Highest paid medical practitioners of Instagram

Many doctors and medical professionals have taken to social media platforms to help spread healthcare tips and break down medical issues, combat misinformation, and share an insight into what life is like as a professional in the medical industry.

Some have had middling success, while others have shot to fame and become household names – who would have thought videos of pus-filled pimples being popped would be so popular?

But what if you could choose a celebrity doctor to be your practitioner? Would you do it?

Many doctors and medical professionals have taken to social media platforms but still work and operate as licensed, qualified professionals with ‘real life’ clients.

As health insurance comparison experts, we wanted to see who the ‘biggest’ social media doctors and health professionals are. We’ve ranked 50 of some of the most popular medical influencers, ranked in order of their estimated earnings per Instagram sponsorships.

The highest paid medical practitioners of Instagram

1.     Dr Sandra Lee

Taking out the top spot is ‘Dr Pimple Popper’, Dr Sandra Lee. She has been both delighting and grossing out millions of us for years. Her content focuses on popping pimples, clearing cysts and other similar skin gunk situations.

We covered this topic a couple of years ago, and last time Dr Lee had half a million less followers, but was estimated to have earnt $1,000 more per post than she does now.

2.     Doctor Mike

Maintaining his position as the second-highest earning doctor on Instagram (according to our calculations) is Dr Mikhail Varshavski – better known as Doctor Mike. A family physician based in New York, Doctor Mike discusses a range of health topics on his social media, helping inform people about different conditions, and sharing what it’s like to be a family physician, amongst other forms of content.

And yes, he was voted 2015’s ‘Sexiest Doctor Alive’ by People magazine.

Compared to last time, Doctor Mike now has an additional 600,000 followers, but is estimated to earn $1,100 less per sponsored post.

3.     Dr Daniel Amen

Previously, Dr Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist and brain disorder specialist who discusses various mental health conditions on his channels, was tied for 21^st place with Dr Drew Pinsky. Since then, Dr Amen has had an additional 3.3 million Instagram fans follow his account, and his estimated earnings have risen by US$8,449 per post, taking him all the way up to third place.

4.     Dr Alex George

Four years later, still at number four is Dr Alex George from the UK. A general practitioner from Wales, Dr George discusses both mental and physical health and wellbeing topics on his social media.

Starting his celebrity life by appearing on Love Island in 2018, Dr George uses his platform to be a strong advocate for mental health. Dr George is the UK’s Youth Mental Health Ambassador, a position which he’s held since 2021.

5.     Dr Julie Smith

Rounding out our top five is Dr Julie Smith, a clinical psychologist based in the UK. Dr Smith is well known for using simple practical props in her videos to help break down and explain mental health topics in easy-to-understand ways.

While she wasn’t in the previous ranking four years ago, Dr Smith earns her place as the fifth-highest paid medical influencer on Instagram this time around, based on our calculations.

Curious how we got the numbers? See our methodology below.

Emphasising mental health over physical beauty

Several plastic surgeons on Instagram have seen dips in our rankings, such as Dr Miami, who was formerly third in the rankings, but is now number eight. Inversely, medical experts who focus on mental health conditions have largely climbed the rankings, such as Dr Amen and Dr Smith ranking third and fifth respectively, while Dr George has stayed in fourth place.

This follows years of discussion and concern over Instagram’s impact on people’s mental health – especially that of young people – by constantly showing fit and attractive people in social media feeds.¹ While fitness and beauty influencers, including plastic surgeons, are still highly popular on Instagram, the data suggests a shift to champion wellness and mental health over physical beauty.