Despite working in the same specialty and having the same hours in similar medical practices, women in internal medicine earn 80 cents for every dollar men earn, a recent study covered by Reuters revealed.
Researchers asked physicians for their estimated annual income before taxes, including salary, bonus and profit-sharing contributions. They asked physicians who owned businesses about earnings after tax-deductible business expenses but before income tax.
One study limitation is that only about 56 percent of physicians the researchers invited for the survey participated. Additionally, the survey participants were American College of Physicians members, meaning their responses may not reflect income of internists who were not members or those in other medical specialties.
In the analysis of survey data from 374 full-time physicians, the researchers found half of male internists have annual salaries of at least $250,000, compared to $200,000 for their female counterparts.
The finding means women earn 80 cents for every dollar earned by men, researchers report in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
"Compensation in medicine is extremely complex and often opaque," Renee Butkus, study co-author and director of health policy at the American College of Physicians, told Reuters.
Although total compensation can include base salaries, stipends for other positions, productivity standards, clinical and nonclinical support, and office and laboratory space, it can be difficult for women to determine if or why they earn less than men, Ms. Butkus said.
Four other survey findings:
1. Women made less than men in every internal medicine specialty, from a gap of $29,000 for internal medicine specialists to a $45,000 gap for subspecialists.
2. Women typically earned $72,500 less than men annually among physicians who owned practices. When women were employees as opposed to business owners, they generally earned $43,000 less than men annually.
3. For physicians who spent most of their time giving direct patient care, women's yearly income fell behind what men earned by about $37,500.
4. Women earned about $52,500 less than men annually when physicians had management or administrative roles.