.

'All our attention turned to skin care versus makeup,' she added, referencing the crush of Zoom calls and selfies.

The 40-year-old doesn't take insurance, with patients paying $500 out of pocket for microneedling sessions.

For laser and filler treatments, she said patients fork over $4,000 to smooth skin tone and reduce frown lines and wrinkles.

The procedures last at most an hour and sometimes are as short as 20 minutes.

While Idriss declined to say how much she earns, she did not put limits on a dermatologist's potential.

'The sky's the limit, depending on how efficient you are,' she told the Journal.

Like Zubritsky, Idriss has also amassed a massive following on social media, boasting more than 2.2million followers on Instagram and TikTok.

On her accounts, she provides instructions on things like 'How to prevent wrinkles' - often promoting sponsored lotions or medications.

The social media wave has even caught up people like Donna Stockton, a 65-year-old dermatologist in Chicago who has a more modest 1,092 followers on Instagram.

She chose dermatology nearly 40 years ago simply because she wanted to have mastery over a single organ - the skin - she told the Journal.

She recalled a shift to dermatology around the time the FDA approved the use of Botox for frown lines in 2002.

Once treating patients experiencing skin eruptions brought on by HIV in the 1980s, she now has residents 'more interested in how much I charge for Botox.'

Dr. Mary Alice Mina, a 44-year-old dermatologist out of Atlanta, explained how cosmetic treatments aren't the only way to make money - citing how she specializes in treatments for skin cancer in addition to simpler cosmetic surgeries like neck lifts.

'It's a little bit of a misnomer to think you'll do cosmetics and be churning patients,' Mina said, pointing to how patients taking part in elective treatments usually demand more time and often expect top-of-the-line treatment.

'Those patients want individual attention and personalized care.'

And while dermatologists may face ridicule at times for being mere pimple-poppers, one seasoned veteran explained why that is definitely not the case.

For one, skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the US, said Dr. Jane Grant-Kels, vice chair of dermatology at UConn Health.

The 74-year-old said she founded her hospital's program in Farmington, Connecticut nearly 50 years ago, and has seen the field catch fire firsthand.

She described how traditional doctors often do not conduct the sort of physical exams dermatologists do.

These can catch early signs of diseases, including unseen killers like cancers, she said.

The dermatologist went on to reveal how her hospital's program received more than 600 applications for four residency slots this year.

'The quality of these applicants is scary,' she said, detailing how some take off a year after med school to focus on dermatologic research to gain an upper hand over their competitors.

Philadelphia dermatologist Dr. Jules Lipoff explained how the field often provides instant gratification thanks to diagnoses done with an observant eye over equipment.

'We can walk into a room and sometimes in seconds know what's wrong,' the 44-year-old told the Journal.

And, of course, there's the pay.

Physicians like pediatricians take home a median $258,000 annually, according to a recent poll from the Medical Group Management Association.

That's less than half the $541,000 a year for dermatologists.

Salary figures weren't the driving force for 33-year-old Houston dermatologist Dr. Oyeta Asewmpa, who said she was motivated by other factors.

'I wanted to make a difference,' she told the Journal.

'I don't care about the stats.'