Women outpaced men in medical school enrollment for the first time in 2017, but a new report shows they’re entering a profession where the gender pay gap is only growing.
Female physicians earned an average of $105,000 less than men in 2017, a 27.7 percent gap, according to a survey of more than 65,000 full-time physicians published by Doximity. Those figures are up from the 2016 disparity of 26.5 percent, equivalent to $91,284.
And while women may be more likely to practice in lower-paying specialties, a gap in pay persisted across every specialty.
Women in neurosurgery—the highest-paying overall—brought in about $118,000 less than men. Pediatric cardiology was one of five specialties with the smallest gender wage gap, but women in that area still earned 15 percent less ($249,000 versus $292,000).
The report also highlighted a dearth of women in higher-paying leadership and ownership positions.
“Notably, 85 percent of private practices, which have the highest compensation, are owned by male physicians,” wrote lead author Christopher Whaley, PhD, an assistant adjunct professor at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, and coauthors. “Of the women-owned practices, female owners still earn $97,227 less than male physician owners.”
Below are other notable findings from the survey:
Surgeons paid the most; cardiologists No. 6
Five surgical specialties ranked as the top average earners, reflecting that specialties requiring more advanced training command higher salaries:
- Neurosurgery, $662,755
- Thoracic surgery, $602,745
- Orthopedic surgery, $537,568
- Vascular surgery, $476,300
- Plastic surgery, $473,212
Cardiologists ranked sixth, also earning around $473,000.
In contrast, pediatricians and preventive medicine specialists were the lowest-paid, with pediatric infectious disease clinicians bringing in an average of $191,735.
Pay varies widely by metro area
The report noted a trend toward lower average compensation in metropolitan areas with more academic institutions, which tend to pay slightly lower than private institutions and create a local pipeline of qualified doctors competing for positions.
Charlotte, North Carolina ($402,273), and Milwaukee ($398,431) averaged the highest pay per physician, while Durham, North Carolina ($282,035) and Ann Arbor, Michigan ($302,692), had the lowest pay.
In general, the authors noted smaller cities often paid better than large cities, perhaps reflecting steeper shortages of doctors and, therefore, more demand for their services.
The gender wage gap also varied by city, though it remained prominent across the U.S. When broken down by metropolitan areas, the gender wage gap ranged from $68,758 in Rochester, New York, to $124,499 in Charleston, South Carolina.
Daniel joined TriMed’s Chicago editorial team in 2017 as a Cardiovascular Business writer. He previously worked as a writer for daily newspapers in North Dakota and Indiana.