Dive Brief:
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In its second Physician Compensation Report, Doximity found female doctors earned 27.7% less than male doctors. That’s an increase over 2016, which had a 26.5% gap.
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The metro areas with the biggest gender wage gaps were Charleston, South Carolina (37%); Kansas City, Missouri (32%); Nashville, Tennessee (32%); Providence, Rhode Island (31%); and Riverside, California (31%).
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Medical specialists with the largest gender wage gaps were hematology, occupational medicine, urology, orthopedic surgery and gastroenterology.
Dive Insight:
Doximity based its findings on responses from more than 65,000 U.S. physicians. Dr. Nate Gross, co-founder of the company, said physician compensation is more critical than ever considering potential doctor shortages.
The report found female doctors don’t make more than male doctors in any medical specialty, and make less than men in all of the top 50 metro areas.
In addition to the unfairness of a gender wage gap, pay discrepancies can also cause issues with access to care and quality, especially in metro areas with the lowest physician pay and widest pay gap. If women leave the profession, or don't join it in the first place, systems and hospitals may struggle to find quality doctors to keep up with patient demand.
This is already a concern. A recent survey found nearly a third of organizations said they can't find enough employee candidates.
The gender wage gap will only play a bigger role in the coming years. More women enrolled in U.S. medical schools for the first time in 2017.
The wage gap is but one gender-related issue that healthcare faces. More than 3,000 employees at general medical and surgical hospitals filed claims of sexual harassment with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission between 1995 and 2016. A 2016 JAMA study said nearly one-third of women in academic medical facilities reported having experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.
Doximity's report found that the areas with the highest average physician compensation were Charlotte ($402,273), Milwaukee ($398,431), Jacksonville ($379,820), Indianapolis ($378,011) and San Jose, California ($376,585).
On the flip side, the metro areas with the lowest average salaries were Durham, North Carolina ($282,035), Ann Arbor, Michigan ($302,692), Baltimore ($304,002), New Haven ($308,262) and Rochester, New York ($312,503).
Broken down by specialty, the five highest average annual wages were neurosurgery ($662,755), thoracic surgery ($602,745), orthopedic surgery ($537,568), vascular surgery ($476,300) and plastic surgery ($473,212).
On the other extreme, the lowest average salaries were pediatric infectious disease ($191,735), pediatric hematology and oncology ($208,524), pediatric endocrinology ($214,911), pediatrics ($221,900) and preventive medicine ($231,838).